002 布鲁克林大桥

旁白 neutral

" It's a perfect day to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge," Paul said

“今天是步行穿过布鲁克林大桥的绝佳日子，”保罗说。

旁白 neutral

He looked up at the enormous bridge that connected two very busy parts of New York City — Brooklyn and Manhattan

他抬头望着这座连接纽约市两个繁忙地区——布鲁克林和曼哈顿——的巨大桥梁。

旁白 neutral

The bridge was pretty old now

这座桥现在相当古老了。

旁白 neutral

But with its tall stone towers and strong-looking cables, it was still an amazing sight above the East River

但凭借高耸的石塔和看似坚固的缆索，它依然是东河上方一道令人惊叹的风景。

旁白 neutral

" Dad, who built this bridge?" Paul asked

“爸爸，是谁建造了这座桥？”保罗问。

旁白 neutral

" A man named John Roebling," his father answered

“一个叫约翰·罗布林的人，”他父亲回答。

旁白 neutral

" Now Brooklyn and Manhattan are part of the same city — New York

“现在布鲁克林和曼哈顿同属一个城市——纽约。

旁白 neutral

But they used to be two different cities

但它们曾经是两个不同的城市。

旁白 neutral

In the 1800s boats would bring people back and forth across the East River to work, shop, or visit friends

在19世纪，船只载着人们往返东河两岸，去上班、购物或拜访朋友。

旁白 neutral

The river was sometimes rough, and the boats were often late

河面有时波涛汹涌，船只也经常晚点。

旁白 neutral

One day John was on one of those boats with his son, and he got the idea to build a suspension bridge across the river

有一天，约翰和他的儿子乘船时，萌生了建一座横跨河流的悬索桥的想法。

旁白 neutral

Many people said it couldn't be done

很多人都说这不可能实现。

旁白 neutral

But one winter the East River froze, and the boats couldn't get through

但有一年冬天，东河封冻，船只无法通行。

旁白 neutral

People from Brooklyn couldn't get to work in Manhattan

布鲁克林的人没法去曼哈顿上班了。

旁白 neutral

Finally it was decided that a bridge should be built, connecting the two places."

最终，人们决定建一座桥，把两地连接起来。

旁白 neutral

" Was John Roebling an engineer like you?" asked Paul

“约翰·罗布林和你一样是工程师吗？”保罗问。

旁白 neutral

" Yes, he was. His son, Washington, was an engineer too

“是的，他是。他的儿子华盛顿也是工程师。

旁白 neutral

In 1869 they started to work on the bridge together

1869年，他们开始一起建造这座桥。

旁白 neutral

But sadly, a freak accident happened

但不幸的是，一场离奇的事故发生了。

旁白 neutral

While John Roebling was on the Brooklyn side of the river, his foot got caught in the dock

约翰·罗布林在布鲁克林一侧的河边时，脚被卡在了码头里。

旁白 neutral

An incoming boat crashed into the dock, injuring him badly

一艘驶来的船撞上了码头，使他受了重伤。

旁白 neutral

He died a month later. So Washington took over."

一个月后他去世了。于是华盛顿接替了他的工作。

旁白 neutral

" Washington must have been sad when his father died," murmured Paul

“父亲去世时，华盛顿一定很伤心。”保罗低声说。

旁白 neutral

" Yes, he and his father were very close

“是的，他和父亲非常亲近。”

旁白 neutral

But Washington was ready for the job

但华盛顿已经为这项工作做好了准备。

旁白 neutral

He started working right away, digging deep under the river mud to create supports for the two bridge towers

他立刻开始工作，在河泥深处挖掘，为两座桥塔建造支撑结构。

旁白 neutral

This almost cost him his life."

这差点让他送了命。”

旁白 neutral

Paul gasped." You mean, Washington almost died too?"

保罗倒吸一口气。“你是说，华盛顿也差点死了？”

旁白 neutral

" Yes, he designed something called a caisson to use for the underwater project

“是的，他为水下工程设计了一种叫沉箱的东西。

旁白 neutral

These caissons, which prevented the water from flooding the work area, were filled with compressed air

这些沉箱防止水淹没工作区，里面充满了压缩空气。

旁白 neutral

And at the time, people didn't realize that working in compressed air can cause caisson disease, or decompression sickness

当时，人们还没意识到在压缩空气环境下工作会引发沉箱病，也就是减压病。

旁白 neutral

That's a dangerous condition that results from gas bubbles forming inside the body

这是一种危险的状况，是由于体内形成气泡所导致的。

旁白 neutral

Caisson disease affected Washington's nervous system, paralyzing him for a time and causing him great pain

沉箱病损害了华盛顿的神经系统，使他瘫痪了一段时间，并承受巨大的痛苦。

旁白 neutral

Some members of his work crew even died from the illness!

他的一些工友甚至因此病而丧生！

旁白 neutral

Washington never returned to the bridge, but he continued to manage the project

华盛顿再也没能回到大桥工地上，但他继续管理着这个项目。

旁白 neutral

Imagine this — he used a telescope to watch the progress of the bridge construction from his home in Brooklyn!"

想象一下——他就在布鲁克林的家中，用望远镜观察大桥的施工进展！

旁白 neutral

" Wow. It sounds like he was pretty sick — how could he manage everything from home?" Paul asked

“哇，听起来他病得很重——他怎么能在家里管理所有事情呢？”保罗问道。

旁白 neutral

" Good question," his father said." Washington's wife, Emily, helped him

“问得好，”他父亲说，“华盛顿的妻子，埃米莉，帮了他。

旁白 neutral

She wrote his letters and helped with planning the work

她代他写信，并协助规划工作。

旁白 neutral

She served as his eyes and ears, and delivered all his orders to the workers

她充当了他的耳目，并将他所有的指令传达给工人们。

旁白 neutral

She even studied complicated mathematics to learn more about building!

她甚至学习了复杂的数学，以便更了解建筑！

旁白 neutral

Soon she earned the respect of everyone involved in the project

很快，她就赢得了所有参与项目的人的尊敬。

旁白 neutral

If it weren't for her, the Brooklyn Bridge probably wouldn't have been finished."

要是没有她，布鲁克林大桥可能就无法完工了。”

旁白 neutral

Paul's father pointed to the bridge towers

保罗的父亲指向桥塔。

旁白 neutral

" When those towers were finished, they were 25 stories high, taller than any of the other buildings around them

“那些桥塔刚建成时有25层楼高，比周围所有其他建筑都高。

旁白 neutral

Can you imagine that?"

你能想象吗？”

旁白 neutral

Paul looked at the city skyline

保罗看着城市的天际线。

旁白 neutral

All the huge skyscrapers made the bridge towers look small now

现在，所有这些摩天大楼都让桥塔显得渺小了。

旁白 neutral

He tried to imagine how different the city must have looked back then

他试着想象那时的城市看起来该有多么不同。

旁白 neutral

" See those four main cables that run along the top from one tower to the other?" his father went on

“看到那四根从一座桥塔顶端延伸到另一座的主缆绳了吗？”他的父亲继续说道。

旁白 neutral

" Can you spot all the wires hanging down from them?

“你能看到从主缆上垂下来的所有钢丝吗？

旁白 neutral

John Roebling invented their material, which is called wire rope

约翰·罗布林发明了它们的材料，叫做钢丝绳。

旁白 neutral

The wire rope is made of steel, so it is strong and can easily be bent into any shape

钢丝绳是用钢制成的，所以很坚固，而且可以轻松弯曲成任何形状。

旁白 neutral

The Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge where it was used

布鲁克林大桥是第一座使用这种材料的大桥。

旁白 neutral

But those slanted supports were Washington's idea

但那些斜拉索是华盛顿的主意。

旁白 neutral

He added them to make sure the bridge was safe."

他加上它们是为了确保大桥的安全。”

旁白 neutral

" How long did it take to build the bridge?" asked Paul

“建这座桥花了多长时间？”保罗问。

旁白 neutral

" Fourteen years," answered his father." It was an amazing undertaking

“十四年，”父亲回答，“这是一项了不起的工程。

旁白 neutral

When it was finished, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world

建成时，它是世界上最长的悬索桥。

旁白 neutral

At the opening day ceremony in 1883, Emily Roebling was given the honor of being the first person to cross the bridge

在1883年的开通典礼上，埃米莉·罗布林获此殊荣，成为第一个跨越大桥的人。

旁白 neutral

She rode in a horse and carriage from the Brooklyn side to the Manhattan side

她坐着一辆马车从布鲁克林一侧前往曼哈顿一侧。

旁白 neutral

The workers all cheered as she went by."

工人们在她经过时都欢呼起来。”

旁白 neutral

" Her husband must have been proud," said Paul

“她丈夫一定很自豪，”保罗说。

旁白 neutral

" Yes, it was his idea

“是的，这是他的构想。

旁白 neutral

Crowds lined the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn, and hundreds of ships were packed into the East River

人群排列在曼哈顿和布鲁克林的街道两旁，数百艘船挤满了东河。

旁白 neutral

On the Manhattan side, the president of the United States waited with the governor and the mayor of New York City

在曼哈顿一侧，美国总统与纽约州州长和纽约市市长一起等候。

旁白 neutral

Then they met Emily and they all walked across the bridge together

然后他们会见了埃米莉，大家一起走过了大桥。

旁白 neutral

After the ceremony they went to the Roebling house to honor Washington and his father

典礼结束后，他们去了罗布林家，向华盛顿和他的父亲致敬。

旁白 neutral

There was a grand show of fireworks that night

那天晚上有一场盛大的烟火表演。

旁白 neutral

It was the greatest celebration ever held in America up until that time."

那是直到那时为止美国举办过的最盛大的庆典。”

旁白 neutral

" That sounds pretty cool," said Paul

“听起来真酷，”保罗说。

旁白 neutral

His father agreed with a nod

父亲点头同意。

旁白 neutral

" I'd like to help build a bridge like that one day," said Paul

“我希望有一天也能帮忙建造那样一座桥，”保罗说。

旁白 neutral

His father beamed

父亲笑容满面。

旁白 neutral

" The Brooklyn Bridge inspired the building of many other bridges, allowing people to travel easily to many new places

“布鲁克林大桥激励了许多其他桥梁的建造，让人们可以轻松地前往许多新地方。

旁白 neutral

It was seen as the greatest engineering achievement of the nineteenth century."

它被视为19世纪最伟大的工程成就。”

旁白 neutral

" My teacher said the Brooklyn Bridge is a true American landmark."

“我的老师说布鲁克林大桥是真正的美国地标。”

旁白 neutral

Paul grabbed his father's arm

保罗抓住父亲的手臂。

旁白 neutral

" Come on, Dad! Let's see how fast we can get to the other side!"

“快来，爸爸！我们比比看谁先到对岸！”