美国学生历史 第49期:《独立宣言》和法国联盟(2)

 　　148.The Army at Valley Forge¹, 1777~78. 148．福吉谷的部队（1777~1778年）

　　The sufferings of the soldiers during the following winter can never be overstated. 在接下来的冬季士兵们遭受的苦难令人难以想象，

　　They seldom had more than half enough to eat. 他们很少能够吃到半饱，

　　Their clothes were in rags. Many of them had no blankets. Many more had no shoes. 衣衫褴褛，多数人没有毛毯，更多的人没有鞋子。

　　Washington did all he could do for them. 华盛顿竭尽全力为士兵改善生活条件，

　　But Congress² had no money and could not get any. 但大陆议会没有钱也不可能筹到钱。在福吉谷，

　　At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron³ Steuben, a Prussian veteran⁴. 普鲁士老兵巴伦·斯图本负责训练士兵，

　　The army took the field in 1778, weak in numbers and poorly clad. 1778年这支军队上阵，他们不仅人数少，而且衣着单薄，

　　But what soldiers there were as good as any soldiers to be found anywhere in the world. 但他们拥有与世界上最优秀士兵一样棒的斗志。

　　During that winter, also, an attempt was made to dismiss⁵ Washington from chief command, and to give his place to General Gates. But this attempt ended in failure. 而其，在那个冬季，大陆议会还尝试将华盛顿撤下来，将总司令的位子交给盖茨将军，但是这一尝试终未成行。

　　149.Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777. 149．伯格恩远征萨拉托加（1777年）

　　While Howe was marching to Philadelphia, General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada. 在豪威将军远征费城的同时，伯格恩将军从加拿大向南进发，

　　It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howe should seize the line of the Hudson and cut New England off from the other states. 最初的设想是伯格恩和豪威夺取哈得孙河航线并切断新英格兰与其他各州的联系，

　　But the orders reached Howe too late, and he went southward to Philadelphia. 但是，豪威将军接到这些命令时已经太迟了，

　　Burgoyne, on his part, was fairly successful at first, for the Americans abandoned post after post. 于是，他向南攻打费城。伯格恩这边开始时获得不少胜利，因为美军连续放弃了多个据点，

　　But when he reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, and started on his march to the Hudson, his troubles began. 但是，当他到达尚普兰湖南端并开始征讨哈得孙河时，他的麻烦就来了。

　　The way ran through a wilderness⁶. 这条路要通过一片荒野，

　　General Schuyler had trees cut down across its woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about a day to march a mile and a half. 斯凯勒将军曾经派人在丛林中伐树挡住林区的那些路，他的努力非常有效，伯格恩的大军每天大约只可以前进1.5英里。

　　This gave the Americans time to gather from all quarters and bar his southward way. 这给美国人以时间使得他们能够从四面赶来阻止伯格恩大军南下。

　　But many of the soldiers had no faith in Schuyler and Congress gave the command to General Horatio Gates. 但是，多数士兵不忠于斯凯勒，国会将他的位子交给霍雷肖·盖茨将军。

　　150.Bennington, 1777. 150．本宁顿（1777年）

　　Burgoyne had with him many cavalrymen. But they had no horses. The army, too, was sadly in need of food. 伯格恩有许多骑兵，但他们没有马，而且他们与陆军一样急需粮食，

　　So Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern Vermont to seize horses and food. 因此，伯格恩派出一支没有马的骑兵到佛蒙特南部的本宁顿夺取马匹和食物。

　　It happened, however, that General Stark⁷, with soldiers from New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts, was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed. They killed or captured⁸ all the British soldiers. 然而，碰巧斯塔克将军比伯格恩估计的还要靠近本宁顿。斯塔克带着从新罕布什尔、佛蒙特和马萨诸塞西部招募来的士兵，杀死或俘虏所有的英国士兵，

　　They then drove back with great loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one. 他们然后以沉重代价击退伯格恩派来的增援部队。

1 forge   

v.使形成，与...建立密切联系，伪造，假冒

参考例句：

• Everything new comes from the forge of hard and bitter struggle.一切新东西都是从艰苦斗争中锻炼出来的。
• Difficulties help to forge people into able folk.困难有助于把人们锻炼成能干的人。

2 Congress   

n.(代表)大会；(C-:美国等国的)国会，议会

参考例句：

• There were some days to wait before the Congress.大会的召开还有几天时间。
• After 18 years in Congress,he intented to return to private life.在国会供职18年后，他打算告老还乡。

3 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

4 veteran   

n.老兵；经验丰富的人，老手

参考例句：

• My grandfather is a veteran of the Second World War.我祖父是二战时的老兵。
• We often asked the veteran workers for advice.我们常常向老工人求教。

5 dismiss   

v.解雇，开除；把（某人）打发走；解散

参考例句：

• The committee has decided to dismiss him.委员会已决定辞退他。
• Please dismiss all doubts about it. 请打消对此事的一切顾虑。

6 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

7 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

8 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。