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LESSON 20 Land and sea breezes
第二十课 海陆风
The inhabitants of the sea-shore in tropical countries wait every morning with impatience for the coming of the sea breeze. It usually sets in about ten o'clock. Then the sultry heat of the oppressive morning is dissipated, and there is a delightful freshness in the air, which seems to give new life to all for their daily labours. About sunset there is again another calm. The sea breeze is now over, and in a short time the land breeze sets in. This alternation of the land and sea breezes—a wind from the sea by day, and from the land by night—is so regular, in troopical countries, that it is looked for by the people with as much confidence as the rising and setting of the sun.
每天清晨，生活在热带国家沿海附近的居民都会默默等待着十点海风的到来，那时闷热的空气会被吹散，阵阵清爽席卷而来，好似吹走了所有的疲倦，为劳作者们注入新的活力。日落时分，大地再一次恢复宁静，海风已悻悻而去。不一会儿，陆风又踏着脚步而来。这种白天从海上吹来、晚上从陆地吹来的海陆风之间的交替在热带国家是具有规律性的一种活动，人们对它们的期待就像对太阳的起和落一样充满信心。
In extra-tropical countries, especially those on the polar side of the trade-winds, these breezes blow only in summer and autumn; for then only is the heat of the sun sufficiently intense to produce the requisite degree of atmospherical rarefaction over the land. This depends in a measure, also, on the character of the land upon which the sea breeze blows; for when the surface is arid, and the soil barren, the heating power of the sun is exerted with most effect. In such cases the sea breeze amounts to a gale of wind.
在非热带国家，特别是在信风带的极地地区，海陆风只会在夏秋两个季节出现，因为只有太阳的热量才能为陆地上空气稀薄的高处提供足够的必需品。这在一定程度上也取决于海风吹过的陆地的特性，因为当地表干旱、土壤贫瘠时太阳能发挥出最为有效的热能，海风也会变得逐渐强烈以至发展成阵风。
In the summer of the southern hemisphere the sea breeze is more powerfully developed at Valparaiso than at any other place to which my services afloat have led me. Here regularly in the afternoon, at this season, the sea breeze blows furiously: pebbles are torn up from the walks and whirled about the streets; people seek shelter; business is interrupted, and all communication from the shipping to the shore is cut off. Suddenly the winds and the sea, as if they had again heard the voice of rebuke, are hushed, and there in a great calm.
当南半球的夏季到来之时，瓦尔帕莱索的海风会变得比向导带我去过的任何地方的海风都要强烈，这个季节的海风通常出现在下午且刮得相当猛烈：人行道上被风撕裂的鹅卵石在街道上不停打着转；人们不得不四处寻找避风港；各家商店也被迫关闭；船和岸之间的所有联系被中断。忽地，风和海似乎是听到了责备之声，刹那间平静了下来。
The lull that follows is delightful. The sky is without a cloud; the atmosphere is transparency itself; the Andes seem to draw near; the climate, always mild and soft, becomes now doubly sweet by the contrast. The evening invites abroad, and the population sally forth—the ladies in ball costume, for now there is not wind enough to disarrange the lightest curl.
随之而来的平静是令人愉悦的。天空蔚蓝无云，连空气也变得透明；远处的安第斯山脉越来越清晰可见；一向温和的气候相比下来也变得无比地甜蜜美好。“夜晚”敞开了双臂邀请外来的客人，而客人们也纷纷前来，其中女士们大胆地穿上了盛装，因为再也没有巨风能吹乱她们耀眼美丽的卷发。
In the southern summer this change takes place day after day with the utmost regularity; and yet the calm always seems to surprise one, and to come before one has had time to realize that the furious sea wind could so soon be hushed. Presently the stars begin to peep out; timidly at first, as if to see whether the elements here below have ceased their strife, and whether the scene on Earth be such as they, from their bright spheres aloft, may shed their sweet influences upon.
南方的夏季来临之时这种变化日复一日、极具规律；而令人惊愕的是如此狂暴的海风竟然可以瞬间停息。海风过后星星们探出头来，它们羞怯地打量着下面的争吵是否已经恢复宁静，打量着地球是否已经在明亮的天空下展现出了自己最为光彩耀眼的景象。
