WHO was the Fatherf his Cuntry？ I knw what yu will say：
"Gerge Washingtn."
But there was anther man called The Fatherf His Cuntry befre Washingtn was brn， and he was nt an American.
In the nrtheastf Eurpe and in nrthern Asia， there is a great cuntry twice as large asurwn. Its name is Russia. Very little had been heardf Russia befre the Year 1700， fr althugh it was the largest cuntry in Eurpe， its peple were relatively islated-that is living apart frm the restf Eurpe. The Russians were a branchf the large Ind-Eurpean family called Slavs. Genghis Khan and the Mngls had cnquered Russia in the thirteenth century and ruledver the land. S， althugh the Russians were Christians， they were in sme ways mre like the peplef the East than like Eurpeans. The men had lng beards and wre lng cats. The peple cuntedn an abacus as the Chinese did. Lng after serfdm had ended in Western Eurpe， a great many Russians still were serfs.
Well， just befre 1700 there was brn a Russian prince named Peter. When a small by， Peter was very much afraidf the water. But he felt s ashamed that he， a prince， shuld fear anything that he frced himself t get used t the water. He wuld g t it and play in it and sail batsn it， althugh all the time he was almst scared t death. At last he ntnly gtver this great fear but he came t like the water and bats mre than anyther playthings.
When Peter grew up， the thing he wanted mre than anything else in the wrld was t make his cuntry imprtant in Eurpe， fr befre this time it had nt been. It was big but nt great. He wanted his peple t share the culture and wealth thatther Eurpeans enjyed. But befre he culd teach hiswn peple， mstf whm were very pr and ignrant， he had t learn himself. As there was nne in Russia wh culd teach him what he wanted t knw， he disguised himself as a cmmn labrer and went t the little cuntryf Hlland. Here he gt a jb in a shipbuilding yard and wrked fr several mnths， cking hiswn fd and mending hiswn clthes. While he wasding this， hwever， he learned all abut building ships and studied manyther things besides， such as blacksmithing， cbbling shes， and even pulling teeth.
Then he went t England， and everywhere he went he learned all he culd. At last he returned t hiswn cuntry with the knwledge he had gained and set t wrk t make Russiaver. Firstf all， Peter wanted Russia t have a fleetf ships asther natins had. But inrder t have a fleet， he had t have water fr his ships， and Russia had almst n land brderingn the water. S Peter planned t take a seashre away frm the neighbring cuntryf Sweden.
Nw the kingf Sweden at this time was Charles. He was the twelfth king named Charles that Sweden had had. Charles XII was hardly mre than a by， and Peter thught it wuld be an easy matter t beat this by and help himself t whatever land he wantedn the water. But Charles was nt anrdinary by. He was an extrardinary by， extrardinarily bright and gifted， and he had been unusually well educated besides. He knew several languages； he had learned t ride a hrse when he was fur yearsld and hw t hunt and t fight. Besides all this， he feared neither hardship nr danger. Indeed， he was such a dare- devil that peple called him the Madmanf the Nrth. At first Peter"s army was beaten by Charles.
But Peter tk his beating calmly， simply remarking that Charles wuld sn teach the Russian army hw t win. Indeed， s successful was Charles at first in fighting Peter and allthers wh threatened him that the cuntriesf Eurpe began t thinkf him as Alexander the Great cme t life again， and they feared he might cnquer them all. But at last the Russians did win against Charles， and Peter gt his seashre. Peter then built the fleet fr which he had been wrking and planning fr s many years.
The capitalf Russia was Mscw. It was a beautiful city but near the centerf that cuntry and far frm the water. This didn"t suit Peter at all. Peter wanted a fine city fr his capital， but he wanted it rightn the water"s edge， s that he culd have his belved ships clse t him. He pickedut a spt ntnlyn the water but mstly water， fr it was chiefly a marsh. Then he put a thirdf a millin peple t wrk filling in the marsh， andn this he built a beautiful city. This city he called St. Petersburg in hnrf his patrn saint， the apstle Peter， after whm he himself had been named. The namef St. Petersburg was later changed t Petrgrad and still later t Leningrad； and nw it is again called St. Petersburg. After a revlutin， which yu will read abut later， the capital was mved back t Mscw.
Peter imprved the laws， started schls， and built factries and hspitals and taught his peple arithmetic. He made his peple dress likether Eurpeans. He made the men cutff their lng beards， which he thught lked cuntrified.
73 A Self-Made Man 365
The men thught it indecent t have n beards s sme saved them t be placed in their cffins inrder that at the dayf resurrectin they culd appear befre Gd unashamed. He intrduced all srtsf things that he fund in Eurpe but which were unknwn in hiswn cuntry， and he really made Russiaver int a great Eurpean natin. That is why he is called Peter the Great， the Fatherf his Cuntry.
Peter fell in lve with a pr peasant girl， anrphan named Catherine， and married her. She had n educatin， but she was very sweet and lvely and bright and quick-witted， s the marriage turnedut happily. The Russians were shcked at the ideaf having a queen wh was nt a princess and was s lw- brn. But Peter had her crwned， and after he died she ruledver Russia.
【中文阅读】
谁是国父？ 我知道你会说什么： "乔治 华盛顿。"但是在华盛顿出生之前，还有一个人被称为他那个国家的国父，他不是美国人。
在欧洲东北部及亚洲北部，有个大国面积有美国两倍大。它的名字叫俄国。在 1700 年之前，人们几乎没有听说过俄国，因为尽管它是欧洲最大的国家，但是俄国 人生活比较孤立--和其余的欧洲人分隔开了。俄国人是庞大的印欧语系大家族的 一支，叫做斯拉夫人。13 世纪成吉思汗带领蒙古人征服了俄国，并且统治了这块土 地。所以，尽管俄国人是基督徒，可是在某些方面他们更像东方人，而不像欧洲人。 男人留长胡子，穿长外套。人们像中国人那样用算盘计算。农奴制在西欧被废除后 很久，很多俄国人还是农奴。
好了，就在 17 世纪快要结束的时候，一个名叫彼得的俄国王子出生了。彼得小 时候，非常害怕水。但是身为王子，竟然还会害怕什么东西，他深感羞愧，于是他 强迫自己去适应水。他总是走近水，有时在水里玩，有时在水上驾船航行，尽管他 始终怕得要命。最后，他不仅克服了这种巨大的恐惧，而且还喜爱上了水和船，超 过喜爱其他玩具。
彼得成年后，世界上他最想做的事情是让自己的国家在欧洲成为强国，因为在 此之前，俄国从未强大过。它幅员广大，但并不强盛。他希望他的人民分享到其他 欧洲人所享有的文化和财富。那时候俄国人都很贫穷而愚昧。但是在他能够启蒙教 育自己的人民之前，他自己必须学习。因为在俄国还没有人可以教他所需要的知识， 所以他装扮成一个普通劳工，去了小国荷兰。他在那里一家造船厂找到了一份工作， 干了几个月，自己烧饭、自己补衣服。然而，在这段工作期间，他学会了有关造船 的所有知识，还学会了其他的许多技术，比如打铁、修鞋，甚至拔牙。
然后他去了英国，每到一个地方，他都尽可能地学习各种知识。最后他带着学 到的知识回到了祖国，开始着手改造俄国。首先，彼得希望俄国像其他国家一样拥 有一支舰队。但是要有舰队，他就得让他的船有水域，当时俄国几乎没有土地和海 洋毗邻。所以彼得计划从邻国瑞典夺取一段海岸。
那时瑞典国王是查理，他是瑞典第十二个名叫查理的国王。查理十二世几乎还 是个孩子，彼得觉得打败这个男孩，随意占有他想要的一段海岸是轻而易举的事。 但是查理可不是一般的男孩。他是个非常优秀的男孩，绝顶聪明，具有非凡的天赋， 还受过特别好的教育。他懂好几种语言；四岁时他就学会了骑马，还学会了如何打 猎和作战。除此之外，他还不怕苦难和危险。甚至，他是那样蛮勇大胆，人们都称 他为"北方疯子"。最初彼得的军队被查理击败了。
但是彼得平静地接受了这次失败，只是淡淡地说了一句：查理很快就会教会俄 国军队怎样取胜。确实，最初查理在与彼得和所有其他对他有威胁的人的交战中都 大获全胜，以至于许多欧洲国家开始认为他是亚历山大大帝重生，担心他会把他们 所有国家都征服。但是最后俄国人却真的打败了查理，彼得得到了他想要的海岸。 接着彼得开始组建他筹备多年的舰队。
俄国的都城是莫斯科，那是一座美丽的城市，但是它位于国家的中心附近，离 海洋太远，完全不符合彼得的要求。彼得想要一座美丽的城市做都城，但是他希望 它就在海边，这样他就可以挨着他心爱的船只了。他选了一处不仅在水边，而且其 本身大部分也是水的地方，因为它基本上就是一块沼泽地。然后他让三十多万人填 平了这个沼泽，在上面建造了一座美丽的城市。为了纪念自己的守护神使徒彼得， 他把这座城市命名为圣彼得堡，其实彼得自己也是以使徒彼得的名字命名的。圣彼 得堡这个名字后来更名为彼得格勒，后来又更名为列宁格勒；如今又被称为圣彼得 堡。一场革命以后，都城又迁回莫斯科，你会在后面读到这场革命的。
彼得完善法律，创办学校，建造工厂和医院，还教人民算术。他让人民像其他 欧洲人那样穿着。他要求男人剪掉长胡子，他认为长胡子看上去土里土气。男人们 认为没有胡子有失体统，所以有些人把剪下的胡子保存起来，准备死时放进棺材， 为的是在复活的那一天，他们可以无愧地出现在上帝面前。他把他在欧洲发现的但 是在自己的国家还是未知的各种新事物引进了俄国，他确实把俄国改造成了一个欧 洲强国。这就是为什么他被称为"彼得大帝"和"国父"。
彼得爱上了一个贫穷的农家女孩，名叫凯瑟琳，她是个孤儿。彼得娶她为妻。 她没有受过任何教育，但是她非常温柔可爱、聪明机敏，所以他们婚后生活幸福。 俄国人想到国王有这么一位王后，她既不是公主，出身又如此低微，就感到震惊。 但是彼得为她加冕，而且在他死后由她统治俄国。