第12章　不老泉

冬季，小鳥都會飛往南方去過冬。美國寒冷的北部各州中，有些人也是這樣的。在美國境內，他們能夠去的最南之地，就是東南角上那個形狀有如一只狗爪的州，該州叫作“佛羅里達”，意思就是“鮮花之地”。在前往佛羅里達州的那些汽車上，你們可以看到美國四十八個州中每一個州的標記呢。人們在冬季前往佛羅里達，都是為了去沐浴那里的陽光，為了在一月份到海里去游泳，為了擺脫寒戰、噴嚏和擤鼻涕的手帕。那里是一個冬季的樂園，就像新英格蘭地區是夏季的避暑勝地一樣。我認識一個人，他本來住在巴爾的摩，可由于冬天在佛羅里達過，夏天又在新英格蘭地區過，因此冬夏兩季之間，他只會在巴爾的摩住上寥寥的幾個星期呢。

第一批到美洲來殖民的那些白人，首先到達的就是佛羅里達，因為他們聽說，那里有一眼“不老泉”。據說，不老泉是一眼具有魔力的泉水。傳說中，若是老人在不老泉中洗個澡，或是喝了不老泉里的水，他們就會返老還童。不過，迄今為止還沒有哪個人在佛羅里達州或者其他哪個地方發現過一眼不老泉呢，只是許多的老年人在佛羅里達度過了一個冬天之后，都會說他們覺得自己返老還童了。

但是，并非所有的佛羅里達人整個冬天全都無所事事，只管玩兒。他們必須經營好旅館，招待好那些的確是到佛羅里達來玩兒的人。還有其他的許多人，則忙于

have only canned or frozen vegetables during the winter otherwise. Just as there is a top time, a kite time, a football time, and a baseball time, there used to be certain times or seasons for certain fruits and vegetables；but in most of Florida it is so warm they seldom or never have frost or snow or ice, so they can raise fruits and vegetables the year round.Farmers ship the vegetables they raise out of season to other States, so that people in the North can now have fresh strawberries at Christmas, and asparagus too, and lettuce and radishes every month in the year.

The chief fruits from Florida are oranges and grapefruit, which will grow only where there is no frost. Grape-fruit grows in bunches like big, yellow grapes—that's why it is called“grape”-fruit.Grape-fruit was at first thought not fit to eat—too bitter and not sweet like an orange；but people have learned to like it.More grape-fruit grows in Florida than in any other place i.t.w.W.

Once there was no Florida at all—the United States had no“paw”sticking out into the sea. It grew a paw and this is the way it grew it.The sea was warm and shallow and in the sea there lived millions, billions, trillions of little animals, each like a tiny drop of jelly with a tiny stony speck in the center, or a tiny stony shell on the outside, and millions and billions and trillions

種植運往寒冷的北部各州去的“早熟新鮮蔬菜”，否則的話，北部各州的人在冬季就只有罐裝或者冷凍的蔬菜可吃了。就像有最適合于玩陀螺的時候、有最適合于放風箏的季節、有最適合于打橄欖球的時候、有最適合于打棒球的時候一樣，過去常常也有最適合于吃某種水果或蔬菜的時候或者季節，可在佛羅里達州的絕大多數地區，由于氣候非常溫暖，很少或者從來都不會有霜、雪或冰凍，因此一年到頭都可以種植水果和蔬菜呢。農民將自己種植的反季蔬菜運往其他各州，使得北方的人在圣誕節也可以吃到新鮮的草莓，還有蘆筍，并且一年十二個月里都能吃到萵苣和蘿卜了。

佛羅里達出產的主要水果，就是橙子和葡萄柚，這兩種水果，都只能生長在沒有霜凍的地區。葡萄柚長成一串一串的，就像是一串串巨大的黃色葡萄，這也是它之所以被稱為“葡萄”柚的原因。人們起初以為葡萄柚不適合于食用，因為它的味道太苦，不像橙子那樣甜，可后來人們卻慢慢地喜歡上了這種水果。佛羅里達種植的葡萄柚，比全世界其他任何地方都要多。

世界上本來沒有佛羅里達這個地方，而美國原本也是沒有伸向海中的這只“爪子”的。只是后來美國“長”出了這樣一只“爪子”，過程則是下面這樣的。海洋里很溫暖、很淺，并且海洋中生活著無數、無數種小動物，每一種都像一顆小果凍，中心包裹著一個石質的核，或者是外面包裹著一層石質的殼，后來，無數、無of these little sea animals died.As they died, millions, billions, trillions of these stony specks and shells fell to the bottom of the sea like a snowfall of chalk dust, and this piled up until the water was filled up.This stony, bony, chalky pile is Florida.On this kind of ground of which Florida is made plants grow very well indeed.In fact, this soft, chalky ground is so good for growing things that people dig it up and send it to other States to be put on the ground to make vegetables grow better.

Long, long years ago, before there were any people on the World, our whole country was at the bottom of the sea, and a great deal of our country was made under the sea just as Florida was made, from bones and shells of sea animals. This kind of bone and shell rock—for it is rock—is called limestone, because if you burn it it makes lime.Limestone is really bone-stone；stone made of the bones of sea animals.Then the earth wrinkled and crinkled and rose out of the water and formed our country.We know it was once under the sea because in many places now, high above the sea, even on mountain tops, we find this limestone with shells and bones of fish and other sea animals still showing in it.Marble, the most beautiful of all stone, is a kind of limestone, for it also is made of bone.People build houses and palaces of it and make statues and tombstones of marble or limestone.

Many of the people who go to Florida stop on their trip to see sights, and one of the greatest sights is in Virginia and Kentucky where the rock under the ground is all limestone. The“sights”are huge caves, and in Kentucky they are so large they are called Mammoth Caves.These caves have not been dug out by men but by water.Water, you know, melts sugar；but perhaps you didn't know that water melts rock too—not ordinary

數種這樣的海洋小動物都死了。它們死后，無數、無數個這樣的石質核和石質殼便落到了海底，就像粉筆灰一樣紛紛灑落，堆積起來，直到填滿了整個水域。這個堆積起來的、石質而嶙峋且由白堊組成的地方，就成了佛羅里達。在形成佛羅里達的那種土壤上，植物的確生長得非常茂盛。事實上，這種柔軟而含有白堊的土壤，非常適合于栽種東西，因此人們還將此處的土壤挖出來，運到其他各州去鋪在地上，以便讓那里的蔬菜長得更好呢。

很久、很久以前，在世界上還沒有出現人類以前，整個美國都還位于海底，因此我國大部分地方都是像佛羅里達那樣，是在海底由海洋動物的骨頭和貝殼形成的。這種由海洋動物的骨頭和貝殼所形成的巖石（沒錯，就是巖石），叫作石灰巖，因為如果將這種巖石進行煅燒的話，它們就會變成石灰。石灰巖實際上就是骨質巖，也就是由海洋動物的骨頭所形成的巖石。接下來，大地開始皺曲、隆起，升出了海面，形成了美國。我們之所以知道這里曾經位于海底，是因為如今在許多高海拔的地方，甚至是山脈之巔，我們都發現了含有貝殼、魚骨以及仍然看得見其他海洋動物骸骨的石灰巖。所有石頭中最美麗的大理石，就是一種石灰巖，因為它也是由海洋動物的骨頭形成的。人們用大理石建造房屋和宮殿，還用大理石或者石灰石來制作雕塑和墓碑呢。

前往佛羅里達的許多人，在旅途中都會停下來觀光，而其中最了不起的一個景點，就位于弗吉尼亞和肯塔基州，那里所有的地下巖層全都屬于石灰巖。這個“景

rock, but it melts limestone, and these caves are in limestone rock. The Mammoth Cave is like a huge cellar underground—a cave so large and high that you could put a whole city with its tall buildings in it.You could easily get lost and wander for miles.Men have been lost and unable to find their way out again and died and their skeletons have been found long years after.

Through the roof of the cave water drips drop by drop, and each drop leaves a bit of limestone, until in the course of time the dripping water makes icicles of rock that hang down from the roof of the cave. Drops of water from each icicle fall on to the floor of the cave, and the limestone gradually piles up and up like a stone post until at last the icicle above meets the post beneath..The trickling water also forms pools in the bottom of the cave, and in these pools of water live fish that are different from the fish in the water above ground.As it is pitch dark in the caves, these fish have no use for their eyes, so after long, long years they at last grew none.They are blind.Instead of seeing, they feel with the part of their heads where their eyes were.

點”，便是巨型的地下洞穴，而在肯塔基州，由于那些洞穴都極其巨大，因而還被人們稱為“猛犸洞穴”呢。那些洞穴可不是人工挖掘出來的，而是被水流侵蝕出來的。大家都知道，水會將糖溶化，但你們可能并不知道，水也會將巖石溶化呢。當然，它并不能溶化普通的巖石，而是只能溶化石灰巖，因此，那些洞穴全都位于石灰巖里。“猛犸洞穴”就像是一座巨大的地窖，是一個又大又高的洞，完全可以把整座城市的高樓大廈全都放進去呢。在洞里，人們一不小心就會迷路，然后不知不覺地走上好幾英里遠。曾經有人在洞里迷了路，再也找不到出去的路，然后死在里面了，而他們的遺骸，則過了多年才被人們發現呢。

在洞里，水是從洞頂一滴一滴地滴下來的，并且每一滴都會留下一點兒石灰石，隨著時間的推移，滴水便形成了一根根的石錐，從洞頂垂下來。每根石錐上面滴下來的水落到洞底后，其中攜帶的石灰石又會逐漸堆積起來，并且越堆越高，就像一根石柱，最終，上面的石錐便會與下面的石柱連成一體。滴水還在洞底形成了一個個水坑，而在這種水坑里，還生長著一些與地面水體中不同的魚類。由于洞穴里面漆黑一片，這些魚類的眼睛沒有任何用處，因此千萬年過去之后，這些魚的眼睛最終便完全退化了，變成了沒有眼睛的魚。雖說看不到東西，但它們會用頭部原先長有眼睛的那個部位來進行感知。