Once upon a time there was no tea at all in our country. In England, in the olden time, people used to drink ale, and a sweet kind of wine called mead. Great tankards of ale stood on the breakfast table. Now we use tea and coffee.
When tea was first brought to England, an old man and woman had some sent to them as a great treat. But when they got it, they did not know how it ought to be used. At length they boiled the leaves, and strewed them on a piece of bacon which they were going to have for dinner. They ate the leaves, and threw the tea away!
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在那些日子里,一磅茶花费那么多钱,只有富人能买它。现在是如此便宜,即使是最穷的可以享受它。
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In those days, a pound of tea cost so much money that only the rich could buy it. Now it is so cheap that even the poorest can enjoy it.
Tea is the leaf of a plant which grows plentifully in China, Japan, and other Eastern lands. The Chinese drink their tea without either milk or sugar. Whenever a visitor comes into a house, a servant always brings him a cup of tea.
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每一个佃农在中国有自己的茶园。他只卖不用,因此可以为他的家人买食物和衣服。
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Every cottager in China has his little tea-garden. He sells what he does not use, and can thus buy food and clothing for his family.
When a man has a large piece of ground, and grows a great many tea-plants, he is called a tea farmer. When the tea-leaves are ready to be gathered, the farmer and his family are very busy. They pull off the leaves and throw them into baskets. When the baskets are full, they are carried into the house.
The leaves are dried in iron pans over a fire. While they are drying, men and women keep turning them about. As soon as they begin to crack, they are taken out and spread upon a table. Then the work-people roll them up in their hands, and press all the juice they can out of them.
After being once more dried in the air, the leaves have to go into the pan again over the fire. There they begin to curl and twist; and at last they look as we see them in this country.
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然后农夫挑出最好的叶子,准备拿到市场上去卖。他可能去镇上走卖,胸前的茶挂在他肩上,用竹子制成的筒。
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The farmer then picks out the best leaves, and gets them ready for market. He may be seen marching off to the town, with his chest of tea slung over his shoulder, on a pole made of bamboo.
He goes to a tea merchant and offers the chest of tea for sale. The merchant looks at it, and if he thinks it good he buys it. Then the farmer marches home again, with his money slung over his shoulder. His money consists of a number of strings of brass coins, of so little value that a great many of them make but a small sum.
What was used in England for breakfast before tea and coffee were known? What mistake did an old man and woman make, when tea first came in? What is tea? Where does it come from? What is a man called who grows a great many tea-plants? What is the first thing done with the leaves when they are pulled? What next? and next? How does the grower carry his tea to market? What does he bring back?