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A BACKWARD LOOK
往期回顧
The story of how men have planned and worked to find ways of traveling and sending messages swiftly and safely is a long one.
人們如何計劃并努力尋找方式迅速安全地傳遞信息是一個漫長的故事。
It began centuries ago when the swiftest runner of the tribe was chosen to carry a message;
這個故事起源于幾個世紀前，當時人們選出部落中跑得最快的人傳遞信息。
when some daring person made the first boat by sitting astride a log and using a branch for a paddle;
有一些膽大的人坐在原木上，用樹枝作槳，造出了第一艘船；
when some savage inventor found that he could take a round, flat piece of wood, bore a hole in the middle,
還有個部落中的族人突發奇想拿一塊平的圓木，在中間鉆個洞，
put a stick through the hole for an axle, and thus make a wheel which would move things much more easily.
再在軸孔中插一根木棍，這樣就造出了一個能更容易移動物體的輪子。
The driver of the slow-moving wagon train has given way to the engineer at the throttle of his iron horse
緩慢行駛的馬車隊車夫已經被操控火車頭油門的工程師
and the air pilot in the cockpit of his plane.
和飛機駕駛艙里的駕駛員所取代。
Where Indians waved blanket signals from hill tops and sent puffs of smoke signals into the air, telegraph wires now sing in the wind,
過去印第安人站在山頂揮動毯子、向空中發射煙霧來傳遞信號，而現在電報線在風中鳴叫，
and the radio sends its swift, unseen message.
無線電則能迅速地傳送無形的信息。
What you have read in this part of your book has given you just a few little pictures from the great story
您在本書該部分所讀到的內容，只向您展示出人們學會
of how men have learned to travel and send messages swiftly and safely.
迅速安全地傳遞信息的精彩故事的一個掠影。
You have seen that daring men are needed for this work, men who, like Jonathan Adams and Humphrey Reynolds,
正如您所看到的，這項工作需要像喬納森·亞當斯和漢弗萊·雷諾茲這樣的勇士，
have dared to risk failure and being made fun of; men who have dared to try out these new ways, often at the risk of their lives.
他們冒著失敗的風險，不怕被人取笑；他們敢于嘗試各種新方法，而在嘗試這些新方法時他們往往都冒著生命危險。
Alert, clear-headed men are needed, because speed often means danger, and important decisions must be made in the flash of an eye.
完成這項工作的人還要機警、保持清醒的頭腦，因為快速往往意味著危險，而重要的決定必須在瞬間之內敲定。
