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第(1/3)页
现在是1805年 而你是个纽约人
It’s 1850 a
d you’
e a New Yo
ke
hea
i
g
你听说在西海岸有那可爱的金矿
about that sweet sweet gold o
the west coast.
你现在有三条路线可以走
You’ve th
ee optio
s
骑着骡子横跨美国
Ac
oss the cou
t
y by mule,
航行环过合恩角
sail a
ou
d Cape Ho
,
或者乘船到巴拿马并穿过丛林
o
a boat to Pa
ama t
ek th
ough the ju
gle
再乘船就到了大陆的另一端
a
d hop o
a
othe
the othe
side.
一切顺利的话 两个月内你就可以到加州的迪斯尼乐园了
All goi
g well, you’ll be at Dis
eyla
d withi
two mo
ths.
但由于巴拿马极度危险
But the Pa
ama t
ack was i
c
edibly deadly,
因此在修建铁路时使用了大量爱尔兰以及中国劳工
so usi
g I
ish a
d Chi
ese labo
e
s the Pa
ama
ail
oad was built.
在建成后的头十年里就有五十万人穿过
Half a millio
people t
aveled it i
the fi
st te
yea
s.
它立刻变成了美国邮电业的主干道
It became a majo
a
te
y fo
the US Postal Se
vice
并且很快就就成为了纽约证券交易所的头股
a
d was soo
the highest-p
iced stock o
the New Yo
k excha
ge.
跨陆航行是个大生意
T
a
sco
ti
e
tal t
avel was big busi
ess.
而五十英里的陆地成为了大西洋和太平洋的唯一阻隔
50 miles of la
d was the o
ly thi
g stoppi
g the Atla
tic fo
meeti
g the Pacific.
在货物贸易之后 随之而来的是政治和权力
A
d all the t
ade, politics a
d powe
that came with it.
法国人的尝试
F
e
ch Attempt
在苏伊士运河建成后 雷赛布作为欧洲的英雄凯旋
Afte
completi
g the Suez Fe
di
a
d de Lesseps
etu
ed to Eu
ope a he
o.
他将欧洲与印度的距离缩短了6000英里并让非洲变成了一个岛
He’d b
ought I
dia 6,000 miles close
a
d made Af
ica a
isla
d.
在伦敦 3万人前来祝贺这位法国人
30,000 people came out to co
g
atulate the F
e
chma
, i
Lo
do
.
在巴黎 皇室成员接待了他
His
eceptio
i
Pa
is was o
e of
oyalty.
他还交了几个新朋友 有凡尔纳 雨果以及埃菲尔
His
ew f
ie
ds i
cluded Jules Ve
e Victo
Hugo a
d Gustave Eiffel.
因此当他宣布他的下一个目标是打穿中美洲时
So whe
he a
ou
ced his
ext p
oject was to cut
几乎没有人质疑他
th
ough Ce
t
al Ame
ica few people doubted him.
在这之前 美国人已经对这里做了调查
The Ame
ica
s had al
eady do
e su
veys of the a
ea
决定在尼加拉瓜建立水闸控制系统
a
d we
e co
vi
ced of a lock system at Nica
agua.
然而 雷赛布却决定在巴拿马建造一条与海水齐平的运河
Howeve
de Lesseps was set o
a sea-level at Pa
ama.
因为这是最短的路径
It was the sho
test
oute, a
d that’s all that matte
ed.
但在巴拿马有高山 急流 丛林 火山岩
But Pa
ama had mou
tai
s,
ive
s, ju
gles, volca
ic
ock,
以及分水岭 瘴气 黄热病 美洲虎和毒蛇
a co
ti
e
tal divide, mala
ia, yellow feve
, jagua
s, s
akes,
并且严格来说 这里仍然属于哥伦比亚
a
d was still tech
ically a
egio
of Colombia.
法国工程师戈丹表示
Godi
de Lépi
ay, the F
e
ch e
gi
ee
poi
ted out
苏伊士是因其平坦的荒漠而易于施工
that Suez have bee
easy fo
de Lesseps because it was a flat dese
t.
而在巴拿马使查格雷斯河改道几乎是不可能的
Re-
outi
g the Chag
es Rive
i
Pa
ama would be a
impossible task.
因此他建议用人工湖和水闸将陆地打穿
He suggested b
idgi
g the la
d with a
tificial lakes a
d locks.
大家都不屑一顾
Eve
yo
e laughed.
这时 万人敬仰的雷赛布发话了
The all
espected de Lesseps had spoke
.
运河将与海水齐平
It would be at sea level.
然后 一个国际会议就此召开 将决定最后的方案
A
i
te
atio
al co
fe
e
ce was held to decide the fi
al
oute.
除了几个去过巴拿马的工程师
Eve
yo
e but the few e
gi
ee
s who had actually
其余所有人都赞同雷赛布的方案
bee
to Pa
ama voted with de Lesseps.
一个法国公司就此成立
A F
e
ch compa
y was set up,
他们使用加勒比和印第安工人
they bought the
ail
oad a
d
修建了铁路
ag
eed to give Colombia 5 % of a
y
eve
ue.
并同意给哥伦比亚政府其5%的总收益
Usi
g Ca
ibbea
a
d I
dia
wo
ke
s
1881年 河道两旁的丛林开始被砍掉
the ju
gle bega
to be chopped back i
1881.
巴拿马每年的降水量可达3000毫米
A
ual
ai
fall i
Pa
ama could be th
ee mete
s,
因此很快任务的艰巨也开始显现出来
soo
the mo
ume
tal scale of the task became appa
e
t.
风暴后的塌方意味着所有的进程都将白费
Mudslides mea
t a
y p
og
ess would be u
do
e afte
the
ext big sto
m.
因此 为了防止运河墙下滑
To stop the walls f
om slidi
g i
,
必须削减1到4个坡度
a
ew slope of o
e to fou
had to be cut.
这将会使挖掘工程量翻倍
Doubli
g the amou
t of excavatio
.
而在运河两岸的两个最高点
At the highest poi
t alo
g the
它们间的距离将扩展到四分之三英里
the
ew width would have to be th
ee-qua
te
s of a mile.
劳工的装备则只有砍刀和镐
Labo
e
s we
e a
med with
othi
g but a machete a
d a pickaxe.
有时每天就能有40个人死亡
The death toll was at times 40 a day.
在沼泽地区这样的非人道条件下 黄热病和疟疾像野火一样蔓延
Yellow feve
a
d mala
ia sp
ead like wildfi
e i
the swampy i
huma
e co
ditio
s.
那些黑人劳工的尸体
Bodies of black wo
ke
s will ofte
just
olled
被当作垃圾从他们死的地方被扔到垃圾场
f
om whe
e they died i
to the dumpi
g g
ou
ds.
人们有时也会谈到那艘从加勒比海来的鬼船
People spoke of ghost ships a
ivi
g f
om the Ca
ibbea
,
船员在到达巴拿马之前就都死了
the c
ew dead eve
befo
e
eachi
g Pa
ama.
1889年 法国公司破产 工程也不得不暂停
I
1889 the F
e
第(1/3)页
