英國語文第五冊(cè)(雙語):活生生的火爐(1)

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LESSON 18 Living stoves

第十八課 活生生的火爐

We must be plain with our reader. It will not do to mince matters where questions of science are concerned. Dainty people will, no doubt, object to the proposition we are about to advance. Nevertheless we persist, and proceed to lay down the following assertion: We are all living stoves—walking fire-places—furnaces in the flesh.

我們必須要用簡(jiǎn)明的言語向讀者闡明。事關(guān)科學(xué)的問題不可雜糅事實(shí)。毫無疑問的是，人們的挑剔要服從于我們想要進(jìn)步的主張。然而，我們還是會(huì)堅(jiān)持并繼續(xù)鋪下以下的聲明：我們所有人都是一個(gè)活生生的火爐子——會(huì)走路的火爐子——人肉爐子。

Now we do not intend to say that any one can light a cigar, or boil an egg, or even ignite a lucifer-match at these human hearths. Still, we repeat, these bodies of ours are stoves—fire-places—furnaces, if these terms can be applied to any apparatus for the express production of heat. And is not heat produced in the human body by the union of oxygen with carbon, just the same as by the burning of wood in an open fire-place? and does not this union take place in the capillaries of the blood-vessels?

我們也沒打算說人的身體能點(diǎn)燃雪茄，或者煮熟雞蛋，甚至點(diǎn)燃火柴。我們還是要重復(fù)的是，如果這些術(shù)語因?yàn)楸磉_(dá)產(chǎn)生熱而能應(yīng)用于任何裝置的話，那么我們的身體是火爐。這種熱量不是由于碳氧結(jié)合產(chǎn)生于體內(nèi)，只是和在開闊地上燒木頭一個(gè)原理嗎？這以結(jié)合過程發(fā)生在血管的毛細(xì)管內(nèi)嗎？

But granting that our bodies are veritable stoves, the reader will desire to know where we procure our fuel. Fortunately, our coal and fire-wood are stored up in a very interesting form. They are laid before us in the shape of bread and butter, puddings and pies; rashers of bacon for the labourer, and haunches of venison or turtle-soup for the epicure. Instead of being brought up in scuttles, they are presented in tureens, dishes, or tumblers, or all of them, in pleasant succession.

但是讀者們就算同意我們的身體是真正的火爐這一說法，他們也會(huì)想知道我們?cè)诤翁幃a(chǎn)生燃料。幸運(yùn)的是，我么的“煤”和“木柴“都以一種很有趣的形式儲(chǔ)存著。他們的形狀像面包和黃油，布丁和餡餅一樣擺在我們面前；像是勞工們吃的培根薄片，也像美食家們品嘗的鹿腰和烏龜湯。他們沒有放在煤桶內(nèi)，而是有序地?cái)[放在蓋碗，碟子，水杯，或者所有這些器皿中。

In fact, whenever you send a person an invitation to dinner, you virtually request the honour of his company to take fuel; and when you see him enthusiastically employed on your dainties, you know that he is literally "shovelling" fuel into his corporeal stove. The ultimate form in which this fuel is burned in the capillaries is that of carbon, with a little hydrogen and sulphur; but we swallow it in the shape of fat, starch, sugar, alcohol, and other less inflam-matory compounds. By far the most heating of these substances is fat. Ten pounds of this material, imported into your stove, will do as much work—that is, will produce as much warmth—as twenty-five pounds of starch, twenty-five of sugar, or even twenty-six of spirits.

實(shí)際上，你邀請(qǐng)別人共進(jìn)晚餐時(shí)，你其實(shí)是在要求尊重其同伴攝入燃料；當(dāng)對(duì)方興高采烈地答應(yīng)你的請(qǐng)求，你知道他是在答應(yīng)將燃料“投入“到體內(nèi)。這些燃料在毛細(xì)血管中燃燒過后的最終形式是碳，伴著一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)氫和硫；但是我們咽下去時(shí)它的形狀就會(huì)是脂肪，淀粉，糖，酒精和其它少量炎癥性混合物。到這一步，脂肪是熱量最大的物質(zhì)。體內(nèi)攝入十磅脂肪，做的功就相當(dāng)于——即產(chǎn)生的熱量——二十五磅淀粉，糖，甚至是二十六磅的烈酒所產(chǎn)生的熱量。

And a pleasant thing it is to observe how sagaciously the instinct of man has fastened upon the articles which will best supply him with the species of fuel he requires. The Esquimau is extremely partial to oily fare. He does not know why. He never heard of the doctrine of animal heat, but he feels intuitively that bear's grease and blubber are the things for him. Condemn him to live on potatoes or Indian corn, and the poor fellow would resent the cruelty as much as an alderman of the old school if sentenced to subsist on water-gruel alone.

觀察人的本能是件讓人愉悅的事，人們能認(rèn)定某個(gè)物品就是最能滿足自己所需的燃料。愛斯基摩人特別鐘愛油膩的食物。他們自己也不知道這是為什么。他們從未聽說過動(dòng)物熱量這回事，但是他們本能地知道熊脂和鯨脂就是自己所需。要是指責(zé)他們靠土豆或是印度玉米生活，這些可憐的家伙會(huì)對(duì)這種殘忍行為表示憤恨，這種憤恨程度不亞于讓一個(gè)市政議員靠喝米湯度日的憤怒。

And the savage would be perfectly right. Exposed as he is to the fierce cold of a northern sky, every object around him plundering him of his caloric incessantly, what he needs is plenty of oily food, because from that he can produce the greatest quantity of heat. On the other hand, the native of the tropics, equally ignorant of animal chemistry, eschews the fiery diet, which his climate renders inappropriate, and keeps himself cool on rice, or dates, or watery fruits.

愛斯基摩人是對(duì)的。他們生活在地球北部，那里天氣極寒，他們身邊的一切東西都在不斷地吸取他們身上的熱量，他們需要的就是油膩食物，因?yàn)樗麄兡軓倪@些食物當(dāng)中得到大量的熱量。另一方面，熱帶地區(qū)的居民也同樣不會(huì)在意這種動(dòng)物熱量之說，他們會(huì)避開高熱量的飲食，這和當(dāng)?shù)氐臍夂虿幌鄥f(xié)調(diào)。他們會(huì)把米飯，大棗或富含水分的水果進(jìn)行冷卻。