Who owned the pie and why?

Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything. Insuringpublic or private property is a standard practice in most countries in theworld. If, however, you were holding an open air garden party or a fete it wouldbe equally possible to insure yourself in the event of bad weather. Needless tosay, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium youwill have to pay. It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made aclaim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship. But the claim made by a localauthority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely beunique.

Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was 18 feet long and six feetwide. It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie couldbe baked for an annual fair. The pie committee decided that the best way totransport the dish would be by canal, so they insured it for the trip. Shortlyafter it was launched, the pie committee went to a local inn to celebrate. Atthe same time, a number of teenagers climbed on to the dish and held a littleparty of their own. Dancing proved to be more than the dish could bear, forduring the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of water.

The pie committee telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recoverytruck to salvage the pie dish. Shivering in their wet clothes, the teenagerslooked on while three men dived repeatedly into the water to locate the dish.They had little difficulty in finding it, but hauling it out of the water provedto be a serious problem. The sides of the dish were so smooth that it was almostimpossible to attach hawsers and chains to the rim without damaging it.Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish and a powerful winch was putinto operation. The dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards thecanal bank. For one agonizing moment, the dish was perched precariously on thebank of the canal, but it suddenly overbalanced and slid back into the water.The men were now obliged to try once more. This time they fixed heavy metalclamps to both sides of the dish so that they could fasten the chains. The dishnow had to be lifted vertically because one edge was resting against the side ofthe canal. The winch was again put into operation and one of the men started upthe truck. Several minutes later, the dish was successfully hauled above thesurface of the water. Water streamed in torrents over its sides with such forcethat it set up a huge wave in the canal. There was a danger that the wave wouldrebound off the other side of the bank and send the dish plunging into the wateragain. By working at tremendous speed, the men managed to get the dish on to dryland before the wave returned.

New words and expressions 生词与短语

admittedly

adv. 公认地

purchase

v. 买

annual

adj. 一年一度的

teenager

n. (13至19岁的)青少年

capsize

v. (船)翻

shiver

v. 打颤，发抖

dive

v. (头向下)跳水

haul

v. 拖曳

hawser

n. 粗缆绳新概念英语复读机

rim

n. (圆形物品的)外沿，边

winch

n. 绞车

agonizing

adj. 精神紧张的，提心吊胆的

perch

v. 处于(高处)

precariously

adv. 危险地，不稳固地

overbalance

v. 失去平衡

clamp

n. 夹钳，夹板

vertically

adv. 垂直地

torrent

n. 激流，洪流

rebound

v. 弹回

本文参考译文

保险公司一般说来愿意承保一切东西。承办公共财产或私人财产保险是世界上大部分国家的正常业务。如果你要举办一次露天游园会或盛宴，为避免碰上不好的天气而遭受损失也同样可以保险，不用说，保险公司承担风险越大，你付的保险费也就越高。航运公司为打捞沉船而提出索赔，这是常有的事，但某地当局为打捞一只焙制馅饼的盘子提出索赔，倒是件新鲜的事儿。

这个馅饼盘子确实少见，有18英尺长，6英尺宽。某地方当局买下它用来焙制一个巨大的馅饼为一年一度交易会助兴。馅饼委员会确认运输这只盘子的最佳方案是通过运河水运。于是，他们对这只盘子的运输安全投了保。盘子下水后不久，馅饼委员会成员们来到当地一家小酒店庆贺。就在这个时候，许多十几岁的孩子爬盘子举行他们自己的集会。他们跳起了舞，盘子难以承受。舞会进行过程中，盘子倾覆，沉入了7英尺深的水中。

馅饼委员会给当地汽车修理库老板打电话，他闻讯后开着一辆急修车前来打捞盘子。那些孩子们穿着湿衣服哆嗦，看着3个工人轮潜入水中以确定盘子的位置。他们没费多大事儿就找到了盘子。可是把盘子捞出却是一个很大的难题。盘子四边十分光滑，要在盘边拴上绳索或链条而同时又不损坏它是很难办到的。不过，他们终于将链条固定在盘子的一端，一台大功率的绞车开动起来。盘子慢慢浮出水面，被轻轻地拽向运河岸边。在令人忐忑不安的瞬间，盘子晃晃悠悠地上了岸，但它突然失去了平衡，又跌回水中。工人们只得再来一次。这次，他们用沉重的金属夹子把盘子夹住，以便往盘子上安装铁链。这次，盘子必须垂直吊出水面，因为盘子的一边紧靠着运河河岸。绞盘机再次启动，一位工人发动了急修车的引擎。几分钟后，盘子被成功地拽出了水面。波浪从盘子两侧急涌而出，在运河里掀起一股大浪。但是当波浪从河对岸折回来时，就有再次把盘子拖进水里的危险。工人们动作迅速，终于赶在那股大浪返回之前把盘子拽到了岸上。

(兼职编辑：张博)