CHAPTER II.

IN WHICH THE EARLY LIFE OF THIS MAN COLUMBUS IS INQUIRED INTO—DISAPPOINTED PARENTS—THE BANE OF GENIUS—“POOH-POOH!”—CONVINCING ARGUMENTS.

Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa in Italy, a country chiefly famous for its talented organ-grinders. The youthful Christopher soon made the melancholy² discovery that he had no talent in that direction. His tastes then rather took a scientific turn. This was a sad blow to his fond parents, who did hope their son would take a turn at the hurdy-gurdy instead.

His aged³ father pointed¹ out that Science 19was low and unprofitable, Geology was a humbug⁴, Meteorology and Madness were synonymous terms, and Astronomy ought to be spelled with two S’s.

In vain his doting⁵ mother gently sought to woo him to loftier aims, and, in the fondness of a mother’s love, even presented him with a toy barrel-organ which played three bars of “Turn, sinner, turn,” in the hope that it might change the whole current of his life; but the undutiful child immediately traded it off to another boy for a bamboo fishing rod, out of which he constructed a telescope, and he used to lie upon his back for hours, far, far into the night, catching⁶ cold and scouring⁷ the heavens with this crude invention. One night his sorrow-stricken parents found him thus, and they knew from that moment that all was lost!
20

EARLY AQUATIC⁸ TENDENCIES EVINCED BY COLUMBUS.

21Our hero took to the water naturally very early in life. Let the youth of America remember this. Let the youth of every land who contemplate⁹ discovering new worlds remember that strong drink is fatal to the discovery business; for it is our candid¹⁰ opinion, that, had Christopher Columbus taken to, say strong coffee in his very earliest infancy¹¹, the chances are that America would never have had a Centennial, and these pages had never been written. Two circumstances which the stoutest¹² heart among us cannot for a moment contemplate without a shudder¹³.

When Columbus reached man’s estate he became a hard student, and spent the most of his time in his library,
“Reading books that never mortal
Ever dared to read before.”
22

Columbus Among His Books.

23His mind, consequently, soared beyond the pale of mere¹⁴ existing facts and circumstances, and sought to fold its eager pinions¹⁵ on lofty roosting places yet undiscovered.

And thus it was, that, after revolving¹⁶ the matter in his mind for forty years or more, Columbus arrived at the conclusion that the earth was round, not flat, (as was the popular belief at that time,) and boldly said so in round terms. People called him a lunatic, an original character, and other harsh names, and otherwise pooh-pooh’d the idea.

But Columbus not only adhered to his theory, but went so far as to assert that by sailing due west from Europe you would, if you kept on sailing, bring up somewhere in eastern Asia.
24

“Oh, come now, Christopher! really, this 25is going to far!” is what public opinion said, and when our hero petitioned the Italian Congress to fit out an expedition and let him prove his theory, it magnanimously offered to set him up in business with a first-class barrel-organ and an educated monkey cashier on condition of his leaving the country once for all; but Columbus, expressing his regret for his lack of musical ability, declined this generous offer and turned with a sigh to other governments for assistance. Finally, after fifteen years of effort, he succeeded in convincing Queen Isabella of Spain that there was an undiscovered country beyond the seas, overflowing¹⁷ with milk and honey, which it would be worth while to “work up.” He proved his theory with the aid of an egg, (which he made stand on end,) 26an old Boston City Directory, and a ground plan of Philadelphia, (see school books,) and demonstrated to the good lady’s entire satisfaction that she might realize largely by fitting out an expedition and let him at its head go and discover it.

So conclusive¹⁸ were these arguments to the mind of Queen Isabella that the good old soul allowed him to fit out an expedition at his own expense, and gave him carte blanche to discover America as much as he wanted to. We have seen how well he succeeded. All this took place three hundred and eighty-three years, four months, and five days ago, but it seems to us but yesterday.

Ah! how time flies!

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 humbug   

n.花招，谎话，欺骗

参考例句：

• I know my words can seem to him nothing but utter humbug.我知道，我说的话在他看来不过是彻头彻尾的慌言。
• All their fine words are nothing but humbug.他们的一切花言巧语都是骗人的。

5 doting   

adj.溺爱的，宠爱的

参考例句：

• His doting parents bought him his first racing bike at 13.宠爱他的父母在他13岁时就给他买了第一辆竞速自行车。
• The doting husband catered to his wife's every wish.这位宠爱妻子的丈夫总是高度满足太太的各项要求。

6 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

7 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

8 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

9 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

10 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

11 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

12 stoutest   

粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的

参考例句：

• The screams of the wounded and dying were something to instil fear into the stoutest heart. 受伤者垂死者的尖叫，令最勇敢的人都胆战心惊。

13 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

15 pinions   

v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These four pinions act as bridges between the side gears. 这四组小齿轮起到连接侧方齿轮组的桥梁作用。 来自互联网
• Tough the sword hidden among pinions may wound you. 虽然那藏在羽翼中间的剑刃也许会伤毁你们。 来自互联网

16 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

17 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

18 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。