美国学生历史 第15期:新英格兰(2)

 　　45. The Mayflower Compact, 1620. 45．《“五月花”号公约》（1620年）

　　All the passengers on the Mayflower were not Pilgrims. 并非“五月花”号上的所有乘客都是朝圣者，

　　Some of them were servants sent out by the London merchants to work for them. 他们当中有些人是伦敦商人派出去为他们干活的雇佣工，

　　These men said that as they were outside of Virginia, 这些人说，由于他们走出了弗吉尼亚，

　　the leaders of the expedition would have no power over them as soon as they got on land. 探险队的首领在他们登上陆地之后就没有了管束他们的权力。

　　This was true enough, so the Pilgrims drew up and signed a compact 他们说的一点也不假，因此，朝圣者草拟并签订了一个公约，

　　which obliged the signers to obey whatever was decided¹ to be for the public good. 这个公约要求签约者服从所有为公共利益而做出的决定，

　　It gave the chosen leaders power to make the unruly obey their commands. 并授权选出的首领们管制不服从他们命令的人。

　　46. The First Winter at Plymouth. 46．普利茅斯的第一个冬天

　　For nearly a month the Pilgrims explored the shores of Cape² Cod³ Bay. 朝圣者在科德角海湾的探险经历了大约一个月，

　　Finally, on December 21, 1620, a boat party landed on the mainland inside of Plymouth harbor. 最后，在1620年的12月21日，一支小船组成的船队到达普利茅斯港，

　　They decided to found their colony on the shore at that place. About a week later the Mayflower anchored in Plymouth harbor. 他们决心在这个地方的海滨建立殖民地。大约一周后，“五月花”号船在普利茅斯港抛锚。

　　For months the Pilgrims lived on the ship while working parties built the necessary huts on shore. 为了等待工人在海岸上构筑必要的棚屋，朝圣者连续几个月生活在船上，

　　It was in the midst of a cold New England winter. 这时已经是新英格兰冬天最冷的季节。

　　The work was hard and food and clothing were not well suited to the worker's needs. 构筑房屋的工作非常艰难，食物和衣服供给不能满足工人的需要，

　　Before the Mayflower sailed away in the spring one-half of the little band was dead. 在春天“五月花”号离开普利茅斯时，岸上的工人有一半已经死去。

　　47. New Plymouth Colony. 47．新普利茅斯殖民地

　　Of all the Indians who once had lived near Plymouth only one remained. His name was Squanto. 在所有生活在普利茅斯附近的印第安人中只有一个幸存下来，他的名字叫斯匡托。

　　He came to the Pilgrims in the spring. He taught them to grow corn and to dig clams⁴, and thus saved them from starvation. 斯款托春天加入到朝圣者当中，他教朝圣者种植谷物和掏挖蛤肉，这样使得他们免于被饿死。

　　The Pilgrims cared for him most kindly⁵ as long as he lived. 从此，朝圣者悉心照料斯款托，直到他去世。

　　Another and more important Indian also came to Plymouth. He was Massasoit, chief of the strongest Indian tribe near Plymouth. 另一个更为重要的印第安人马萨索易特也来到普利茅斯，他是普利茅斯附近最强大的印第安部族首领，

　　With him the Pilgrims made a treaty which both parties obeyed for more than fifty years. 朝圣者与马萨索易特签订一个协定，双方遵守这个协定达十五年以上。

　　Before long the Pilgrims' life became somewhat easier. 不久之后，朝圣者的生计得到相对的改善，

　　They worked hard to raise food for themselves, they fished off the coasts, and bought furs from the Indians. 他们非常努力，自种自食、出海打渔、向印第安人购买皮货。

　　In these ways they got together enough money to pay back the London merchants. Many of their friends joined them. 这段时间里他们攒够了用以偿还伦敦商人的钱，他们的许多朋友加入他们的队伍，

　　Other towns were settled near by, and Plymouth became the capital of the colony of New Plymouth. 在附近建起了其他城镇，普利茅斯成为新普利茅斯殖民地的首府。

　　But the colony was never very prosperous, and in the end was added to Massachusetts. 但是，这个殖民地从来都没有非常的繁荣，最终它被并入马萨诸塞。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

3 cod   

n.鳕鱼；v.愚弄；哄骗

参考例句：

• They salt down cod for winter use.他们腌鳕鱼留着冬天吃。
• Cod are found in the North Atlantic and the North Sea.北大西洋和北海有鳕鱼。

4 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

5 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。