第12章　不老泉

冬季，小鸟都会飞往南方去过冬。美国寒冷的北部各州中，有些人也是这样的。在美国境内，他们能够去的最南之地，就是东南角上那个形状有如一只狗爪的州，该州叫作“佛罗里达”，意思就是“鲜花之地”。在前往佛罗里达州的那些汽车上，你们可以看到美国四十八个州中每一个州的标记呢。人们在冬季前往佛罗里达，都是为了去沐浴那里的阳光，为了在一月份到海里去游泳，为了摆脱寒战、喷嚏和擤鼻涕的手帕。那里是一个冬季的乐园，就像新英格兰地区是夏季的避暑胜地一样。我认识一个人，他本来住在巴尔的摩，可由于冬天在佛罗里达过，夏天又在新英格兰地区过，因此冬夏两季之间，他只会在巴尔的摩住上寥寥的几个星期呢。

第一批到美洲来殖民的那些白人，首先到达的就是佛罗里达，因为他们听说，那里有一眼“不老泉”。据说，不老泉是一眼具有魔力的泉水。传说中，若是老人在不老泉中洗个澡，或是喝了不老泉里的水，他们就会返老还童。不过，迄今为止还没有哪个人在佛罗里达州或者其他哪个地方发现过一眼不老泉呢，只是许多的老年人在佛罗里达度过了一个冬天之后，都会说他们觉得自己返老还童了。

但是，并非所有的佛罗里达人整个冬天全都无所事事，只管玩儿。他们必须经营好旅馆，招待好那些的确是到佛罗里达来玩儿的人。还有其他的许多人，则忙于

have only canned or frozen vegetables during the winter otherwise. Just as there is a top time, a kite time, a football time, and a baseball time, there used to be certain times or seasons for certain fruits and vegetables；but in most of Florida it is so warm they seldom or never have frost or snow or ice, so they can raise fruits and vegetables the year round.Farmers ship the vegetables they raise out of season to other States, so that people in the North can now have fresh strawberries at Christmas, and asparagus too, and lettuce and radishes every month in the year.

The chief fruits from Florida are oranges and grapefruit, which will grow only where there is no frost. Grape-fruit grows in bunches like big, yellow grapes—that's why it is called“grape”-fruit.Grape-fruit was at first thought not fit to eat—too bitter and not sweet like an orange；but people have learned to like it.More grape-fruit grows in Florida than in any other place i.t.w.W.

Once there was no Florida at all—the United States had no“paw”sticking out into the sea. It grew a paw and this is the way it grew it.The sea was warm and shallow and in the sea there lived millions, billions, trillions of little animals, each like a tiny drop of jelly with a tiny stony speck in the center, or a tiny stony shell on the outside, and millions and billions and trillions

种植运往寒冷的北部各州去的“早熟新鲜蔬菜”，否则的话，北部各州的人在冬季就只有罐装或者冷冻的蔬菜可吃了。就像有最适合于玩陀螺的时候、有最适合于放风筝的季节、有最适合于打橄榄球的时候、有最适合于打棒球的时候一样，过去常常也有最适合于吃某种水果或蔬菜的时候或者季节，可在佛罗里达州的绝大多数地区，由于气候非常温暖，很少或者从来都不会有霜、雪或冰冻，因此一年到头都可以种植水果和蔬菜呢。农民将自己种植的反季蔬菜运往其他各州，使得北方的人在圣诞节也可以吃到新鲜的草莓，还有芦笋，并且一年十二个月里都能吃到莴苣和萝卜了。

佛罗里达出产的主要水果，就是橙子和葡萄柚，这两种水果，都只能生长在没有霜冻的地区。葡萄柚长成一串一串的，就像是一串串巨大的黄色葡萄，这也是它之所以被称为“葡萄”柚的原因。人们起初以为葡萄柚不适合于食用，因为它的味道太苦，不像橙子那样甜，可后来人们却慢慢地喜欢上了这种水果。佛罗里达种植的葡萄柚，比全世界其他任何地方都要多。

世界上本来没有佛罗里达这个地方，而美国原本也是没有伸向海中的这只“爪子”的。只是后来美国“长”出了这样一只“爪子”，过程则是下面这样的。海洋里很温暖、很浅，并且海洋中生活着无数、无数种小动物，每一种都像一颗小果冻，中心包裹着一个石质的核，或者是外面包裹着一层石质的壳，后来，无数、无of these little sea animals died.As they died, millions, billions, trillions of these stony specks and shells fell to the bottom of the sea like a snowfall of chalk dust, and this piled up until the water was filled up.This stony, bony, chalky pile is Florida.On this kind of ground of which Florida is made plants grow very well indeed.In fact, this soft, chalky ground is so good for growing things that people dig it up and send it to other States to be put on the ground to make vegetables grow better.

Long, long years ago, before there were any people on the World, our whole country was at the bottom of the sea, and a great deal of our country was made under the sea just as Florida was made, from bones and shells of sea animals. This kind of bone and shell rock—for it is rock—is called limestone, because if you burn it it makes lime.Limestone is really bone-stone；stone made of the bones of sea animals.Then the earth wrinkled and crinkled and rose out of the water and formed our country.We know it was once under the sea because in many places now, high above the sea, even on mountain tops, we find this limestone with shells and bones of fish and other sea animals still showing in it.Marble, the most beautiful of all stone, is a kind of limestone, for it also is made of bone.People build houses and palaces of it and make statues and tombstones of marble or limestone.

Many of the people who go to Florida stop on their trip to see sights, and one of the greatest sights is in Virginia and Kentucky where the rock under the ground is all limestone. The“sights”are huge caves, and in Kentucky they are so large they are called Mammoth Caves.These caves have not been dug out by men but by water.Water, you know, melts sugar；but perhaps you didn't know that water melts rock too—not ordinary

数种这样的海洋小动物都死了。它们死后，无数、无数个这样的石质核和石质壳便落到了海底，就像粉笔灰一样纷纷洒落，堆积起来，直到填满了整个水域。这个堆积起来的、石质而嶙峋且由白垩组成的地方，就成了佛罗里达。在形成佛罗里达的那种土壤上，植物的确生长得非常茂盛。事实上，这种柔软而含有白垩的土壤，非常适合于栽种东西，因此人们还将此处的土壤挖出来，运到其他各州去铺在地上，以便让那里的蔬菜长得更好呢。

很久、很久以前，在世界上还没有出现人类以前，整个美国都还位于海底，因此我国大部分地方都是像佛罗里达那样，是在海底由海洋动物的骨头和贝壳形成的。这种由海洋动物的骨头和贝壳所形成的岩石（没错，就是岩石），叫作石灰岩，因为如果将这种岩石进行煅烧的话，它们就会变成石灰。石灰岩实际上就是骨质岩，也就是由海洋动物的骨头所形成的岩石。接下来，大地开始皱曲、隆起，升出了海面，形成了美国。我们之所以知道这里曾经位于海底，是因为如今在许多高海拔的地方，甚至是山脉之巅，我们都发现了含有贝壳、鱼骨以及仍然看得见其他海洋动物骸骨的石灰岩。所有石头中最美丽的大理石，就是一种石灰岩，因为它也是由海洋动物的骨头形成的。人们用大理石建造房屋和宫殿，还用大理石或者石灰石来制作雕塑和墓碑呢。

前往佛罗里达的许多人，在旅途中都会停下来观光，而其中最了不起的一个景点，就位于弗吉尼亚和肯塔基州，那里所有的地下岩层全都属于石灰岩。这个“景

rock, but it melts limestone, and these caves are in limestone rock. The Mammoth Cave is like a huge cellar underground—a cave so large and high that you could put a whole city with its tall buildings in it.You could easily get lost and wander for miles.Men have been lost and unable to find their way out again and died and their skeletons have been found long years after.

Through the roof of the cave water drips drop by drop, and each drop leaves a bit of limestone, until in the course of time the dripping water makes icicles of rock that hang down from the roof of the cave. Drops of water from each icicle fall on to the floor of the cave, and the limestone gradually piles up and up like a stone post until at last the icicle above meets the post beneath..The trickling water also forms pools in the bottom of the cave, and in these pools of water live fish that are different from the fish in the water above ground.As it is pitch dark in the caves, these fish have no use for their eyes, so after long, long years they at last grew none.They are blind.Instead of seeing, they feel with the part of their heads where their eyes were.

猛犸洞穴

点”，便是巨型的地下洞穴，而在肯塔基州，由于那些洞穴都极其巨大，因而还被人们称为“猛犸洞穴”呢。那些洞穴可不是人工挖掘出来的，而是被水流侵蚀出来的。大家都知道，水会将糖溶化，但你们可能并不知道，水也会将岩石溶化呢。当然，它并不能溶化普通的岩石，而是只能溶化石灰岩，因此，那些洞穴全都位于石灰岩里。“猛犸洞穴”就像是一座巨大的地窖，是一个又大又高的洞，完全可以把整座城市的高楼大厦全都放进去呢。在洞里，人们一不小心就会迷路，然后不知不觉地走上好几英里远。曾经有人在洞里迷了路，再也找不到出去的路，然后死在里面了，而他们的遗骸，则过了多年才被人们发现呢。

在洞里，水是从洞顶一滴一滴地滴下来的，并且每一滴都会留下一点儿石灰石，随着时间的推移，滴水便形成了一根根的石锥，从洞顶垂下来。每根石锥上面滴下来的水落到洞底后，其中携带的石灰石又会逐渐堆积起来，并且越堆越高，就像一根石柱，最终，上面的石锥便会与下面的石柱连成一体。滴水还在洞底形成了一个个水坑，而在这种水坑里，还生长着一些与地面水体中不同的鱼类。由于洞穴里面漆黑一片，这些鱼类的眼睛没有任何用处，因此千万年过去之后，这些鱼的眼睛最终便完全退化了，变成了没有眼睛的鱼。虽说看不到东西，但它们会用头部原先长有眼睛的那个部位来进行感知。