04-02-04-格列佛游记 [19]
but had to wait for at least an hour while he struggled with a difficult mathematical question．However，when he had finished，he spoke politely to me，and ordered his servants to show me to a room．For dinner they gave me three kinds of meat—a square of beef，a triangle of chicken and a circle of lamb Even the bread was cut into mathematical shapes in the evening a teacher arrived to help me learn the language，and in a few days I was able to make conversation with the island people．
Laputa is a circle of land，about eight kilometres across，covered with houses and other buildings．It is moved by a sim－ple machine which uses magnets to pull the island closer to land or push it higher into the sky．The island always moves slowly．It can only fly over the country called Balnibarbi，which belongs to the King of Laputa．
It is difficult talking to Laputans，as they have little interest in anything except music and mathematics．They are，howev－er，very worried about the future of the earth，the sun，and the stars，and they often discuss this．I heard a conversation about this shortly before I left Laputa．
‘How are you，my friend？’one man asked another．
‘As well as can be expected，’ came the reply．
‘And how is the sun，do you think？’
‘I thought he looked rather feverish this morning．I'm afraid he'll get too hot and destroy himself one day，if he goes on like this．’
‘I know，it's very worrying．And what about the earth？It's only thirty years until the next falling star comes this way， and the earth was very nearly destroyed by the last one！’
‘That's right．We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun，and catch fire！And when the earth passes through that fire，it'll be destroyed immedi－ately！’
‘Only thirty years！That's not much to look forward to，is it？’And the two men shook their heads sadly． 址After several months on the island，I asked if I could visit the country underneath us．The King agreed，and ordered his officials to put me down on Balnibarbi，and show me round the capital，Lagado．
The most interesting place I saw there was the university，which was full of very clever men，with very clever ideas．They were all working hard to find better，faster，cheaper，easier ways of doing and making things．They had ideas for building houses from the roof downwards，turning rocks into soft material，making rivers run uphill，and saving sunshine in bottles．I cannot remember half of the astonishingly clever ideas which they were working on．One day，they told me，they would find the answers to all these problems，and then their country would be the most wonderful place in the world．Meanwhile，I noticed that the people looked hungry and mis－erable．Their clothes were old and full of holes，their houses were badly built and falling down．There were no vegetables or corn growing in the fields．
When I visited the School of Mathematics，I could not un－derstand why the students looked so unhappy．
‘What's the matter，young man？’I asked one of them．‘You look quite ill．’
‘Yes，sir，he answered．‘You see，we've only just eaten our lessons for today，and it's made us feel rather sick．’
‘Eaten them？’I repeated in surprise．‘Why did you do that？’
‘Oh，that's the way we learn here，sir，’he replied．‘Our professors write mathematical questions and answers on paper，then we eat the paper．After that we're only supposed to have bread and water for three days，while the information moves upwards to our heads．But it's awful，sir，not eating much for three days．And we often feel sick．Er…excuse me，sir！’And he ran past me out of the room．This highly developed system of teaching did not seem to be working well．
■ 10 勒皮他飞岛
我在家里呆了只有10天，就有一个朋友请我加入他的到东印度群岛的旅行。我仍然想见更多的世面，而且他给我高出平常两倍的报酬，我说服了妻子让我去。航行了8个月，在马来西亚短暂停留之后，我们到达了东京湾。
“由于生意关系，我需要在这儿停一阵，”我的船长朋友对我说，“不过你可以用这只船和几个水手，去周围的岛屿转转，看你能买卖些什么。”这对我来说挺有意思，所以我就同意了。
不幸的是，我们径直驶进了一个可怕的风暴中，风暴将我们向东刮了许多英里。然后，由于极为不幸的巧合，我们被两只海盗船发现而被追逐。我们的船不够快，逃不了，海盗们抓住了我们。他们决定留下水手帮他们驾船，可是他们不需要我。我料想我真走运他们没有杀我。他们把我独自留在汪洋大海中的一只小船里，食物只够吃几天，他们自己则扬帆而去。
我敢肯定海盗们以为我必死无疑，但是，几个小时以后我看见了陆地，我让小船驶过去。当我跨出小船，走上海滩，我注意到尽管太阳很热，空气却突然变凉
Laputa is a circle of land，about eight kilometres across，covered with houses and other buildings．It is moved by a sim－ple machine which uses magnets to pull the island closer to land or push it higher into the sky．The island always moves slowly．It can only fly over the country called Balnibarbi，which belongs to the King of Laputa．
It is difficult talking to Laputans，as they have little interest in anything except music and mathematics．They are，howev－er，very worried about the future of the earth，the sun，and the stars，and they often discuss this．I heard a conversation about this shortly before I left Laputa．
‘How are you，my friend？’one man asked another．
‘As well as can be expected，’ came the reply．
‘And how is the sun，do you think？’
‘I thought he looked rather feverish this morning．I'm afraid he'll get too hot and destroy himself one day，if he goes on like this．’
‘I know，it's very worrying．And what about the earth？It's only thirty years until the next falling star comes this way， and the earth was very nearly destroyed by the last one！’
‘That's right．We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun，and catch fire！And when the earth passes through that fire，it'll be destroyed immedi－ately！’
‘Only thirty years！That's not much to look forward to，is it？’And the two men shook their heads sadly． 址After several months on the island，I asked if I could visit the country underneath us．The King agreed，and ordered his officials to put me down on Balnibarbi，and show me round the capital，Lagado．
The most interesting place I saw there was the university，which was full of very clever men，with very clever ideas．They were all working hard to find better，faster，cheaper，easier ways of doing and making things．They had ideas for building houses from the roof downwards，turning rocks into soft material，making rivers run uphill，and saving sunshine in bottles．I cannot remember half of the astonishingly clever ideas which they were working on．One day，they told me，they would find the answers to all these problems，and then their country would be the most wonderful place in the world．Meanwhile，I noticed that the people looked hungry and mis－erable．Their clothes were old and full of holes，their houses were badly built and falling down．There were no vegetables or corn growing in the fields．
When I visited the School of Mathematics，I could not un－derstand why the students looked so unhappy．
‘What's the matter，young man？’I asked one of them．‘You look quite ill．’
‘Yes，sir，he answered．‘You see，we've only just eaten our lessons for today，and it's made us feel rather sick．’
‘Eaten them？’I repeated in surprise．‘Why did you do that？’
‘Oh，that's the way we learn here，sir，’he replied．‘Our professors write mathematical questions and answers on paper，then we eat the paper．After that we're only supposed to have bread and water for three days，while the information moves upwards to our heads．But it's awful，sir，not eating much for three days．And we often feel sick．Er…excuse me，sir！’And he ran past me out of the room．This highly developed system of teaching did not seem to be working well．
■ 10 勒皮他飞岛
我在家里呆了只有10天，就有一个朋友请我加入他的到东印度群岛的旅行。我仍然想见更多的世面，而且他给我高出平常两倍的报酬，我说服了妻子让我去。航行了8个月，在马来西亚短暂停留之后，我们到达了东京湾。
“由于生意关系，我需要在这儿停一阵，”我的船长朋友对我说，“不过你可以用这只船和几个水手，去周围的岛屿转转，看你能买卖些什么。”这对我来说挺有意思，所以我就同意了。
不幸的是，我们径直驶进了一个可怕的风暴中，风暴将我们向东刮了许多英里。然后，由于极为不幸的巧合，我们被两只海盗船发现而被追逐。我们的船不够快，逃不了，海盗们抓住了我们。他们决定留下水手帮他们驾船，可是他们不需要我。我料想我真走运他们没有杀我。他们把我独自留在汪洋大海中的一只小船里，食物只够吃几天，他们自己则扬帆而去。
我敢肯定海盗们以为我必死无疑，但是，几个小时以后我看见了陆地，我让小船驶过去。当我跨出小船，走上海滩，我注意到尽管太阳很热，空气却突然变凉