Chapter Forty-Two - The World of Forty-Nine
第四十二章 - 四十九年的世界

The Gold Rush / 淘金热

Jim Marshall had spent years in the wild places of the United States. He'd been born in New Jersey, but he'd struck out for the west while still a young man.

吉姆·马歇尔在美国的荒野地区度过了多年时光。他出生在新泽西州，但在年轻时就前往西部闯荡。

Jim Marshall had marched south with the army to fight against Mexico. He'd wandered north to work as a carpenter. He'd farmed in Kansas, drifted through Missouri, and raised cattle on a California ranch.

吉姆·马歇尔曾随军队南下与墨西哥作战。他北上做过木匠。他在堪萨斯州务农，漂泊到密苏里州，还在加利福尼亚州的牧场饲养过牛。

Now he had a new job. A businessman named John Sutter had hired him to build a sawmill on the American River, in the Sacramento Valley.

现在他有了一份新工作。一位名叫约翰·萨特的商人雇佣他在萨克拉门托河谷的美洲河上建造一座锯木厂。

Jim Marshall took his tools with him and went to work. John Sutter had given him enough money to buy supplies and hire help; he'd promised that Marshall would get one-quarter of all the money the sawmill earned.

吉姆·马歇尔带着他的工具开始工作。约翰·萨特给了他足够的钱来购买用品和雇佣帮手；他承诺马歇尔将获得锯木厂赚得的所有收入的四分之一。

Marshall hired Native American workers, a couple of white foremen, and a cook and then set up a camp on the banks of the American River. In eight months, the sawmill was up and running.

马歇尔雇佣了印第安工人、几名白人工头和一名厨师，然后在美洲河岸边建立了一个营地。八个月后，锯木厂建成并开始运转。

River water rushed past its wheel, turning the saw blades. Marshall tested the sluice gates, watching water run beneath them. He figured that the sawmill would make a lot of money for Sutter—and for him.

河水冲过水车的轮子，驱动锯条。马歇尔测试水闸，观察水从下面流过。他认为锯木厂会为萨特——也为他自己——赚很多钱。

There were plenty of trees around to cut, and the lumber could be floated down the river and sold.

周围有很多树可以砍伐，木材可以顺着河水运下去售卖。

He walked over to the river's edge and stood looking around. A glint from the river's bed caught his eye. The afternoon sun bounced off the water, making it hard to see the sand and rock beneath.

他走到河边站着四处观望。河床上的一道闪光吸引了他的目光。下午的太阳在水面反射，使人很难看清下面的沙子和岩石。

Marshall bent down and tried to touch the glint. His fingers closed around a pebble, "half the size and shape of a pea." He lifted it and let the water run off. The pebble was the color of gold.

马歇尔弯下腰试图触摸那道闪光。他的手指握住了一颗小石子，"有豌豆一半的大小和形状。"他把它拿起来让水流掉。这颗小石子是金子的颜色。

Marshall and his men sifted through the gravel and sand, looking for more yellow pebbles. Soon they had a whole handful of yellow chips and flakes.

马歇尔和他的手下筛查砾石和沙子，寻找更多的黄色石子。很快他们就得到了一把黄色的碎片和薄片。

Marshall knew that the "gold" might be "fool's gold"—a worthless yellow mineral called iron pyrite that shone like real gold. If the yellow metal hammered out smooth, it was probably gold. If it shattered when struck, it was more likely to be iron pyrite.

马歇尔知道这个"金子"可能是"愚人金"——一种叫做黄铁矿的无价值黄色矿物，闪闪发光像真金一样。如果黄色金属被锤击后变得光滑，那可能是金子。如果敲击时粉碎，那更可能是黄铁矿。

Marshall put the largest pebble on a rock and smashed it with another rock. It flattened out into a thin, soft sheet. The pebbles were pure gold.

马歇尔把最大的石子放在一块岩石上，用另一块岩石砸它。它被压成了一片薄薄的软片。这些小石子是纯金子。

The mill workers collected the gold bits and took them down to the local trading post to use for money. The owner of the trading post, a man named Sam Brannan, was amazed.

工厂工人收集了金子碎片，把它们带到当地的贸易站当钱用。贸易站的老板，一个叫萨姆·布兰南的人，感到惊讶。

How much gold was up there at Sutter's Mill? He went up to the mill himself to look. Sure enough, he collected a whole bottleful of gold!

在萨特磨坊那里有多少金子？他亲自到磨坊去看。果然，他收集了一瓶子金子！

[原书插图：加利福尼亚的金矿工人]

Sam Brannan bought all the mining picks and gold pans he could find, went right back to his trading post, and put the tools on sale. And then he saddled up his horse and started on the hundred-mile trip to San Francisco.

萨姆·布兰南买下了他能找到的所有采矿镐和淘金盘，立即回到他的贸易站，把工具出售。然后他给马套上马鞍，开始了到旧金山的百英里之旅。

There, he rode through the streets, waving his bottle of gold. "There's gold at Sutter's Mill," Sam Brannan shouted to everyone who would listen. "You can get rich mighty fast! And make sure you come buy your picks and pans at Brannan's trading post, in nearby Sutterville!"

在那里，他骑马穿过街道，挥舞着他的金子瓶子。"萨特磨坊有金子！"萨姆·布兰南对所有愿意听的人喊道。"你们能很快富有起来！记住要到附近萨特维尔的布兰南贸易站来买你们的镐和盘子！"

A few miners went up to the American River to find gold—and returned to San Francisco with bags of treasure. A few hundred more arrived. Then a few thousand followed them. By 1849, everyone in the United States knew about the gold at Sutter's Mill.

几个矿工前往美洲河寻找金子——带着成袋的财宝回到旧金山。又有几百人赶来。然后几千人跟着来了。到1849年，全美国都知道了萨特磨坊的金子。

Because California was a new territory, anyone who was willing to travel to California could drive a stake into the ground and claim empty land as their own. This was called "staking a claim."

因为加利福尼亚是一个新领土，任何愿意到加利福尼亚旅行的人都可以在地上打一根木桩，声称空地是他们的。这叫做"占地圈地"。

Thousands of people raced to California to stake their claims up and down the American River. They sang songs as they traveled: "Oh, Susannah, don't you cry for me, I've gone to California with my tin pan on my knee."

成千上万的人赛跑般赶到加利福尼亚，在美洲河上下游占地圈地。他们在旅行时唱歌曲："哦，苏珊娜，不要为我哭泣，我带着锡盘在膝盖上去了加利福尼亚。"

In less than two years, the population of California grew from fifteen thousand people to over a hundred thousand. Most of these newcomers, or Forty-niners, were miners.

不到两年时间，加利福尼亚的人口从一万五千人增长到十万多人。这些新来者，或者叫四十九年淘金者，大多数是矿工。

They lived in camps on the river banks and bought supplies at the trading posts nearby. Whole towns called boom towns grew up around the trading posts. Miners who found gold, or "struck it rich," spent wildly in these towns.

他们住在河岸边的营地里，在附近的贸易站购买用品。围绕贸易站发展起来的整个城镇叫做繁荣城镇。找到金子的矿工，或者"发财"的人，在这些城镇里疯狂消费。

Sam Brannan's trading post sold so many supplies that Brannan became a millionaire! He owned a fifth of the land in both Sacramento and San Francisco and opened his own bank.

萨姆·布兰南的贸易站卖出了如此多的用品，以至于布兰南成了百万富翁！他拥有萨克拉门托和旧金山五分之一的土地，并开设了自己的银行。

Thousands of miners didn't do so well. To keep hold of a claim, a miner had to stay on it. If he left for more than a week, other miners could claim his land. So miners camped in tents near their stakes, working all day to pan gold in the freezing water or chip it out of the rocky shore.

成千上万的矿工没有那么幸运。要保住一块地，矿工必须待在那里。如果他离开超过一周，其他矿工就能占领他的土地。所以矿工在他们的木桩附近搭帐篷住宿，整天在冰冷的水中淘洗金子或从岩石海岸挖掘金子。

Many barely found enough gold to buy food and supplies. Miners who lost their claims and their savings sometimes turned into bandits, stealing gold and claims from other miners, robbing the brand-new banks of San Francisco and Sacramento.

许多人勉强找到足够的金子来买食物和用品。失去土地和积蓄的矿工有时变成土匪，从其他矿工那里偷金子和土地，抢劫旧金山和萨克拉门托崭新的银行。

Gangs of thieves roamed the countryside. Farmers and ranchers armed themselves to protect their land and their cattle—and to drive off miners who hoped to stake a claim in their pastures!

成群的小偷在乡间游荡。农民和牧场主武装自己保护他们的土地和牛群——并赶走希望在他们牧场上占地圈地的矿工！

But the possibility of finding a huge gold deposit drew miners from all over the world. They came from China, England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden. All along the California rivers, men whose countries had been at war for centuries rubbed elbows with each other in the mining camps.

但是发现巨大金矿藏的可能性吸引了来自世界各地的矿工。他们来自中国、英国、法国、德国、西班牙、意大利、葡萄牙和瑞典。沿着加利福尼亚的河流，那些国家曾经战争了几个世纪的人们在采矿营地里肩膀挨着肩膀。

Over five hundred camps, with names like Dead Mule Canyon, Ground Hog Glory, Liar's Flat, Squabbletown, and Coffee Gulch, dotted California's rivers. The miners spent their days laboring on their claims and their evenings in the towns, where they drank, argued, sang, and danced.

超过五百个营地，有着诸如死骡峡谷、土拨鼠荣耀、骗子平地、吵闹镇和咖啡峡谷这样的名字，遍布加利福尼亚的河流。矿工们白天在他们的土地上劳作，晚上在城镇里喝酒、争论、唱歌和跳舞。

There were hardly any women in the boom towns, so when the miners danced, they danced with each other! Sometimes they finished off the evening by shooting each other.

繁荣城镇里几乎没有女人，所以当矿工们跳舞时，他们彼此一起跳舞！有时他们以互相射击来结束夜晚。

In 1850, California and all its lawless mining camps became part of the United States of America. California was the thirty-first state to join the Union. And in 1850, it was the richest state in America!

1850年，加利福尼亚和它所有无法无天的采矿营地成为美利坚合众国的一部分。加利福尼亚是加入联邦的第三十一个州。在1850年，它是美国最富有的州！

A World of Unrest / 动荡的世界

Two hundred and fifty years earlier, the Spanish had been digging gold out of South American mines. Now, Americans dug gold from California rivers. In the years in between, the whole world had changed.

两百五十年前，西班牙人一直在从南美洲的矿井中挖掘金子。现在，美国人从加利福尼亚的河流中挖掘金子。在这期间的岁月里，整个世界都改变了。

All over the world, factories were churning out goods. Cities grew up around those factories—cities with beautiful buildings and wide roads at their centers, but slums around their edges.

在世界各地，工厂在大量生产商品。城市围绕着这些工厂发展起来——城市中心有美丽的建筑物和宽阔的道路，但边缘地区是贫民窟。

Railroads lay from the factories through the cities, out into the country. Tracks led from the gold mines of California all through the American West. Tracks ran from one English coast to the other. Tracks even ran from Europe up into the cold icy lands of Russia!

铁路从工厂穿过城市，延伸到乡村。轨道从加利福尼亚的金矿延伸到整个美国西部。轨道从英国的一个海岸延伸到另一个海岸。轨道甚至从欧洲延伸到俄国寒冷的冰雪之地！

The new republics of South America struggled with themselves, as dictators and generals tried to seize power and throw away the brand-new constitutions.

南美洲新的共和国内部斗争，独裁者和将军试图夺取权力并抛弃崭新的宪法。

In the United States, Americans who owned slaves quarreled with those who refused to believe in slavery. Englishmen in Australia and New Zealand kept a careful watch over the Aborigines and Maori, who plotted war to take their lands back.

在美国，拥有奴隶的美国人与拒绝相信奴隶制的人争吵。在澳大利亚和新西兰的英国人仔细监视土著人和毛利人，他们密谋战争要夺回他们的土地。

Indian soldiers in Calcutta whispered to each other about a day when they could throw off their British captains and generals. The Chinese emperor watched English merchants unload opium and longed for the day when he could drive the English out once more.

在加尔各答的印度士兵彼此低声谈论着有一天他们能摆脱英国上尉和将军的日子。中国皇帝看着英国商人卸载鸦片，渴望有一天能再次赶走英国人。

In Europe, still scarred from years of war, young revolutionaries walked the streets, shouting out against the power of the old kings and noblemen who still ruled over Spain and Italy. In Russia, millions of hungry peasants cast wretched eyes on the lavish palaces of the czar and wished for food.

在欧洲，仍然有着多年战争的创伤，年轻的革命者走在街上，大声反对仍然统治西班牙和意大利的老国王和贵族的权力。在俄国，数百万饥饿的农民用痛苦的眼光看着沙皇奢华的宫殿，渴望食物。

Soon, war would divide the United States. War would sweep over Russia and India and China. War would break Europe into fragments.

很快，战争将分裂美国。战争将席卷俄国、印度和中国。战争将把欧洲打成碎片。

Between 1600 and 1850, the modern nations of the world—the United States, Mexico, Brazil, China, India, France, Spain, Russia, England—took shape. But over the next 150 years, the greatest conflicts the world had ever seen would shake those nations to their foundations.

在1600年到1850年之间，世界的现代国家——美国、墨西哥、巴西、中国、印度、法国、西班牙、俄国、英国——逐渐成形。但在接下来的150年里，世界有史以来最大的冲突将震撼这些国家的根基。

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

money

/ˈmʌni/

中文：钱，金钱
定义：Currency or financial resources used for exchange
例句：John Sutter gave Marshall enough money to buy supplies.

water

/ˈwɔːtər/

中文：水
定义：Liquid essential for life and industrial processes
例句：River water rushed past the wheel, turning the saw blades.

food

/fuːd/

中文：食物
定义：Substances eaten for nutrition and survival
例句：Many miners barely found enough gold to buy food and supplies.

house

/haʊs/

中文：房子
定义：Building for human habitation
例句：Miners lived in camps rather than proper houses.

work

/wɜːrk/

中文：工作
定义：Activity involving effort done to achieve a result
例句：Marshall took his tools and went to work building the sawmill.

family

/ˈfæməli/

中文：家庭
定义：Group of related people living together
例句：Many miners left their families behind to search for gold.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

Gold Rush

/ɡoʊld rʌʃ/

中文：淘金热
定义：Period of mass migration to gold discovery areas
例句：The California Gold Rush began in 1848 at Sutter's Mill.

Forty-niners

/ˈfɔːrti naɪnərz/

中文：四十九年淘金者
定义：People who participated in the 1849 California Gold Rush
例句：Most of these newcomers, or Forty-niners, were miners.

territory

/ˈterəˌtɔːri/

中文：领土
定义：Area of land under government control
例句：California was a new territory where anyone could claim land.

staking a claim

/ˈsteɪkɪŋ ə kleɪm/

中文：占地圈地
定义：Marking land ownership with stakes
例句：Thousands raced to California to stake their claims along the river.

boom towns

/buːm taʊnz/

中文：繁荣城镇
定义：Towns that grew rapidly due to economic activity
例句：Whole towns called boom towns grew up around trading posts.

revolution

/ˌrevəˈluːʃən/

中文：革命
定义：Violent political or social change
例句：Young revolutionaries shouted against the old kings' power.

地理相关词汇 / Geography Vocabulary

river

/ˈrɪvər/

中文：河流
定义：Large flowing body of water
例句：Marshall built the sawmill on the American River.

mountains

/ˈmaʊntənz/

中文：山脉
定义：Large elevated landforms
例句：Gold was found in the mountains and rivers of California.

valley

/ˈvæli/

中文：山谷
定义：Low area between hills or mountains
例句：The sawmill was built in the Sacramento Valley.

coast

/koʊst/

中文：海岸
定义：Land along the sea or ocean
例句：Railroad tracks ran from one English coast to the other.

文化社会词汇 / Culture & Society

slavery

/ˈsleɪvəri/

中文：奴隶制
定义：System of owning people as property
例句：Americans quarreled about whether to believe in slavery.

constitution

/ˌkɑːnstəˈtuːʃən/

中文：宪法
定义：Fundamental laws of a country
例句：Dictators tried to throw away the brand-new constitutions.

republic

/rɪˈpʌblɪk/

中文：共和国
定义：State with elected government officials
例句：The new republics of South America struggled with internal conflicts.

动作行为词汇 / Actions & Activities

dig

/dɪɡ/

中文：挖掘
定义：Make holes in the ground
例句：Americans dug gold from California rivers.

build

/bɪld/

中文：建造
定义：Construct or create something
例句：Marshall was hired to build a sawmill on the river.

travel

/ˈtrævəl/

中文：旅行
定义：Go from one place to another
例句：Anyone willing to travel to California could claim land.

/sɜːrtʃ/

中文：搜寻
定义：Look for something carefully
例句：Miners searched for gold in the river beds.

📊 Processing Statistics / 处理统计

✅ 章节完整处理：第四十二章 - 四十九年的世界
✅ 段落总数：32个段落容器
✅ 词汇标注：68个关键词汇
✅ 词汇表：40个词汇卡片，分5个类别
✅ 发音功能：所有标注词汇支持点击发音
✅ 工具提示：英文词汇显示中文释义+音标，中文词汇显示英文+解释
✅ 特殊标记：时间标记(1849, 1850, 1600-1850)，插图位置标记
✅ 响应式设计：支持手机、平板、电脑浏览

Chapter Forty-Two - The World of Forty-Nine第四十二章 - 四十九年的世界

The Gold Rush / 淘金热

A World of Unrest / 动荡的世界

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

📊 Processing Statistics / 处理统计

Chapter Forty-Two - The World of Forty-Nine
第四十二章 - 四十九年的世界