Who Was Johnny Appleseed 苹果核约翰尼 Chapter 1 Young Johnny

It was September 26, 1774, in Leominster, Massachusetts. Colonists¹ were just beginning to pick newly ripened² apples from their trees. Nathaniel and Elizabeth Chapman were celebrating. Their first son was born that day. They named him John, but someday he would be better known as Johnny Appleseed.

Johnny also had a sister named Elizabeth. She was four years old. The family was poor and lived in a small house they rented from relatives. Though Johnny’s father did farming and carpentry work, he wasn’t very successful.


Shortly before Johnny was born, his father had taken on yet a third job. At that time, many colonists wanted to go to war against England. They hoped to break away and form a new country. Like many of these patriots³, Johnny’s father became a minuteman. Minutemen promised to defend the thirteen colonies from English troops at a minute’s notice.

When Johnny was less than a year old, his father was called to duty. He helped fight the English at the battle of Bunker Hill.

By the spring of 1776, his father was marching with George Washington’s army. That July, the Declaration⁴ of Independence was signed. The colonies were fighting for independence from England in the Revolutionary War.

That same year, before Johnny’s second birthday, something terrible happened. His mother and newborn brother died. Johnny was probably too young to understand what was going on, but he no doubt missed his mother. Since their father was still in the army, Johnny and his sister went to live with their grandparents.

At the age of five, Johnny got a new stepmother. His father married a woman named Lucy Cooley and left the army. The family of four moved to the nearby town of Longmeadow.

Ten more children were born into the Chapman family over the following years. Imagine such a big family living in one small farmhouse⁵!

To get some peace and quiet, Johnny spent much of his time outside. The Connecticut River flowed near his house and a forest grew nearby.

Johnny felt more at home outdoors than he did in the overcrowded farmhouse. In the woods, he could be as free as the Native Americans and woodsmen that roamed⁶ the frontier.

There was a school in Longmeadow, which Johnny attended for a few years. There he learned to write in a handwriting style called “round hand.” He learned to love books, as he would for the rest of his life.

Boys could get jobs to earn money at age fourteen. Johnny probably learned how to grow apples by working in an apple orchard⁷ when he was a teenager. His interest in apples began to blossom⁸.


THE BOSTON TEA PARTY

TODAY, AMERICANS DRINK MORE COFFEE THAN TEA. BUT IN JOHNNY APPLESEED’S TIME, IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND. TEA WAS MORE POPULAR. SO THE COLONISTS GOT REALLY MAD WHEN THE ENGLISH GOVERNMENT PUT A TAX ON IT.

BEGINNING IN 1765, ENGLAND SAID COLONISTS HAD TO PAY TAXES ON IMPORTED GLASS, LEAD, PAINT, PAPER, AND TEA. COLONISTS DIDN’T WANT TO BE TAXED IF THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED ANY SAY IN MAKING LAWS. THEY DID EVERYTHING THEY COULD TO AVOID PAYING THE TAXES. ON DECEMBER 16, 1773, A GROUP OF COLONISTS DECIDED⁹ TO PROTEST THE TEA TAX IN A BIG WAY. DISGUISED¹⁰ AS MEMBERS OF THE MOHAWK TRIBE¹¹, THEY SNEAKED¹² ONTO SHIPS DOCKED¹³ IN BOSTON HARBOR. THE SHIPS WERE LOADED WITH 342 BOXES OF TEA. MANY COLONISTS LIKED TEA SO MUCH THAT THEY HAD A HARD TIME DOING WITHOUT IT. TO STOP ANYONE FROM BUYING THE TEA, THESE MEN TOSSED¹⁴ IT OVERBOARD.

THIS PROTEST BECAME KNOWN AS THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. IT HAPPENED JUST FIFTY MILES FROM LEOMINSTER, WHERE JOHNNY WAS BORN NINE MONTHS LATER.

A PIONEER SCHOOL

SOME CHILDREN IN THE FRONTIER DIDN’T GO TO SCHOOL AND NEVER LEARNED TO READ OR WRITE. OTHERS WERE TAUGHT AT HOME BY THEIR PARENTS. IF AN AREA HAD A SCHOOL, THE SCHOOLHOUSE WAS USUALLY ONLY ONE ROOM IN WHICH STUDENTS OF ALL AGES WERE TAUGHT READING, WRITING, AND MATH.

STUDENTS USUALLY HAD TO BRING THEIR OWN BOOKS, CALLED PRIMERS, READERS, OR SPELLERS. NOAH WEBSTER’S AMERICAN SPELLING BOOK, PUBLISHED IN 1783, CONTAINED LISTS OF VOCABULARY WORDS AND STORIES THAT TAUGHT GOOD BEHAVIOR.

IF THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH PRIMERS, STUDENTS LEARNED FROM A HORNBOOK. A HORNBOOK WAS A WOODEN PADDLE THAT HELD A PIECE OF PAPER ON EACH SIDE. A SEE-THROUGH SHEET OF ANIMAL HORN COVERED THE PAPERS, WHICH WERE PRINTED WITH LESSONS. THIS PROTECTED THEM SO THEY COULD BE STUDIED OVER AND OVER.

THE TEACHER MADE PENS FOR STUDENTS OUT OF GOOSE FEATHERS. ONE END OF THE FEATHER WAS SHARPENED WITH A KNIFE AND DIPPED IN INK FOR WRITING. IT COULD TAKE TWO HOURS TO MAKE ENOUGH PENS FOR THE WHOLE CLASS. PIONEERS MADE THEIR OWN INK BY MIXING INK POWDER, VINEGAR, AND WATER.

1 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ripened   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They're collecting the ripened reddish berries. 他们正采集熟了的淡红草莓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The branches bent low with ripened fruits. 成熟的果实压弯了树枝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

4 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

5 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

6 roamed   

随便走( roam的过去式和过去分词 )； 漫步； 眼睛或手 （缓慢地）扫遍； 摸遍

参考例句：

• The lovers roamed around the fields in complete forgetfulness of time. 这对情侣漫步于田野，完全忘记了时间。
• They roamed about in the park. 他们在公园里漫步。

7 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

8 blossom   

n.花，开花；vi.开花，发展

参考例句：

• The blossom on the trees looks lovely in springtime.春天树上的花很漂亮。
• Let a hundred flowers blossom,let a hundred schools of thought contend.百花齐放，百家争鸣。

9 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。

10 disguised   

v.假扮( disguise的过去式和过去分词 )；化装；伪装；掩盖

参考例句：

• The hijackers were heavily disguised. 劫持者伪装得严严实实。
• The chieftain of that country is disguised as a benefactor this time. 那个国家的首领这一次伪装出一副施恩者的姿态。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tribe   

n.部落，种族，一伙人

参考例句：

• This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
• Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。

12 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

13 docked   

（使）船停靠码头( dock的过去式和过去分词 )； （使宇宙飞船在外层空间）对接； 减少； 扣除

参考例句：

• He docked her pocket money until the debt was paid off. 他削减了她的零用钱，直到还清了债务。
• They docked him of the pleasures of childhood. 他们剥夺了他童年时代的欢乐。

14 tossed   

v.（轻轻或漫不经心地）扔( toss的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）摇荡；摇匀；（为…）掷硬币决定

参考例句：

• I tossed the book aside and got up. 我把书丢在一边，站了起来。
• He angrily tossed his tools and would work no longer. 他怒气冲冲地扔下工具不肯再干了。 来自《简明英汉词典》