Sutter's Mill

Sutter's Mill

    

    In the Spring of Forty-seven,
    So the story, it is told,
    Old John Sutter went to the mill site
    Found a piece of shining gold.
    Well, he took it to the city
    Where the word, like wildfire, spread.
    And old John Sutter soon came to wish he’d
    Left that stone in the river bed.
    For they came like herds¹ of locusts
    Every woman, child and man
    In their lumbering² Conestogas
    They left their tracks upon the land.
     (Chorus)
     Some would fail and some would prosper
     Some would die and some would kill
     Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
     And some would curse John Sutter’s Mill.
    Well, they came from New York City,
    And they came from Alabam’
    With their dreams of finding fortunes
    In this wild unsettled land.
    Well, some fell prey³ to hostile arrows
    As they tried to cross the plains.
    And some were lost in the Rocky Mountains
    With their hands froze to the reins⁴.
    Oh...
     (Chorus)
    Well, some pushed on to California
    And others stopped to take their rest.
    And by the Spring of Eighteen-sixty
    They had opened up the west.
    And then the railroad came behind them
    And the land was plowed⁵ and tamed,
    When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker,
    He’d not one penny to his name.
    Oh...
     (Chorus)
    And some would curse John Sutter’s Mill
    Some men’s thirsts are never filled.

1 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

2 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

5 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句