2014-05-25
【Aiden in English】
The America is one of the greatest countries of all time, which has civilized cultures and advanced technology in the world. It's hard to believe it started as a small village in the middle of a small forest in the present day of Virginia.
In the early 17th century, the people of Jamestown used to be very different from the ones today. Many cared only about making money. Most male villagers went out to find gold instead of hunting. After hard work and concentration, they had loads and loads of …… dirt. It pretty much ended the dreams of gold and wealth. Even worse, the Powhatan Indians, a local Native American tribe, took control of Jamestown. Since the village contained little food, the people went through a time known as the Starving Age. They died of starvation and dehydration due to a drought. The villagers grew desperate and began to eat anything like clothes and grass. Finally, someone went too far and ate women.
The Starving Age didn't come to an end until Chief Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, married John Rolfe, a noble English settler in Jamestown. She convinced the Natives to release Jamestown from their captivity. However, the people still wanted money. Their chance arrived when tobacco was introduced to them by a privateer who raided a Spanish ship. On that ship, there were tobacco seeds which grew tobacco much sweeter than the ones in Jamestown. It ensured Jamestown's survival and a beginning of our country.
【紅霞譯文】
美利堅合眾國可謂有史以來最偉大的國度之一。它既把持世界現代文明,又領導國際先進技術新潮流。可是你萬萬想像不出,這樣一個強國卻從位於弗吉尼亞州境內毫不起眼的小樹林裡足以忽略不計的小村落中發展起來。
十七世紀早期,詹姆士鎮人並不像現在的居民所為,他們一心只想發財,多數男士外出尋找金子而非務農狩獵。日久天長,村子裡面土丘遍野破爛不堪,淘金致富的夢想隨即破滅。更為糟糕的是,當地美洲土著部落波瓦坦印第安人統治詹姆士鎮,由於缺食少糧,並遭遇前所未有的“饑荒”,乾旱促使村民飢餓脫水喪失生命。波瓦坦部落在絕望中掙扎,不得不靠衣服和野草充飢。後面的日子每況愈下,有人甚至失去理性,開始蠶食婦女。
直到波瓦坦部落首領的女兒寶嘉康蒂與移居詹姆士鎮的英國貴族約翰‧羅爾夫結婚,“饑荒”問題才真正得到解決。她說服父老鄉親讓出詹姆士鎮,起先波瓦坦部落還討價還價,堅持要錢;後來因為英國殖民佬海上打劫西班牙商船成功而將截獲的煙草種子留給波瓦坦部落,結果新近移植來的煙草比詹姆士本鎮土生土長的還要香甜,讓波瓦坦部落終於有了賴以生存的物質條件。從此,英國落戶詹姆士鎮,美國的前身開始孕育而生。