第2集 - 早期欧洲探险家的故事

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 第2集 - 早期欧洲探险家的故事

　　Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

　　In the United States, October ninth is observed as Leif Erickson Day. It honors the Norse explorer who sailed around the northeastern coast of what we now call North America about one thousand years ago. Leif Erickson and his crew returned home to Greenland with news of a place he called "Vinland."

　　在美国，10月9号是莱弗·埃里克松日，纪念这位一千年前就曾环绕北美大陆东北沿海的北欧航海家。利夫·埃里克松回到故乡格陵兰岛后报告说，他到了一个叫"vinland"的地方。

　　Following his explorations, a few settlements were built. Experts digging in eastern Canada in the nineteen sixties found the remains of a village with houses like those in Greenland, Iceland and Norway. But the Norse did not establish any permanent settlements in North America.

　　后来，北美大陆上出现过一些定居点。考古专家二十世纪六十年代在加拿大东部发现了一个村庄的遗址，里面的房屋带有格陵兰岛、冰岛和挪威的特征。但是北欧人并没有在北美建立永久性的定居点。

　　Today, as we launch our series from the beginning again, Sarah Long and Rich Kleinfeldt tell the story of early European explorers in North America.

　　下面，让我们一起来听听早期欧洲探险家的故事。

　　（MUSIC）

　　VOICE TWO:

　　About ten hundred, Europe was beginning a period of great change. One reason was the religious wars known as the crusades. These wars were efforts by Europeans who were mainly Roman Catholic Christians. They wanted to force Muslims out of what is now the Middle East. The crusades began at the end of the eleventh century. They continued for about two hundred years.

　　公元一千年前后，欧洲开始巨变，其中一个主要原因就是被称做十字军东征的宗教战争。欧洲的罗马天主教信徒希望把 ... 赶出现在的中东地区。十字军东征是十一世纪末开始的，前后持续大约两百年。

　　The presence of European armies in the Middle East increased trade, which was controlled by busines ... en in Venice and other Italian city-states. The busines ... en were earning large profits by transporting and supplying the warring armies.

　　欧洲军队在中东地区的出现推动了贸易发展。威尼斯等地的意大利商人通过为交战各方运输和提供物资，大发战争财。

　　When the European crusaders returned home, they brought with them some new and useful products. The products included spices, perfumes, silk cloth, steel products and drugs. Such products became highly valued all over Europe. Increased trade resulted which led to the growth of towns. It also created a large number of rich European busines ... en.

　　十字军返回欧洲时，带回了中东地区的香料、香水、丝绸、钢铁和药品，成为欧洲抢手的畅销品。贸易带动了城镇的兴起，也造就了一大批富有的欧洲商人。

　　The European nations were growing. They developed armies and governments. These had to be paid for by taxes from the people. By the fifteenth century, European countries were ready to explore new parts of the world.

　　欧洲国家的力量不断壮大，他们设置了军队和 ... ，靠纳税人缴纳的税款来维持。到十五世纪的时候，欧洲国家已经蠢蠢欲动，做好了外出探险的准备。

　　VOICE ONE:

　　The first explorers were the Portuguese. By fourteen hundred, they wanted to control the Eastern spice trade. European busines ... en did not want to continue paying Venetian and Arab traders for their costly spices. They wanted to set up trade themselves. If they could sail to Asia directly for these products, the resulting trade would bring huge profits.

　　葡萄牙人是最早行动的。1400年的时候，他们就想控制跟东方的香料贸易。欧洲商人想越过威尼斯和 ... 的中间商，直接跟东方做生意。如果他们能直接经海路前往亚洲购买这些商品，就能大大增加盈利。

　　The leader of Portugal's exploration efforts was Prince Henry, a son of King John the first. He was interested in sea travel and exploration. So he became known as Henry the Navigator.

　　葡萄牙的探险努力是国王约翰一世的儿子亨利王子发起的。他酷爱航海和探险，人称航海家亨利。

　　Prince Henry brought experts to his country and studied the sciences involved in exploration. He built an observatory to study the stars. Portuguese sea captains led their ships around the west coast of Africa hoping to find a path to India and East Asia. They finally found the end of the African continent, the area called the Cape of Good Hope.

　　亨利王子在世界各地网罗专家，进行科学研究。他还专门修建了一个天文台，观测星象。葡萄牙的探险家们到过非洲西海岸，希望找到一条通往印度和东亚的路线。他们最后抵达了非洲大陆的最南端--好望角。

　　VOICE TWO:

　　It took the Portuguese only about fifty years to take control of the spice trade. They established trading colonies in Africa, the Persian Gulf, India and China.

　　Improvements in technology helped them succeed. One improvement was a new kind of ship. It could sail more easily through ocean storms and winds.

　　短短50年，葡萄牙就控制了香料贸易，他们在非洲、波斯湾、印度和中国建立了很多贸易殖民地，科技的进步也帮了他们的大忙，包括能够经受风暴的船只、可以远离陆地的指南针等等。

　　Other inventions like the compass permitted them to sail out of sight of land. The Portuguese also armed their ships with modern cannon. They used these weapons to battle Muslim and East Asian traders.

　　葡萄牙人还在船上装备了现代火炮，用来跟 ... 和东亚商人交战。

　　（MUSIC）

　　VOICE ONE:

　　The other European nations would not permit Portugal to control this trade for long, however. Spain's Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand agreed to provide ships, crew and supplies for an exploration by an Italian seaman, Christopher Columbus.

　　然而，其他欧洲国家并不想让葡萄牙人独霸香料贸易。西班牙的伊莎贝拉王后和斐迪南国王同意为意大利航海家哥伦布的探险计划提供船只、船员和供给物资。

　　Columbus thought the shortest way to reach the East was to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean. He was right. But he also was wrong. He believed the world was much ... aller than it is. He did not imagine the existence of other lands and another huge ocean area between Europe and East Asia.

　　哥伦布认为，去东方的捷径是向西穿过大西洋。在这一点上他无疑是正确的。但他同时也犯了一个错误，那就是，他想象中的地球要小得多。他没有想到还有其他大陆，也没想到在欧洲和东亚之间还有另一片汪洋大海。

　　VOICE TWO:

　　Columbus and a crew of eighty-eight men left Spain on August third, fourteen ninety-two, in three ships. On October twelfth, they stood on land again on an island that Columbus named San Salvador.

　　哥伦布1492年8月3号率领着88名船员，驾驶着三艘探险船从西班牙出发了。10月12号，他们抵达了被哥伦布命名为圣萨尔瓦多的地方。

　　He explored it, and the nearby islands of what is now known as Cuba and Hispaniola. He believed they were part of the coast of East Asia, which was called the Indies. He called the people he found there Indians.

　　他对当地包括古巴和伊斯帕尼奥拉在内的岛屿进行了考察，最后认定这是东亚海岸的一部分，并称其为 Indies, 印度群岛，称那里的居民为印第安人。

　　Columbus left about forty men on the island to build a fort from the wood of one of the ships. He returned to Spain with captured natives, birds, plants and gold. Columbus was considered a national hero when he reached Spain in March, fourteen ninety-three.

　　哥伦布在那里留下40个人，让他们用其中一艘船上拆下来的木头建筑一个城堡，他则带着捕获的土著居民，禽鸟、植物和黄金返回了西班牙。他1493年3月回到西班牙时，成了国家英雄。

　　VOICE ONE:

　　Columbus returned across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean area five months later. This time, he had many more men and all the animals and equipment needed to start a colony on Hispaniola. He found that the protective fort built by his men had been destroyed by fire. Columbus did not find any of his men.

　　五个月后，哥伦布再次横穿大西洋，来到加勒比海，他这次不仅带来了更多的人力、还带来了各种动物和设备，要在伊斯帕尼奥拉群岛建立一个殖民地。到了之后才发现，他下令建筑的城堡已经被大火烧光，留下的40个人踪影全无。

　　Seven months later, Columbus sent five ships back to Spain. They carried Indians to be sold as slaves. Columbus also sailed back to Spain leaving behind some settlers who were not happy with conditions.

　　七个月后，哥伦布派五艘船只返回西班牙，并带回一些印第安人，作为奴隶卖掉。哥伦布后来也回到西班牙，留下一些人定居，但是这些人对当地的条件很不满意。

　　Christopher Columbus made another trip in fourteen ninety-eight, with six ships. This time he saw the coast of South America. The settlers were so unhappy with conditions in the new colony, Columbus was sent back to Spain as a prisoner. Spain's rulers pardoned him.

　　1498年，哥伦布再次率领六艘船只踏上了征程。他这次来到了南美洲海岸。但是定居者对新殖民地极度不满，他们把哥伦布作为囚犯送回西班牙，最后还是西班牙的统治者赦免了他。

　　In fifteen-oh-two, Columbus made his final voyage to what some were calling the New World. He stayed on the island of Jamaica until he returned home in fifteen-oh-four.

　　1502年，哥伦布完成了最后一次新大陆的探险。他登上了牙买加岛，后来在1504年返回西班牙。

　　VOICE TWO:

　　During all his trips, Columbus explored islands and waterways, searching for a passage to the Indies. He never found it. He also did not find spices or great amounts of gold. Yet, he always believed that he had found the Indies. He refused to recognize that it was really a new world.

　　在多次探险中，哥伦布不断寻找通往印度群岛的航线，然而，他不仅没有找到这条航线，同时也没有找到黄金和香料。尽管如此，他始终坚信自己找到了印度群岛，拒绝承认他找到的其实是一个新大陆。

　　Evidence of this was all around him -- strange plants that were not known in either Europe or Asia and a different people who did not understand any language spoken in the East.

　　其实，证据都是明摆着的，这里稀奇的植物都是欧洲和亚洲没有的，这里人对东方的语言也是一窍不通。

　　Columbus' voyages, however, opened up the new world. Others later explored all of North America.

　　哥伦布虽然没有找到印度群岛，但他却为后来者打开了通往新世界的大门。

　　VOICE ONE:

　　You may be wondering about the name of this new land. If Christopher Columbus was the first European to attempt to settle the new world, why is it called "America"? The answer lies with the name of an Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci.

　　你也许会觉得奇怪，既然哥伦布是第一个试图在美洲定居的欧洲探险家，这片大陆为什么又叫America呢？其实，美洲是以意大利探险家阿美利哥·韦斯普奇的名字命名的。

　　He visited the coast of South America in fourteen ninety-nine. He wrote stories about his experiences that were widely read in Europe.

　　他1499年到过南美海岸，后来撰写的见闻录在欧洲广为流传。

　　In fifteen-oh-seven, a German mapmaker read Vespucci's stories. He decided that the writer had discovered the new world and suggested that it be called America in his honor. So it was.

　　1507年，一位德国制图家阅读了韦斯普奇的见闻录，认为他发现的是一片新大陆，并建议用他的名字对新大陆进行命名。因此就有了America.

　　（MUSIC）

　　VOICE TWO:

　　Spanish explorers sought to find gold and power in the New World. They also wanted to expand belief in what they considered to be the true religion, Christianity.

　　西班牙探险家不仅试图在新大陆寻找黄金和权力，还希望扩展他们心目中真正的宗教--基督教---的影响力。

　　The first of these Spanish explorers was Juan Ponce de Leon. He landed on North America in fifteen thirteen. He explored the eastern coast of what is now the southern state of Florida. He was searching for a special kind of water that people in Europe believed existed. They believed that this water could make old people young again. Ponce de Leon never found it.

　　1513年，西班牙探险家庞塞·德莱昂抵达北美大陆，到今天位于美国佛罗里达州南部的地方寻找能让人返老还童的泉水，但是没有找到。

　　VOICE ONE:

　　Also in fifteen thirteen, Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean. In fifteen nineteen, Hernan Cortes landed an army in Mexico and destroyed the empire of the Aztec Indians.

　　同样是在1513年，巴尔沃亚穿过巴拿马地峡，抵达太平洋。1519年，科尔特斯率军登陆墨西哥，摧毁了阿兹特克印第安帝国。

　　That same year Ferdinand Magellan began his three-year voyage around the world. And in the fifteen thirties, Francisco Pizarro destroyed the Inca Indian empire in Peru.

　　同年，麦哲伦开始了他为期三年的环球之旅。十六世纪三十年代，皮萨罗摧毁了秘鲁的印加印第安人帝国。

　　VOICE TWO:

　　Ten years later, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado had marched as far north as the central American state of Kansas and west to the Grand Canyon. About the same time, Hernan de Soto reached the Mississippi River. Fifty years after Columbus first landed in San Salvador, Spain claimed a huge area of America.

　　十年后，科罗纳多一直走到今天美国中部堪萨斯州和西部的大峡谷地带。大约同一时间，德索托到了密西西比河。哥伦布在圣萨尔瓦多登陆的五十年后，西班牙人已经到过了美洲大陆的大片地区。

　　The riches of these new lands made Spain the greatest power in Europe. But other nations refused to accept Spain's claim to rights in the new world. Explorers from England, France and Holland also were traveling to North America. That will be our story next week.

　　新大陆的财富增加了西班牙在欧洲的势力，但是其他国家拒绝承认西班牙对新大陆的征服。英国、法国和荷兰的探险家也纷纷出发，踏上了前往北美大陆的征程。

　　（MUSIC）

　　VOICE ONE:

　　This MAKING OF A NATION program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Paul Thompson. This is Rich Kleinfeldt.

　　VOICE TWO:

　　And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another Special English program about the history of the United States.