In the Spring of Forty-seven,
So the story, it is told,
Old John Sutter went to the mill site
Found a piece of shining gold.
故事的发生
要从1847年的春天说起
老约翰.萨特在磨坊外
拾到一块金子
Well, he took it to the city
Where the word, like wildfire, spread.
And old John Sutter soon came to wish he'd
Left that stone in the river bed.
于是带着它去了城里
在那里关于金矿的消息
如野火蔓延开来
萨特很快就后悔
该把那块石头留在河床上
For they came like herds of locusts
Every woman, child and man
In their lumbering Conestogas
They left their tracks upon the land.
人们集聚如蝗
男人、女人和孩子们
在大篷车笨重的前行中
将车辙留在原野上
Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill.
有人无功而返
有人心遂所愿
有人长眠异乡
有人图财害命
有人将感激上帝解脱了他们
有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房
Well, they came from New York City,
And they came from Alabam'
With their dreams of finding fortunes
In this wild unsettled land.
Well, some fell prey to hostile arrows
As they tried to cross the plains.
And some were lost in the Rocky mountains
With their hands froze to the reins.
Oh...
他们有的来自纽约城
有的来自阿拉巴马州
带着他们的发财梦
来到这荒蛮的土地上
一些人在穿越平原时
命丧箭下
一些人失踪在洛基山脉
冻饿而亡
Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill.
有人无功而返
有人心遂所愿
有人长眠异乡
有人图财害命
有人将感激上帝解脱了他们
有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房
Well, some pushed on to California
And others stopped to take their rest.
And by the Spring of Eighteen-sixty
They had opened up the west.
And then the railroad came behind them
And the land was plowed and tamed,
When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker,
He'd not one penny to his name.
Oh...
一些人执著前行去往加州
一些人驻足不往休养生息
1860年时他们开发了西部
铁路随后而至
荒原终被开发和征服
当约翰萨特离开人世
自己却一文不名
Some would fail and some would prosper
Some would die and some would kill
Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill.
有人无功而返
有人心遂所愿
有人长眠异乡
有人图财害命
有人将感激上帝解脱了他们
有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房
And some would curse John Sutter's Mill
Some men's thirsts are never filled.
有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房
有人的欲望却永远无法满足
歌词：Well, he took it to the city where the word, like wildfire, spread.
于是带着它去了城里，在那里关于金矿的消息如野火蔓延开来。
Wildfire由wild（狂野的）和fire（火）合成，意思是“野火”，引申含义是“散布极快的事物”，例如：
Our work on the new bridge went ahead like wildfire.
我们的建桥工程如火如荼地开展起来了。
短语spread like wildfire表示“象野火般迅速传播”。例如：
Over all India the word spread like wildfire.
消息一下子传遍了整个印度。
歌词：For they came like herds of locusts, every woman, child and man.
人们集聚如蝗，无论是男人、女人还是孩子们。
Herd作为名词表示“兽群、牧人”，例如：
We saw a herd of elephants yesterday. 昨天我们见到了一群大象。
作为动词时herd表示“放牧、成群、聚在一起”。举个例子：
You should not herd with the man as him.
你不应和他那样的人来往。
Locust是名词，一般表示“蝗虫”。
Some would fail and some would prosper. Some would die and some would kill.
有人无功而返，有人心遂所愿。有人长眠异乡，有人图财害命。
Prosper，动词，表示：繁盛；成功；兴旺。举个简单的例子：
His business is prospering. 他生意兴隆。再比如：
She can't prosper on the course she's going now.
她现在所走的路是没有前途的。
Prosper词尾加-ity则成了名词，表示“繁荣、兴旺”—prosperity。例如：
We hope to have a life of happiness and prosperity.
我们希望拥有成功幸福的生活。
歌词：Some would thank the Lord for their deliverance, and some would curse John Sutter's Mill.
有人将感激上帝解脱了他们，有人会诅咒约翰萨特的磨房。
Deliverance是名词，在歌词中表示“解救、救助”，再比如：
His deliverance from the prison puzzled us.
他被从监狱释放使我们困惑不已。
Deliverance来源于动词deliver，它有很多意思，可以表示“递送；发表（演讲）；交付”等等，也可以表示“解救”，举个例子：
Education delivered him from ignorance.
教育把他从无知中解救出来。
Curse作为名词和动词都表示“诅咒”，例如：
He cursed the waiter who had spilled soup on him.
他咒骂那个把汤溅在他身上的男侍者。 |