美国学生历史 第11期:弗吉尼亚和马里兰(1)

 　　Chapter 5 第5章

　　Virginia and Maryland 弗吉尼亚和马里兰
　　31. The Virginia Company, 1606. 31．弗吉尼亚公司（1606年）
　　English people were now beginning to think in earnest of founding colonies. 现在英国人开始认真地思考创建殖民地的事。
　　It was getting harder and harder to earn one's living in England, and it was very difficult to invest one's money in any useful way. 在英国赚钱变得越来越难，很难找到投资赚钱的路子，
　　It followed, from this, that there were many men who were glad to become colonists 1, 因此，有很多人乐于做殖民者，
　　and many persons who were glad to provide money to pay for founding colonies. 也有许多人乐于拿出钱支持创建殖民地，
　　In 1606 the Virginia Company was formed and colonization 2 began on a large scale. 1606年，这些人创建了弗吉尼亚公司，大规模的殖民运动开始了。
　　32. Founding of Jamestown, 1607. 32．詹姆斯敦的创建（1607年）
　　The first colonists sailed for Virginia in December, 1606. They were months on the way and suffered terrible hardships. 1606年，第一批殖民者开往弗吉尼亚，数月航行，他们历尽磨难，
　　At last they reached Chesapeake Bay and James River and settled on a peninsula on the James, about thirty miles from its mouth. 最终到达切萨皮克湾和詹姆斯河，并在詹姆斯河的一座半岛上安营扎寨，这座岛距离河口大约三十英里。
　　Across the little isthmus 3 which connected this peninsula with the mainland they built a strong fence, or stockade 4, to keep the Indians away from their huts. 他们在将这座岛与大陆相连的峡地构筑一道坚固的工事（或者我们可以把它叫做栅栏），用以阻止印第安人的骚扰，
　　Their settlement they named Jamestown. The early colonists of Virginia were not very well fitted for such a work. 他们把自己的聚居地叫做詹姆斯敦。弗吉尼亚的早期殖民者并不适应这里的生活，
　　Some of them were gentlemen who had never labored 5 with their hands; 其中有的人从来没有用双手劳动过，
　　others were poor, idle fellows whose only wish was to do nothing whatever. 有的是穷人和无所事事的懒汉，
　　There were a few energetic men among them as Ratcliffe, Archer 6, and Smith. 也有一些精力旺盛的人，如莱特克里夫、阿切尔和史密斯。
　　But these spent most of their time in exploring the bay and the rivers, in hunting for gold, and in quarreling with one another. 但是，这些人把大部分时间用于到海湾和河流中探险、寻找黄金和彼此争吵。
　　With the summer came fevers, and soon fifty of the one hundred and five original colonists were dead. 夏季热病爆发，很快，最初的一百零五个殖民者当中有五十个死于热病。
　　Then followed a cold, hard winter, and many of those who had not died of fever in the summer, now died of cold. 随着严冬的到来，许多没有死于夏季热病的人死于严寒。
　　The colonists brought little food with them, they were too lazy to plant much corn, and they were able to get only small supplies from the Indians. 殖民者所带的食物很少，他们又懒于种植谷物，他们能够得到的仅仅是来自印第安人的少量供给。
　　Indeed, the early history of Virginia is given mainly to accounts of "starving times." 实际上，弗吉尼亚的早期历史可概括为“饥荒时代”，
　　Of the first thousand colonists not one hundred lived to tell the tale of those early days. 在第一批一千人的殖民者当中不足百人存活下来，幸存者留下的是关于那艰难时势的传说。
　　33. Sir Thomas Dale and Good Order. 33．托马斯·代尔爵士和善政
　　In 1611 Sir Thomas Dale came out as ruler, and he ruled with an iron hand. 1611年，托马斯·代尔爵士作为总督出现了，他实施铁腕统治。
　　If a man refused to work, Dale made a slave of him for three years; if he did not work hard enough, Dale had him soundly whipped. 如果有人不干活，代尔就罚他做三年奴隶；如果有人干活不够卖力，代尔就让人用鞭子狠狠地抽他。
　　But Sir Thomas Dale was not only a severe man; he was also a wise man. Hitherto everything had been in common. 但是，托马斯·代尔爵士不仅是一个严厉的人，还是一个明智的人，至此一切井然有序。
　　Dale now tried the experiment of giving three acres of land to every one of the old planters, and he also allowed them time to work on their own land. 这时候，代尔尝试分给原有殖民者每人三英亩土地，还允许他们在自己的土地上干活。