瓦斯科·达·伽马

张超

Vasco da Gama was the person who discovered the sea route1 from Portugal to the East Indies.

瓦斯科·达·伽马开辟了从葡萄牙到东印度群岛的海上通道。

In 1469， Vasco da Gama was born in Portugal. His father was an important officer at court2. When he was 20 years old， he was famous as a warrior3 and sailor. At that time， Arabs and Indians controlled the commercial4 activities between the East and the West. In order to get the spices5， precious6 stones and pearls directly， in 1497， da Gama led the fleet to India. They sailed along the west coast of Africa and reached the Cape of Good Hope， then turned north towards northeast. On May 20， 1498， they got to India. In the July， 1499， they returned to Portugal.

1469年瓦斯科·达·伽马出生于葡萄牙。其父是葡萄牙的朝廷显贵。20岁时，达·伽马就成为葡萄牙声名显赫的战士和水手了。那时，东西方的贸易控制在阿拉伯人和印度人手里。为了抢夺香料、宝石、珍珠等，1497年达·伽马带领舰队前往印度。他们沿非洲西海岸南下，到达好望角，然后掉头朝东北方向北上，于1498年5月20日到达印度。1499年7月，他们回到了葡萄牙。

This is the first sea route from Europe to Asia.

这是从欧洲至亚洲的第一条海上航线。