清教徒们在他们的殖民地中庆祝了首次的丰收

清教徒们在他们的殖民地中庆祝了首次的丰收

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年秋天的某个时候，一群英国清教徒横渡大西洋，建立了一个名为新普利茅斯的殖民地，庆祝他们的首次丰收。

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.

他们招待了大约90名万帕诺亚格人，也就是他们讲阿尔冈琴语的邻居。移民和当地人一起吃了三天的玉米、野味和家禽。

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."

正如总督威廉·布拉德福德在1623年所写的:“现在上帝赐给他们的不是饥荒，而是丰足，事物的面貌也改变了，这使许多人心中欢欣鼓舞，他们因此而祝福上帝。”

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

“荒凉的原野”还是“万物的天堂”?

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《普利茅斯种植园》是他在1630年开始写的，20年后才写完。该书追溯了清教徒从在英国遭受迫害到在现代波士顿港沿岸定居的历史。

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论。他们生命中的每一件事都标志着一个神圣计划的展开阶段，这经常与古代以色列人的经历相呼应。

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".

在他的叙述中，布拉德福德从圣经中寻找征兆。他写道，清教徒来到了“一片可怕而荒凉的荒野，到处是野兽和野人。”他们被“充满树林和灌木丛”的森林包围着。

The wisdom of those who came before

前人的智慧

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

同样重要的是，清教徒们知道如何处理这片土地。

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

当这些英国人规划他们的社区时，北美大西洋海岸的知识已经广泛传播。

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点的人读过早期欧洲移民的记述，他们在水边建立了欧洲风格的村庄，特别是在切萨皮克湾沿岸，1607年英国人在这里建立了詹姆斯敦。

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.

这些移民中有许多人死亡或放弃了。但没有一个人没有记录就消失了，他们的故事在伦敦印刷的书籍中流传。1620年以前的每一次英国人的努力都产生了对准殖民者有用的记录。

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.

英国数学家托马斯•哈里奥特在1588年首次发表的一份报告中，列出了英国人可以从美国的农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.

艺术家约翰·怀特在现代卡罗莱纳也有同样的使命，他画了一幅水彩画，描绘了各种各样可以被捕获的海洋生物，另一幅是烤架上的大鱼，第三幅是塞科坦镇农田的丰饶景象。

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世纪10年代中期，真正的商品也开始到达英国，为那些声称北美殖民地可以赚钱的人提供了支持。这些进口产品中最重要的是烟草，许多欧洲人认为烟草是一种神奇的药物，可以治疗多种人类疾病。

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.

这些报告(和进口)鼓励许多英国人制定殖民计划，以增加他们的财富。但是那些想去新英格兰的人，尤其是那些和布拉德福德有着同样信仰的清教徒们，相信他们会得到更高的回报。

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

布拉德福德和其他来到马萨诸塞的清教徒经常通过苦难和救赎的镜头来记录他们的经历。

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

但是清教徒们比他们表现出来的要更好。