He traveled more than 40,000 kilometers through 22 countries in 1933. He later designed and built an airplane that was also a car.
他在1933年旅行超过四万公里，经过二十二个国家。后来他设计和制造了一架可以飞行的汽车。
VOICE ONE:
This is Faith Lapidus
.我是Faith Lapidus
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about an unusual man who traveled alone around the world. He was an inventor and a filmmaker. He wrote a best-selling book. He was a poet, an artist and an airplane pilot. His name was Robert Edison Fulton, Junior.
我是美国之音自然探索栏目的 Steve Ember 。今天我们谈谈一个不寻常的人，他独自环游了世界。他是个发明家也是电影摄制者。他写出了畅销书，他是个诗人，艺术家，也是飞行员。他的名字是Robert Edison Fulton, Junior。
He was named for two of America's most famous inventors, Robert Fulton and Thomas Edison. We begin his story at a dinner party in London, England, in nineteen thirty-two.他被命名为两位最著名的发明家之一Robert Fulton and Thomas Edison.我们从1932年伦敦的一次晚餐开始讲他的故事。
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VOICE ONE:
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior was twenty-four years old. He had graduated from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had recently completed advanced studies in building design at the University of Vienna in Austria. He was on his way back to the United States when he stopped to visit friends in London. At a dinner party at his friends' house, a young woman asked him if he would be sailing home soon. 那时Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 24岁。他毕业于马萨诸塞州的剑桥的哈佛大学。他刚从奥地利的维也纳大学完成建筑设计专业的深造。他在回美国的路上访问伦敦的朋友。在他朋友家里的晚餐聚会上，一位年轻的女士问他是否会很快乘船回家。
He answered: "No, I am going around the world on a motorcycle." Robert Fulton would say for the rest of his life that he had no idea why he said such a thing. 他回答：不，我会骑摩托环游世界。Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 后来说他不知道当时为什么要那样说。
Another man at the party said such a trip would be a great idea. And he said he owned the Douglas Motor Works Company. He offered Robert Fulton a new Douglas motorcycle to use on his trip. 聚会上的一位男士说这样的旅行是个好主意，他说他有一家道格拉斯摩托公司。他为Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 提供了一辆摩托供他旅行。
Many years later, Mister Fulton said this dinner party was the beginning of an eighteen month adventure. His trip would extend over more than forty thousand kilometers and include twenty-two countries. 很多年以后，Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 说这次晚餐是十八个月探险的开始。他的旅行延伸到四万公里，穿越二十二个国家。
VOICE TWO:
Within a few days of the dinner party, Robert Fulton began his preparations. He started collecting maps of the different countries he might visit. In nineteen thirty-two, maps of some countries were difficult to find. 晚餐后数天内，Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 开始了他的准备工作。他收集了可能访问的国家的地图。1932年，一些国家的地图很难找到。
The Douglas company added special equipment to a new motorcycle. This included a second gasoline tank. Mister Fulton would learn that he could ride about five hundred sixty kilometers without needing more fuel. 道格拉斯公司为新摩托加上了特殊装备。包括第二个油箱。Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 了解到在不加油的情况下他可以行驶大约五百六十公里。
Two common automobile tires were fitted to the motorcycle. This would make it easier to find new tires or repair the two he had. And the company made a special box to hold tools and a motion picture camera and film. Robert Fulton decided to make a movie about his trip.两个普通汽车轮胎被安装在摩托车上。可以很容易的找到新轮胎或修补原有的两个。公司制作了一个特殊的箱子来装工具和电影摄影机及胶卷。Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 想要拍一部关于他的旅行的电影。
VOICE ONE:
A few weeks later, Robert Fulton found himself riding his new motorcycle out of London. He rode to the port of Dover. He crossed the English Channel on a ship. 几周后，Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 骑着新摩托走出伦敦。他骑到多佛港口。乘船越过英吉利海峡。
Robert Fulton said the first part of the trip was not exciting. He had traveled in much of Europe before.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 说他旅行的第一部分不令人兴奋。他去过欧洲很多地方。
The only new thing was the motorcycle. He quickly rode through France, Germany and Austria. He also passed through Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece. Each time, it took several hours to get permission to cross the border. Often, border police thought he must be insane. Some said they would permit him to cross, but not his motorcycle. But each time, Mister Fulton was able to talk his way across the border. 唯一的新鲜东西是摩托。他很快的穿过法国，德国和奥地利。也穿过南斯拉夫，保加利亚和希腊。每次都要花数个小时得到通过边境的许可。边界警察经常认为他是个疯子。一些人说他们会允许他通过，但他的摩托不行。但每次他都能想办法通过边境。
VOICE TWO:
Robert Fulton spoke English, French and German. Soon, these languages did not help him. But he always seemed to be able to communicate with almost everyone. He was a nice-looking, friendly young man. People liked him almost immediately. Many people offered him help when they learned what he was trying to do. Police in small towns often let him sleep in the town jail at night.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 会说英语，法语和德语。很快，这些语言就不能再帮他了。但他好像总是能和所有人交流。他是个帅气的友好的年轻人。人们几乎会马上喜欢他。很多人知道他要干的事后都给他帮助。小城镇的警察经常让他晚上睡在拘留所里。
In time, he reached Damascus, Syria. His next stop would be Baghdad, Iraq. He quickly learned he would have to cross almost eight hundred kilometers of the great Syrian Desert. Officials told him it would be impossible with a motorcycle. Other people said it could be done. 他及时到达了叙利亚的大马士革。下一站是伊拉克的巴格达。他很快知道他将要穿越约八百公里的叙利亚沙漠。官员们告诉他骑摩托穿越是不可能的。也有人说可以做到。
Robert Fulton decided to find out for himself. He loaded the motorcycle with extra cans of fuel and water and began his trip across the desert. Syrians called this desert "the Blue." This was because all you could see was the very blue sky and the very hot sun.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 决定自己来找出答案。他在车上装上备用罐装燃料和水，然后开始穿越沙漠。叙利亚人称这个沙漠为蓝天。因为你能看到的只有很蓝的天和很热的太阳。
He rode sixteen kilometers on the road out of Damascus. Then he saw a sign showing the way toward Baghdad. It was here that the road ended. In front of him was the great desert. Robert Fulton was alone for most of the trip. He worried about his motorcycle. If the engine failed, he could die of lack of water before anyone could find him. He could fall off and break a leg or arm. The severe heat could kill him. But the motorcycle did not fail him. He survived the fierce heat. He arrived safely in Baghdad.他离开大马士革后行驶了十六公里，然后他看见巴格达的路牌。这里是路的尽头。在他面前是大沙漠。在旅行中多数时间他是一个人。他担心他的摩托。如果引擎坏了，他会在别人找到他之前因为缺水而死掉。他可能摔倒，摔断腿或胳膊。炎热会杀了他。但他的摩托没辜负他。他在炎热中幸存下来。他安全抵达巴格达。
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VOICE ONE:
Robert Fulton successfully completed his trip. He traveled through what are now Afghanistan, India, Vietnam, China, Malaysia and Japan. He crossed the Pacific Ocean on a ship, and arrived in San Francisco. From there, he rode his motorcycle home to New York City. He arrived one day before Christmas, nineteen thirty-three.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 成功的完成旅行。他穿越了阿富汗，印度，越南，中国，马来西亚和日本。他乘船越过太平洋，到达旧金山。从这里他骑车回到纽约的家。在1933年圣诞的前一天他到家了。
When he began his trip, Mister Fulton said he wanted to study buildings and monuments because that is what he had studied in school. He later wrote that he became much more interested in the people he met. He said race or religion did not make a difference. The people were almost always very friendly. He said many people in small villages did not trust him because he was a stranger. But almost everyone tried to help him when they found out that he was riding around the world.在他开始旅行的时候，他想研究建筑和纪念碑因为那是他在学校学的专业。后来他写道，他慢慢对遇到的人更感兴趣了。他说种族和宗教没有使人变得不同。人们总是很友好，很多小村庄的人不相信他，因为他是陌生人。但是在他们知道他要环游世界时几乎每个人都会帮助他。
In nineteen thirty-seven, Robert Fulton wrote a book about his trip. He called it "One Man Caravan." It included many photographs of buildings he had seen. Some were very beautiful. They included religious buildings in Malaysia and old military forts in India. 1937年，Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 写了一本关于他的旅行的书。他称之为“一个人的旅行团”包含很多他看到的建筑的照片。一些很漂亮。包括一些马来西亚的宗教建筑和印度的古老的军事堡垒。
But Robert Fulton liked the photographs of people's faces best. The photos showed people in their native dress, working, playing and examining his motorcycle.但他最喜欢的是人们的面孔。照片上的人穿着民族服装，工作，嬉戏，看他的摩托车。
"One Man Caravan" still sells well today. People can order it from bookstores. The movie he made of the trip is called "Twice Upon a Caravan." People can also order it from some bookstores.一个人的旅行团现在仍然畅销。人们可以在书店买到。记录他旅行的电影叫做Twice Upon a Caravan（这个不知道怎么译）人们也可以在一些书店买到。
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VOICE TWO:
Robert Fulton would be considered an unusual man if this long trip was all he did. It was a dangerous thing to do. Some experts said he was lucky to survive. But the trip was only a small part of his long and interesting life. Later, he became a professional photographer for Pan American World Airways. He taught himself to be a pilot.
Twice Upon a Caravan如果只是做了这些人们会认为他是个不寻常的人。那是很危险的事。专家说能活着回来他很幸运。但旅行只是他有趣的生命的一小部分。后来，他成为泛美航空的专业摄影师，他自学了飞行。
During World War Two, he designed a machine used to train military aircraft crews to fire guns at enemy aircraft. Both the United States Army Air Corps and Navy bought many of these machines.在二战期间，他设计了一种训练战机人员向敌机开火的机器。美国空军和海军买了很多这种机器。
VOICE ONE:
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Robert Edison Fulton with his Airphibian at a public exhibition in New York City in 1998 |
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Another invention earned Robert Fulton a special place in aviation history. He designed and built an airplane that was also a car. It flew like any other aircraft. But when it landed, the pilot could take off the wings and propeller and drive it like any other car. He called this invention the Airphibian. 另一项发明为Robert Fulton 在航空史上赢得一个特殊位置。他设计和制造了一架可以飞行的汽车。它像其他飞机一样飞。但着陆后，飞行员可以收起机翼和螺旋桨像其他汽车一样驾驶。他称之为陆空两用机。
In nineteen fifty, Robert Fulton flew his Airphibian to National Airport in Washington, D.C. Then he drove the car from the airport to the headquarters of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. There he was given the legal documents needed to produce the vehicle.1950年，Robert Fulton 驾驶他的陆空两用机到达华盛顿的国际机场。然后驾驶这辆车到民用航空局的总部。在那里他获得了制造这种装置的法律文件。
But it was not a success. The costs to develop the Airphibian were too high. Now, the Smithsonian Institution owns the only remaining example of Mister Fulton's unusual invention. 但是这不是成功。制造陆空两用机的费用太高。现在只有史密森学会拥有Robert Fulton不同寻常的发明的 唯一的样品。
VOICE TWO:
Robert Fulton owned more than seventy legal documents that protected his inventions. Among these was a special wheelchair that helped people enter passenger airplanes. He also invented the Skyhook, an air rescue system that involved an airplane and a large helium balloon.
Robert Fulton 有超过七十个专利。其中之一是帮助人们登机的特殊轮椅。他还发明了探空气球，一种包括一架小飞机和一个大氦气球的空中援助系统。
The Skyhook was an emergency device designed to rescue people in areas that were hard to reach, such as spies in enemy territory. This device was used in the spy movie "Thunderball" about British secret agent James Bond.探空气球是一种营救在难以到达的地方的人的紧急装置，比如身处敌对国的间谍。这种装置曾应用于关于英国间谍007的电影“铁金刚勇斗魔鬼党”中。
VOICE ONE:
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior died at his home in Newtown, Connecticut at the age of ninety-five on May seventh, two thousand-four. He did not own a copy of his flying car. He no longer had many of the inventions he had made. However, he did own a motorcycle. It was the same special motorcycle made by the Douglas Motor Works so many years ago. He had had it rebuilt to look new.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 2004年五月七日在康涅狄格州的纽镇家中去世，享年九十五岁。他没有他的陆空两用车的复制品，他制造的很多发明他都没有，然而，他拥有那辆摩托车。就是很多年前道格拉斯公司制造的那辆。他把它整修一新。
Robert Fulton could never give up his Douglas motorcycle. It was a part of him.
Robert Edison Fulton, Junior 永远不会放弃他的道格拉斯摩托，那是他生命的一部分。
He once said the year and a half he spent traveling around the world was the experience that changed his life. He said it gave him the courage to try many things and succeed. It was an experience that began with a few simple words: "I am going around the world on a motorcycle."他曾说过，他花在环球旅行的一年半时间是改变他生命的经历。他说那给了他勇气做很多事，他成功了。那是由一句简单的话开始的：我 要 骑摩托 环游 世界.
[此贴被系统于2009-1-16 20:00:24编辑过]
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