Tropical Fish.
熱帶魚
1. A small boy lay flat on his stomach in the royal garden of the King of Hawaii. Looking into the water and very excited, young Austin Strong saw shapes of double-tailed goldfish- a recent gift from the Emperor of Japan to His Oceanic Majesty, King Kalakaua. Austin lowered a bent pin attached to a piece of string.
1、一個小男孩趴在夏威夷國王的皇家花園的地上，小奧斯汀·斯特朗非常激動地望著水里，因為他看到了形狀各異的雙尾金魚，它是日本天皇送給夏威夷國王陛下卡拉卡瓦的一個新禮物。奧斯汀放下一個細繩系住的彎針。
2. A few minutes later he ran from the park, a royal goldfish flopping inside the crown of his straw hat. But on the road he heard a horse and carriage. It stopped. He was caught.
2、幾分鐘后他從公園里跑出來，一條寶貴的金魚躺在他的草帽殼里。但是，他聽到了路上有馬車的聲音。馬車停下來，他被抓住了。
3. The frightened boy was led to the carriage. In it was King Kalakaua himself. Austin told of his crime. He had stolen the fancy goldfish.
3、受驚的孩子被領(lǐng)到馬車前。在馬車里的是卡拉卡瓦國王本人。奧斯汀承認了自己的罪過，他偷了奇異的金魚。
4. Austin expected to be shot on the spot. Instead, the king sent a runner for fresh water. Placing the fish in the bowl, he presented it to the boy and took them home. The next day came an envelope with the royal seal. Inside was a letter signed by King Kalakaua giving Austin the right to fish in the royal park for the rest of his life.
4、奧斯汀預(yù)料自己會被當場槍斃。然而，國王派了個快腿的人去取來新鮮水，然后把金魚放在碗里，把它送給了那個男孩并把他們送回家。第二天奧斯汀收到一件用皇家印記密封的信封。里面是卡拉卡瓦國王簽署信，他授予奧斯汀可以終身在皇家花園釣魚的權(quán)利。
5. Today fish collecting is still an exciting hobby in the Unite States. More the 20 million Americans own pet fish. Some raise plain or fancy goldfish, some collect fish found nearby. But the majority stock their tanks with "tropicals"-guppies and gouramies, bettas and angelfish, or others of the more than 150 kinds.
5、在今天的美國，養(yǎng)魚依然是一種激動人心的愛好。有超過兩千萬的美國人擁有自己的觀賞魚。一些人養(yǎng)普通或者奇特的金魚，一些人喂養(yǎng)在附近捕到的魚。但是，魚缸中最主要的品種是“熱帶魚”—虹鳉和絲足魚，貝塔和天使魚，或者其它什么魚，超過一百五十種。
6. Fish collectors pay from 19 cents for a guppy to $100 or more for hard-to-breed fish. They subscribe to such magazines as The Aquarium, and join clubs. They also spend more than a million dollars a year for fish, tanks, planes（應(yīng)為plants）, sand, shells, food and gadgets for heating and cleaning aquariums.
6、養(yǎng)魚愛好者可以為虹鳉支付19美分，也可能為某種難以繁殖的魚付一百多美元。他們訂閱諸如“水族館”這樣的雜志，并且加入俱樂部。他們一年花費超過一百萬美元，用于魚、魚缸、水草、沙子、貝殼、魚食，以及用于加熱和清潔魚缸的器具。
7.Collecting tropical fish dates back to World War Ⅱ in this country. But raising of pet fish goes back to the early days of the Sung Dynasty in China, about 900 A.D., when they were raised in small bottles as house pets.
7、在（美國）這個國家里，收養(yǎng)熱帶魚的習(xí)慣可以追溯到第二次世界大戰(zhàn)。但是，人們飼養(yǎng)觀賞魚可以追溯到中國宋朝早期，大約公元900年左右。當時，觀賞魚作為家庭寵物飼養(yǎng)在小瓶子里。
8. They chose a small member of carp family, Carassius auratus, better known as the goldfish. From them they obtained different shaped and colored fish. There developed more than 100 beautiful kinds with such names as Falling Flowers, Seven Stars, Eight Melon Seeds, Piled-up-Gold, As Europeans began to go the Far East in numbers during the 17th century, it happened that they too grew to like the little carp. A jar-full of goldfish was then taken on a long sea trip back to London in 1665.By the late 18th century the fish were widely popular in England and soon the goldfish bowl was seen in many homes.
8、人們選擇了鯉魚族的一個小成員，CARASSIUSAURATUS,如同金魚一樣很早就被人所熟識了。從它開始，久而久之，人們獲得了種種不同外形和色彩的觀賞魚。觀賞魚種類擴展到一百個美麗的品種，它們有的帶著奇特的名字：落花、七星、八顆瓜子、黃金細毛等等。十七世紀，大批的歐洲人開始去遠東，奇怪的是他們也開始喜歡這種小鯉魚。于是在1665年，一個裝滿了金魚的壇子經(jīng)過漫長的海上旅行被帶到倫敦。到18世紀晚期，在英國喂養(yǎng)這種金魚已經(jīng)很流行，在許多家庭都能看到金魚碗。
9. In 1853 the world's first public aquarium- The Regent's Park Fish House- was opened. So far, home aquarium contained only goldfish or other local plant life. Then from the Amazon and the Congo, from Pacific Island and West Indian reefs, scientists began to send home hundreds of strange, beautiful fish. Many of them have become popular pets. They are called tropicals.
9、1853年，世界第一個公共水族館：REGENT公園觀賞魚之家開放了。不過，到此時為止，家庭的水族館仍然僅僅喂養(yǎng)金魚和其它本地水生植物。之后，科學(xué)家們帶給水族館數(shù)以百計奇特而美麗的魚，它們來自世界各地：從亞馬孫河到剛果，從太平洋島到西印度暗礁。它們之中的許多品種已經(jīng)成為流行寵物。人們叫它熱帶魚。
10. Today a busy aquarium store may sell up to $20,000 worth of fish in a good year. The most sold are still tropicals, especially guppies, swordtails and millies, which people like because of their bright colors and because they provide the tank with new young fish.
10、如今，一所興旺的水族商店在好年份一年可以銷掉價值兩萬美元的觀賞魚。大部分賣出的依然是熱帶魚，尤其是虹鳉，劍尾魚和米莉。人們喜歡這些魚的明亮顏色，而且它們能給水族館提供新的年輕的生命。
11. Some hobbyists often turn to egg-laying types like the angel-fish, the striped zebras, and the neons. Fancy goldfish, too, are collected more now. There is also an interest in sea horses, puffers, clown fish and other salty types with shapes more strange and colors brighter than even the showiest of fresh-water fish. But there are only a few collectors of this type. It costs $50 or more to set up a good salt water aquarium. The fish themselves cost a lot, too.
11、某些內(nèi)行人常常喜歡喂養(yǎng)產(chǎn)卵型觀賞魚，像天使魚、斑紋魚、和霓虹脂鯉。奇特的金魚現(xiàn)在也被更多喂養(yǎng)。甚至某些人對海馬、海豚、小丑魚，以及其它比絢麗的淡水魚外形更加奇特、顏色更加耀眼的海水魚特別感興趣。但是這種類型的養(yǎng)魚人很少。畢竟建立一個好的海水水族館至少要花50美元。購買觀賞魚本身的花費也相當大。
12. The appeal of collecting fish seems to be one which will last. An aquarium is a picture window of the underwater world. A piece of the universe where great things happen-birth, life and death; mating and feeding before our eyes.
12、喂養(yǎng)觀賞魚的風(fēng)氣似乎會持續(xù)下去。一個水族館就是水底世界的一面窗戶，一塊發(fā)生種種偉大事件的宇宙，出生、生存和死亡，交配和哺育皆在人們眼前。
13. The swift, bright fish of this world have a great beauty. Millions continue to regard them as a very fine sight.
13、這個世界的敏捷和明亮的觀賞魚有著奇異的美，而千千萬萬的人們將繼續(xù)視它們?yōu)橐坏烂利惖娘L(fēng)景。
