第13章　大篷車

不久以前，密西西比河還屬于美國偏遠(yuǎn)的邊緣地區(qū)。密西西比河對岸，全都是荒野一片。當(dāng)時，幾乎還沒有人一路橫跨整個美國，前往太平洋沿岸。一路上，既有野蠻的印第安人，有各種野獸，還有高聳挺拔的崇山峻嶺。那么，人們?yōu)槭裁磿胍M跨整個美國，而橫跨美國的又是些什么人呢？他們就是那些想要獵殺野獸的獵人，是那些想要讓印第安人皈依基督教的傳教士，以及那些完全屬于好奇、想要看一看荒野是個什么樣子的人。

接下來有一天，一個人對另一個人說，有人告訴他說自己在加利福尼亞發(fā)現(xiàn)了黃金。這一消息一傳十、十傳百地流傳開來，而加利福尼亞則是位于太平洋沿岸的一個遙遠(yuǎn)之地。據(jù)說人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了很多很多的黃金，只要用盆子從河里撈出沙子，然后從沙子和水中就可以揀到黃金了。

黃金！黃金！幾乎就像是有人喊“失火了！失火了！”一樣，成千上萬的人都放下手頭的工具，全都不再種田，關(guān)上店門，將床鋪和炊具裝上馬車，給馬車蓋上篷子，好讓自己能夠像在帳篷里一樣住在其中，再帶上一桿槍，急急忙忙地趕往遙遠(yuǎn)的大西部淘金去了。一路上，既沒有馬路，沒有橋梁，也沒有指示要走哪條路的路標(biāo)，只有一片片荒蕪、更加荒蕪的原野。他們走了一月又一月。許多人都病死在many lost their way and died of starvation or of thirst—but many also, at last, reached California, found gold just where they heard it was to be found, and made their fortunes.This was in the year 1849，so these people who went West were called“Forty-niners.”

Since that time roads and railroads have been made all the way across the country；great cities have been built where once was only wilderness；and the wild Indians have been tamed. The United States has given the Indians large pieces of land to pay them for having taken other land away from them.These places given to the Indians are called“Reservations”，because they are reserved for them, just as a seat in the theater that is reserved for a person is called a“reserved seat.”

The first railroad to the Pacific coast took the middle route from Chicago to San Francisco. But you can now take a train from Chicago and cross to the Pacific by the north, middle, or south.It took months when the“Forty-niners”went across in their covered wagons, but now it takes less than one day by airplane.

People used to say，“Go West, Young Man, if you want to make a fortune，”and many thousands did go West, not looking for gold, but for farm lands, which were given them free by the United States if they would raise crops. Some of these men who

路上，許多人都被印第安人殺害了，許多人在過河之時淹死了，還有許多人則是迷了路，餓死或者渴死了，不過，也有許多人最終還是到達(dá)了加利福尼亞，在這個傳說中能夠找到黃金的地方找到了黃金，并且發(fā)了大財。這時正值1849年，因此那些前往大西部的人就被稱為“四九年人”。

從那時起，人們便開始修筑一條條橫跨整個美國的公路和鐵路了，那些曾經(jīng)只是荒野一片的地方，興建起了許多的大城市，而野蠻的印第安人，也被制服了。合眾國占用了印第安人的土地之后，會償付給他們大片的土地。交給印第安人的這些土地，就叫“保留地”，因為這些地方是專門留給印第安人的，就像劇院里為某個人預(yù)留的位子叫作“保留席”一樣。

第一條通往太平洋沿岸的鐵路，位于美國中部，從芝加哥通往圣弗朗西斯科。不過，如今你們乘坐列車，從芝加哥經(jīng)由北部、中部或者南部橫跨美國，都可以到達(dá)太平洋沿岸了。“四九年人”趕著大篷車西行時，需要耗費好幾個月才能到達(dá)，可如今坐飛機(jī)還用不了一天，就可以到達(dá)太平洋沿岸。

人們以前常說：“想發(fā)財?shù)脑挘偷轿鞑咳グ桑贻p人。”的確有成千上萬的人前往大西部，可他們并不是去淘金，而是去耕種土地，如果他們能夠種出莊稼，

went to Oklahoma and Texas and other places, chiefly west of the Mississippi, found oil oozing out of the ground on their farms. This oil spoiled the land for farming and made the water unfit even for the horses and cows to drink.The land was ruined—no good—so many farmers gave up and moved away.

There are three kinds of oil in the World—vegetable, animal, and mineral. Did you ever play the game called Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral?It's a good game.The“Old Man”shouts，“Vegetable！”and you must name a vegetable, any vegetable—“potato，”for instance—before he can count ten.Or he shouts，“Mineral！”or“Animal！”and you must name a mineral or an animal before he counts ten.In this game a mineral is anything that isn't animal or vegetable.But no matter whether he says“Animal，”“Vegetable，”or“Mineral，”you will always be right if you say，“Oil！”for it is one of the few things in the World that can be all three.

The oil from vegetables, like olive oil, and the oil from animals, like cod-liver oil, is good for food, but mineral oil from the rocks under the ground is not good for food. But some one found out that mineral oil could be burned to give light and heat, and then the automobile was invented, and from this mineral oil was made the gasoline to run automobiles.Many other things are now made from this kind of oil—medicine, colors for dyeing, and even perfumes.

People who thought their farms had been spoiled by oil found that the oil was worth a fortune, worth much more than what they could make out of chickens and pigs, or corn

美國就會把土地免費分配給他們。其中有些人來到了俄克拉荷馬、得克薩斯和其他地方，主要都是密西西比河以西的地區(qū)，在自家的農(nóng)場上，他們都發(fā)現(xiàn)了溢出地面的石油。這種石油，讓土地?zé)o法再耕種，使得那里的水甚至不適合于飲牛飲馬。由于土地荒廢，沒有用了，因此許多農(nóng)民便放棄耕作，搬到別的地方去了。

世界上有三種油類：植物油、動物油和礦物油。你們有沒有玩過那種叫作“動物、植物和礦物”的游戲呢？那可是一種很不錯的游戲啊。玩游戲的時候，“老人”會喊道：“植物！”而你則必須在他數(shù)到十之前，說出一種植物的名稱來，說任何植物都行，比如“土豆”。他若是喊“礦物！”或者“動物！”那你就必須在他數(shù)到十之前，說出一種礦物或者動物的名稱來。在這種游戲里，“礦物”可以是不屬于動物或者植物的任何東西。不過，無論他喊的是“動物”、“植物”還是“礦物”，若是你們回答“油！”的話，就總不會錯，因為油正是世界上為數(shù)不多的、同時可以歸于這三類中的東西之一。

像橄欖油這樣的植物油，和像魚肝油這樣的動物油，都是適合于食用的油類，可從地下巖石里開采出來的礦物油，卻并不適合于食用。不過，有人卻發(fā)現(xiàn)，礦物油可以燃燒，可以發(fā)出光和熱，接下來，人們發(fā)明了汽車，便開始用這種礦物油制成汽油，來驅(qū)動汽車了。如今，還有許多其他的東西也是用這種礦物油制成的，比如藥品、染料，甚至是香水。

一些曾經(jīng)以為自己的農(nóng)田被石油毀掉了的人，發(fā)現(xiàn)石油也可以讓他們賺到錢，賺到比他們養(yǎng)雞、養(yǎng)豬、種植玉米或小麥更多的錢。有些地方必須打出油井，然后

and wheat. Some wells had to be dug and the oil pumped up, but others sprouted up like fountains—these were called gushers.

This oil that comes out of the rock underneath the ground is called petroleum, which means rock oil. Some of the petroleum companies are nicknamed“Pete”for short, which is a pretty good name because Pete means“rock.”

If you take a train by the middle route you cross Iowa, the Corn State, passing through endless fields of corn. You next cross Nebraska and gradually rise higher and higher as the ground slopes gently upward, until you reach the State called Colorado.Colorado means“color red.”Colorado is at the foot of the highest mountains in America—they are called the Rocky Mountains.The capital of Colorado is Denver and Denver is just about half-way from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean.

Not so far from Denver you can climb to the top of a Rocky Mountain peak, if you want to and if you have a good heart. The first man who tried to climb this mountain was named Pike, but he gave it up, so ever since it has been called“Pike's Peak.”When I was in school we used to try to say this“tongue-twister”：“Speak Pike, Speak Pike, Speak Pike”over and over as fast as we could without saying“Pike's Peak.”We couldn't do it—neither can you！Pike couldn't climb to the top of his mountain, but nowadays thousands of people climb to the top each year just as a“stunt”to see in how many hours they can do it.Pike's Peak is so high that there is snow on the top in the summer as well as in the winter, and it is so high in the air that there is very little air to breathe when you are at the

才能將石油抽取出來，可其他一些地方，石油卻會像井水一樣涌出地面，這種油井便叫作“自噴井”。

從地下巖石中開采出來的這種油類，叫作石油，也就是巖石里的油之意。有些石油公司還被人們簡稱為“皮特（Pete）”，這種簡稱很合適，因為“皮特”的意思就是“巖石”。

假如乘坐中部線路的一列火車，大家就會橫跨愛荷華這個“玉米之州”，因而一路上全都是無邊無際的玉米地。接下來，你們就會穿過內(nèi)布拉斯加州，然后隨著地勢緩慢升高而越爬越高，最終到達(dá)那個叫作科羅拉多的州。“科羅拉多”就是“紅色”的意思。科羅拉多州位于美國最高的一座山脈，即人稱“落基山脈”的山腳下。科羅拉多州的首府是丹佛，而丹佛差不多正好位于從芝加哥到太平洋沿岸的中間。

在距丹佛不遠(yuǎn)的地方，大家可以爬上落基山脈中某座山峰的山頂，前提當(dāng)然是你們真想去爬，并且心臟也沒有問題。第一個試圖爬上那座山峰的人，名叫“派克”；雖說他中途放棄了，可自此以后，人們便將這座山峰稱為“派克峰”了。兒時上學(xué)的時候，我們曾經(jīng)常努力說過一首“繞口令”：“拼派克，拼派克，拼派克”，盡量快速地說上一遍又遍，還不能說成“派克峰”。我們根本就做不到，

top. A great many people cannot stand it at the top；they have to sit down.They gasp for breath as if they had been running, or like a fish out of water；their hearts beat fast and so hard they can hear it drumming in their ears, and they feel faint and weak.There are now an auto road and a railway up to the top, so that you don't have to climb Pike's Peak if you don't want to.The railway track, however, is so steep that an ordinary railway car would slide down like a sled, so the track has small iron steps between the rails, and the car has a wheel that catches into the steps so that it cannot slip backward or run away downhill—it walks up and down the steps.

你們也是做不到的！雖說派克沒能登到這座山的山頂，可如今每年都會有數(shù)千人爬上去呢，他們這樣做，只是一種“噱頭”，只是為了看一看，他們究竟要幾個小時才能爬到山頂。派克峰海拔很高，因此夏季與冬季一樣，山頂都有積雪，又由于它高聳入云，因此登上山頂之后，你們就會覺得那里空氣稀薄、呼吸不暢了。許多人在山頂上站都站不了，只能坐下來。他們必須大口大口地吸氣，好像自己一直都在跑步似的，或者像一條離了水的魚似的，他們的心臟跳得很快、很厲害，甚至自己耳朵里都聽得見心跳的聲音，還會覺得頭暈、全身乏力。如今，已有一條公路和一條鐵路一直通到山頂，因此，如果不想的話，你們無須親自攀爬，就能到達(dá)派克峰頂了。然而，那條鐵路非常陡峭，普通的火車會像雪橇那樣往下滑，因此兩條鐵軌之間還設(shè)有一些小小的鐵質(zhì)梯級，以便阻止火車往回滑行或者向山下沖去，也就是說，火車上山下山，都是在“踩”著這些梯級來去呢。