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Lesson 92 A Box Of Matches
第92課 一盒火柴
We need fire every day, to warm our houses, or to cook our food, or to give us light. Even savage tribes use fire for such purposes as these. How do people get the heat which is required to light their fires, and their lamps, or candles, or coal-gas?
我們每天都需要利用火來給房間加溫、烹飪、照明。即便是原始部落也離不開火, 因為他們同樣需要生活。人們如何獲得點燃火堆、燈籠或蠟燭或煤氣的熱量呢?
Most savages get a fire by rubbing two very dry pieces of wood together until they become so hot that at last the wood-dust catches fire. You may try to do this, but I do not think that you will succeed.
大多數原始人的生火方法就是摩擦兩塊非常干燥的木塊, 直到產生足夠的熱量來點燃木屑。你也可以試試, 但我覺得你不太可能成功。
Fasten a smooth brass button to a cork so that you can hold it firmly, and rub the button as hard as you can on a rough piece of wood. Soon the metal will become so hot that it will set fire to the head of a common match if it be pressed against it. This shows that friction, or the rubbing of one substance against another, produces heat.
將一個平滑的銅質按扣固定在軟木塞上, 確保兩個東西牢牢固定在一起, 然后竭盡全力地在一塊粗糙的木頭上摩擦。很快, 銅質按扣就會變得極熱, 只需壓在火柴頭上便可將其點燃。這個事實說明, 摩擦, 或者說緊密接觸的兩個物體的來回移動, 能夠產生熱量。
Until about sixty years ago, the usual way to get a light in this country was to rub or strike a piece of the hard stone called flint against a piece of steel. Try this for yourself. Rub a steel file with a flint in a dark room, and notice what pretty sparks you get.
在從前的英國, 人們常用的生火方法就是利用一種名叫“燧石”的堅硬的石頭去摩擦或者敲擊鐵片。這種情況一直持續到了六十年前。你也可以嘗試一下這樣的生火方法。在黑暗的房間中用鋼銼在燧石上摩擦, 就能夠看到漂亮的火花。
The sparks from the steel were caught on some dry tinder placed in a small metal box. Tinder was made by charring or partly burning linen or cotton rags. The sparks made the tinder smoulder, and then splints of wood tipped with sulphur were pressed against the burning tinder and set on fire.
鋼鐵因為摩擦而產生的火花能夠點燃金屬盒中的干燥火絨。火絨由木炭或者部分可燃的亞麻布或棉布制成。火花能夠使得火絨悶燒, 隨后, 人們將沾有硫磺的木頭薄片放到燃燒的火絨之上, 于是便得到了火焰。
You have learned in a former book that sulphur is a yellow, solid substance which takes fire very easily. The sulphur caught fire from the tinder, and then it set the wood on fire, and so at last a light was obtained.
通過以前的學習, 你應該知道, 硫磺是一種非常容易燃燒的黃色固體物質。硫磺通過火絨進行燃燒, 然后再點燃木頭, 這樣便有了火焰與光亮。
But shortly before the time when Queen Victoria came to the throne, lucifer matches were invented.
就在維多利亞女王登基之前不久, 人們發明了黃磷火柴。
