詹姆斯.瓦特与茶壶

A little Scotch boy was sitting in his grandmother's kitchen. He was watching the red flames in the wide open fireplace and quietly worndering about the causes of things. Indeed, he was always wondering and always wanting to know.

"Grandma," he presently asked, "what makes the fire burn?"

This was not the first time he had puzzled his grandmother with questions that she could not answer. So she went on with her preparations for supper and paid no heed1 to his query2.

Above the fire an old-fashioned teakettle was hanging. The water within it was beginning to bubble3. A thin cloud of steam was rising from the spout4. Soon the lid5 began to rattle6 and shake. The hot vapor puffed7 out at a furious rate. Yet when the lad peeped under the lid he could see nothing.

"Grandma, what is in the teakettle?" he asked.

"Water, my child -- nothing but water."

"But I know there is something else. There is something in there that lifts the lid and makes it rattle."

The grandmother laughed. "Oh, that is only steam," she said. "You can see it coming out of the spout and puffing up under the lid."

"But you said there was nothing but water in the kettle. How did the steam get under the lid?"

"Why, my dear, it comes out of the hot water. The hot water makes it." The grandmother was beginning to feel puzzled.

The lad lifted the lid and peeped inside again. He could see nothing but the bubbling water. The steam was not visible until after it was fairly out of the kettle.

"How queer8!" he said. "The steam must be very strong to lift the heavy iron lid. Grandma, how much water did you put into the kettle?"

"About a quart, Jamie."

"Well, if the steam from so little water is so strong, why would not the steam from a great deal of water be a great deal stronger? Why couldn't it be made to lift a much greater weight? Why couldn't it be made to turn wheels?"

The grandmother made no reply. These questions of Jamie's were more puzzling than profitable, she thought. She went about her work silently, and Jamie sat still in his place and studied the teakettle.

How to understand the power that is in steam, and how to make it do other things than rattle the lids of teakettles -- that was the problem which James Watt, the inquisitive9 Scotch boy, set himself to solve. Day after day he thought about it, and evening after evening he sat by his grandmother's fireside and watched the thin, white vapor come out of the teakettle and lose itself in the yawning10 black throat of the chimney. The idea grew with him as he grew into manhood, and by long study he began to reason upon it to some purpose.

"There is a wonderful power in steam," he said to himself. "There was never a giant who had so much strength. If we only knew how to harness11 that power, there is no end to the things it might do for us. It would not only lift weights, but it would turn all kinds of machinery. It would draw our wagons, it would push our ships, it would plow and sow, and it would spin12 and weave. For thousands of years men have been working alongside of this power, never dreaming that it might be made their servant. But how can this be done? That is the question."

He tried one experiment after another. He failed again and again, but from each failure he learned something new. Men laughed at him. "How ridiculous," they said, "to think that steam can be made to run machinery!"

But James Watt persevered13, and in the end was able to give to the world the first successful form of the steam engine. Thus, from the study of so simple a thing as a common teakettle, the most useful of all modern inventions was finally produced.

一个名叫詹姆斯・瓦特的苏格兰小男孩坐在祖母的厨房里,他望着大壁炉里火红的火焰,默默地思索着一些事情。确实,他总是有疑惑,又总是想要知道事情的究竟。

一会儿,他问到:“奶奶,是什么东西让炉火燃烧的?”

奶奶被他提出的问题所难倒已经不是第一次了。因此,奶奶继续准备晚餐,并不理会瓦特提出的疑问。

一只老式茶壶悬吊在火炉上方,茶壶里的水开始沸腾,壶嘴冒出淡淡的云雾般的蒸汽。不一会儿,壶盖便开始掀动起来,发出格格的响声。接着,热气猛烈地喷出来。然而,当瓦特仔细窥看壶盖下面时,却什么也没看见。

“奶奶,茶壶里装的是什么呀?”他问道。

“当然是水呀,孩子――没有别的东西。”

“但是我知道一定还有别的东西,里面有东西把壶盖顶起来了,而且它让壶盖格格作响。”

奶奶笑了起来,说:“啊!那是蒸汽。你可以看见蒸汽从壶口冒出来,还在壶盖底下噗吱噗吱作响呢。”

“但是,您刚才说壶里只有水,没有别的东西。那么,壶盖底下的蒸汽又是打哪儿来的呢?”

“嗳,亲爱的,它是从热水里出来的。热水产生蒸汽。”奶奶开始说不清楚了。

男孩拎起壶盖,再一次向壶里窥探,只见壶里的水在噗噗地冒着气泡,其他什么也没发现。蒸汽也只有在完全离开茶壶以后才看得见。

“好奇怪啊!”他说:“蒸汽要顶起这样重的铁壶盖,力量一定很不小。奶奶,您在壶里装了多少水呢?”

“大约一夸脱(一夸脱约为0.95升),杰米(瓦特的昵称)。”

“噢,如果这么一点点水产生的蒸汽力量就有那么大,那么很多水产生的蒸汽力量不就大得多了吗?为什么不可以使蒸汽顶起比这重得多的东西呢?为什么不可以使蒸汽转动轮子呢?”

奶奶没有回答。她认为杰米的这些问题不仅毫无用处,还令人难以回答。她默默地继续干自己的活,而杰米仍一动不动地坐在老地方研究着装开水的茶壶。

如何去理解蒸汽的这种力量?如何利用这种力量做其他事情,而不是把茶壶盖顶起来,格格作响――这是这个名叫詹姆斯・瓦特的苏格兰小男孩决心解决的问题。一天又一天过去了,瓦特一直思考着这个问题;一个个夜晚过去了,他一直坐在奶奶火炉旁边,看着又白又薄的蒸汽从茶壶里冒出来,缓缓升到黑色的烟囱里。年复一年,瓦特成年了,这个想法也一直伴随着他的成长。经过长期不懈的研究,瓦特能够解释其中的原因了。

“蒸汽具有一种奇妙的力量,”瓦特自言自语:“从来没有哪个巨人拥有如此巨大的力量。如果我们知道如何利用这种力量,那么它将为我们做很多事情,不仅可以将重物抬起来,而且能够带动各种机械运转起来。它能够牵引马车前进、推动轮船前行、帮助耕地播种、编织缝纫。几千年来,这种力量一直与人类共存着,可人类从来没有梦想过将这种力量变成为自己服务的仆人。但是,如何才能利用这种力量实现这样的梦想呢?这才是问题所在。”

瓦特不断地进行实验,一次又一次地失败。但是,他从每一个失败中吸取教训。人们嘲笑他,说到:“看啊!这是多么荒唐可笑的事情!居然认为蒸汽可以让机器运转!”

然而,詹姆斯・瓦特并未因此气馁,一直坚持不懈做实验。最终,他成功发明了世界上第一台蒸汽机。就这样,从对诸如普通茶壶这样简单的小东西的研究开始,他最终研制出了所有现明中最有用的一项发明。

注释

1. heed n.注意,留意

2. query n.质问,询问,疑问

3. bubble vi.起泡n.泡沫,幻想的计划

4. spout n.喷管,喷口,管口

5. lid n.盖子vt.给……盖盖子

6. rattle v.发出卡嗒卡嗒声

7. puff v.喷出,(使)膨胀

8. queer adj.奇怪的

9. inquisitive adj.好奇的

10. yawning adj.张着大嘴的,打哈欠的

11. harness vt.利用(河流、瀑布等)产生动力(尤指电力)

12. spin v.旋转,纺,纺纱

13. persevere v.坚持