Of Plymouth Plantation 1(美国语文)
这本书毕竟是教材，一般来说应按顺序捋下来，但书很厚，加上也枯燥。这一类书个人喜欢随意翻到哪里看一看，作为知识了解扩充。
选这一篇是因为讲的五月花号抵达新大陆的事，对这段历史比较熟悉，在经济学人中也曾提到过。Unlike other Universities, the vision of the founders of Harvard was to explore man's higher realities of mind and being and overcome the shackles of spiritual ignorance. In the words of it's founders: "After God had carried us safe to New England and wee had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, rear'd convenient places for God's worship, and settled the civil government: One of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity; ..."这是刻在哈佛大学Johnston Gate边上铭牌的一段话，选自New England 's First Fruits in1643，知识在现在或许不会实用，但拥有知识不会让你无知。五月花号船上的乘客抵达新大陆后安定下来的第一件事就是操心后代的培养，尤其是高等教育。后来豹豹或多或少读了一些材料，对于这一批人不想过多评论。
说到五月花(船的名字)就想起布什在感恩节放生的两只火鸡，一只叫做May 一只叫做Flower，感恩节是圣诞节之外最大的节日，但这个节日建立却有莫大的讽刺，当地的印第安人帮助了这批外来客，而这批纯洁的人却将功劳归为了他们的God，有时候豹豹觉得欧洲和英国容不下Puritan或许也是有原因的。(我要打住了)
这一篇文作者William Bradford ，也是这批chao圣的总督，他们从英国到荷兰转战漂泊在海上最终抵达北美洲。他与当地的土著建立良好关系，后来扎根在普利茅斯。这篇题目其实也是这本自传的书名，文章是节选的片段，分别是海上行程，饥荒时期与和当地人的关系三个篇幅。虽然对他们持保留意见，但文中坚定的勇气，不屈不挠的精神还是令人敬佩的。
但五月花号并不是第一个抵达北美的群体，在此之前船长约翰史密斯就在弗吉尼亚建立了居住地，如果不是这位船长与当地居民建立联系，可以说就没有后来者什么事了。因为没有土著人的帮助，他们根本无法生存下来。因为这篇文是亲身经历者第一首材料，读得时候很有代入感，但第一手材料的记录也是很主观的。
以下正文第一部分
Of Their Voyage and How They Passed the Sea; and of Their Safe Arrival at Cape Cod
这一篇讲述了船上的人们本来想去往弗吉尼亚，但大海茫茫迷失方向，加上船只出现问题，最终向北很远到达了靠近德海角Cope Cod的马萨诸塞。
After they had enjoyed fair winds and weather for a season, they were encountered many times with cross winds and met with many fierce storms with which the ship was soundly shaken, and her upper works made very leaky; and one of the main beams in the mid-ship was bowed and cracked, which put them in some fear that the ship could not be able to perform the voyage.
享受了一季的好天气后，灾难就来临了。一处船体上层漏水，一处主桅杆弯曲。bowed在这里很形象，说明杆子像弓一样弯了下来。
cross winds侧风
于是人们都害怕船不能走了，尤其是海员们，他们既想返航，又怕拿不到钱，因为船已经走了一半航程。后面上岸后还有对这些船员的描写，是为了和乘客们形成对比。
...they entered into serious consultation with the master and other officers of the ship, to consider in time of the danger, and rather to return than to cast themselves into a desperate and inevitable peril. And truly there was great distraction and difference of opinion amongst the mariners themselves; fain would they do what could be done for their wages’ sake (being now near half the seas over) and on the other hand they were loath to hazard their lives too desperately.
A consultation is a meeting which is held to discuss something. Consultation is discussion about something. 商讨会; 研讨; 磋商
in time of the danger 在此危险下
on the other hand they were loath to hazard their lives too desperately.不愿不顾一切去冒险，为后文上岸船员们之间的事埋线。
船主检查之后表示没有大问题，一个荷兰乘客带的巨大螺丝钉固定住了桅杆(a great iron screw)，身兼船长和木匠的船主就动手解决了主桅杆的问题。(the carpenter and master可以用来表示同一个人)
很想知道怎么会有人带一个大螺丝呢？
And as for the decks and upper works, they would caulk them as well as they could, and though with the working of the ship they would not long keep staunch, yet there would otherwise be no great danger, if they did not over-press her with sails. So they committed themselves to the will of God and resolved to proceed.
而另一方面，针对船体漏水，则尽可能堵住裂开的地方。尽管船在长时间航行后依旧会有再次渗透的情况，但不给她太大的压力，问题就不大。剩下的就只有听天由命了。
staunch: formal To staunch the flow of something means to stop it. 止住…的流动，一般表示止血，这里表示止水
If you caulk something such as a boat, you fill small cracks in its surface in order to prevent it from leaking. 补漏洞
In sundry of these storms the winds were so fierce and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to hull for divers days together.
sundry: If someone refers to sundry people or things, they are referring to several people or things that are all different from each other. 各式各样的; 形色各异的; 杂七杂八的(正式用语)
knot:海里/小时
各种各样的风暴中，有几天船只能被风浪拖着走。
And in one of them, as they thus lay at hull in a mighty storm, a lusty young man called John Howland, coming upon some occasion above the gratings, was, with a roll of the ship, thrown into sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards, which hung overboard and ran out at length.
在风暴中就会有各种危险，一个小伙子就不小心掉进了海里，不过他是幸运的，抓住了升降索topsail halyards被救了。但在航行中还是失去了一位乘客--In all this voyage there died but one of the passengers, which was William But ten, a youth, servant to Samuel Fuller, when they drew near the coast.
但不管怎样，也如同作者说的，省去其他的事情，在海上这些搏斗后，这群勇敢的人终于上了岸(德海角)。但他们并不开心，After some deliberation had amongst themselves and with the master of the ship, they tacked about and resolved to stand for the southward (the wind and weather being fair) to find some place about Hudson’s River for their habitation.(哈德森河，见证纽约曼哈顿的兴起，在精灵鼠小弟中多次提到)
人们不想待在这个荒僻的海角，于是讨论计划后前往哈德森河附近，寻找可以居住的地方。
But after they had sailed that course about half the day, they fell amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers, and they were so far entangled therewith as they conceived themselves in great danger; and the wind shrinking) upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the Cape and thought themselves happy to get out of those dangers before night overtook them, as by God’s good providence they did. And the next day they got into the Cape Harbor where they rid in safety.
天不遂人愿，危险的浅滩和咆哮的海浪又让他们驶回出发地，终于第二天到达港口脱了险。
shoal: a stretch of shallow water 浅滩
therewith: with or in addition to that 与此，此外
Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element.
结尾，归来的人们终于从内心接受了命运的安排。后面涉及到的一点点就不翻译了。
再次站在这块坚定的土地上，这才是他们真正的归属。
这篇文的第一部分就结束了，略有生词，主要是一些正式或者略有点古英语的句式读起来很别扭。文整体看下来还挺很吸引人，对于五月花有兴趣的友友也可以百度搜索读一读历史，至少五月花公约(THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT)还是很具有历史意义的。
注释来自柯林斯。
今天就这样，抽时间继续读福尔摩斯。猫猫的癣终于开始长毛了，不容易。
