1. A small boy lay fiat¹ on his stomach in the royal garden of the King of Hawaii. Looking into the water and very excited, young Austin Strong saw shapes of double-tailed goldfish - a recent gift from the Emperor of Japan tO His Oceanic Majesty², King Kalakaua. Austin lowered a bent³ pin attached to a piece of string.

1．一个小男孩趴在在夏威夷国王的皇家花园的地上，小奥斯汀·斯特朗 非常激动地望着水里，因为他看到了形状各异的双尾金鱼，它是日本天皇送 给夏威夷国王陛下卡拉卡瓦的一个新礼物。奥斯汀放下一个细绳系住的弯针。

2. A few minutes later he ran from the park, a royal goldfish flopping⁴ inside the crown⁵ of his straw hat. But on the road he heard a horse and carriage. It stopped. He was caught.

2．几分钟后他从公园里跑出来，一条宝贵的金鱼躺他的草帽壳里。但是， 他听到了路上有马车的声音。马车停下来。他被抓住了。

3. The frightened boy was led to the carriage. In it was King Kalakaua himself. Austin told of his crime. He had stolen the fancy⁶ goldfish.

3，受惊的孩子被领到马车前。在马车里的是卡拉卡瓦国王本人。奥斯汀 承认了自己的罪过，他偷了奇异的金鱼。

4. Austin expected to be shot on the spot. Instead, the king sent a runner for fresh water. Placing the fish in the bowl, he presented it to the boy and took them home. The next day came an envelope with the royal seal. Inside was a letter signed by King Kalakaua giving Austin the right to fish in the royal park for the rest of his life.

4．奥斯汀预料自己会被当场枪毙。然而，国王派了个快腿的人去取来新 鲜水，然后把鱼放在碗里，把它送给了那个男孩并把他们送回家。第二天奥 斯汀收到一件用皇家印记密封的信封。里面是卡拉卡瓦国王签署信，他授予 奥斯汀可以终身在皇家花园钓鱼的权利。

5. Today fish collecting is still an exciting hobby in the United States. More than 20 million Americans own pet fish. Some raise plain or fancy goldfish, some collect fish found nearby. But the majority stock⁷ their tanks with "tropicals" - guppies and gouramies, bettas and angelfish, or others of the more than 150 kinds.

5．在今天的美国，养鱼依然是一种激动人心的爱好。有超过两千万的美 国人拥有自己的观赏鱼。一些人养普通或者奇特的金鱼，  一些人喂养在附近 捕到的鱼。但是，鱼缸中最主要的品种是“热带鱼”——虹鲋和丝足鱼，贝 塔和天使鱼，或者其它什么鱼，超过一百五十种。

6. Fish collectors pay from 19 cents for a guppy to $100 or more for hard-to-breed fish. They subscribe⁹ to such magazines as The Aquarium¹⁰, and join clubs. They also spend more than a million dollars a year for fish, tanks, planes, sand, shells, food and gadgets¹¹ for heating¹² and cleaning aquariums¹³.

6．养鱼爱好者可以为虹//支付19美分，也可能为某种难以繁殖的鱼付一 百多美元。他们订阅诸如“水族馆”这样的杂志，并且加入俱乐部。他们一 年花费超过一百万美元，用于鱼、鱼缸、水草、沙子、贝壳、鱼食，以及用 于加热和清洁养鱼缸的器具。

7. Collecting tropical⁸ fish dates back to World War II in this country. But raising of pet fish goes back to the early days of the Sung Dynasty in China, about 900 A. D., when they were raised in small bottles as house pets.

7．在(美国)这个国家里，收养热带鱼的习惯可以追溯到第二次世界大 战。但是，人们饲养观赏鱼可以追溯到中国宋朝早期，大约公元900年左右。 当时，观赏鱼最为家庭宠物饲养在小瓶子里。

8. They chose a small member of carp family, Carassius auratus, better known as the goldfish. From them they obtained different shaped and colored fish. There developed more than 100 beautiful kinds with such names as Falling Flowers, Seven Stars, Eight Melon Seeds, Piled-up-Gold. As Europeans began to go the Far East in numbers during the 17th century, it happened that they too grew to like the little carp. A jar-full of goldfish was then taken on a long sea trip back to London in 1665. By the late 18th century the fish were widely popular in England and soon the goldfish bowl was seen in many homes.

8．人们选择了鲤鱼族的一个小成员，CARASSIUS AURATUS，如同金鱼 一样很早就被人所熟知了。从它开始，久而久之，人们获得了种种不同外形 和色彩的观赏鱼。观赏鱼种类扩展到一百个美丽的品种，它们有着带着奇特 的名字：落花、七星、八颗瓜子、黄金细毛等等。十七世纪，大批的欧洲人 开始去远东，奇怪的是他们也开始喜欢这种小鲤鱼。于是在1665年，一个装 满了金鱼的坛子经过漫长的海上旅行被带回到伦敦。到18世纪晚期，在英国 喂养这种金鱼已经很流行，在许多家庭都能看到金鱼碗。

9. In 1853 the world's first public aquarium - The Regent's Park Fish House - was opened. So far, home aquarium contained only goldfish or other local plant life. Then from the Amazon and the Congo, from Pacific Island and West Indian reefs¹⁴, scientists began to send home hundreds of strange, beautiful fish. Many of them have become popular pets. They are called tropicals.

9，1853年，世界第一个公共水族馆：REGENT公园观赏鱼之家开放了。 不过，到此时为止，家庭的水族馆仍然仅仅喂养金鱼和其它本地产水生植物之后，科学家们带给水族馆数以百计奇特而美丽的鱼，它们来自世界各地： 从亚马孙河到刚果，从太平洋岛到西印度暗礁。它们之中的许多品种已经成 为流行宠物。人们叫它热带鱼。

10. Today a busy aquarium store may sell up to $20,000 worth of fish in a good year. The most sold are still tropicals, especially guppies, swordtails and millies, which people like because of their bright colors and because they provide the tank with new young fish.

10．如今，一所兴旺的水族商店在好年份中一年可以销掉价值两万美元的 观赏鱼。大部分卖出的依然是热带鱼，尤其是虹//，剑尾鱼和米莉。人们喜欢这些鱼的明亮颜色，而且它们能给水族馆提供新的年轻的生命。

11. Some hobbyists often turn to egg-laying types like the angel-fish, the striped¹⁵ zebras, and the neons. Fancy goldfish, too, are collected more now. There is also an interest in sea horses, puffers, clown fish and other salty types with shapes more strange and colors brighter than even the showiest of.fresh-water fish. But there are only a few collectors of this type. It costs $50 or more to set up a good salt water aquarium. The fish themselves cost a lot, too.

11．某些内行人常常喜欢喂养产卵型观赏鱼，像天使鱼、斑纹鱼、和霓虹 脂鲤。奇特的金鱼现在也被更多喂养。甚至某些人对海马、海豚、小丑鱼，以及其它比绚丽的淡水鱼外形更加奇特、颜色更加耀眼的海水鱼特别感兴趣。 但是这种类型的养鱼人很少。毕竟建立一个好的海水水族馆至少要花50美元。 购买观赏鱼本身的花费也相当大。

12. The appeal of collecting fish seems to be one which will last. An aquarium is a picture window of the underwater world. A piece of the universe where great things happen - birth, life and death; mating and feeding before our eyes.

12．喂养观赏鱼的风气似乎会持续下去。一个水族馆就是水底世界的一面窗户，—块发生种种伟大事件的宇宙，出生、生存和死亡，交配和哺育皆在人们眼前。

13. The swift¹⁶, bright fish of this world have a great beauty. Millions continue to regard them as a very fine sight.

13．这个世界的敏捷和明亮的观赏鱼有着奇异的美，而千千万万的人们将继续视它们为—道美丽的风景。