Lesson50
In mediaeval times rivers were the veins of the body politic as well as economic. Boundaries between states or shires, they were crossed by fords which became the sites of towns, or by bridges which were often points of battle. Upon rivers the people of that time depended for food, power and transport.
In our day fish are caught in the sea and brought to us by rail and lorry; only the angler still thinks fresh-water fish important, and pollution of rivers drives him into smaller and smaller reaches in which to practise his sport. But in earlier times, when sea fish were eaten only by those who lived on the sea coast, when meat was obtainable only for part of the year, and when fasts were frequent and universally practised, river fish played an important part in the national life. Every abbey and great man's house had its fish pond, and across the rivers great and small stretched the fish weirs, usually made of stakes and nets or basket-work. Between the owners of the fisheries and the bargemaster who needed an unimpeded passage continuous war was fought, till the importance of fresh-water fish lessened as the practice of fasting ceased to be universal, as meat be-came available all the year round, and as the transport of sea fish inland became practicable.
Rivers were also the most important source of power. Every stream had its mills, not only for grinding corn, but for all the other industrial processes of the time, such as fulling* cloth or driving the hammers of ironworks. Placed down the bank wherever a head of water could be got, these mills were to be found on the tiny stream that ran through a village, or on the bigger river that was also used for navigation. An artificial cut was made from the river to bring the water at proper height to the water-wheel, and, in order to make sure of a supply of water at all seasons, the mill-owner usually built a weir across the river to hold back the water and so form an artificial reservoir. If the river were navigable, the centre of such a weir was made of planks held vertically by cross beams so that they could be removed when it was necessary to pass a barge, or was fitted with a single pair of gates. Such weirs were called staunches or flash-locks; they did not disappear from the bigger rivers till present times, and may still be seen in the Fens.
* Cleansing and thickening.
CHARLES HADFIELD British Canals
参考译文
在中世纪，河流是政治和经济实体的命脉，作为州或郡的分界线，河流上的浅滩成为城镇的所在地，横跨河流上的桥梁则是兵家必争之地。那时的人民依靠河流得到食品、动力和交通运输。
在我们这介时代，鱼从海中捕捞，并用火车或卡车运送给我们；只有钓鱼人仍认为淡水鱼很重要，而河流的污染使能供他垂钓的河段越来越少。而在从前，由于海鱼只被生活在海边的人们所食用，而肉类只在一年中的
部分时间里能得到，加上斋戒常见而且群起效尤，致使河鱼在国民生活中起着重要的作用。那时，每个寺院和大人物的府邸都有自家的鱼塘，河上尽是些通常用桩和网或篮子做成的大大小小的鱼梁。鱼场主和需要航道通畅
无阻的驳船主之间冲突不断，直到斋戒不再风行，肉食也全年可得以及海鱼以运入内地，从而淡水鱼不再那么重要为止。
河流还曾是动力的最重要来源。每条河流都有磨房，不但靠它磨谷物，还靠它进行当时所有的其他工业加工，如漂洗布匹或是挥动铁匠铺的锤子。只有有流水，岸边就有磨房，不管是渡过村庄的小溪还是兼做航道的较
大河流都是一样。人们还从河边开沟从高处给水轮引水。为确保四季流水不断，磨房主通常在河上筑堰，形成人造水库以蓄水。如果是通航的河流，这各堰的中央就会被横梁垂直固定的木板制成，以便在驳船通过时移开；
或者是装上两扇门。这种堰被称为栏水堰或泄水闸门；它们直到近代才逐渐消失，有时在剑桥郡和林肯郡的低洼地区还能看到。
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