第34課 大麥
I know some children who are very fond of growing seeds of all kinds in pots. Sometimes they fill a flower-pot rather more than half-full with moist sand. On the top of this damp sand they sprinkle some grains of barley, and then they cover them well with more sand.
我認(rèn)識(shí)一些小朋友,他們非常喜歡在花盆里種花,什么種子都種。有時(shí)候他們?cè)诨ㄅ枥镅b上大半盆濕沙子,在沙子上面撒上點(diǎn)兒大麥粒,再用沙子蓋住。
The sand is kept moist, and in a week or two the children are glad to see pretty little green shoots of grass growing up.
保持沙子的濕潤(rùn),過(guò)一兩個(gè)星期,小朋友們就能高興地看見(jiàn),綠色的草芽長(zhǎng)出來(lái)啦!
But can grass come from barley seeds? Yes; barley is a kind of grass. And wheat, oats, rye, rice, and maize are also grasses, which once grew wild in the fields. These grasses have now been taken care of, or cultivated, for thousands of years;and so they have become much larger than the grasses which we still find growing wild in the lanes and meadows.
但是,大麥粒也能長(zhǎng)出草來(lái)么?能。大麥也是一種草。小麥、燕麥、黑麥、稻米、玉米也都是草,以前是在野地里野生的。人類的祖先把這些野草栽種,也就是“培養(yǎng)”了上千年,于是它們長(zhǎng)得比野草個(gè)頭大多了?,F(xiàn)在,我們?cè)卩l(xiāng)間小路和草地上,還能找到這些野草呢。
We shall not likely get barley plants grown in pots to produce flowers or seeds; for to do that they need the earth, and the rain, and the bright sunshine, which they get in the open fields.
花盆里的大麥植株,是不大可能開(kāi)花結(jié)果的,因?yàn)?,大麥要開(kāi)花結(jié)果,需要足夠的泥土、雨水,還有明亮的陽(yáng)光;這些只有在屋外的田野里才能得到。
The barley plant has long slender green leaves, and a hollow, jointed stem. At the top of each stem, a number of tiny green flowers grow one above another in the form of a spike. Each little flower forms a seed; and then the flowers drop off, and the seeds swell, while the green stem turns to yellow straw.
大麥植株,長(zhǎng)著又細(xì)又長(zhǎng)的綠葉,和一個(gè)中空、分節(jié)的莖。莖的頂端,有很多綠色的小花,上下排列,樣子就像一個(gè)錐子。每朵花都會(huì)長(zhǎng)出一個(gè)種子,然后花就凋謝了。種子會(huì)長(zhǎng)大,綠色的莖也會(huì)變成黃色的麥稈。