WHAT book do you like best？ Alice in Wnderland？ Gulliver"s Travels？
nef the first bks t be printed andne that children at that time likedbest wasThe Travelsf Marc Pl.
nef the bys wh lved t read these striesf thse far-away cuntriesf Asia with their gld and precius jewels was an Italian named Christpher Clumbus. Christpher Clumbus was brn in the cityf Gena， which is in the tpf the bt. Like a great manyther bys wh were brn in seaprt twns， he had heard the sailrsn the wharves tell yarnsf their travels， and his greatest ambitin in life was t gff t sea and visit all the wnderful landsf which he had read and been tld. At last the chance came， and， thughnly furteen yearsld， he made his first vyage. After that， Clumbus made manyther vyages and grew t be a middle-aged man， but he never gt t the cuntries he had read abut in The Travelsf Marc Pl.
Many sea captainsf that time were trying t find a shrter way t India than the lng and tiresmene that Marc Pl had taken. They felt sure there was a shrter way by sea， and nw that they had the cmpass t guide them， they dared t g farff searching fr such a waterway.
By this time many bks had already been printed. Smef these bksn travel were written by theld Greeks and Rmans. Sme had been written by Arabs. The navigatrs knew that the wrld was rund， even thugh sme uneducated medieval flk believed it t be flat. Clumbus had read these bks and he said t himself that if the wrld is really rund，ne shuld be able t reach India by sailing tward the west. It shuld be much easier and shrter that way than ifne tk a bat t the endf the Mediterranean Sea and then wentver land fr thusandsf miles the way Marc Pl had gne.
The mre Clumbus thughtf the idea， the surer he was that this culdbe dne and the mre eager he was t get a ship t tryut his idea.f curse， beingnly a sailr， he had n mney t buyr hire a ship in which t make the trials and he culd find nne t help him.
First Clumbus went t the little cuntry called Prtugal. Prtugal was rightn thecean"s edge. It was t be expected then that the peplef Prtugal wuld be famus sailrs， and they were-as famus as the Phenicians had beenfld. Clumbus thught they might be interested and help. Besides， the kingf Prtugal was extremely interested in discvering new lands.
But the kingf Prtugal thught， as thethers did， that Clumbus was flish and wuld have nthing t d with him. The king wanted t make quite sure， hwever， that there was nthing in Clumbus"s idea. Furthermre， if there were any new land， he wanted t be the first t discver it himself. S he secretly sent smef his sea captainsff t explre. After a while theyne and all returned and stated that they had been as far as it was safe t g， and that psitively there was nthing at all t the west but water， water， water.
Clumbus in disgust then went t the next cuntry-Spain-which at that time was ruled by King Ferdinand and his Queen Isabella. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were just then t busy t listen t Clumbus. They were fighting with the Muslims， wh had been in Spain ever since 732， when， yu remember， they gt as far nrth as France. At last Ferdinand and Isabella succeeded in driving the Muslimsutf their cuntry， and then Queen Isabella became very much interested in Clumbus"s ideas and plans and finally prmised t help him. She even said she wuld sell her jewels， if necessary， t give him the mney t buy ships. S Clumbus， with her help， was able t buy three little ships named the Ni？a， Pinta， and Santa Maria. S small were these three bats that nwadays we wuld be afraid t g evenutf sightf shre in them.
At last everything was ready， and Clumbus set sail frm the Spanish seaprtf Pals with abut a hundred sailrs. Directly tward the setting sun int the brad Atlantic， Clumbus steered. Past the Canary Islands he sailed，n andn， day and night， always in the same directin.
See if yu can get this idea-the idea that almst everyne had at that time except a few Scandinavians-that all there wasf the wrld was what we have s far been studying abut. Try t frget that yu ever heardf Nrth and Suth America. They，f curse， knewf n such lands. Try t thinkf Clumbusn deck scanning the waves in the daytimer peeringff in the darkness at night， hping snerr later t sight， nt a new land-he wasn"t lking fr a new land-but fr Chinar India.
Clumbus had beenut frver a mnth， and his sailrs began t getwrried. It seemed impssible that any sea culd be s vast， s endless， with nthing in sight befre， behind，rn either side. They began t think abut returning. They began t be afraid they wuld never reach hme. They begged Clumbus t turn back. They said it was crazy t g any farther； there was nthing but water aheadf them， and they culd gn frever and ever， and there wuld never be anything else.
Clumbus argued with them， but it was n use. Finally he prmised t turn back if they did nt reach smething very sn. As the days wentn still with nthing new， the sailrs pltted t thrw Clumbusverbard at night and s get ridf him. They wuld then sail hme and tell thse back in Spain that Clumbus had fallenverbard by accident.
At last， when all had given up hpe except Clumbus， a sailr saw a branchwith berriesn it flating in the water. Where culd it have cme frm？ ThenClumbus arguing with his crew（哥伦布与水手们在争论）birds were seen flying-birds that never get very far away frm shre. Thenne dark night， mre than tw mnths after they had set sail， they saw farff ahead a twinkling light. Prbably n little light ever gave s much jy in the wrld. A light meantnlyne thing-human beings-and land， land-land at last！n the mrningfctber 12， 1492， the three bats ran ashre. Clumbus leapedut， and fallingn his knees，ffered up a prayerf thanks t Gd. He then raised the Spanish flag， tk pssessinf the land in the namef Spain， and called it San Salvadr， which means in Spanish， Hly Saviur.
Nw， Clumbus thught this land was Indiar nearby islands called the Indies that he had at last reached， thughf curse we knw nw that tw great cntinents， Nrth and Suth America， blcked his way t India. In fact， he hadnly landedn a little island in the Bahamasff the castf America.
Clumbus and his sailrs sn saw that peple livedn this island. Clumbus claimed the land fr Spain. Yu may wnder hw he thught he culd d this when the landbviusly already belnged t the peple living there.ne reasn was that in thse days， Eurpeans thught that if peple were nt Christians， then they had n rights. And s Clumbus believed that he culd simply takever their cuntry and call it hiswn. Besides that， he hped that smeday the new land might make him rich.
Since Clumbus thught that he had reached India， he called the peple he fundn the island Indians. We，f curse， knw that they were really Native Americans and nt Indians. And we knw that Native Americans had been living there fr many centuries befre Clumbus even thughtf sailingut int the Atlantic.
Clumbus wentn tther islands nearby； but he fund very little gld and few precius stnes such as he had expected，r the wnders that Marc Pl had described； and as he had been away s lng， he started back again t Spain the way he had cme. With him he tk several Native Americans t shw the peple at hme， and als sme tbacc， which he fund them smking and which nne in Eurpe had even seenr heardf befre.
When he at last reached hme safely again， peple wereverjyed at seeing him and hearingf his discveries. Everyne was wildly excited-butnly fr a while. Peple sn began t say it was nthing fr Clumbus t have sailed westward until land was fund， that anyne culd d that.
ne day when Clumbus was dining with the king"s nbles， wh were trying t belittle what he had dne， he tk an egg and， passing it arund the table， asked eachne if he culd stand itn end. Nne culd. When it came back t Clumbus， he set it dwn just hard enugh t crack the end slightly and flatten it.f curse， then it std up. "Yu see，" said Clumbus， "it"s very easy if yunly knw hw. S it"s easy enugh t sail west until yu find land after I havedne itnce and shwn yu hw."Clumbus made threether vyages t America， fur in all， but he never knew he had reached the Americas.nce he landed in Suth America， but he never reached the mainlandf Nrth America.
As Clumbus did nt bring back anyf the precius jewelsr wnderful things that thse in Spain expected him t， peple lst interest in him. Sme were s spiteful and jealusf his success that they even charged him with wrngding， and King Ferdinand sentut a man t take his place. Clumbus was put in chains and shipped hme. Althugh he was prmptly set free， Clumbus kept the chains as a reminderf men"s ingratitude and asked t have them buried with him. After this， Clumbus madenether vyage， but when at last he died in Spain， he was alne and almst frgtten even by his friends. What an end fr the man wh hadnce been such a her！
f all the peplef whm we have heard， whether kingsr queens， princesr emperrs， nne can cmpare with Clumbus. Alexander the Great， Julius Caesar， Charlemagne， were all killers. They tk away. But Clumbus gave. He gave us a new wrld. Withut mneyr friendsr luck， he stuck t his ideas thrugh lng yearsf discuragement. Althugh made funf and called a crank and even treated as a criminal he nevergave up，gaveut， nrgave in！
【中文阅读】
你最喜欢哪本书？ 是《爱丽丝漫游仙境》？ 还是《格列佛游记》？
在印刷书刚开始出现的时候，其中有一本书是孩子们最喜欢的，这本书是《马可 波罗游记》。
男孩子们都爱读这本书中那些遥远亚洲国家的故事，这些国家有金子和珍贵的 珠宝，令人向往。有个意大利男孩，叫克里斯托弗 哥伦布，就特别爱读这本书。克 里斯托弗 哥伦布出生在热那亚市，热那亚市在意大利"靴子"形版图的顶端。像许 多出生在海港城市的男孩一样，他常听码头的水手讲述他们的旅行奇闻，所以他一 生最大的志向就是出海去，到所有他读过的、听说过的奇妙的地方去看一看。机会终于来了，他在 14 岁时，虽然年龄很小，就开始了人生第一次航海。在这以后，哥 伦布多次出海航行，也渐渐成为一个中年人，但是他从未去过他在《马可 波罗游 记》里读过的那些国家。
那时候许多航海船长都努力寻找去印度最近的路，以前马可 波罗走的那条路 太长、太烦人。他们确信走海路行程会更近一些，既然有罗盘指路，他们就敢于驶 向远方去寻找这样一条水路。
这时候已经印刷出大量书籍。其中有些书是古希腊人和古罗马人写的游记。有 些游记是阿拉伯人写的。尽管一些无知的中世纪民众认为地球是平的，可是那些航 海探险者知道地球是圆的。哥伦布读过这些书，他对自己说如果地球真是圆的，那 么一直向西航行就能到达印度。这条路比乘船驶过地中海，再循着马可 波罗当年的 路线长途跋涉几千里要容易得多、短得多。
哥伦布越想越认定这个想法可行，就更加急切地想弄条船来检验自己的想法。 当然，他只是一名水手，既没钱买也没钱租一条船来进行尝试，他也找不到人帮 助他。
哥伦布先去了一个叫葡萄牙的小国。葡萄牙正好在大洋边上，那么葡萄牙人应 该是出色的水手，他们也确实如此--就和古代擅长航海的腓尼基人一样出色。哥 伦布想也许他们会对自己的想法感兴趣并给予帮助。此外，葡萄牙国王对发现新陆 地非常感兴趣。
但是，和别人一样，葡萄牙国王认为哥伦布是个傻瓜，不愿和他有任何关系。 国王想完全确定，哥伦布的想法纯属子虚乌有。再者，如果真的有新陆地，他倒希 望自己是第一个发现它的人。所以他秘密地派出他的一些船长出去探险。过了一段 时间，他们一个个全回来了，并声称他们去了安全范围内最远的地方，西边确实什 么都没有，除了水，水，还是水。
哥伦布在葡萄牙碰壁，感到厌恶，就去了另一个国家--西班牙--当时西班 牙由国王斐迪南和王后伊莎贝拉统治。哥伦布去的时候，国王斐迪南和王后伊莎贝 拉正忙得不可开交，根本没时间听哥伦布的想法。他们正在和穆斯林交战，还记得 的吧，穆斯林自从公元 732 年就一直在西班牙，向北最远曾到达了法国。最后斐迪 南和伊莎贝拉取得了胜利，把穆斯林赶出了西班牙。这时伊莎贝拉王后才开始对哥 伦布的想法和计划产生了极大的兴趣，最后答应帮助他。她甚至说，如果必要的话， 她会卖掉自己的珠宝，凑钱给他买船。于是在她的帮助下，哥伦布买了三艘小船， 分别命名为"尼娜号"、"平塔号"和"圣马利亚号"。这三艘船太小了，换了今天我 们都不敢乘着它们出海远航。
终于一切准备就绪，哥伦布带着大约一百名水手从西班牙帕洛斯海港起航了。 哥伦布掌着舵，正对着落日的方向驶入辽阔的大西洋。航行经过了加那利群岛，然 后日夜兼程，始终朝着同一个方向继续前进。
看看你是否有这样的看法--那时除了少数斯堪的纳维亚人，几乎所有人都有 这个看法--那就是世界上的一切不会超出我们目前所知道的范围。想象一下你从 未听说过南美洲和北美洲。他们当然从未听说过这些地方。想象一下哥伦布白天在甲板上注视着茫茫海浪，晚上凝视着黑暗的夜空，希望迟早能看到，不是看到新大 陆--他不是在寻找新大陆--而是看到中国或印度。
哥伦布在海上航行已经一个多月了，水手们开始着急了。似乎任何大海都不可 能这么浩瀚，这么无边无际，前后左右除了海什么也看不到。他们开始想回去了。 他们开始担心再也回不了家。他们请求哥伦布返航。他们说再往远处走就是疯了； 前面除了海水什么也没有，即使能这样一直没完没了地走下去，结果还是一无所见。
哥伦布和他们争论，但是没有用。最后他答应如果再过几天还到达不了什么地 方就返航。几天过去了，依然没有什么新发现，水手们密谋在夜里把哥伦布扔下海， 就这样除掉他，然后打道回府，告诉西班牙人哥伦布因意外落水而亡。
最后，当所有人，除了哥伦布，都放弃希望的时候，一个水手看见海面上漂浮 着一根树枝，树枝上还长着浆果。它能从哪里来呢？接着又看见鸟儿飞翔--鸟从 来不会飞得离岸边太远。然后在一个漆黑的夜晚，在航行两个多月之后，他们看到 前面远远的有火光闪烁。世界上也许再没有什么微弱的亮光能这样让人欣喜。火光 只意味着一件事情--有人--还有陆地，陆地--终于看到陆地了。在 1492 年 10月 12 日的早晨，三艘船冲到岸上。哥伦布一下子跳下船，跪倒在地，立即祈祷感谢上帝。然后他升起了西班牙国旗，以西班牙的名义占领这片土地，称它为"圣萨尔 瓦多"，在西班牙语中意思是"神圣救世主"。
那时，哥伦布认为他最终到达的这块土地是印度或是附近称为印度群岛的岛屿， 不过我们现在当然知道这两个大陆，南美洲和北美洲，挡住了他去印度的路。事实 上，他只是在美洲海岸边的巴哈马群岛中的一个小岛登陆了。
哥伦布和水手们很快就看见了小岛上的居民。哥伦布声称这片土地归西班牙所 有。你也许感到奇怪他凭什么认为他能这样做，这片土地显然已经属于那里的居民 了啊。一个原因是，在那个时代，欧洲人认为不是基督徒的人是没有任何权利的。 所以哥伦布认为他可以就这么轻易地接管他们的土地，宣布归他所有。除此之外， 他还希望有一天这块新土地给他带来财富。
既然哥伦布认为自己已经到达了印度，他就把他在岛上看到的人称为印度人。 我们当然知道他们其实是美洲土著人 1，不是印度人。而且我们知道这些美洲土著人在 哥伦布想到深入大西洋航行之前就已经在那里生活了好几百年了。
哥伦布又到了附近的其他岛屿，但是他没发现多少他期待的黄金和宝石，也没 遇到马可 波罗描述过的奇观；既然他出来这么久了，他就开始按来时的路返回西班 牙。他带了几个美洲土著人一起上路，准备给国内的人看一看，还带了一些土著人 吸的烟草，这东西欧洲人别说见，听都没听说过呢。
当他终于安全回到家乡的时候，人们见他回来，又听他说了他的发现后欣喜若 狂。人人都激动万分--不过这股兴奋劲很快就过去了。人们不久就开始议论哥伦 布只不过向西航行直到发现陆地，这没什么大不了的，任何人都能做到。
一天，哥伦布和国王的贵族们在一起吃饭，他们开始议论纷纷，想贬低他的成1 现在叫美洲印第安人--译者注。
就。他拿起一个鸡蛋，让鸡蛋传给在座的每个人，问谁能把鸡蛋立在桌上。没有一 个人能做到，当鸡蛋又回到哥伦布手里时，他轻轻把鸡蛋向下一敲，敲破了蛋壳的 一端，这样那下面就变平了。于是，鸡蛋自然就立起来了。"你们看，"哥伦布说， "如果知道该怎么做，当然非常简单了。我先做过一次，让你们知道是怎么做的，所 以你们会觉得向西航行直到找到陆地是很容易的。"之后，哥伦布又三次航行到达美洲，这样一共是四次，但是他从来不知道他到 的地方是美洲。有一次他在南美洲登陆，但是他从未到过北美洲大陆。
因为哥伦布没有带回西班牙人期待的珠宝或是什么奇妙的东西，人们对他失去 了兴趣。有些人心怀恶意，嫉妒他的成就，甚至于指控他做了坏事，国王斐迪南派 出一个人去代替他。哥伦布被带上镣铐用船运回家乡。尽管他很快就被释放了，但 是哥伦布始终保留着那副镣铐让它提醒自己西班牙人的忘恩负义，还要求死后和它 葬在一起。在这以后，哥伦布又远航过一次，但是当他最后死在西班牙的时候，孤 身一人，甚至连朋友几乎都把他遗忘了。曾经的航海英雄，竟然落到如此下场！
在我们听到过的所有人当中，无论国王还是王后，王子还是皇帝，没有人能和 哥伦布相比。亚历山大大帝、尤利乌斯 恺撒、查理曼，这些人杀人无数。他们掠夺 成性。而哥伦布却是在"给予"。他给了我们一个新世界。他没有钱，没有朋友，没 有运气，虽长年经受挫折打击，他却仍然坚持自己的理想。他尽管被人取笑，被称 作怪人，甚至被当做罪犯对待，却从未放弃，没有消沉，也没有 屈服！
