Level 4-Day 58.Little House on the Prairie

词汇提示

1.scarce 稀缺的2.stumps 树桩3.log cabin 原木小屋4.wagon 马车5.prairie 草原6.hauled 拖7.creek 小溪8.skunk 臭鼬9.malaria 疟疾

原文

Little House on the Prairie

Much of the history of North America is about how Europeans moved westward from the Atlantic Coast towards the Pacific.The first settlements began around 1600, and it was a long time before the Europeans settled the interior.By the late 18th century, however, good farm land along the East Coast was becoming scarce.As the population increased, people began thinking about all the native Indian lands.Further inland, families were quite large in pioneer days, and the oldest son usually inherited the family farm.This meant that other sons and daughters would have to move away when their parents died.Often the sons would want to begin their own farm and start their own family, but if there was no farmland available, or if it was too expensive to buy, they were out of luck.One option was to move west, where land was free or very cheap.Sometimes the whole family might move if their old farm was no longer productive.Sometimes the old farm was on poor soil, or too much farming had exhausted the soil.Perhaps better land could be had further west.There were other reasons for moving west.Pioneer settlers depended on wild birds, fish and wild animals for food, furs and skins for clothing and trading, and trees for building materials.These things had become scarce in old settled areas out west.There were lots of animals to hunt for food, and animal skins could be traded for supplies.It seemed that it was easier to make a living on the frontier.Of course, there were some problems regarding moving west.Various American Indian tribes, who might fight to defend their land, occupied the land.Then the land needed to be cleared of trees and stumps before it could be planted.Log cabin and other buildings had to be built.A well had to be dug or a spring of water found.Settlers might also suffer because there were no doctors or teachers or stores available.These things, though, often did follow closely behind the first Settlers.Series of little house books, written by Laura Ingles Wilder tells the story of her pioneer family, the Angles family moved many times while Laura was a little girl.She was born in Wisconsin in 1867; her family moved next year to Missouri; then they moved to Kansas in 1869; the Ingalls moved back to Wisconsin in 1871;they moved to Minnesota in 1874; her family went to Iowa in 1876; then back to Minnesota in 1877.Finally, they move to dismiss South Dakota in 1879, and there the family remained.All these moves were typical for a pioneer family, always on the lookout for better land and other opportunities.But all these moves involved very hard work, all of which seemed all lost when the family had to move again.For example, when Laura's parents moved to the Kansas Prairie in 1869, they had many hardships.The family put all their belongings in a covered wagon, which measured four feet by ten feet.Two horses pulled it, and the family dog followed along.Laura and her sister Mary were very little girls.The family and their wagon were nearly washed away trying to cross a small river.They traveled through wild, tall grass where there were no roads.Laura's father built a house on the open prairie with logs he had hauled from the creek bottoms.One of the nearby settlers helped him.They also built a log stable for the horses.That was a good thing, because the next night, their little house was surrounded by a pack of 50 large wolves.They formed a large circle around the house and howled all night.One day, while Laura's father was away, two Indians visited the house.They wanted Laura's mother to feed them, and stood silent while the food was cooking.The Indians wore only fresh skunk skins as clothing.After the Indians had eaten all the food, they left.The following spring, there was a large gathering of Indian tribes.Most of them wanted to fight the settlers.For many nights, the sounds of Indian drums frightened the settlers.One tribe opposed the plan, and finally the gathering broke up and the Indians went away.Many other problems faced to the Ingos family.These included bad weather, prairie grass, fires and malaria.The worst part was having to leave their new homes.The government decided that Laura's family was living on Indian land and would have to move.So the covered wagon was packed again, and the family traveled north.Such experiences were not unusual for pioneers in the 19th century.

翻译

草原上的小房子

北美的大部分历史都是关于欧洲人如何从大西洋海岸向西迁移到太平洋。

第一个定居点大约在1600年开始，在欧洲人定居内陆之前有很长一段时间。

然而，到了18世纪晚期，东海岸的良田变得稀少了。

随着人口的增长，人们开始考虑所有印第安原住民的土地。

在更远的内陆地区，拓荒者时代的家庭规模很大，长子通常会继承家族的农场。

这意味着当他们的父母去世时，其他的儿子和女儿将不得不搬走。

通常，儿子们会想要开始自己的农场，建立自己的家庭，但如果没有可用的农田，或者如果购买土地太贵，他们就不走运了。

一个选择是搬到西部，那里的土地是免费或非常便宜的。

有时，如果他们的旧农场不再多产，整个家庭可能会搬家。

有时，老农场的土壤很贫瘠，或者过度的耕种已经耗尽了土壤。

也许更西部的地方有更好的土地。

迁往西部还有其他原因。

拓荒者以野生鸟类、鱼类和野生动物为食，以毛皮和毛皮为衣和贸易，以树木为建筑材料。

这些东西在西部古老的定居地区已经变得稀缺。

有很多动物可以猎取食物，动物的皮可以用来交换生活用品。

在边疆上谋生似乎比较容易。

当然，向西迁移也存在一些问题。

为了保卫自己的土地，许多美洲印第安部落占领了这片土地。

然后，在种植之前，需要清除土地上的树木和树桩。

人们不得不建造小木屋和其他建筑。

必须挖一口井或找到一口泉水。

定居者也可能因为没有医生、教师或商店而受苦。

然而，这些东西往往紧跟在第一批定居者之后。

劳拉·英格尔斯·怀尔德写的一系列家庭读物讲述了她的拓荒者家庭的故事，当劳拉还是个小女孩的时候，盎格鲁一家搬家了很多次。

她于1867年出生在威斯康星州;第二年，她的家人搬到了密苏里州;1869年，他们搬到了堪萨斯州;1871年英格尔一家搬回威斯康辛州;1874年，他们搬到了明尼苏达州;1876年，她的家人去了爱荷华州;然后在1877年回到明尼苏达。

最后，他们在1879年搬到南达科他，他们一家就留在了那里。

所有这些举动都是拓荒者家庭的典型特征，他们总是在寻找更好的土地和其他机会。

但所有这些搬家都需要非常辛苦的工作，当全家不得不再次搬家时，所有这些工作似乎都失去了。

例如，当劳拉的父母在1869年搬到堪萨斯大草原时，他们遇到了很多困难。

这家人把他们所有的东西都放在一辆四英尺乘十英尺的有篷马车里。

两匹马拉着它，家里的狗跟在后面。

劳拉和她的妹妹玛丽都是很小的女孩。

一家人和他们的马车在过河时差点被冲走。

他们在没有路的荒草中穿行。

劳拉的父亲在开阔的草原上用从河底拖来的原木盖了一座房子。

附近的一个移民帮助了他。

他们还为马建了一个用木头做的马厩。

这是件好事，因为第二天晚上，他们的小房子被一群50只大狼包围了。

他们在房子周围围成一个大圈，嚎叫了一整夜。

一天，劳拉的父亲不在家，两个印第安人来拜访她。

他们想让劳拉的妈妈给他们食物，在做饭的时候静静地站着。

印第安人只穿新鲜的臭鼬皮做衣服。

印第安人吃完所有的食物后，他们离开了。

第二年春天，印第安部落举行了一次大型集会。

他们中的大多数人都想与殖民者作战。

许多个夜晚，印第安人的鼓声吓坏了定居者。

一个部落反对这个计划，最后集会破裂，印第安人离开了。

盎格鲁一家还面临许多其他问题。

其中包括恶劣天气、草原草、火灾和疟疾。

最糟糕的是不得不离开他们的新家。

政府认为劳拉一家住在印第安人的土地上，必须搬家。

于是，马车又收拾好了东西，一家人向北旅行。

这样的经历对19世纪的拓荒者来说并不罕见。