美国语文第六册 第314期:饥饿的岩石(2)
1682年12月，他们开始挖壕沟将拉萨尔和唐棣围起来。
They cut away the forest that crowned the rock, built storehouses and dwellings of its remains,
他们伐掉岩石顶部生长的森林，建了仓库和住处，
dragged timber up the rugged pathway, and encircled the summit with a palisade. Thus the winter was passed,
将木材拖到崎岖不平的小路上，用栅栏将崖顶围起来。就这样，安然度过寒冬，
and meanwhile the work of negotiation went prosperously on. The minds of the Indians had been already prepared.
与此同时，谈判事宜进行得很顺利。印第安人在心里已经做好准备。
In La Salle they saw their champion against the Iroquois, the standing terror of all this region.
在拉萨尔，他们看到自己的拥护者反对易洛魁族人，该地区所有人都处于惊恐之中。
They gathered around his stronghold like the timorous peasantry of the Middle Ages
他们像中世纪胆怯的农民围在
around the rock-built castle of their feudal lord. From the wooden ramparts of St. Louis,
他们封建领主石头砌成的城堡周围一样，聚在要塞周围。从圣路易斯用木头搭成的防御工事，
for so he named his fort, high and inaccessible as an eagle’s nest, a strange scene lay before his eye.
他命名他的城堡——就像鹰巢一样高高在上和难以接近，奇怪的一幕在他眼前出现了。
The broad, flat valley of the Illinois was spread beneath him like a map,
伊利诺斯宽阔且平坦的山谷像地图一样在他脚下展开，
bounded in the distance by its low wall of wooded hills.
通过树木茂密的山丘那低矮的屏障与远方连在一起。
The river wound at his feet in devious channels among islands bordered with lofty trees,
在与高耸入云的树木接壤的小岛之间。小河在下游分成迂回曲折的数条水道，
then, far on the left, flowed calmly westward through the vast meadows,
然后在左侧的远处，穿过广阔的草地缓缓向西流去，
till its glimmering blue ribbon was lost in hazy distance.
直到闪闪发光的蓝色水带在薄雾微明的远方消失不见了。
