清教徒們?cè)谒麄兊闹趁竦刂袘c祝了首次的豐收

清教徒們?cè)谒麄兊闹趁竦刂袘c祝了首次的豐收

Sometime in the autumn of 1621, a group of English Pilgrims who had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and created a colony called New Plymouth celebrated their first harvest.

1621年秋天的某個(gè)時(shí)候，一群英國(guó)清教徒橫渡大西洋，建立了一個(gè)名為新普利茅斯的殖民地，慶祝他們的首次豐收。

They hosted a group of about 90 Wampanoags, their Algonquian-speaking neighbors. Together, migrants and Natives feasted for three days on corn, venison and fowl.

他們招待了大約90名萬(wàn)帕諾亞格人，也就是他們講阿爾岡琴語(yǔ)的鄰居。移民和當(dāng)?shù)厝艘黄鸪粤巳斓挠衩住⒁拔逗图仪荨?/p>

As Gov. William Bradford wrote in 1623, "Instead of famine now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God."

正如總督威廉·布拉德福德在1623年所寫(xiě)的:“現(xiàn)在上帝賜給他們的不是饑荒，而是豐足，事物的面貌也改變了，這使許多人心中歡欣鼓舞，他們因此而祝福上帝。”

A 'desolate wilderness' or 'Paradise of all parts'?

“荒涼的原野”還是“萬(wàn)物的天堂”?

Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation," which he began to write in 1630 and finished two decades later, traces the history of the Pilgrims from their persecution in England to their new home along the shores of modern Boston Harbor.

布拉德福德的《普利茅斯種植園》是他在1630年開(kāi)始寫(xiě)的，20年后才寫(xiě)完。該書(shū)追溯了清教徒從在英國(guó)遭受迫害到在現(xiàn)代波士頓港沿岸定居的歷史。

Bradford and other Pilgrims believed in predestination. Every event in their lives marked a stage in the unfolding of a divine plan, which often echoed the experiences of the ancient Israelites.

布拉德福德和其他清教徒相信宿命論。他們生命中的每一件事都標(biāo)志著一個(gè)神圣計(jì)劃的展開(kāi)階段，這經(jīng)常與古代以色列人的經(jīng)歷相呼應(yīng)。

Throughout his account, Bradford probed Scripture for signs. He wrote that the Puritans arrived in "a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts and wild men." They were surrounded by forests "full of woods and thickets".

在他的敘述中，布拉德福德從圣經(jīng)中尋找征兆。他寫(xiě)道，清教徒來(lái)到了“一片可怕而荒涼的荒野，到處是野獸和野人。”他們被“充滿樹(shù)林和灌木叢”的森林包圍著。

The wisdom of those who came before

前人的智慧

Just as important, the Pilgrims understood what to do with the land.

同樣重要的是，清教徒們知道如何處理這片土地。

By the time that these English planned their communities, knowledge of the Atlantic coast of North America was widely available.

當(dāng)這些英國(guó)人規(guī)劃他們的社區(qū)時(shí)，北美大西洋海岸的知識(shí)已經(jīng)廣泛傳播。

Those hoping to create new settlements had read accounts of earlier European migrants who had established European-style villages near the water, notably along the shores of Chesapeake Bay, where the English had founded Jamestown in 1607.

那些希望建立新定居點(diǎn)的人讀過(guò)早期歐洲移民的記述，他們?cè)谒吔⒘藲W洲風(fēng)格的村莊，特別是在切薩皮克灣沿岸，1607年英國(guó)人在這里建立了詹姆斯敦。

Many of these migrants died or gave up. But none disappeared without record, and their stories circulated in books printed in London. Every English effort before 1620 had produced accounts useful to would-be colonizers.

這些移民中有許多人死亡或放棄了。但沒(méi)有一個(gè)人沒(méi)有記錄就消失了，他們的故事在倫敦印刷的書(shū)籍中流傳。1620年以前的每一次英國(guó)人的努力都產(chǎn)生了對(duì)準(zhǔn)殖民者有用的記錄。

The English mathematician Thomas Harriot, enumerated the commodities that the English could extract from America's fields and forests in a report he first published in 1588.

英國(guó)數(shù)學(xué)家托馬斯•哈里奧特在1588年首次發(fā)表的一份報(bào)告中，列出了英國(guó)人可以從美國(guó)的農(nóng)田和森林中提取的商品。

The artist John White, who was on the same mission to modern Carolina, painted a watercolor depicting the wide assortment of marine life that could be harvested, another of large fish on a grill, and a third showing the fertility of fields at the town of Secotan.

藝術(shù)家約翰·懷特在現(xiàn)代卡羅萊納也有同樣的使命，他畫(huà)了一幅水彩畫(huà)，描繪了各種各樣可以被捕獲的海洋生物，另一幅是烤架上的大魚(yú)，第三幅是塞科坦鎮(zhèn)農(nóng)田的豐饒景象。

By the mid-1610s, actual commodities had started to arrive in England too, providing support for those who had claimed that North American colonies could be profitable. The most important of these imports was tobacco, which many Europeans considered a wonder drug capable of curing a wide range of human ailments.

到了16世紀(jì)10年代中期，真正的商品也開(kāi)始到達(dá)英國(guó)，為那些聲稱北美殖民地可以賺錢(qián)的人提供了支持。這些進(jìn)口產(chǎn)品中最重要的是煙草，許多歐洲人認(rèn)為煙草是一種神奇的藥物，可以治療多種人類疾病。

These reports (and imports) encouraged many English promoters to lay plans for colonization as a way to increase their wealth. But those who thought about going to New England, especially the Pilgrims who were kindred souls of Bradford, believed that there were higher rewards to be reaped.

這些報(bào)告(和進(jìn)口)鼓勵(lì)許多英國(guó)人制定殖民計(jì)劃，以增加他們的財(cái)富。但是那些想去新英格蘭的人，尤其是那些和布拉德福德有著同樣信仰的清教徒們，相信他們會(huì)得到更高的回報(bào)。

Bradford and the other Puritans who arrived in Massachusetts often wrote about their experience through the lens of suffering and salvation.

布拉德福德和其他來(lái)到馬薩諸塞的清教徒經(jīng)常通過(guò)苦難和救贖的鏡頭來(lái)記錄他們的經(jīng)歷。

But the Pilgrims were better equipped to survive than they let on.

但是清教徒們比他們表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的要更好。