书城教材教辅美国语文:美国中学课文经典读本(英汉双语版)
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第5章 阿尔卑纳赫山上的滑梯(1)

THE SLIDE OF ALACHPN

MOUNT PILATUS is a mountain near Lucerne in Switzerland,which derives its name from a tradition that Pontius Pilate died there,by throwing himself from one of its peaks.

The following is a deion of the plan by which timber was obtained from that mountain.

1.FOR many centuries the rugged flanks and deep gorges of Mount Pilatus were covered with impenetrable forests.Lofty precipices encircled them on all sides.Even the daring hunters were scarcely able to reach them;and the inhabitants of the valley had never conceived the idea of disturbing them with the ax.These immense forests were,therefore,permitted to grow and to perish without being of the least utility to man,till a foreigner,conducted into their wild recesses in the pursuit of the chamois,was struck with wonder at the sight,and directed the attention of several Swiss gentlemen to the extent and superiority of the timber.The most intelligent and skillful individuals,however,considered it quite impracticable to avail themselves of such inaccessible stores.

2.It was not till November,1816,that Mr.Rupp and three Swiss gentlemen,entertaining more sanguine hopes,drew up a plan of a slide,founded on trigonometrical measurements.Having purchased a certain extent of the forests from the commune of Alpnach for six thousand crowns,they began the construction of the slide,and completed it in the spring of 1818.The slide of Alpnach is formedMount Pilatus in Switzerlandentirely of about twenty-five thousand large pine trees,deprived of their bark,and united together in a very ingenious manner,without the aid of iron.It occupied about one hundred and sixty workmen during eighteen months,and cost nearly one hundred thousand francs,or about twenty thousand dollars.It is about three leagues,or forty-four thousand English feet long,and terminates in the Lake of Lucerne.It has the form of a trough,about six feet broad,and from three to six feet deep.Its bottom is formed of three trees,the middle one of which has a groove cut out in the direction of its length,for receiving small rills of water,which are conducted into it from various places,for the purpose of diminishing the friction.The whole of the slide is sustained by about two thousand supports;and in many places it is attached,in a very ingenious manner,to the rugged precipices of granite.

3.It is often carried along the sides of hills and the flanks of precipitousrocks,and sometimes passes over their summits.Occasionally it goesunder ground,and at other times it is conducted over the deep gorges by scaffoldings one hundred and twenty feet in hight.The boldness which characterizes this work,the sagacity displayed in all its arrangements,and the skill of the engineer,have excited the wonder of every person who has seen it.