十九世纪最著名的帆船之一——"卡蒂萨克"号，至今仍可在格林尼治见到。
One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century, the Cutty Sark, can still be seen at Greenwich.
她矗立在陆地上，每年被数千人前来参观。
She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year.
她是过去那些伟大船只令人印象深刻的见证。
She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of the past.
在被蒸汽船取代之前，像"卡蒂萨克"号这样的帆船被用来从中国运茶叶、从澳大利亚运羊毛。
Before they were replaced by steamships, sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia.
"卡蒂萨克"号是有史以来建造的速度最快的帆船之一。
The Cutty Sark was one of the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built.
唯一能与她媲美的另一艘船是"塞莫皮利"号。
The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae.
这两艘船都于1872年6月18日从上海出发，开始了一场前往英格兰的激动人心的比赛。
Both these ships set out from Shanghai on June 18th, 1872 on an exciting race to England.
这场比赛持续了整整四个月，是同类比赛中的最后一场。
This race, which went on for exactly four months, was the last of its kind.
它标志着帆船这一伟大传统的终结，也标志着一个新时代的开始。
It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era.
比赛开始后，两艘船中第一个抵达爪哇的是"塞莫皮利"号，但在印度洋上，"卡蒂萨克"号占得了先机。
The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae, but on the Indian Ocean, the Cutty Sark took the lead.
看来她必然会成为第一艘返回的船，但在比赛途中，她遭受了很多厄运。
It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home, but during the race she had a lot of bad luck.
八月，她遭遇了一场猛烈的风暴，在风暴中她的舵被扯断了。
In August, she was struck by a very heavy storm during which her rudder was torn away.
"卡蒂萨克"号从一侧向另一侧剧烈摇晃，操控她变得不可能了。
The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it became impossible to steer her.
船员们用备用木板在船上制作了一个临时船舵，并费了极大力气将其安装好。
A temporary rudder was made on board from spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty.
这大大降低了船的速度，因为有一种危险——如果她行驶得太快，这个临时舵也会被扯掉。
This greatly reduced the speed of the ship, for there was a danger that if she travelled too quickly, this rudder would be torn away as well.
正因为如此，"卡蒂萨克"号失去了领先地位。
Because of this, the Cutty Sark lost her lead.
越过赤道后，船长在一个港口靠岸，安装一个新舵，但此时"塞莫皮利"号已领先五百多英里。
After crossing the Equator, the captain called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted, but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles ahead.
尽管新舵以极快的速度安装完毕，"卡蒂萨克"号赢得比赛已是不可能了。
Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed, it was impossible for the Cutty Sark to win.
她比"塞莫皮利"号晚一周抵达英格兰。
She arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae.
即便如此，考虑到她遭受了如此之多的延误，这已经是了不起的了。
Even this was remarkable, considering that she had had so many delays.
毫无疑问，如果她没有失去船舵，她本可以轻松赢得比赛。
There is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.