第2章　地球是圓的，我曾環(huán)繞一周

大家有沒有離家出走過(guò)呢？

很久以前，我比你們都要小的時(shí)候，就離家出走過(guò)一回。

當(dāng)時(shí)，我希望去看一看世界。

我的媽媽告訴過(guò)我，說(shuō)世界是一個(gè)巨大的圓球；因此，假如徑直向前走，朝著自己鼻子所指的方向一直走下去的話，那我就會(huì)環(huán)繞地球一周，然后再回到出發(fā)的那個(gè)地方。

于是，有天清晨，在沒有告訴任何人的情況下，我開始去環(huán)繞地球了。

不過(guò)，我還沒走多遠(yuǎn)，天就黑了，一個(gè)好心的大個(gè)子警察，把我送回了家。

待到我長(zhǎng)大成人、卻還沒有成家的時(shí)候，我又一次開始出發(fā)去周游世界了。這一次，我坐上火車，朝著太陽(yáng)落下的方向而去。夜幕落下，可沒有好心的大個(gè)子警察再把我送回家去了。因此，我一直不停地往前，日復(fù)一日、周復(fù)一周、月復(fù)一月地前進(jìn)。雖說(shuō)有時(shí)是坐火車，有時(shí)是坐小船，有時(shí)是坐汽車，有時(shí)是騎在牲口背上，但我始終都是朝著太陽(yáng)落下的那一方而去，即始終朝著人們所稱的“西方”而去。

我經(jīng)過(guò)了許多遼闊的田野、茂密的森林，經(jīng)過(guò)了許多小型的城鎮(zhèn)、大型的城市，我跨過(guò)了許多橋梁，繞過(guò)了許多山岳，穿越了許多山間的隧道；我到達(dá)了一個(gè)

on a big ship to another continent—I came to strange lands where people dressed in strange clothes, lived in strange houses, and spoke strange languages；I saw strange animals, trees, and flowers；I crossed another great ocean and at last, after many, many months, always going in the same direction, I came back here to the exact spot from which I had started. So I knew the World was round, for I had been round it—but it was not round and smooth like a tennis ball, but humpety and bumpety, and so huge that it didn't seem like a ball at all.

It took me nearly half a year to go round the World—that seems like a long time, but then it was a long way—over twenty-five times a thousand miles. But others have been around the World in much faster time.The airship Graf Zeppelin flew around the World in three weeks.Two flyers took less than nine days to circle the globe in their airplane and return to their starting point, New York.An American Air Force plane flew around the World without stopping in less than four days.

If a man could start out when the sun rose in the morning and keep up with it all day long, go over the side of the World when the sun set, and keep up with it on the other side of the World, he would be back again where he started the next morning. He then would have gone round the World in one day.But to do that he would have to travel over 1，000 miles an

廣袤的大洋，坐上一艘巨大的輪船，橫跨這個(gè)大洋，到達(dá)了另一個(gè)大洲，我來(lái)到了許多陌生的國(guó)度，那里的人都穿著奇怪的服裝，居住在奇怪的房子里，并且說(shuō)著奇怪的語(yǔ)言，我看到了許多陌生的動(dòng)物、樹木和花草。我跨過(guò)另一個(gè)大洋，并且在始終朝著同一個(gè)方向旅行了許多許多個(gè)月之后，最終又回到了我出發(fā)的這個(gè)地方。因此，我知道地球是圓的，因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)環(huán)繞了它一周。不過(guò)，地球并不是像一個(gè)網(wǎng)球那樣渾圓、滑溜的，而是坑坑洼洼，像個(gè)雞蛋，并且極其巨大，因此看上去根本就不像是一個(gè)球呢。

我花了差不多半年的時(shí)間，才環(huán)繞了地球一周，這似乎是一段很久的時(shí)間，但在那時(shí)，這也是一段很長(zhǎng)的距離，達(dá)到了兩萬(wàn)五千多英里呢。不過(guò)，其他一些人環(huán)繞地球所花的時(shí)間，卻要比我短得多。飛艇“格拉夫·齊柏林”號(hào)只用了三個(gè)星期，便繞著地球飛行了一圈。有兩位飛行員，曾經(jīng)駕駛著各自的飛機(jī)，不到九天便環(huán)繞了地球一周，然后回到了他們的出發(fā)地紐約。美國(guó)空軍的一架戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)要是連續(xù)飛行、中途不停的話，只需不到四天的時(shí)間，便可繞地球一周呢。

假如一個(gè)人能夠在清晨太陽(yáng)升起的時(shí)候出發(fā)，并且一整天都跟著太陽(yáng)跑，到太陽(yáng)落山的時(shí)候便走完了地球的一面，并且再跟著太陽(yáng)走完地球另一面的話，那么他第二天早上便會(huì)回到自己的出發(fā)地。這樣，他就是在一天之內(nèi)環(huán)繞了地球一周。不過(guò)，要做到這一點(diǎn)，在一天一夜的二十四個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)，他每個(gè)小時(shí)都必須走上一千多英里，才能趕上太陽(yáng)的步伐。

hour to keep up with the sun for each of the twenty-four hours in a day and night.

All around the outside of the World—as you probably know—is an ocean of air that covers everything on the World as the ocean of water covers everything in the sea. What you probably don't know is that this ocean of air is wrapped only round the World—it does not fill the sky.Men and animals live in this ocean of air as fish live in the ocean of water, and if a huge giant picked you out of the air you would die just as quickly as a fish does when taken out of the sea.The air is thick near the ground but gets thin and thinner the higher up you go off the ground.That's why airplanes can go up but a few miles high—there is not enough air to hold up the plane, for the plane must have air to rest on and for its propeller to push against, just as a boat in the water must have water to rest on and water for its propeller to push against.Or if it's a jet plane, it must have air to feed its jet motors.An airplane could not rise beyond the ocean of air and sail off into the sky where there is no air any more than a steamship on the sea could rise out of the water and sail off up into the air.

There is only one thing that men can send up high enough to travel above the ocean of air. That is a rocket, which doesn't depend on air for its motor or to hold it up.Someday rocket ships will probably carry men on trips to the Moon or even to the planet Mars.How would you like to go exploring in a rocket ship beyond the World's atmosphere out through empty, airless space?How would you like to be the first Man in the Moon?You wouldn't find any living thing on the Moon, for the Moon is a dead, lifeless ball without any air on it at all.But if your rocket got to Mars you would almost certainly find some

你們很可能都知道，環(huán)繞在地球外部的，就是大氣層。就像海水淹沒了海中的一切那樣，大氣也淹沒了地球上的一切。而你們很可能不知道的，就是這個(gè)大氣層只是環(huán)繞在地球的外部，卻沒有填滿整個(gè)天空。人類和動(dòng)物都生活在這個(gè)大氣層里，就像魚兒生活在海水當(dāng)中一樣，要是一個(gè)巨人把你們拎起來(lái)扔出大氣層，那你們很快就會(huì)死去，就像離開了海水的魚兒一樣。越是靠近地面的地方，空氣密度越大，而離地面越高，空氣就會(huì)變得越來(lái)越稀薄。飛機(jī)之所以只能飛到幾英里高的地方，原因就在這里：高空中沒有足夠多的空氣來(lái)支撐飛機(jī)，因?yàn)轱w機(jī)必須有空氣才能浮在空中，飛機(jī)的螺旋槳才能產(chǎn)生推力，這個(gè)道理，跟水中的船只必須有水才能浮在水上、船只的螺旋槳才能產(chǎn)生推力是一樣的。就算是一架噴氣式飛機(jī)，也必須有空氣吸入其噴氣式發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)才行。飛機(jī)沒法上升到大氣層以上的高度，無(wú)法進(jìn)入太空，就像大海上的一艘汽輪沒法浮到水面以上，沒法在空中航行一樣。

人類只能發(fā)射一種飛行高度能夠達(dá)到大氣層以上的設(shè)備。那就是火箭，因?yàn)樗灰揽靠諝鈦?lái)驅(qū)動(dòng)它的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，也不依靠空氣來(lái)支撐其自身的重量。有朝一日，宇宙飛船很可能會(huì)把人類運(yùn)送到月球、甚至是火星上去旅行呢。你們喜不喜歡乘坐宇宙飛船，到地球的大氣層以外，去探索那空無(wú)一物、沒有空氣的宇宙空間呢？你們希不希望自己是第一個(gè)到達(dá)月球上的人類呢？你們?cè)谠铝辽峡刹粫?huì)找到任何生物，因?yàn)樵铝潦且粋€(gè)死氣沉沉、沒有生命的星球，上面根本就沒有空氣。不過(guò)，如果你們乘坐火箭來(lái)到了火星上，那就極有可能發(fā)現(xiàn)某些活體植物，甚至是某些活體動(dòng)物。但這也是沒準(zhǔn)的事情，誰(shuí)知道呢？

living plants—and perhaps, who knows?—even some living animals.

Some mountains are so high that their tops almost stick out of the ocean of air；at least, there is so little air covering their tops that people can't go all the way to the top unless they take along canned air to breathe.

You can't see air—you may think you can, but what you see is smoke or clouds, not air. When air is moving, we call it wind.Then you can feel it when it blows your hat off, you can hear it when it bangs the shutters and whistles round the house；but no one has ever seen air itself.

The World wasn't always as it is now. It was once a ball of fire—a huge burning ball.That was millions of years ago, and of course long before there were any people or animals or plants on the World.But the fiery ball got cooler and cooler until it was no longer burning but a hot ball of rock.There were then no oceans, no water on the World, for water won't stay on anything very hot—it won't stay on a hot stove—it turns to steam when there is fire under it；so there were only clouds of steam, an ocean of steam, around the World.But the World kept getting cooler and cooler until at last the steam turned to water and fell on the World—rain, rain, rain, until there perhaps was one big ocean covering the whole World.

But the World still kept on cooling and cooling, and as it cooled it shrank and shriveled and wrinkled and crinkled and puckered like the outside of a prune. You know a prune was once smooth and round when it was a plum.These little wrinkles and crinkles rose up out of the ocean and were the continents and mountains, so you see how big the wrinkles and

地球上有些高高聳立的山脈，山頂幾乎伸到了大氣層之上，起碼來(lái)說(shuō)，這些山脈頂上的空氣非常稀薄，因此人類除非攜帶著呼吸用的罐裝空氣，否則便沒法登上這些山頂呢。

大家是看不到空氣的，雖說(shuō)你們可能以為自己看得見，但其實(shí)你們見到的都是煙霧或者云朵，而不是空氣?？諝饬鲃?dòng)的時(shí)候，我們便稱之為風(fēng)。這樣，當(dāng)風(fēng)吹落你們的帽子時(shí)，你們就可以感覺到空氣，當(dāng)風(fēng)啪啪地敲擊著百葉窗、在你們家房子周圍呼嘯而過(guò)的時(shí)候，你們也能聽得到空氣的聲音，不過(guò)，迄今為止，還沒有人見到過(guò)空氣本身呢。

以前，地球并非始終都像如今這個(gè)樣子。它曾經(jīng)是一個(gè)大火球，一個(gè)巨大的、熊熊燃燒著的火球，那還是數(shù)百萬(wàn)年前的事情了。當(dāng)然，也是在這很久以后，地球上才出現(xiàn)了人類、動(dòng)物或者植物。不過(guò)，熊熊燃燒著的地球后來(lái)變得越來(lái)越冷，最終不再燃燒，成了一個(gè)由巖石組成的熾熱球體。當(dāng)時(shí)，地球上還沒有海洋，沒有水，因?yàn)槿魏螣霟嶂锷隙际谴娌蛔∷?，下面有火加熱時(shí)，水就會(huì)變成蒸汽，因此，當(dāng)時(shí)地球上只有一團(tuán)團(tuán)的蒸汽，形成了環(huán)繞地球的一個(gè)蒸汽層。但是，地球繼續(xù)變得越來(lái)越?jīng)?，最終這些蒸汽冷凝成水，落到了地球上，形成了雨，雨不停地、不停地、不停地下著，直到整個(gè)地球上可能都被一個(gè)巨大的海洋所淹沒了。

但是，地球還在繼續(xù)變得越來(lái)越?jīng)鏊?，而在變冷的過(guò)程中，地球又開始變小、收縮、起皺、縮褶和皺起，就像梅干的外皮一樣。你們都知道，梅干在新鮮的時(shí)候，原本都是又光滑又圓潤(rùn)的。這些小的褶子和皺紋升到了海洋之上，變成了大陸

crinkles really are. The earth is still wrinkling a bit even now, and when it does so it shivers and shakes and we say there has been an earthquake.But the earthquakes nowadays are as nothing to what may have been the tremendous shudder when the continents rose out of the first single ocean.The thunderous roar of that quake may have reached the stars with a stupendous and appalling boom of a bursting, cracking, rending, groaning World, as if the last day had come.Don't you know what stupendous and appalling boom means?Why, it means“stupendous and appalling boom.”But that's all guess—for the continents may have risen out of the sea as softly, slowly, silently as a blade of grass grows out of the ground.No one knows.We only know the continents did rise out of the water—we can find seashells on the tops of high mountains, and we know they could only have been made under the water when the mountain was under the water.

和山脈，因此，你們完全可以想見，這些褶子和皺紋實(shí)際上有多巨大。即便是到了如今，地球也仍在輕微地收縮著。當(dāng)?shù)厍蚴湛s的時(shí)候，就會(huì)地動(dòng)山搖，而我們則稱這種現(xiàn)象是發(fā)生了地震。不過(guò)，如今的地震與當(dāng)初陸地從一整片海洋中聳立而出的時(shí)候那種山崩地裂式的震動(dòng)相比，根本就算不上什么了。這種震動(dòng)所帶來(lái)的巨大聲音，伴隨著爆炸、裂開、分裂、咆哮的地球發(fā)出巨大而可怕的轟鳴之聲，可能響徹了宇宙，直抵各大恒星，仿佛是世界末日降臨了一般呢。你們知道“巨大而可怕的轟鳴之聲”是什么意思嗎？嗨，它指的就是“巨大而可怕的轟鳴之聲”。不過(guò)，這一切全都屬于我們的猜測(cè)，因?yàn)楦鱾€(gè)大陸也有可能是輕柔、緩慢而無(wú)聲地升出海面的，就像地上生長(zhǎng)出的一片草葉那樣。沒人知道實(shí)際情況究竟如何。我們只知道各個(gè)大陸的確是從水中聳立出來(lái)的，因?yàn)樵谝恍└呱街畮p，我們?nèi)缃襁€能找到海貝，而我們也知道，這些海貝是在水下生成的，因此只可能是在山脈還位于海底的時(shí)候留下來(lái)的。