98 Spanish Farmers

Rota is a very small town in Spain. It is famous for its fruits and vegetables. In particular, it is famous for its tomatoes and pumpkins.

One would think that the soil of this region must be very good. It must be very rich in order to grow such excellent tomatoes and pumpkins. But the soil is not good. It is poor. It is only sand and rock — nothing more. The winds of the ocean blow hard. They have carried away the good soil. They have left only sand in its place. There is also little water. The soil is dry and hard.

The farmers of this region have to work very hard. They work from morning till night. They dig wells wherever there is water. They carry water by hand to their gardens. They use anything and everything to make the soil a little richer around each plant. They cover the young plants with leaves. In this way they protect them from the sun and wind. They watch each plant carefully. They watch the plants which are not strong. They give these plants more water and more attention. They show the plants the same affection they show for their wives or children.

There is a proverb about Rota farmers: the farmer of Rota touches each tomato plant at least forty times a day.

soil 土壤 region 區(qū)域, 地方

dig 掘, 挖 protect 保護(hù)

affection 情感 proverb 諺語(yǔ) touch 觸摸

西班牙農(nóng)民

羅塔是一個(gè)很小的西班牙城鎮(zhèn)。它以果蔬聞名，尤以番茄和南瓜最為出名。

人們會(huì)以為這個(gè)地方的土壤肯定很好。能產(chǎn)出如此優(yōu)良的番茄和南瓜，這里的土地肯定極其肥沃。但是，這里的土壤并不好，土地很貧瘠，只有沙子和巖石——?jiǎng)e無(wú)它物。海風(fēng)強(qiáng)勁，吹走了良土，只剩下沙子留在原地。這里缺水，土地又干又硬。

此地的農(nóng)民不得不非常辛勤地勞動(dòng)。他們從早干到晚。他們?cè)谟兴牡胤酵诰崴綀@地，用盡一切方法使作物周?chē)耐粮饰帧Ｋ麄兡萌~子遮蓋幼苗。這種方法可以保護(hù)幼苗免于日曬和風(fēng)吹。他們關(guān)注每一株作物，密切觀察著長(zhǎng)得不壯的秧苗，給它們更多的水分和照料。他們像照料自己的妻子和孩子那樣照料他們的農(nóng)作物。

說(shuō)起羅塔的農(nóng)民，有句諺語(yǔ)是這樣說(shuō)的： 羅塔農(nóng)民每天至少要觸摸每一株番茄四十次。