英语沙龙：布赖斯峡谷

The Bryce Canyon¹

Situated² in Utah State，the Bryce Can yon is one of the National Parks in the United States of America，of which many stories were told，here is one of them．

Before there were any lndians，the Legend People lived in that place，there were many of them．They were of many kinds－－birds，animals，lizards，and such things－－but they looked like people．．．For some reason，the Legend People in that place were b ad．Because they were bad，Coyote turned them all into rocks．You can see them in that place now；all turned into rocks；some standing³ in rows，some sitting down，some holding on to others．You can see their faces，with paint on them just as they were before they became rocks．．．This is the story the people tell．The Paiute Indian legend of Bryce Canyon as told by Indian Dick．To the Paiutes，Bryce Canyon was one thing．But to Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce，the badlands of the Canyon that now bears his name were simply“a helluva place to lose a cow．”

In 1875 Ebenezer Bryce was 45 years old．By that time，he had already served as a shipyard apprentice，a carpenter，a millwright，a sawmill operator，an architect，and a Mormon pioneer in Utah．He'd also emigrated from Scotland，survived a cholera⁴ epidemic⁵ in St．Louis，and found time to raise a large family．

Ebenezer traded his home in Pine Valley，Utah，for some livestock⁶ and moved to the warmer climate of the upper Paria Valley，hoping that his wife's health would improve．Water wasn't where he needed it，so he dug ditches to bring it from the Paria River to his farm near the present town of Tropic．To get timber and fire wood from the forest along“the breaks”of the plateau to his farm，he built a road．Among the residents who used the road，the canyon became known as Bryce's Canyon．

Bryce left the valley in 1880 and moved to Arizona．Perhaps the climate was not warm enough，or perhaps he just tired of searching for strays among the bewildering labyrinth⁷ of rocks．But he left the valley a little more habitable than when he came，and he left the canyon with the name it still bears．

布赖斯峡谷

布赖斯峡谷是美国的一个国家公园，位于犹他州境内。关于这个峡谷，有许多传说，其中有这样一段故事。

在印第安人来到这片土地之前，这里居住着许多各式各样的神话人物，如鸟、兽、蜥蜴等等，它们的形状全都像人一样……。出于某种原因，神话人物都很坏，于是草原狼把它们全部变成了石头。你现在在那里就可以看到，它们全都成了石头，有的一排排地站着，有的坐在那里，有的互相靠着。你可以看到它们脸上还保留着变成石头以前的原有色彩……，这就是传说中的故事。这是印第安人讲的有关布赖斯峡谷派尤特印第安人的神话。对派尤特人来说，布赖斯峡谷是这么回事，而对现在以其名字命名这片峡谷不毛之地的拓荒者---摩门教徒埃比尼泽·布赖斯来说，这里只不过是“丢失母牛的活地狱”。

1875年，埃比尼泽·布赖斯时年45岁。在此之前，他当过造船厂学徒、木工、水磨匠、锯木厂操作员、建筑师，后来成了犹他地方的摩门教徒拓荒人。他也是从苏格兰移民过来的；在圣路易斯险些丧生于流行的霍乱病，活下来后他得供养他的一大家子人。

埃比尼泽将他在犹他派因山谷的家舍变卖成了一些牲畜，而后全家迁往气候较暖和、地势较高的帕里阿山谷，期待着他妻子的身体能在那里逐渐好起来。在那里，他要水而没有水，于是他挖沟从帕里阿河引水灌溉他的田地，即在现在的特罗匹克镇附近。为了从高原上运送断层两旁森林的木材和木柴，他又修了一条道路。使用这条道路的居民因而就把这个峡谷叫做布赖斯峡谷，于是这个名字就传开了。

布赖斯于1880年离开山谷迁往亚利桑那。也许是由于气候不够暖和，也可能是他厌烦了在迷宫般的石头山中终日烦扰不安地寻找走失的牲畜。不过，他留下的山谷比他来时更适于人居住了，同时也留下了直到现在仍以他姓氏命名的峡谷。

1 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

2 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

5 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

7 labyrinth   

n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路

参考例句：

• He wandered through the labyrinth of the alleyways.他在迷宫似的小巷中闲逛。
• The human mind is a labyrinth.人的心灵是一座迷宫。