书城历史英国历史读本:与《英国语文》同步的经典学生历史读本
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第126章 公元1603~1881年的英格兰(34)

6.At eleven that night some royal grenadiers and light infantry left Boston,and by marching all night came near the scene of action about five in the morning.There was a small muster of the colonists on the road,and afterwards on the bridge north of the town of Concord;but they were driven from their position by the royal troops,who,entering the town,began to do what they had come to accomplish.They spiked two twenty-four pound cannon-that is,hammered large nails into their touch-holes;they threw a quantity of bullets into the river;and they destroyed a great many barrels of flour.

7.During all this time the colonists were flocking from every quarter,with their rifles in their hands,driving into Concord before their narrowing circle the light infantry,who had spread out as skirmishers on every side.Dead men,in British uniform and in American dress,already strewed the fields.

8.The British then began their retreat,the line of which lay between clumps of trees and other places of shelter,of which the Americans took full advantage.The colonists were used to shooting deer in the forests;and they now shot mena Cambridge.-Three miles west of Boston.

b Concord.-Seventeen miles north-west of Boston.

c Lexington.-Eleven miles north-west of Boston.

with unerring aim.Their bullets brought down the officers in great numbers;and their knowledge of the country was of great advantage to them.If Gage had not sent two field-pieces and some soldiers to meet the retreating force at Lexington,scarcely a man would have reached Boston to tell the story of the march.

中文阅读

1.曾经有一艘船航行至北美海滩上的波士顿港,船上装有共计100箱茶叶。它来到一处名叫格里芬码头的地方停泊。镇上的人民对于英国政府正试图强加给他们的税赋非常愤怒,决定不让任何茶叶(收税的各类商品之一)上岸。他们在码头上安排了一名警卫,受命在晚上有人想让茶叶箱上岸时拉响警铃。另外两艘装满茶叶的船也到达了,并停靠在附近。

2.由于当地人民希望将所有茶叶全部赶回英国,因此,负责接收这些茶叶的商人便向当地总督申请结关证a,因为没有结关证,这些船只就无法离开港口。这一要求遭到了总督的拒绝,他说开具这样的许可证是对法律和对国王的不忠。

3.当这一答复在当地居民的公众聚会上宣布时,听众中一个衣着和彩绘如同印第安人的男子发出一声类似战争般的呐喊,在场的所有群众立即一呼百应。他们向下冲向码头,随后,大约20名身穿印第安人传统服装来乔装打扮、但实际上既不是船员也不是工匠的人,手拿铁锤和凿子跳上运茶叶的船只,不到两个小时,就砸开了茶叶箱,将所有340箱茶叶统统倒进大海。

4.现场没有什么喧闹声,他们也没有对船只或上面的船员实施伤害行为。熙熙攘攘的人群站在码头上,“看着港口逐渐变黑”。结束这一切之后,每个人都回到家中,思忖着如此大胆而又果断的行为可能会带来怎样的后果。

5.4月的一个晚上,一队英国军官在盖奇将军的率领下,离开当时已被英王乔治三世占领的波士顿市,看上去似乎是为了在剑桥镇b吃饭,再在那里度过一个愉快的夜晚。但他们的真实目的却是警戒通往康科德c的道路,以防止从波士顿那里有人报信,提醒当地人民说有一支英国军队当晚要去搜查并销毁殖民地居民藏匿在那里的武器弹药。然而,这样的警戒措施并没有见效,因为了解这一消息的人已经到了列克星敦d,而列克星敦开始通过警钟和大炮开火报警,于是消息传遍了四面八方。

6.当晚11点,一些皇家掷弹兵和轻型步兵离开波士顿,通过星夜行军,于凌晨5点左右到达现场附近。路上有一小群殖民地民兵,后来在康科德镇北面的桥上也有a 结关证:一纸证明某艘船只在海关已经结算完毕的文书。

b 剑桥:位于波士顿以西3英里处。c 康科德:波士顿西北17英里处。d 列克星敦:波士顿西北11英里处。

一队,但他们被皇家军队驱离了已有的位置,这些军队是进入康科德着手做他们准备做的事情的。他们将两门发射24炮弹的大炮的炮口堵住(即用锤子将大钉子砸进火门);他们将无数的子弹扔进河里;他们销毁了数量众多的装面粉的桶。

7.在这期间,手持步枪的殖民地人民从四面八方蜂拥而来,杀入康科德,然后逐渐收缩包围圈,将四处分散成散兵作战的轻型步兵围在其中。身穿英军制服和美国服装的人已经尸横遍野。

8.英国人开始撤退,但他们的队形处在粗树干和其他掩体之间,这一点为美国人充分利用。殖民地人民经常在树林中向鹿开枪射击,所以此时向人开枪也是百发百中。他们的子弹将数量众多的英军军官击倒,而对地形的熟悉程度又帮了他们的大忙。如果盖奇没有派出两门野战炮和一些士兵去支援尚在列克星敦的后撤力量,恐怕没有一个人能够到达波士顿讲述这场战事了。

136

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL

邦克山战役

astonished,surprised.augmented,increased.diminished,reduced.equipments,preparations;out fit.exhausted,done.

intrenchments,field-works;lines of defence.

patriots,lovers of country.repulse,defeat.sustained,bore;suffered.

undisciplined,not trained.

1.In May the American yeomanry,to the number of nearly 20,000,blockaded Boston,where Gage’s garrison had been augmented to 10,000men.The American intrenchments formed a line twenty miles long,south-west of Boston.North of Boston,and separated from Charlestown by an inlet,are two hills,the higher of which is called Bunker Hill,and the lower Breed Hill.As these hills completely command the city,the Americans resolved to seize and fortify the former.It is said that Gage had resolved to occupy these heights on the night of the 18th June;but Gage was habitually too late.

2.On the evening of the 16th,1,200Americans,under General Prescott,mustered on Cambridge Common,and marched to the top of the hill without being discovered.Intrenchments were hastily thrown up;and in the morning Gage was astonished to see earth-works and swarms of armed men where,the night before,there had only been untrodden grass.

3.Ga ge determined to carr y

the works by assault.On the afternoon of the 17th,3,000picked men under Generals Howe and Pigot left Boston and were landed on the peninsula.The plan of attack was simple enough.The English were to march straight up the hill and drive the undisciplined Americans away.But the task was not so easyas it seemed.The day was “exceeding hot.”The English soldiers were heavily laden with provisions and other equipments,to enable them to hold the heights when they had gained them.The hill was steep,the grass was long,the enemy was watchful and resolute.

4.While yet a long way off,the English opened a harmless fire of musketry.There was no reply from the American lines,for the men had been ordered to withhold their fire till they could see the white of the Englishmen‘s eyes,and then to aim low.When within one hundred and fifty yards of the works,the column received a volley so close and deadly as to send its sadly diminished numbers reeling down the hill.

5.Again they advanced almost to the American works,and again they sustained a bloody repulse.Then stripping off their greatcoats,and leaving them with their knapsacks at the hill-foot,they resolved to end the fight with the bayonet.The ammunition of the Americans being exhausted,they could give the enemy only a single volley.The English swarmed over the parapet.

There was a brief hand-to-hand struggle.The Americans fled down the hill,and across the Neck to Cambridge,the English ships raking them with grape-shot as they ran.