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Lesson 63 The Useful Cocoa-nut
第63課 有用的椰子
Cocoa-nuts grow in clusters at the top of a palm-tree which is found in most hot countries. This palm has a slender brown stem, sometimes from sixty to ninety feet high, without branches, but bearing at the top a crown of beautiful, long, feathery leaves, under the shade of which the flowers and the nuts grow.
椰子叢生在椰子樹頂端。椰子樹常見于氣候炎熱的國家。這種棕櫚樹擁有細長的棕色樹干，其高度有時候可達60–90英尺。整棵樹上沒有樹枝，但是頂部卻有一簇由美麗的羽狀長葉組成的樹冠，花朵與果實則生長在其中。
The cocoa-nut palm often grows in the sand of the sea-shore, and when the ripe nuts fall down they sometimes roll into the sea. They are then carried by the waves to the shores of other countries or islands, and from these nuts young palm-trees spring up. In this way the cocoa-nut palm has spread almost all round the world in the hot countries called the Tropics.
椰子樹一般生長在海濱的沙灘上，當成熟的椰子掉落之后，有時便會滾落到大海之中。隨后，在海浪的推動下，這些椰子便能夠來到其他國家或海島，成長為新的棕櫚樹。通過這種方法，椰樹的足跡幾乎遍布于全球所有的熱帶國家。
Each nut has a thick brown husk or covering, full of tough fibres. This husk is stripped off, and its fibres are made into mats, brushes, and such things.
每顆果實外面都包裹了一個厚厚的棕色外殼，上面長有粗糙的纖維。剝下外殼之后，上面的纖維便會被制作成床墊、刷子一類日用品。
The cocoa-nut itself, inside the husk, has a hard brown shell of an oval shape, about four or five inches in length. The shell is rough and hairy on the outside, but is smooth inside.
外殼之下的椰子包裹在一個長度為四五英寸的棕色橢圓形果殼之中。果殼外部粗糙且長滿絨毛，內部卻非常光滑。
At one end of the shell there are three black marks or scars, which make that end look a little like a monkey's face. Prick these sears with a pin, and you will find that one of them—but only one—is quite soft.
果殼的一端帶有三個黑色斑點或瘢痕，看起來有些像猴子的臉。如果用大頭針刺穿這三個瘢痕，那么你就會發現其中一個——也只有這一個——非常柔軟。
