Who Was Abraham Lincoln 林肯 Chapter 2 The Wider World

Abraham Lincoln knew he didn’t want to be a farmer like his father. But he didn’t know what he did want to do. So when he was twenty-one, he decided¹ to leave home and find out.
He was hired to help sail flatboats loaded with supplies down the Sangamon River. One time, the boat got stuck on a dam in front of the town of New Salem in central Illinois. It began filling with water. Lincoln and the others onboard couldn’t free it. Suddenly Lincoln had a brilliant idea. He bored a hole in the front of the boat and shifted² all the supplies to that end. The boat tipped toward³ the hole and all the water ran out until the boat was high enough to go over the dam. Denton Offutt, the boat’s owner, was so impressed that he offered to put Lincoln in business. He decided to build a store in New Salem. Lincoln would manage it.
NEW SALEM
New Salem was a small village. But to Lincoln it seemed large and bustling⁴. The store was a place where people gathered. Lincoln quickly became popular. People trusted him. He would never take advantage of anyone, even for a few cents. He joined a debating club and took part in town politics. He also went to the meetings of the local court. The justice of the peace began asking his opinion on cases, because what he said was always so funny. But his opinions were also very intelligent. Soon people began coming to Lincoln for legal advice.
Lincoln didn’t just impress people in town. Some rough farm boys called the Clary’s Grove⁵ gang⁶ had heard about Lincoln—the young man everyone was praising so much. They wanted to take him down a peg⁷. So they challenged him to a wrestling match. We don’t know whether Lincoln won or lost. But the way he took on the whole gang won the boys over. They became his friends and loyal⁸ supporters, too.
In 1832, Lincoln’s friends convinced⁹ him to run for the Illinois State Legislature. He didn’t win, but he came close. In the meantime¹⁰, Offutt’s store failed, and Lincoln lost his job. Just then, a war broke out between the Illinois settlers and Native Americans. Lincoln joined the militia¹¹. He never actually fought any battles. But he boasted¹² about all the blood he’d shed—because of the mosquitoes.
He decided to run for the state legislature again. He could count on support from all his friends in New Salem. But some farmers thought he was just a town fellow who didn’t know how to work in the fields. So Lincoln pitched in with the harvest.
That won him the farmers’ votes. And he could count on the Clary’s Grove gang to make sure their friends would vote for him, too. This time, Lincoln won.
Lincoln decided he would be a better representative if he knew more about law. So he began to read law books. Although he never studied law formally, Lincoln taught himself enough to earn his law license¹³ by studying every spare second of the day. Often he studied while lying on his back, with his long legs resting on the trunk of a tree. As the sun moved, he followed it around the tree.
LINCOLN’S DEPRESSION
LINCOLN ENJOYED LIFE. HE WAS USUALLY In THE CENTER OF A CROWD, TELLING STORIES. WHEN HE REACHED THE PUNCH¹⁴ LINE, NO ONE LAUGHED HARDER THAN HE DID. BUT EVERYONE AROUND HIM NOTICED THAT HE ALSO CARRIED WITH HIM A TERRIBLE SADNESS. SOMETIMES, ONLY An HOUR AFTER HE HAD BEEN TELLING JOKES, HE MIGHT BE FOUND SITTING ALONE, HUNCHED¹⁵ UP WITH HIS ARMS AROUND HIS KNEES. NO ONE DARED TO GO NEAR HIM DURING THESE TIMES. LINCOLN SUFFERED FROM ATTACKS OF DEPRESSION ALL HIS LIFE.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 shifted   

v.改变( shift的过去式和过去分词 )；去掉；摆脱掉；换挡

参考例句：

• He shifted his position from the horizontal. 他从水平姿势变换成其他姿势。
• He nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot. 他很紧张，重心在双脚之间来回换。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

4 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

5 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

6 gang   

n.一伙，一帮；结伴的朋友

参考例句：

• The gang live abroad,beyond reach of the British police.这帮匪徒住在国外，英国警方鞭长莫及。
• Some gang came in and shot the place up.有股匪帮进来对这个地方开枪扫射。

7 peg   

n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定

参考例句：

• Hang your overcoat on the peg in the hall.把你的大衣挂在门厅的挂衣钩上。
• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet.他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。

8 loyal   

adj.忠诚的，忠心的

参考例句：

• He is a loyal friend.他是一位忠诚的朋友。
• I judge him to be loyal.我认为他很忠诚。

9 convinced   

adj.确信的；深信的；有坚定信仰的v.使确信(convince的过去分词)；说服

参考例句：

• I am convinced of her innocence. 我坚信她是清白无辜的。
• I'm convinced there's a jinx on this car. 我看这辆汽车是灾星。

10 meantime   

n.其时，其间；adv.同时，当时

参考例句：

• I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作，这期间他出去买东西。
• In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时，我们加紧进行空运。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 boasted   

v.有（引以为荣的事物）( boast的过去式和过去分词 )；扬言

参考例句：

• The Victorian Age is often boasted of as an age of progress. 维多利亚时代常常被夸耀为进步时代。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He boasted that he could speak six languages fluently. 他自夸自己能流利地讲6种语言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 punch   

v.用拳猛击；用打孔机打孔

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He laid his opponent low with a single punch.他一拳猛击便把对手打倒在地。

15 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。