林肯养成记

Abraham Lincoln became proficient with an ax when he helped his father, Thomas, clear the forest and build a cabin on the land the Lincolns had bought in Indiana after moving from Kentucky in 1816. Lincoln also learned basic carpentry from his father and became adept at building simple furniture (e.g., three-legged stools).

亚伯拉罕·林肯在1816从肯塔基州搬到印第安纳州后，帮助他的父亲托马斯清理森林，并在印第安纳州林肯家族买的土地上建造了一座小屋，这使他熟于使用斧头。林肯还从他父亲那里学到了基本的木工手艺，擅于制作简单的家具(例如三条腿的凳子)。

In a political campaign biography he prepared years later, Lincoln remarked that he “had an ax put into his hands [at age seven]; and from that to within his twenty-third year, he was almost constantly handling that most useful instrument.” During those years he developed the muscle coordination needed for a powerful swing, and he grew in size and strength such that he could fell trees that were four to six feet in diameter.

在他几年后准备的一本政治竞选传记中，林肯提到“七岁，他第一次接触斧头;从那以后直至他二十三岁，他一直都与之为伴。”在那些年里，因为要不断大力挥动斧头，他培养了不错的肌肉协调能力，并且他的体型和力量都在增长，以至于他可以砍倒直径达六英尺的树木。

Even in the best of times, life for the Lincoln family on the Indiana frontier was hard. In October of 1818, young Abe (then nine years old) lost his beloved mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, at the age of 34 to “milk sickness,” a disease contracted by drinking the milk from a cow. The animal had eaten a poisonous snakeroot plant while grazing.

即使在最好的时代，林肯家族在印第安纳州边境上的生活也很艰难。1818十月，年幼的林肯(当时九岁)失去挚爱的母亲，34岁的Nancy Hanks Lincoln，死于“牛奶病”，一种通过喝牛奶而传染的疾病。这只奶牛在吃草的时候误食了一株有毒的蛇根马兜铃(一种植物，它的根能治疗蛇的咬伤)。

Lincoln later described his mother’s death as the saddest day in his life, but he refrained from mentioning her in any of his autobiographical writing. Some Lincoln scholars have surmised that the pain of Lincoln’s mother’s death remained a lingering sadness throughout Lincoln’s life. More pain and sadness would follow when ten years after the death of his mother, Lincoln’s older sister, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, died at the age of 20 while giving birth to a stillborn baby boy.

林肯后来回忆说母亲去世的那天是他一生中最灰暗的一天，但他在自传体作品中没有提到她。一些研究林肯的学者推测，林肯母亲的去世在林肯的一生中始终是一种挥之不去的悲伤。他母亲去世十年后，他二十岁的姐姐Sarah Lincoln Grigsby也在生下一个死婴后撒手人寰，这更是加剧了林肯的伤痛。

Thirteen months after Mrs. Lincoln’s death, Thomas Lincoln married Sara Bush, herself a widow, who brought order, love, and encouragement to the Lincoln household. She also brought three children of her own from her earlier marriage. Many years later, also in a political campaign autobiography, Lincoln commented that his stepmother “proved a good and kind mother to A,” the “A” Lincoln’s shorthand way of referring to himself. Sara Bush Lincoln also supported and encouraged Lincoln’s ongoing and persistent efforts at self-education.

林肯的母亲去世十三个月后，托马斯·林肯娶了Sara Bush，她本人是个寡妇，她给林肯家带来了秩序、爱和鼓励。她还带了三个自己的孩子。许多年后，也是在一本政治竞选自传中，林肯评论说，他的继母“事实证明，对于A来说她是一个好母亲”，“A”是林肯的速记中指代自己的符号。她还支持并鼓励林肯不断地、坚持不懈地进行自我学习。

When Lincoln would encounter a passage in his reading that he thought important, he would methodically write it down in a “copy book” constructed from loose pieces of paper. Lincoln used such books to help him memorize the poetry and prose passages he had identified and copied. He also use the copy books to record his personal poetry and prose efforts.

当林肯在他的阅读中邂逅一段他认为不错的段落时，他会有条不紊地把它们摘录在一本由松散的纸装订的“摘抄本”中。林肯用这些本子辅助他记住他摘录的诗歌和散文段落。他还用这些摘抄本来记录他个人的诗歌和散文创作。

As he grew in maturity and strength, Lincoln began taking for-hire jobs, often working for $.25 a day clearing land, plowing fields, felling trees, and building fences. He also spent time at the local general store and nearby grain mills where he liked to listen to stories and, over time, to contribute his own often humorous stories. He continued to read widely and to borrow books from others and became acquainted with some local lawyers who likely planted the seed in his mind that law could be a worthwhile and interesting profession. Lincoln made a trip to New Orleans with a local businessman by flat boat down the Mississippi River. He earned eight dollars (a significant sum in those days) for the round trip, and he may have seen his first slave market while in the Deep South.

随着他的成熟和力量的增长，林肯开始接受雇用工作，通常做一些清理土地、犁地、伐木、建造栅栏的工作，一天差不多可以挣0.25美元。他还在当地的普通商店和附近的粮厂呆了一段时间，在那里他喜欢听故事，而且，随着时间的推移，他也贡献不少自己幽默的故事。他向他人借书继，续广泛阅读，他认识了一些当地的律师，与这些人的相识在他的脑海中埋下了一颗种子，认为法律可能是一个有价值、有趣的职业。林肯和当地一位商人乘船沿着密西西比河去了新奥尔良。他在往返期间赚了8美元(那时候8美元是很大一笔钱)，他在南方深处的时候第一见到奴隶市场。

After living and farming in southern Indiana for 14 years, Thomas Lincoln moved his family to central Illinois in 1830 when his son Abraham was 21 years old. Both Kentucky and Indiana had important and lasting effects on the future president, but it would be in Illinois that Abraham Lincoln would excel and develop the national reputation that would propel him to the White House as our 16th president.

在印第安纳州南部生活和耕作长达14年后，托马斯·林肯于1830年，也就是亚伯拉罕·林肯21岁的时候，搬到伊利诺斯州中部。在肯塔基州和印第安纳州的生活对这个未来总统的产生了深远的影响，但是，在伊利诺斯的生活使亚伯拉罕·林肯更加出类拔萃，提高了他在全国的声望，更是在不久的将来将他推向白宫成为美国第十六任总统。

The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, located near Gentryville, Indiana, preserves both the site of the farm, where the future president spent many of his formative years, and the traditional gravesite of Lincoln’s mother.

林肯少年国家纪念馆位于印第安纳州的温特维尔附近，它保留了农场的遗址。这是林肯总统度过多年成长岁月的地方，林肯母亲的传统墓地也被保存了下来。