---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/27-the-vasa.md
description: 新概念英语第四册：The "Vasa" “。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 27 · “瓦萨”号

### 第1段

From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden, the story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea. For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956. This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.
King Gustavus Adolphus, "The Northern Hurricane", then at the height of his military success in the Thirty Years' War, had dictated her measurements and armament. Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon. She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden.
As she was prepared for her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628, Stockholm was in a ferment. From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind. They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art; she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship. The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs; and zoomorphic animal shapes ablaze with red and gold and blue, symbols of courage, power, and cruelty, were portrayed to stir the imaginations of the superstitious sailors of the day.
Then the cannons of the anchored warships thundered a salute to which the Vasa fired in reply. As she emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke with the water churned to foam beneath her bow, her flags flying, pennants waving, sails filling in their breeze, and the red and gold of her super structure ablaze with colour, she presented a more majestic spectacle than Stockholmers had ever seen before. All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them.
As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strange movement, listing to port. The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon to be heaved to starboard to counteract the list, but the steepening angle of the decks increased. Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on the shore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side of the steeply listing ship. The lower gun-ports were now below water and the inrush sealed the ship's fate. In that first glorious hour, the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the Baltic, sank with all flags flying—in the harbour of her birth.

中文理解：十七世纪瑞典帝国留下的航海故事中，一艘大帆船在一六二八年首航刚开始便沉没的经历，想必是最离奇的故事之一。它在斯德哥尔摩港底躺了将近三个半世纪，直到一九五六年才被发现。这就是“瓦萨”号，庞大帝国舰队的皇家旗舰。
当时，被称为“北方飓风”的古斯塔夫·阿道夫国王，正处在三十年战争中军事成就的巅峰。船的尺寸和武器配备，都是他亲自定下的。三层火炮甲板上装着六十四门青铜炮。这艘船原本要在瑞典日益增长的国力中发挥主导作用。
一六二八年八月十日，“瓦萨”号准备首航，斯德哥尔摩全城沸腾。人们在斯开普斯布隆码头和周围岛屿上，望着这艘美丽的大船开始张帆迎风。人们辛苦了三年，才造出这件漂浮的艺术品；它的雕刻之精美、装饰之华丽，超过此前的任何船只。高高的艉楼上，神灵、恶魔、骑士、国王、武士、美人鱼和小天使的雕像令人目不暇接；各种兽形图案以鲜艳的红、金、蓝色呈现，象征勇气、力量和残酷，用来激发当时那些迷信的水手的想象。
这时，停泊的战舰鸣炮致礼，“瓦萨”号也开炮回应。它从飘散的炮烟中驶出，船首下的水搅成白沫，舰旗飞扬，长旒飘动，风帆鼓满，船上建筑的红色与金色灿烂夺目。这是斯德哥尔摩人从未见过的雄伟景象。所有炮门都敞着，炮口从中探出，显得气势汹汹。
风渐渐大起来，突然又刮来一阵狂风。大船奇怪地晃动了一下，向左舷倾斜。军械官命令把左舷所有大炮搬到右舷，以抵消倾斜，但甲板还是越倾越厉害。货物、压舱物、弹药和四百个人一齐滑落、撞向左舷，岸上的人听到了雷鸣般的轰响。下层炮门此时已没入水中，涌入的海水决定了大船的命运。这艘本要称雄波罗的海的“瓦萨”号，就在首航最辉煌的第一个小时里，旗帜仍在飘扬，却沉没在自己诞生的港口。

* **maiden voyage**：首航；maiden表示第一次，主要用于船或飞行器旅程。

* **at the bottom of**：在……底部；at the bottom of a bag / list，与 at the top of 对照。

* **royal flagship**：皇家旗舰；undefined

* **at the height of**：在……巅峰；既可说成功顶峰，也可说危机最严重时。

* **play a leading role**：发挥主导作用；角色可指作用，不只表演角色。

* **growing might**：日益增强的实力；undefined

* **in a ferment**：群情沸腾；较文学化，可日常改为be full of excitement。

* **spread her sails**：张开船帆；undefined

* **work of art**：艺术品；work表示一件作品时可数，与工作不同。

* **stir the imaginations**：激发想象力；stir可说唤起情感或想象，不总是搅拌。

* **anchored warships**：停泊的战舰；undefined

* **in reply**：作为回应；to引出所回应的信号或话语。

* **flags flying**：旗帜飘扬；undefined

* **majestic spectacle**：雄伟景象；spectacle可指引人注目景象，语境决定褒贬。

* **a sudden squall**：突然的狂风；undefined

* **listing to port**：向左舷倾斜；port是左舷，不是这里的港口；starboard是右舷。

* **to counteract**：以抵消；counteract直接接被抵消的影响。

* **sealed the ship's fate**：决定了船的毁灭结局；通常说结局已无可挽回，不是密封命运。

* **with all flags flying**：所有旗帜仍在飘扬；undefined

* **in the harbour**：在港口里；undefined

#### From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden, the story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.

复合句，主句主系表结构，其中包含一个 that 引导的定语从句修饰 galleon.

#### For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom of Stockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956.

简单句，主谓结构，其中有一些状语.

#### This was the Vasa, royal flagship of the great imperial fleet.

简单句，royal…fleet 是同位语，这个同位语的结构含有一个 of…fleet 作 flagship 的定语.

#### King Gustavus Adolphus, "The Northern Hurricane", then at the height of his military success in the Thirty Years' War, had dictated her measurements and armament.

简单句，主谓宾结构.

30 年战争：17 世纪1618-1648 年，充满着宗教色彩的多国混战，基督新教和天主教产生了激烈的冲突. 关于宗教的分支，随着西方文明史的发展，宗教也越来越细，倒更像是随着人类生活的变化，而反映人们新的精神需求. 关于宗教话题，可以阅读马克斯·韦伯的《新教伦理与资本主义精神》.

#### Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon.

简单句，主谓宾结构.

#### She was intended to play a leading role in the growing might of Sweden.

简单句，主谓宾结构，这里是被动语态，大帆船是被寄予厚望，要去起主导作用的.

#### As she was prepared for her maiden voyage on August 10, 1628, Stockholm was in a ferment.

复合句，主句为主系表结构，而 as 引导了时间状语从句，为主谓宾结构，as 在这里表示“当……时、随着……”，突出两个情景同时展开；when 也能引出时间关系，不能按中文“在……时／当……时”来机械区分两者。

#### From the Skeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty begin to spread her sails and catch the wind.

简单句，from 带了个地点状语，后面主句是主谓宾+宾补的结构，感官动词 watch 后面的 begin 是不带 to 的不定式，作宾语补足语，就 this thing 来作补充说明.

#### They had laboured for three years to produce this floating work of art; she was more richly carved and ornamented than any previous ship.

并列句，以分号相连，均为主谓结构. to produce…art 目的状语.

分号后面另起一句，被动语态，还原是 sb. carved and ornamented her.

最后是 than 引导的比较状语.

#### The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods, demons, knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs; and zoomorphic animal shapes ablaze with red and gold and blue, symbols of courage, power, and cruelty, were portrayed to stir the imaginations of the superstitious sailors of the day.

并列句，分号前是典型的主系表结构，没有难点，需要注意 stern，船尾，教材翻译漏掉了.

后面这句是一个难句，教材翻译错误. 这里是 shapes 和 symbols 这两个同层次的名词作主语，主谓结构. 这里其实在 symbols 前面加一个 and 会显得较为合理，但因为分号后面已经用了一个 and 了，这里两个名词主语就干脆用逗号隔开，免得太长了. 不要把 symbols of…cruelty 理解成同位语，不是这样用的.

#### Then the cannons of the anchored warships thundered a salute to which the Vasa fired in reply.

复合句，主句是主谓宾结构，后面跟 to which 作介词宾语所引导的定语从句，为主谓宾结构，修饰 salute.

#### As she emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke with the water churned to foam beneath her bow, her flags flying, pennants waving, sails filling in their breeze, and the red and gold of her super structure ablaze with colour, she presented a more majestic spectacle than Stockholmers had ever seen before.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，主句中含有一个 than 引导的比较状语从句，为主谓 结构.

as 引导了时间状语从句，只不过该从句中包含了数个独立主格结构. 这些伴随结构可按“with + 名词 + 分词或形容词短语”理解：with the water churned…、her flags flying…、pennants waving…、sails filling…，以及 the red and gold…ablaze with colour。后几项可以看成承接首项 with 的并列补充。with 结构内部使用非谓语或形容词，不能一面保留 with，一面再插入 was/were 构成所谓“还原”；若改成完整分句，才需要同时去掉 with 并补上系动词或助动词。 with 所带的独立主格有较多的形式，建议阅读语法书籍非谓语动词的内容，可以视为状语，这样比较好理解. 这里是 with+n.+(v-ed./v-ing./adj.)，如教材中所说，在这里作方式状语.

#### All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them.

并列句，以 and 连接，前句为主系表结构，后句为主谓结构.

#### As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strange movement, listing to port.

并列复合句，主句为 there be 句型的延伸，there come，后句由 and 连接，是主谓宾结构.

as…freshened 引导时间状语从句，为主谓结构.

listing to port 作结果状语，把风吹而导致倾斜写清楚了，用法上倒是伴随状语的用法，对于状语的具体名称可以淡化，目的是了解清楚句子所表达的意思.

#### The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon to be heaved to starboard to counteract the list, but the steepening angle of the decks increased.

but 连接的两个并列句，前句是主谓宾宾补，后面 to…list 是目的状语.

后句是主谓结构.

#### Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on the shore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashing down to the port side of the steeply listing ship.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，后面是时间状语从句，as 状语从句中，to the port side 作状语，表 went 的方向，go + -ing 在这里描写货物等滑落、轰然跌下的运动过程，sliding 和 crashing 是现在分词形式，不是作名词使用的动名词；went 承担过去时，并与这些分词共同构成动作描写，否则可改写为 cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people slid and crashed down...

#### The lower gun-ports were now below water and the inrush sealed the ship's fate.

and 引导的并列句，前句主系表，后句主谓宾.

#### In that first glorious hour, the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the Baltic, sank with all flags flying—in the harbour of her birth.

复合句，which 引导的定语从句修饰 vasa，这里像是讽刺，把造船时的壮志雄心与出师未捷放到一起对比.

with all flags flying 独立主格结构，上段讲过该结构了，这里是 with+n.+(v-ed./v-ing./adj.)的 v-ing 的形式，同样是作状语. 理解成方式状语或者伴随状语都可以，体现出战舰连同着飘扬的彩旗一起沉入了海底. “当一艘船沉入海底”，这种出师未捷的失落感就反衬出来了.

破折号后面是地点状语，强调尚未启航，还在港口.

## 学完这一课

先交代一个反常结局，再用定语从句压缩背景。

[Nce · 本册复习台](/new-concept/book-4/review) · [三册选择地图](/new-concept/)

*译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第108—112页，2022年2月第2版。*