听歌学英语:沧桑背后的故事 Sutter's Mill

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 herds² of locusts³
Every woman, child and man
In their lumbering⁴ 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 prosper⁵
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 prey⁶ to hostile arrows
As they tried to cross the plains.
And some were lost in the Rocky mountains
With their hands froze to the reins⁷.
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 plowed⁸ and tamed,
When Old John Sutter went to meet his maker⁹,
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。
Herd¹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 prospering¹⁰. 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。

1 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

2 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

3 locusts   

n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树

参考例句：

• a swarm of locusts 一大群蝗虫
• In no time the locusts came down and started eating everything. 很快蝗虫就飞落下来开始吃东西，什么都吃。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lumbering   

n.采伐林木

参考例句：

• Lumbering and, later, paper-making were carried out in smaller cities. 木材业和后来的造纸都由较小的城市经营。
• Lumbering is very important in some underdeveloped countries. 在一些不发达的国家，伐木业十分重要。

5 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

7 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

8 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

9 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

10 prospering   

成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Our country is thriving and prospering day by day. 祖国日益繁荣昌盛。
• His business is prospering. 他生意兴隆。