Who owned the pie dish and why?
谁拥有馅饼盘，为什么？
Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything.
保险公司通常愿意投保任何东西。
Insuring public or private property is a standard practice in most countries in the world.
为公共或私人财产投保是世界上大多数国家的标准做法。
If, however, you were holding an open air garden party or a fete it would be equally possible to insure yourself in the event of bad weather.
然而，如果你举行一个露天花园聚会或一个节日，同样可以确保自己在恶劣天气的情况下。
Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay.
毋庸置疑，保险公司承担的风险越大，您必须支付的保费就越高。
It is not uncommon to hear that a shipping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship.
听到一家航运公司就打捞沉船的费用提出索赔并不罕见。
But the claim made by a local authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely be unique.
但是，地方当局要求收回打捞沉没的馅饼盘的成本的索赔肯定是独一无二的。
Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was eighteen feet long and six feet wide.
诚然，这是一个不寻常的馅饼盘，因为它是十八英尺长，六英尺宽。
It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie could be baked for an annual fair.
它是由一个地方当局购买的，这样一个巨大的馅饼就可以烤成一年一度的交易会了。
The pie committee decided that the best way to transport the dish would be by canal so they insured it for the trip.
馅饼委员会决定最好的运输方式是通过运河，所以他们为这次旅行投保。
Shortly after it was launched, the pie committee went to a local inn to celebrate
推出后不久，馅饼委员会前往当地一家客栈庆祝
At the same time, a number of teenagers climbed on to the dish and held a little party of their own.
与此同时，一些青少年爬上盘子，举办了一个自己的小派对。
Dancing proved to be more than the dish could bear,
事实证明，跳舞比这道菜所能承受的还要多,
for during the party it capsized and sank in seven feet of water.
因为在聚会期间，它倾复并沉没在七英尺深的水中。
The pie committee telephoned a local garage owner who arrived in a recovery truck to salvage the pie dish.
馅饼委员会打电话给当地的一位车库老板，他开着一辆回收卡车来打捞馅饼盘。
Shivering in their wet clothes, the teenagers looked on while three men dived repeatedly into the water to locate the dish.
十几岁的孩子穿着湿衣服颤抖着看着，三个男人反复潜入水中寻找盘子。
They had little difficulty in finding it, but hauling it out of the water proved to be a serious problem.
他们很难找到它，但把它拖出水面证明是一个严重的问题。
The sides of the dish were so smooth that it was almost impossible to attach hawsers and chains to the rim without damaging it.
盘子的两侧非常光滑，几乎不可能将小贩和链条固定在边缘而不会损坏它。
Eventually chains were fixed to one end of the dish and a powerful winch was put into operation.
最终链条固定在盘子的一端，一个强大的绞车投入运行。
The dish rose to the surface and was gently drawn towards the canal bank.
这道菜浮出水面,轻轻地被拉向运河岸边.
For one agonizing moment, the dish was perched precariously on the bank of the canal,
在一个痛苦的时刻，这道菜摇摇欲坠地停在运河岸边,
but it suddenly overbalanced and slid back into the water.
但它突然过度平衡并滑回水中。
The men were now obliged to try once more.
男人们现在不得不再次尝试。
This time they fixed heavy metal clamps to both sides of the dish so that they could fasten the chains.
这一次，他们将重金属夹具固定在盘子的两侧，以便他们可以固定链条。
The dish now had to be lifted vertically because one edge was resting against the side of the canal.
这道菜现在必须垂直抬起，因为它的一个边缘靠在运河的一侧。
The winch was again put into operation and one of the men started up the truck.
绞车再次投入运行，其中一名男子启动了卡车。
Several minutes later, the dish was successfully hauled above the surface of the water.
几分钟后，盘子被成功地拖到水面上方。
Water streamed in torrents over its sides with such force that it set up a huge wave in the canal.
水以如此强大的力量在运河两侧涌出洪流，在运河中掀起了一股巨浪。
There was a danger that the wave would rebound off the other side of the bank and send the dish plunging into the water again.
有一种危险，那就是海浪会从河岸的另一边反弹，然后把盘子再次掉进水里。
By working at tremendous speed, the men managed to get the dish on to dry land before the wave returned.
通过以极快的速度工作，这些人设法在波浪返回之前将盘子放到干燥的陆地上。
