There was a certain old sailor, however, who scoffed at all claims of the ship's speed,
有名老海军总在嘲笑这艘船的速度，
and who even refused to believe the record that she was making from day to day.
他们甚至不相信每天这艘船所创造的记录。
Twenty-three days is the best she will do, he vowed over and over again.
它的最佳记录是23天，他总是在发誓。
I will stake a year's pay on it that she can't make an hour less.
我用我一年的薪水打赌，它一个小时也撑不住了。
Yet, on the nineteenth day of their passage, a warm, gusty afternoon of early May,
但是在他们的第19天行程中，五月初的下午气候温和，大风，
it was he who came himself to the captain, round-eyed with amazement, to report There's land been sighted, sir,
他亲自和船长报告，睁着圆圆地眼睛显得十分吃惊，我们看到陆地了先生，
and I don't understand it at all. It—it looks like Gibraltar!
而我完全不明白，这很像直布罗陀。
So she came through the gates of the Mediterranean, a gentle breeze behind her, sails all filled and asleep,
她穿越了地中海的大门，船后面微风拂过，船员们感到食饱和困意，
as the seamen said, a swift slender hull under a cloud of snowy canvas.
正如海员所说，一层雪白帆布下灵巧纤细的船体。
She pushed into the straits where had sailed back and forth the daring Phoenician vessels,
它穿越了海峡，在腓尼基的轮船，
the Roman galleys, and the high-decked ships of Venice and of Spain,
罗马大帆船，和高甲板的威尼斯和西班牙舰船之中来回穿梭，
but she was no lesser vessel than any one of them, for she was the first of the Yankee clipper ships!
但她却不输任何一个，因为它是第一艘杨基快船！
But that was only a trial, Humphrey kept saying, when we were learning to handle her.
当我们学习操控这艘船时，汉弗莱一直说这只是试验。
On the voyage home we'll show you even more plainly what she can do.
在返航途中，我们将向你们展示它的更多才艺。
SETTING A RECORD FOR THE RETURN VOYAGE
返航途中创纪录
That voyage was now soon to be, for the vessel had been selected to carry back the commodore's messages and reports to Washington from Tripoli.
返航马上到来了，人们选择这艘船送回海军准将的消息，以及从的黎波里带到华盛顿的报告。
On the day before she was to sail, a message came from the ruler of Tripoli that he was sending his personal agent, an Arab,
在它即将出海的前一天，收到了来自的黎波里统治者的消息，他派了他的私人代理人，一名阿拉伯人
to make the ship a friendly visit of farewell.
让这艘船成为友好往来的欢送。
Captain Reynolds sighed deeply when he heard this news, for it came from a government
雷诺兹船长听到这个消息后深深叹了口气，因为它来自政府，
which pretended to be very friendly but was secretly treacherous.
表面看很友好，但背后却是欺诈。
The stout dusky minister of state came over the side, gorgeous in his jewels and satins,
这名强壮，黝黑的国务大臣来到这边，穿戴首饰和绸缎的他显得十分漂亮，
inspected the ship with solemn interest, and expressed not only surprise,
他很庄重地打量这艘船，他的表情不是惊讶，
but some doubts when told of the time she had made between America and Gibraltar.
而是怀疑它从美国到直布罗陀的航行时间。
