General Gage found he had a good deal to do before he could begin to crush the rebellion. 盖奇将军发现在出征平定叛乱之前他有许多事情要做，

　　He had to find shelter for his soldiers. 他不得不为士兵解决营房问题，

　　He also had to find food for them. 还要为士兵找到食物。

　　The Boston carpenters would not work for him. 波士顿的木匠不会为他做这些事。

　　He had to bring carpenters from Halifax and New York to do his work. 盖奇将军不得不从哈利法克斯和纽约带些木匠来做这些事。

　　The farmers of eastern Massachusetts were as firm as the Boston carpenters. 马萨诸塞西部的农民与波士顿的木匠一样坚定，

　　They would not sell food to General Gage. 他们不会将食物卖给盖奇将军，

　　So he had to bring food from England and from Halifax. 因此，盖奇将军不得不从英格兰和哈利法克斯带食物。

　　He managed to buy or seize wood to warm the soldiers and hay to feed his horses. 他设法购买或掠夺木材供给士兵取暖，设法购买或掠夺干草来喂马。

　　But the boats bringing these supplies to Boston were constantly upset in a most unlooked-for way. 但是，将这些物资运往波士顿的船经常以最不可思议的方式翻船。

　　The colonists, on their part, elected a Provincial Congress to take the place of the regular government. 而殖民地居民则选出一个省议会来代替合法政府，

　　The militia was reorganized, and military stores gathered together. 他们重新组织义勇军，并将军用物资集中储备起来。

　　132. Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775. 132. 莱克星顿和康考德（1775年4月19日）

　　Gage had said that with ten thousand men he could march all over Massachusetts. 盖奇将军曾经说过，他可以带领一万人踏平马萨诸塞。

　　In April, 1775, he began to crush the rebellion by sending a strong force to Concord to destroy stores which his spies told him had been collected there. 1775年4月盖奇将军开始他粉碎叛乱的行动。谍报人员告诉他在康考德有一些马萨诸塞人聚集起来的仓库，康考德就派出一支劲旅去摧毁这些仓库。

　　The soldiers began their march in the middle of the night. 士兵们在半夜开始出发，

　　But Paul Revere and William Dawes were before them. 但是，保罗·里维尔和威廉·道斯赶在了这些士兵的前面。

　　"The regulars are coming," was the cry. At Lexington, the British found a few militiamen drawn up on the village green. "平叛者来了！"有人喊道。不列颠人发现莱克星顿的草地上有一些整队待发的军人。

　　Some one fired and a few Americans were killed. 有人开枪，一些美洲人被杀死，

　　On the British marched to Concord. 英国人随之奔袭康考德。

　　By this time the militiamen had gathered in large numbers. 此时，很多民兵已经组织起来。

　　It was a hot day. The regulars were tired. They stopped to rest. 时值夏日，平叛者累了，他们停下来休息。

　　Some of the militiamen attacked the regulars at Concord, and when the British started on their homeward march, the fighting began in earnest. 有些民兵就在康考德攻击平叛者，并且，在英国人开始返回营地时，战斗变得激烈起来。

　　Behind every wall and bit of rising ground were militiamen. 在每一堵墙后面和每一处高地的后面都有民兵。

　　One soldier after another was shot down and left behind. 士兵们一个个倒下死去。

　　At Lexington the British met reinforcements, or they would all have been killed or captured. 不列颠人的援兵赶到了莱克星顿，否则这些人都将被杀死或俘虏。

　　Soon they started again. Again the fighting began. 他们很快再次出征，战斗再次打响。

　　It continued until the survivors reached a place of safety under the guns of the warships anchored off Charlestown. 这场战斗一直持续到幸存者退守到查理斯顿军舰的炮火之下的安全地带。

　　The Americans camped for the night at Cambridge and began the siege of Boston. 美洲人夜里在坎布里奇宿营，并开始围攻波士顿。