Jamestown Settlement, VA(弗吉尼亚州詹姆斯敦·定居点)-儿歌荟萃-万维博客-万维读者网（电脑版）

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		Jamestown Settlement, VA(弗吉尼亚州詹姆斯敦·定居点)	2020-03-27 11:52:22

2014-05-25

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【Aiden in English】

America is one of the greatest countries of all time. It has one of the most civilized cultures and advanced technologies in the world. It's hard to believe it started as a small village in the middle of a small forest in present-day Virginia.

In the early 17^th century, the people of Jamestown used to be very different from the ones today. Many cared only about making money. Most male villagers went out to find gold instead of hunting. After hard work and concentration, they had loads and loads of …… dirt. It pretty much ended the dreams of gold and wealth. Even worse, the Powhatan Indians, a local Native American tribe, took control of Jamestown. Since the village contained little food, the people went through a time known as the Starving Age. They died of starvation and dehydration due to a drought. The villagers grew desperate and began to eat anything like clothes and grass. Finally, someone went too far and ate women.

The Starving Age didn't end until Chief Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, married John Rolfe, a noble English settler in Jamestown. She convinced the Natives to release Jamestown from their captivity. However, people still wanted money. Their chance arrived when tobacco was introduced to them by a privateer who raided a Spanish ship. On that ship, there were tobacco seeds that grew tobacco much sweeter than the ones in Jamestown. It ensured Jamestown's survival and the beginning of our country.

【红霞译】

美利坚合众国可谓有史以来最伟大的国度之一，它既把持世界现代文明，又领导国际先进技术新潮流。可是你万万想像不出，这样一个强国却从位于弗吉尼亚“圣洁女王”州境内毫不起眼的小树林里足以忽略不计的小村落中发展起来。

十七世纪早期，詹姆斯敦“后继者”镇居民并不像现代人所为，他们一心只想发财，多数男士外出寻找金子而非务农狩猎。日久天长，村子里面土丘遍野破烂不堪，淘金致富的梦想随即破灭。更为糟糕的是，当地美洲土著部落巫术山印第安人统治詹姆斯敦，由于缺食少粮，并遭遇前所未有的“饥荒”，干旱促使村民饥饿脱水丧失生命。巫术山部落在绝望中挣扎，不得不靠衣服和野草充饥。后面的日子每况愈下，有人甚至失去理性，开始蚕食妇女。

直到巫术山部落首领的女儿“风中奇缘”与移居詹姆斯敦的英国贵族神慈‧罗尔夫结婚，“饥荒”问题才真正得到解决。她说服父老乡亲让出詹姆斯敦，起先巫术山部落还讨价还价，坚持要钱；后来因为英国殖民佬海上打劫西班牙商船成功而将截获的烟草种子留给巫术山部落，结果新近移植来的烟草比詹姆斯敦本地土生土长的还要香甜，让巫术山部落终于有了赖以生存的物质条件。从此，英国落户詹姆斯敦，美国的前身开始孕育而生。