纪录片《文明》 第99期 画卷天堂（23）

But, most of all, it's a picture of American gold.

但最重要的 它是有关美国黄金的画

Perhaps the only gold which truly mattered -

或许唯一真正重要的金子就是

the gold of the endless prairies,

无垠的蓝色天空下

standing¹ beneath an infinitely² blue harvest sky.

广袤的大草原

Tragedy, coloured by an impassioned religious faith

在无尽的美国未来中

in a boundless³ American future,

被热情的宗教信仰浸染的悲剧

planted in boundless American space.

在无限的美国大地上生根发芽

Lincoln himself never lost that faith.

林肯从未失去那个信仰

Even before the war was over,

甚至在战争结束前

he pushed through a law to protect and bequeath

他就促使通过一项法律来保护

one particular landscape, one American Eden,

流传给子孙后代一个特别的风景

to the people for all posterity⁴.

一个美国伊甸园

While America's wounds would stay livid

当美国的伤口还需要

and open for generations to come,

几代人的时间来愈合

this would be at least one place of miraculous⁵ healing.

这个地方可能是奇迹般的治愈

Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada.

内华达山脉的约塞米蒂

Very rapidly,Yosemite became America's most sensational⁶ tourist destination.

很快约塞米蒂成为美国最有名的旅游胜地

Its lonely beauty instantly compromised by its popularity.

它那罕见的美景在人潮影响之下很快变化

And the images which promoted it made sure to represent it

而宣传了这里的画作更是像美国的做法那样

as they did much of America - as empty of native people.

将原住民消隐得干干净净

The Miwok Indians were either moved on or painted out.

米沃克族印第安人要么离开要么被驱逐

And when Yosemite eventually found its ultimate visual poet,

当约塞米蒂最终遇到了其视觉诗人

he too cleared the view of humans.

诗人也排除了人的影响

In 1916,a teenager from San Francisco

1916年来自旧金山的一名少年

visited Yosemite for the first time.

第一次去约塞米蒂

Ansel Adams was always going down with something -

安塞尔.亚当斯总是体弱多病

the flu, measles⁷, a nasty cough -

流感 麻疹 讨厌的咳嗽

the sort of thing budding pianists bent⁸ over the keyboard

这些疾病都是伏在琴键上钢琴家们的职业病

were supposed to get, and Adams was one of those.

亚当斯也没能幸免

But, while he was wheezing⁹ and hacking¹⁰,

但当他在卖力喘气和咳嗽的时候

he'd read a book about Yosemite

他读到了一本关于约塞米蒂的书

and when a get-well trip was suggested,

当被建议旅行养病时

he'd go nowhere else.

他笃定了这里

1 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。

2 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

3 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

4 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

5 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

6 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

7 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

8 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

9 wheezing   

v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣

参考例句：

• He was coughing and wheezing all night. 他整夜又咳嗽又喘。
• A barrel-organ was wheezing out an old tune. 一架手摇风琴正在呼哧呼哧地奏着一首古老的曲子。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。