第43课

旁白 neutral

Who owned the pie dish and why?

馅饼盘属于谁，为什么？

旁白 neutral

Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything.

保险公司通常愿意为任何东西投保。

旁白 neutral

Insuring public or private property is a standard practice in most countries in the world.

在世界上大多数国家，为公共或私人财产投保是一种惯例。

旁白 neutral

If, however, you were holding an open air garden party or a fete it would be equally possible to insure yourself in the event of bad weather.

然而，如果你要举办一场露天花园派对或游园会，同样可以为自己投保，以防恶劣天气。

旁白 neutral

Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay.

不言而喻，保险公司承担的风险越大，你将支付的保费就越高。

旁白 neutral

It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship.

航运公司为打捞沉船的费用提出索赔并非罕见。

旁白 neutral

But the claim made by a local authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely be unique.

但地方当局为打捞沉没的馅饼盘而提出的索赔，肯定是非同寻常的。

旁白 neutral

Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was eighteen feet long and six feet wide.

诚然，这是一个不寻常的馅饼盘，因为它有18英尺长，6英尺宽。

旁白 neutral

It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie could be baked for an annual fair.

它是由地方当局购买的，以便为一年一度的集市烤制一个巨大的馅饼。

旁白 neutral

The pie committee decided that the best way to transport the dish would be by canal so they insured it for the trip.

馅饼委员会决定，运输这个盘子的最好方式是水路，所以他们为这次行程投了保。

旁白 neutral

Shortly after it was launched, the pie committee went to a local inn to celebrate.

盘子下水后不久，馅饼委员会就去了一家当地的旅店庆祝。

旁白 neutral

At the same time, a number of teenagers climbed on to the dish and held a little party of their own.

同时，一些青少年爬上盘子，开起了他们自己的小型派对。

旁白 neutral

Dancing proved to be more than the dish could bear,

跳舞对盘子来说是无法承受的，

旁白 neutral

for during the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of water.

因为在派对期间，它翻了船，沉入了七英尺深的水中。

旁白 neutral

The pie committee telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recovery truck to salvage the pie dish.

馅饼委员会给当地的一位修车厂老板打电话，他开着一辆救援卡车前来打捞馅饼盘。

旁白 neutral

Shivering in their wet clothes, the teenagers looked on while three men dived repeatedly into the water to locate the dish.

少年们穿着湿衣服颤抖着，看着三名男子反复潜入水中寻找盘子。

旁白 neutral

They had little difficulty in finding it, but hauling it out of the water proved to be a serious problem.

他们找到它几乎没什么困难，但把它从水中拖出来却是个大问题。

旁白 neutral

The sides of the dish were so smooth that it was almost impossible to attach hawsers and chains to the rim without damaging it.

盘子的侧面非常光滑，几乎不可能在不损坏它的情况下将缆绳和链条固定到边缘。

旁白 neutral

Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish and a powerful winch was put into operation.

最终，链条被固定在盘子的一端，一台强大的绞车开始工作。

旁白 neutral

The dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards the canal bank.

盘子浮出水面，被轻轻地拉向运河岸边。

旁白 neutral

For one agonizing moment, the dish was perched precariously on the bank of the canal,

有一刻，盘子摇摇晃晃地栖息在运河岸边，令人心焦，

旁白 neutral

but it suddenly overbalanced and slid back into the water.

但它突然失去平衡，滑回了水中。

旁白 neutral

The men were now obliged to try once more.

男人们现在不得不再次尝试。

旁白 neutral

This time they fixed heavy metal clamps to both sides of the dish so that they could fasten the chains.

这次他们在盘子的两边固定了沉重的金属夹，以便系上链条。

旁白 neutral

The dish now had to be lifted vertically because one edge was resting against the side of the canal.

盘子现在必须垂直吊起，因为一侧正抵着运河的侧面。

旁白 neutral

The winch was again put into operation and one of the men started up the truck.

绞车再次启动，其中一名男子发动了卡车。

旁白 neutral

Several minutes later, the dish was successfully hauled above the surface of the water.

几分钟后，盘子被成功地吊出水面。

旁白 neutral

Water streamed in torrents over its sides with such force that it set up a huge wave in the canal.

水从盘子两侧倾泻而下，力量之大，以至于在运河中掀起了巨浪。

旁白 neutral

There was a danger that the wave would rebound off the other side of the bank and send the dish plunging into the water again.

存在着波浪会从运河对岸反弹回来，再次将盘子冲入水中的危险。

旁白 neutral

By working at tremendous speed, the men managed to get the dish on to dry land before the wave returned.

男人们以惊人的速度工作，在波浪返回之前设法将盘子弄上了岸。