美国学生历史 第5期:美国的西班牙和法国先驱(2)

 　　14. The Great Plains. 14．大平原

　　Soon, however, a new hope came to the Spaniards, for an Indian told them that far away in the north there really was a golden land. 然而，西班牙人有了新的希望，因为一个印第安人告诉他们远在北方真的有一片黄金之地。

　　Onward¹ rode Coronado and a body of picked men. They crossed vast plains where there were no mountains to guide them. 卡罗纳多选出一支精锐继续前行，他们走在广袤的平原上，未见到一座山。

　　For more than a thousand miles they rode on until they reached eastern Kansas. 他们奔驰一千里最终到达堪萨斯东部，

　　Everywhere they found great herds² of buffaloes⁴, or wild cows, as they called them. 沿途看到成群的水牛，用他们的话说，“成群的野奶牛”。

　　They also met the Indians of the Plains. 他们还遇到平原上的印第安人，

　　Unlike the Indians of the pueblos⁵, these Indians lived in tents made of buffalo³ hides stretched upon poles. 与普韦布洛印第安人不同，这些印第安人生活在水牛皮做成的帐篷中，

　　Everywhere there were plains, buffaloes, and Indians. Nowhere was there gold or silver. 到处都是平原、水牛和印第安人，根本找不到黄金和白银，

　　Broken hearted, Coronado and his men rode southward to their old homes in Mexico. 卡罗纳多和他的同行者伤透了心，他们向南走，返回到他们在墨西哥的老家。

　　15. De Soto in the Southeast, 1539-1543. 15．德·索托在美洲东南部（1539——1543年）

　　In 1539 a Spanish army landed at Tampa Bay, on the western coast of Florida. 1539年，一支西班牙军队在佛罗里达西部海岸的坦帕湾登陆，

　　The leader of this army was De Soto, one of the conquerors⁶ of Peru. 这支军队的首领是德·索托，他曾经参与征服秘鲁，

　　He "was very fond of the sport of killing⁷ Indians" and was also greedy for gold and silver. 此人“非常热衷于杀死印第安人的运动”，并且极度贪婪黄金和白银。

　　From Tampa he marched northward⁸ to South Carolina and then marched southwestward to Mobile Bay. 德·索托从坦帕向北到了南卡罗莱纳，并且径直向西南进军，到达莫比尔海湾。

　　There he had a dreadful time; for the Indians burned his camp and stores and killed many of his men. 在莫比尔海湾他度过了一段可怕的时光，因为印第安人烧了他的军营和给养，并杀死了他的许多士兵。

　　From Mobile he wandered northwestward until he came to a great river. 从莫比尔海湾出发，他向西北征战，直到一条大河挡住去路，

　　It was the Mississippi, and was so wide that a man standing¹⁰ on one bank could not see a man standing on the opposite bank. 这就是密西西比河。这条河流非常宽，一个人站在岸边根本看不到对岸站着的人。

　　Some of De Soto's men penetrated¹¹ westward⁹ nearly to the line of Coronado's march. 德·索托派出一部分士兵向西前进，他们几乎走到了考里纳多的探险路线上，

　　But the two bands did not meet. De Soto died and was buried in the Mississippi. 但是，两股队伍没有汇合，德·索托死去并被埋葬在密西西比。

　　Those of his men who still lived built a few boats and managed to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico. 那些活着的士兵造了一些船，并设法回到西班牙人在墨西哥的聚居地。

　　16. Other Spanish Expeditions. 16．其他西班牙远征队

　　Many other Spanish explorers visited the shores of the United States before 1550. 在1550年前还有许多西班牙探险者到达过美国，

　　Some sailed along the Pacific coast; others sailed along the Atlantic coast. 他们有的是沿着太平洋海岸航行，有的沿着大西洋海岸航行。

　　The Spaniards also made several attempts to found settlements both on the northern shore of the Gulf¹² of Mexico and on Chesapeake Bay. 西班牙人还数次尝试在墨西哥湾北部和切萨皮克海湾找到聚居地，

　　But all these early attempts ended in failure. 但是，所有这些尝试都归于失败。

　　In 1550 there were no Spaniards on the continent within the present limits of the United States, except possibly a few traders and missionaries¹³ in the Southwest. 1550年，除了西南部还有部分西班牙商人和伟教士，美国现有大陆上已经没有西班牙人。

1 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

2 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。

3 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

4 buffaloes   

n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓

参考例句：

• Some medieval towns raced donkeys or buffaloes. 有些中世纪的城市用驴子或水牛竞赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Water buffaloes supply Egypt with more meat than any other domestic animal. 水牛提供给埃及的肉比任何其它动物都要多。 来自辞典例句

5 pueblos   

n.印第安人村庄( pueblo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

6 conquerors   

征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Danes had selfconfidence of conquerors, and their security precautions were casual. 这些丹麦人具有征服者的自信，而且他们的安全防卫也是漫不经心的。
• The conquerors believed in crushing the defeated people into submission, knowing that they could not win their loyalty by the victory. 征服者们知道他们的胜利并不能赢得失败者的忠心，于是就认为只有通过武力才能将他们压服。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 northward   

adv.向北；n.北方的地区

参考例句：

• He pointed his boat northward.他将船驶向北方。
• I would have a chance to head northward quickly.我就很快有机会去北方了。

9 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

10 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。

11 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》