THE New Wrld had n name. It was simply called the New Wrld， asne might speakf the new baby.
It had t have a name， but what shuld it be？f curse if we culd have chsen the name， we shuld have called it Clumbia after Clumbus. But anther name was selected， and this is hw it happened.
An Italian named Americus Vespucci made a vyage t the suthern partf the New Wrld. Then he wrte a bk abut his travels. Peple read his bk and began t speakf the new land that Americus described as Americus"s cuntry. The New Wrld came t be called America after Americus， althugh in all fairness it shuld have been named after Clumbus； dn"t yu think s？ Children smetimes have names given them which they wuld like t change when they grw up. But then it is t late. We smetimes speak and singfur cuntry as Clumbia， althugh that is nt the namen the map. We call a great many cities and twns and districts and streets Clumbusr Clumbia in memryf Christpher Clumbus.
After Clumbus had shwn that there was n dangerf fallingff the wrld and that there really was landff t the west， almst everyne wh had been hunting fr India nw rushedff in the directin Clumbus had taken. "Cpy cats！" A genius starts smething； then thusands fllw-imitate. Every sea captain wh culd d s nw hurriedff t the west t lk fr new cuntries， and s many discveries were made that this time is knwn as the Agef Discvery. Mstf these men were trying t get t India. They were after gld and jewels and spices， which they thught they wuld find in India in great quantities.
Nw we can understand why peple might g lng distances in searchf gld and precius stnes， but they als went after spices-such as clves and pepper-and yu may wnder why they were s eager t get spices. Yu yurself may nt like pepper very much， and yu may dislike clves. But in thse days they didn"t have refrigeratrs， and meats andther fds wereften spiled. We wuld have thught such fd unfit t eat. Hwever， they cvered it with spices t kill the bad flavr， and then fd culd be eaten thattherwisene culd nt have swallwed. Spices didn"t grw in Eurpe-nly in warmer cuntries. Peple paid big prices t get them， and that is why men made lng jurneys after them.
Map shws limited Eurpean knwledgef the cntinent. Cmpare with map in stry 65.
这张地图显示出欧洲人对这个大陆的有限认识，可比较 65 章中的地图。
A Prtuguese sailr named Vasc da Gama wasnef thse wh were trying t get t India all the way by water. He did nt， hwever sail west as Clumbus had dne， but suth dwn arund Africa.thers had tried befre t get t India by ging suth and arund Africa but nne had gne mre than part way. Many frightful stries were tld by thse wh had tried but had at last turned back. These stries were like the talesf Sinbad the Sailr. They said that the sea became biling ht； they said that there was a magnetic muntain which wuld pullut the irn blts in the ship， and the ship wuld then fall t pieces； they said there was a whirlpl int which a ship wuld be irresistibly drawn- dwn， dwn， dwn t the bttm； they said there were sea serpents， mnsters s large that they culd swallw a ship atne gulp. The suthern pintf Africa was called the Capef Strms， and the very name seemed t be bad luck， s that it was changed t the Capef Gd Hpe.
In spitef all such scary stries， Vasc da Gama keptn his way suth. Finally， after many hardships and many adventures， he passed arund the Capef Gd Hpe. He sailedn t India， gt the spices that were s highly prized， and returned safely hme. This was in 1497， five years after Clumbus"s first vyage， and Vasc da Gama was the first mdern Eurpean t g t India bywater.
There"sne thing yu always have t remember abut these discveries. That is this-that there were sme peple wh did knw abut these places all alng！ The Native Americans knew abut America. The Scandinaviansr Vikings did， t. The Indians knew abut India and s， yu will sn see， did a ltfther peple.
England did nt want t be leftutf the search fr new wealth acrss thecean. In the same year that Vasc da Gama reached India， a man named Jhn Cabt set sail frm Englandn a vyagef discvery. His first trip was a failure， but he tried again and finally came t Canada and sailed alng the castf what is nw the United States. These cuntries he claimed fr England， but he returned hme， and England did nthing mre abut his discveries until abut a hundred years later.
Anther Spaniard， named Balba， explred the central partf America. He wasn the little stripf land that jined Central and Suth America which we nw call the Isthmusf Panama. Suddenly he came t anther greatcean. This strange newcean he named the Suth Sea， fr althugh the Isthmusf PanamaAmericas drawn frm a map in 1570.Cmpare with tw maps in stry 78.
美洲大陆。摘自 1570 年一张绘制的地图。可比较 78 章中两幅地图。
cnnects Central and Suth America， it bends s thatne lks suthver thecean.
Then came the lngest tripf all. A Prtuguese named Magellan wanted t find a way t India thrugh the New Wrld， fr he thught there must be smepening thrugh which he might pass this new land that blcked the way. He tried t get hiswn cuntry t help him. Again Prtugal made the same mistake it had made in the casef Clumbus. The Prtuguese gvernment wuld nt listen t Magellan. S Magellan went t Spain， and Spain gave him five ships.
With these five ships， Magellan sailedff acrss the sea. When he reached Suth America， he sailed suth alng the shre， trying t find a passage thrugh the land.ne place after anther seemed t be the passage fr which he was lking， but eachne turnedut t be nthing but a river"s muth. Thennef his ships was wrecked， andnly fur were left.
With these fur ships， he still keptn dwn the cast until he finally reached what is nw Cape Hrn. Thrugh the dangeruspening there， since called after him the Straitsf Magellan， he wrked his way.ne ship deserted and went back hme the way it had cme.nly three were then left.
With these three ships， he at last came int the greatceann thether side， the samecean that Balba had called the Suth Sea. This Magellan named the Pacific， which means calm， because after all the strms they had had， it seemed s calm and quiet. Hwever， fd and water became scarce and finally gaveut. Magellan"s men suffered terribly frm thirst and hunger and even ate the rats that are always t be fundn shipbard. Manyf his men were taken sick and died. Still he keptn， thugh he had lst mstf the crew with whm he had setut. At last he reached what are nw the Philippine Islands. Here he and his men gt int a battle with the lcal peple， and Magellan was killed. There were nw nt enugh men left t sail three ships， and snef these was burned， andnly tw were then left.
Twf the ships， hwever，f the five with which Magellan had started，still keptn. Thennef these was lst， disappeared and was never heardf again， andnly a single ship， named the Victria， remained. It seemed as if ntne ship， ntne man， wuld be left t tell the tale.
Arund Africa the Victria struggled. Magellan"s men， wrnut with hunger and cld and hardships， still battled againstFrm anld printf Magellan"s Victria一幅旧印刷品上的麦哲伦的维多利亚号wind and strm. At last a leaky and brken ship withnly eighteen men sailed intthe harbr frm which it had setut mre than three years befre. Thus the Victria-Victry！-Magellan"s ship， but withut Magellan-was the first ship t sail cmpletely arund the wrld. This vyage settled frever the argument that had been gingn fr ages， whether the earth was rundr flat fr a ship had actually sailed arund the wrld！ In spitef this prf， fr many mre years thereafter， there were peple wh still wuld nt believe the wrld was rund.
【中文阅读】
这发现的新大陆没有名字，就被称为"新大陆"，就像刚出生的孩子叫做"新生 儿"一样。
它总得有个名字啊，那应该叫什么呢？当然，如果能让我们选个名字，我们就 会以哥伦布的名字将它取名为"哥伦比亚"。但是它却取了另一个名字，事情的经过 是这样的。
有个名叫亚美利哥 韦斯普奇的意大利人远航到新大陆的南部。随后他写了一 本游记，记录了自己的经历。人们读了他的书，开始把亚美利哥描述的新大陆说成 亚美利哥地区。结果新大陆就以亚美利哥的名字来命名为美洲，尽管平心而论，新 大陆应该以哥伦布的名字来命名，你说是不是？有时候，孩子们长大后，想把原来 的名字改掉。但已经太晚了，不能再改了。有时我们美洲人把自己的国家说成是或 歌唱为哥伦比亚，尽管这不是地图上标注的名字。为了纪念克里斯托弗 哥伦布，我 们把很多城市、小镇、地区、街道称为哥伦布或哥伦比亚。
哥伦布的航行告诉大家不存在从地球上掉下去的危险，还证明了在遥远的西方 确实有陆地，这之后几乎所有曾去寻找印度的人现在都奔向哥伦布航行的方向。"一 群跟风的人！"总是以一个天才开创事业，然后成千上万的人追随--模仿。每一 位有能力这样做的船长现在都匆匆离去向西寻找新的区域，从而有了许多发现，所 以这一时期被称为"发现时代"。其中大多数人都想去印度。他们要去寻找黄金、珠 宝和香料，他们认为这些东西在印度到处都是，正等着他们去找呢。
我们可以理解为什么人们要长途跋涉寻找黄金和宝石，但是他们也想得到香 料--比如丁香和胡椒--你也许感到奇怪为什么他们这么想得到香料呢。你自己 可能不太喜欢胡椒，也不喜欢丁香。但是在那个时代他们没有冰箱，肉和其他食物 就容易变质。我们会认为变质的食物就不能吃了。但是，他们在上面撒上香料把难 闻的味道去掉后照样吃，不然这些变质食物就难以下咽。欧洲不产香料--香料 只生长在气候温暖的国家。所以香料卖得很贵，这就是为什么有人远渡重洋去找香 料了。
一个名叫瓦斯科 达 伽马的葡萄牙水手是其中一个设法完全通过水路到达印度 的人。不过他没有像哥伦布那样"向西"航行，而是"南下"绕过非洲。以前也有 人已经尝试过向南绕过非洲去印度，但是都中途而返。那些中途而返的人讲了许多吓人的故事。这些故事就像水手辛巴德的冒险故事一样可怕。他们说大海变得像开 水一样滚烫；他们说有一座磁山会吸出船上的铁螺栓，马上船就瓦解成碎片了；他 们说有个漩涡，到了那里船会不可抗拒地被拖下去--向下沉，向下沉，一直沉到 海底；他们说有海蛇和海怪，十分巨大，一口就能把船吞进肚子。非洲的南端被称 为"风暴角"，一提到这个名字似乎就让人感到晦气，所以它就被改为"好望角"。
尽管听说了这些骇人的故事，瓦斯科 达 伽马还是继续向南航行。最终，经 历了许多艰难困苦和惊险奇遇，他绕过了好望角。他继续航行到达印度，得到了十 分珍贵的香料，然后安全返回家乡。这是在 1497 年，也就是哥伦布第一次远航五年 后，瓦斯科 达 伽马是第一个由水路到达印度的现代欧洲人。
关于这些"发现"，有一点你必须永远牢记。那就是--"有些人"确实始终都 知道这些地方！美洲土著人知道美洲。斯堪的纳维亚人或维京人也知道他们的地方。 印度人知道印度，而且你很快就会发现许多其他人也是这样知道他们的地方。
在这场漂洋过海寻找新财富的探险潮中，英国也不想落在后面。在瓦斯科 达 伽马到达印度的同一年，一个叫约翰 卡伯特的人从英国起航开始了探险之旅。他第 一次航行失败了，但是他没有放弃，又开始第二次探险，最终到了加拿大，并沿着 现在是美国的海岸航行。他宣称这些地方归英国所有，但是他回国后，英国直到大 约一百年以后才对他的发现有所行动。
另一个叫巴尔沃亚的西班牙人在美洲的中部地区探险。他到了一小块连接中 美洲和南美洲的狭长的陆地上，这块土地我们现在叫做巴拿马地峡。突然他面前 出现了另一个大洋。他把这个陌生的新大洋命名为"南洋"，因为尽管巴拿马地 峡连接着中美洲和南美洲，但是巴拿马地峡是弯曲的，在这里人是面朝南看到大 洋的。
接下来是所有航行中路线最长的一次航行。一个名叫麦哲伦的葡萄牙人想找到 一条"穿过"新大陆去印度的路，因为他认为肯定有某个通道的入口，能让他穿过 这个挡路的新大陆到对面去。他争取从自己的国家得到帮助。葡萄牙又一次犯了在 哥伦布身上犯过的错误。葡萄牙政府没有听取麦哲伦的请求。于是麦哲伦去了西班 牙，西班牙给了他五条船。
有了这五条船，麦哲伦开始了远渡重洋的航行。当他到达南美洲时，他沿着海 岸向南航行，想要找到穿过大陆的通道。找了一处又一处，每一处都像是他正在寻 找的通道，但是结果只不过是河口而已。接着有一条船失事了，现在只剩下四条船。
领着这四条船，他继续沿着海岸向南航行，最后到达现在是"和恩角"的地方。 穿过那里危险的海峡入口（这个海峡以后以他名字命名为"麦哲伦海峡"），他缓慢 吃力地向前航行。其中一条船开了小差，顺着来时的路返回了西班牙。只剩下三条 船了。
最后他带着这三条船，驶进了大陆另一边的大洋，就是巴尔沃亚称为南洋的那 个大洋。而麦哲伦则给它取名为"太平洋"，意思是"平静"，因为在他们经历了那 么多暴风雨之后，这片大洋看上去这么平和宁静。但是，食物和淡水越来越匮乏， 最后消耗尽了。麦哲伦的船员们又饥又渴，苦不堪言，不得不吃老鼠，船上总有老鼠出没。许多船员生病死去。但是他仍然坚持航行，尽管他已经失去了大部分随他 出海的船员。最后他到达了现在是菲律宾群岛的地方。在这里他和船员们与当地人 打了一仗，结果麦哲伦被杀死了。剩下的人不够驾驶这三条船了，于是他们烧掉了 一条船，现在只剩下两条船了。
不过，麦哲伦起航时的五条船中，总算还有两条船在继续航行。后来又有一条 船失踪了，不见了，以后再也没有任何消息，现在只剩下了一条叫"维多利亚号" 的船了。照这样下去，好像一条船、一个人也剩不下来了，他们的历险故事也就永 远无人知晓了。
"维多利亚号"艰难地绕着非洲航行。麦哲伦的船员们因为饥寒交迫和各种困苦 已经疲惫不堪，却依然在和狂风暴雨搏斗。最终这条四处漏水的破船载着十八个船 员驶进了他们三年多前出发的港口。"维多利亚号"--"胜利号"1 ！--这条麦哲 伦的船只，尽管已经没有麦哲伦了--是完成环球航行的第一艘船。这次航行永久 地平息了长久以来的争论，那就是地球到底是圆的还是平的，因为有条船真的环绕 地球航行了一圈！尽管有这样的证明，此后的许多年还是有人不愿相信地球是圆的。
公元 1520 年
