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Cuckoo For Cuckoo Clocks 煞到咕咕钟

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Germany is famous for serving up some of the world’s best beer and pig knuckles, but its cuckoo clock tradition is less well-known.

德国以供应全世界最好的啤酒与猪脚而闻名，但其与布谷鸟自鸣钟（俗称咕咕钟）的历史渊源则比较不为人知。

In Germany’s Black Forest, winters bring very heavy snowfall. Long ago, winter often confined whole families to their farmsteads. In the 1600s, farmers here began to spend these isolated months hand carving wooden clocks to supplement their meager farm earnings. Come summer, peddlers would strap these clocks to their backs and sell them around Europe.

德国的黑森林地区冬天会下大雪，当地人在冬天的活动范围常常仅限于自己的农庄内。十七世纪时，该地区的农人开始在行动受困的那几个月，以手工雕刻木制的钟来贴补自己农庄微薄的收入。待夏日来临，叫卖的小贩会把这些钟绑在背上至欧洲各地兜售。

Some time around 1738, a clockmaker named Franz Ketterer struck upon the idea of including bellows in his clocks, like those of a church organ, to duplicate the call of a cuckoo bird. In addition, a miniature bird would spring out from behind a trap door as the clock chimed on the hour and the half-hour.

时至1738年左右，一位名叫法兰兹开特罗的制钟师傅想到一个点子，那就是把类似教堂风琴风箱的装置放入钟内，藉以复制出布谷鸟的叫声。此外，逢整点与半点敲钟时，一只小鸟会从关着的一扇门后跳出来报时。

In the years that followed, ingenious Black Forest clockmakers created increasingly complicated and ornate cuckoo clocks that included music boxes and moving scenes of country life. The Black Forest became known for producing exquisite clocks which brought to life a distant, enchanted forest.

接下来的岁月中，灵巧的黑森林制钟师傅创造出愈来愈繁复且装饰华丽的咕咕钟，那些钟甚至有八音盒与乡村生活的动态场景。黑森林也因为制做出这些让遥远迷人森林灵活灵现的精致时钟而闻名于世。

Recently, cheaper, battery powered imitations of cuckoo clocks have appeared, but authentic cuckoo clocks are still produced according to time-tested techniques in the Black Forest.

近来，比较便宜、用电池的咕咕钟仿制品已经问世，但是黑森林仍然继续以通过时间考验的技术生产货真价实的咕咕钟。

Vocabulary

单词发音

cuckoo [ˋkʊku] n.【鸟】杜鹃，布谷鸟

knuckle [ˋnʌk!] n.（四足兽的）膝关节

farmstead [ˋfɑrm͵stɛd] n. 农场建筑物和周围地区；农庄

meager [ˋmigɚ] adj.〔食物﹑金钱等〕不足的﹐贫乏的

peddler [ˋpɛdlɚ] n. 小贩

strap [stræp] v. 用带捆绑（或束住）

strike upon 发现; 想出 have a good idea

bellow [ˋbɛlo] n.〔送风催火的〕吹风器; 风箱

organ [ˋɔrgən] n. 管风琴，风琴

trap door 地板或屋顶上的活门

chime [tʃaɪm] v.（钟）鸣，鸣响

ingenious [ɪnˋdʒinjəs] adj. 心灵手巧的; 〔人〕善于创造发明的

bring to life 给…以活力put new life into

enchanted [ɪnˋtʃæntɪd] adj.  被施魔法的; 入迷的

imitation [͵ɪməˋteʃən] n. 仿制品；赝品; 模仿，模拟

Sentence of the Day

Cuckoo clocks have a reputation for keeping time very accurately.

咕咕钟以报时准确闻名。

课文讲解

A couple, Kevin and Oprah, are on a clockmaking tour in the Black Forest town of Furtwangen:  凯文和欧普拉这对夫妻正在黑森林地区的福特万根镇进行一趟咕咕钟制作参观之旅：

K: Legend has it that if you hear a cuckoo in the forest, good fortune will be yours.

传说如果你在森林里听到布谷鸟的叫声，就会有好运。

O: Well then, shall we buy a cuckoo clock?

嗯，那我们要买个咕咕钟吗？

K: I’d love to! It would be a lovely addition to our living room.

我是很想！会为我们的客厅增色不少。

O: My guidebook says that Franz Ketterer, the guy who pioneered the cuckoo clock, even had his little cuckoo birds move as they warbled the hour.

我的导游手册上说法兰兹开特罗是咕咕钟的创始人，他甚至让他咕咕钟上的布谷鸟在报时的当儿，还能够移动位置。

K: The clocks are produced with such attention to detail! These craftspeople sure care about the tradition.

这些咕咕钟制作精良，每个小节都注意到！制钟师傅一定很重视历史传承。

O: Absolutely. Every part is hand cut and crafted by local master craftspeople. No wonder they’re so pricy.

当然。每个部分都是手工雕琢，而且出自当地名家之手，也难怪这么贵了。

K: The tour guide said the world’s most valuable cuckoo clock was made in 1787, and it tells the time around the world. We can see it in the Furtwangen museum.

导游说全世界最贵的咕咕钟是1787年制造的，它能报出全世界各时区的时间。我们可以在福特万根镇的博物馆中看到。

O: Y’know, I used to think cuckoo clocks were made in Switzerland!

你可晓得，以往我以为咕咕钟是瑞士制造的

K: It’s a common misconception. Hopefully, we can afford a handmade clock after the tour – not one of those fakes, complete with their electronic cuckoo sounds.

这是很普遍的误解。希望这趟参观之行结束后，我们能买个手工做的钟──而不是那种假的手工钟，连咕咕鸟的叫声都是电子合成的。

O: I think we’d both go a bit cuckoo ourselves if we had to listen to that battery-operated imitation day in, day out!

我想，如果日以继夜都必须听那种用电池的仿制品咕咕钟，我们两人多少都会疯掉。

－by Nick Wheeler

Vocabulary

单词发音

legend has it that 据传说…

addition [əˋdɪʃən] n. 附加物

pioneer [͵paɪəˋnɪr] v. 当先驱，成为开拓者; n. 先驱者，开拓者

warble [ˋwɔrb!] v.（鸟）啭鸣，唱

craftspeople [ˋkræftspip!] n. 工匠

misconception [͵mɪskənˋsɛpʃən] n. 错误想法﹐误解; 错误印象

complete [kəmˋplit] adj. 兼有的；附带的[F][（+with）]

go cuckoo【俚】愚笨的；疯狂的；失常错乱的 become insane

day in, day out  一天接一天地; 日复一日

Sentence of the Day

With their classic design, cuckoo clocks have no need to keep up with the times.

咕咕钟有古典的造型设计，不需要赶潮流。

keep up with the times  与时俱进；跟上时代

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