早期的邮件历史

By Emily/陈传光（译）

语篇导读

在人类文明史上，邮件占有重要的位置。邮件的存在极大地方便了人与人之间的沟通与交流，促进了社会的发展。那么你知道早期的邮件历史吗？让我们一起来了解一下吧！

Now it is very easy for you to get in touch with your friends or relatives.But in early days，no one could be sure when or where the mail would arrive.

There was once a post office under a rock at the southern tip of Africa.In the old days，if people wanted to go to India from England，they had to be around the Cape of Good Hope.The journey was very stormy and dangerous.It took six long months.Sailors often wished to send letters home，but they seldom met the ship going back to England.So at the cape the sailors would go ashore.They went to a special large stone.On the stone was scratched the words “Look here under for letters”.They would leave their letters there，they knew the next homeward ship would stop and pick them up.

There was another special post office in the state of Washington.It was a stump of a huge tree.Settlers needed a place for the mail carrier to leave their letters.Their houses were so widely scattered that the mail carrier couldn't reach all of them.The mail carrier could leave letters there for everyone for miles around.

For the first few years after the English colonists came to America，there was no regular postal service.People gave their letters to any traveler who happened to the right direction.When the traveler reached the town where the letter was going，he stopped at an inn.He would leave the letters there.Until the person the letters were addressed to happened to stop at the inn，they could receive the letters.

After many years，regular mail carrier appeared.They went from one big town to another on horseback.They traveled only by day.So it still took many weeks for a letter to reach the person the letter would be sent to.

◆词语积淀

stormy/'stɔːmi/adj.暴风雨般的；有暴风雨的

cape/keɪp/n.海角；岬

scratch/skrætʃ/v.擦破；刮坏

homeward/'həʊmwəd/adj.回国的；回家的

stump/stʌmp/n.树桩；残余部分

scatter/'skætə（r）/v.（使）分散；散开

colonist/'kɒlənɪst/n.殖民地定居者

regular/'regjələ（r）/adj.有规律的；规则的

◆典句赏析

1.Now it is very easy for you to get in touch with your friends or relatives.现在你和你的亲朋好友联系起来非常容易。

这是一个简单句子，“It is+adj.+for sb.to do sth.”是一个常见的句型，意为“对于某人来说做某事……”。

【即时尝试】对于我们来说，学好英语很重要。

2.Their houses were so widely scattered that the mail carrier couldn't reach all of them.他们居住得过于分散，邮递员无法把信件送到每一户人家。

这是一个复合句，so...that...引导的是结果状语从句，意为“如此……以至于……”。此时，so后接形容词或副词。

【即时尝试】他跑得如此快，以至于我赶不上他。

3.So it still took many weeks for a letter to reach the person the letter would be sent to.所以信还得好几个星期才能送到收信人手中。

“It takes/took+sb.+some time+to do sth.”是固定句型，意为“做某事花费某人多少时间。”

【即时尝试】踢足球花了我大约一个小时。

（答案见第63页）

译文助读

现在你和你的亲朋好友联系起来非常容易。但是在早些时候，没人知道他们寄出的信何时何地才能到收信人手里。

在非洲南端的一块岩石下曾有一家邮局。在古时候，如果人们要想从英国到印度去的话，他们必须绕道好望角。旅程多风暴，很危险，路上要花长达六个月的时间。水手们经常想寄封信回家，但他们很少碰到回英国的轮船。于是，船到好望角他们就上岸，他们到一个特殊的大石头那儿去。在这块石头上刻着这样的字：在下面找信。他们就把信放在那儿，他们知道下一趟回家的船会停靠这儿，然后取走信。

在华盛顿还有一个特殊的邮局，它是一棵大树的桩。那儿的居民需要一个让邮递员投放信件的地方。他们居住得过于分散，邮递员无法把信件送到每一户人家。这样邮递员就把方圆好几英里的居民的信投放到那儿。

在英国殖民者到美国去的最初几年，那儿没有定期的邮政服务。人们把信给碰巧要去他们寄信的地方的旅行者。当旅行者到了那地方的时候，他们就在一家小旅馆停下，然后把信留在那儿。只有当收信人碰巧经过这家小旅馆，他们才能收到信。

许多年以后，正规的邮递员出现了，他们骑马从一个大城镇到另一个大城镇送信。他们只在白天赶路，所以信还得好几个星期才能送到收信人手中。