美国学生历史 第12期:弗吉尼亚和马里兰(2)

 　　34. Tobacco-growing and Prosperity. 34．烟草种植与繁荣

　　European people were now beginning to use tobacco. Most of it came from the Spanish colonies. 从此，欧洲人开始吸食烟草，多数烟草由西班牙殖民地而来，
　　Tobacco grew wild in Virginia. But the colonists 1 at first did not know how to dry it and make it fit for smoking. 烟草在弗吉尼亚长得很快，但是，一开始殖民者不知道如何把它们烤干以供抽吸。
　　After a few years they found out how to prepare it. 几年后他们才发现如何做，
　　They now worked with great eagerness and planted tobacco on every spot of cleared land. 之后，他们带着极大的热情投入劳动，在荒芜的土地的每一个角落都种上烟草。
　　Men with money came over from England. They brought many workingmen with them and planted large pieces of ground. 有钱人从英格兰来了，他们带来很多劳力并开垦了大片土地，
　　Soon tobacco became the money of the colony, and the whole life of Virginia turned on its cultivation 2. 很快，烟草变成了殖民地的钱，耕作成为整个弗吉尼亚的主要生活方式，
　　But it was difficult to find enough laborers 4 to do the necessary work. 但是，很难找到足够的劳力来完成那些必须完成的劳动。
　　35. Servants and Slaves. 35．雇佣工和奴隶
　　Most of the laborers were white men and women who were bound to service for terms of years. These were called servants. 多数劳动者是白人，这些男女必须在弗吉尼亚劳动几年的时间，他们被称作雇佣工，
　　Some of them were poor persons who sold their labor 3 to pay for their passage to Virginia. 其中的一部分是穷人，这些穷人出卖自己的劳动以支付去往弗吉尼亚的行程；
　　Others were unfortunate men and women and even children who were stolen from their families and sold to the colonists. 一部分是一些走了霉运的男人和女人，甚至包括从家里偷东西并被卖给殖民者的孩子；
　　Still others were criminals whom King James sent over to the colony because that was the cheapest thing to do with them. 还有一部分人是詹姆斯国王发配过来的罪犯，这是对罪犯最轻的处罚。
　　In 1619 the first negro slaves were brought to Virginia by a Dutch vessel 5. 1619年，一艘荷兰船将第一批黑奴运到弗吉尼亚，
　　The Virginians bought them all—only twenty in number. But the planters preferred white laborers. 弗吉尼亚人买下了全部黑奴——只有二十人。但是，殖民者喜欢白人劳动力。
　　It was not until more that twenty-five years had passed away that the slaves really became numerous enough to make much difference in the life of the colony. 短短二十五年间，奴隶人口迅速增长足以给殖民地生活带来翻天覆地的变化。
　　36. The first American Legislature, 1619. 36．第一个美国立法机构（1619年）
　　The men who first formed the Virginia Company had long since lost interest in it. Other men had taken their places. 随着时间的推移，弗吉尼亚公司的创建者对这个公司失去了兴趣，另有人取代他们在公司中的位置，
　　These latter were mostly Puritans or were the friends and workers with the Puritans. 这些后来者多数是清教徒或者是清教徒的朋友抑或合作者。
　　The best known of them was Sir Edwin Sandys, the playmate of William Brewster—one of the Pilgrim Fathers. 其中最著名的是埃德温·森迪斯爵士，他是朝圣神父威廉·布瑞斯特的玩伴，
　　Sandys and his friends sent Sir George Yeardley to Virginia as governor. 森迪斯和他的朋友派乔治·叶德磊去弗吉尼亚做总督，
　　They ordered him to summon an assembly to be made up of representatives chosen by the freemen of the colony. 他们要求乔治召集一个集会，这个集会的参加者是殖民地上自由人选出的代表，
　　These representatives soon did away with Dale's ferocious 6 regulations, and made other and much milder laws. 这些代表很快就废除了代尔的残酷法规，并制定一些新的、相对温和的法律。
　　37. Virginia becomes a Royal Province, 1624. 37．弗吉尼亚成为王室的一个省（1624年）
　　The Virginians thought this was a very good way to be governed. 弗吉尼亚人认为这是一种好的管理方式，
　　But King James thought that the new rulers of the Virginia Company were much too liberal, and he determined 7 to destroy the company. 但是，詹姆斯国王认为弗吉尼亚公司的这些新规则太过于自由，他决定毁掉这个公司。
　　The judges in those days dared not displease 8 the king for he could turn them out of office at any time. 当时的法官不敢得罪国王，因为国王随时可以撤掉法官。
　　So when he told them to destroy the Virginia charter they took the very first opportunity to declare it to be of no force. 因此，当国王让他们毁掉弗吉尼亚公司时，他们就择机宣布该公司的权力无效。
　　In this way the Virginia Company came to an end, and Virginia became a royal province with a governor appointed by the king. 弗吉尼亚公司以这种方式终结，弗吉尼亚变成了王室的一个省，其总督由国王指派。