033 淘金热

旁白 neutral

One of the largest and most famous cities in the United States is San Francisco, but it hasn't always been popular

美国最大、最著名的城市之一是旧金山，但它并非一直如此受欢迎。

旁白 neutral

In fact, in 1848 there were only five hundred people living there

事实上，1848年那里只有五百人居住。

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Only two years later in 1850 — thanks to something called the Gold Rush — the city had grown to 25,000 people

仅仅两年后，到了1850年——多亏了淘金热——这座城市已增至25,000人。

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On a cold morning in January 1848, James Marshall and John Sutter were on the banks of the American River building a sawmill

1848年1月一个寒冷的早晨，詹姆斯·马歇尔和约翰·萨特正在美国河畔建造锯木厂。

旁白 neutral

Marshall saw something glittering in the water, and when he pulled it out, he realized it was gold!

马歇尔看见水中有什么东西闪闪发光，他捞出来一看，发现是金子！

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Marshall and Sutter didn't want people to stop the construction of their sawmill, so they agreed to keep the gold a secret

马歇尔和萨特不想让人们妨碍他们锯木厂的建造，于是他们约定保守黄金的秘密。

旁白 neutral

Unfortunately for them Sam Brannan found out about the gold, and that is how the Gold Rush began

对他们来说不幸的是，萨姆·布兰南发现了黄金，淘金热就这样开始了。

旁白 neutral

Sam Brannan was a brilliant businessman. Unlike Marshall and Sutter, he knew that he could make money from gold without even digging for it

萨姆·布兰南是个精明的商人。不像马歇尔和萨特，他知道即使不挖金子也能从中赚钱。

旁白 neutral

First, Brannan bought every shovel, pan, and digging tool in San Francisco

首先，布兰南买下了旧金山所有的铲子、淘盘和挖掘工具。

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Then, he ran through the streets yelling," There's gold in the American River! Gold for everyone! We'll be rich!"

然后，他跑上街头大喊：“美国河里有金子！人人都有金子！我们要发财了！”

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Of course everyone wants to be rich

当然，人人都想发财。

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But to get rich with gold, people need tools to mine the gold

但是靠黄金致富，需要工具来开采黄金。

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In 1848 shovels usually cost 25 cents, but now that Brannan owned them all, he charged 15 dollars for each shovel!

在1848年，一把铲子通常卖25美分，可现在布兰南垄断了所有铲子，每把卖15美元！

旁白 neutral

People were desperate for gold, and in only nine weeks, Brannan made $36,000 selling tools

人们渴望淘到金子，短短九周，布兰南靠卖工具就赚了三万六千美元。

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Over the next year, stories about rivers full of gold in California spread east

接下来的一年里，加利福尼亚河流里满是黄金的消息传到了东部。

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People in the eastern United States were eager to mine gold, but there was no easy way to get to California

美国东部的人急切想去淘金，但当时没有便捷的路去加利福尼亚。

旁白 neutral

Some people crossed the plains in covered wagons, and other people traveled by boat around South America

有些人坐着篷车穿越平原，另一些人则乘船绕行南美洲。

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Either way the trip took at least six months, and very few people survived

无论哪种方式，旅程至少需要六个月，而且很少有人活下来。

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Many hopeful miners traveled to California using wagons

许多满怀希望的淘金者坐着马车前往加利福尼亚。

旁白 neutral

However, California is on the edge of the Nevada desert

然而，加利福尼亚紧邻内华达沙漠。

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Many people would run out of water and die in the desert when they were so close to the end of their journey

许多人在即将走完旅程时，会在沙漠中因缺水而死。

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Californian businessmen decided to make money off this

加州的商人决定利用这一点赚钱，

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so they rode into the desert with large barrels of water and sold glasses of water for one dollar, five dollars

于是他们骑着马带着大桶水进入沙漠，一杯水卖一美元、五美元，

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and even one hundred dollars to thirsty travelers!

甚至卖到一百美元给口渴的旅行者！

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The biggest years of the Gold Rush were 1848 through 1850

淘金热最盛大的年份是1848年到1850年。

旁白 neutral

During those two years, people traveled to California from China, Mexico, Europe, and all over the United States to find gold

在那两年里，人们从中国、墨西哥、欧洲和美国各地来到加州寻找黄金。

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This made California an international cultural center unlike any other place in the world

这使得加州成为一个世界其他地方都不一样的国际文化中心。

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Unfortunately of the 25,000 people who traveled to California to find gold, very few became rich

遗憾的是，在前往加州淘金的25000人中，很少有人变得富有。

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In fact, most of the people who became rich during the Gold Rush never lifted a shovel

事实上，大多数在淘金热中致富的人从没拿起过铲子。

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The people who made the most money from the Gold Rush were those who took care of the miners

从淘金热中赚到最多钱的人，是那些为矿工提供服务的人。

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There were very few women in California at this time, so the ones who were there made a lot of money by taking care of the men

那时加州女性非常少，所以在那里的女性通过照顾男性挣了很多钱。

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For example, one woman made $18,000 just by selling pies she baked in her oven

例如，一位女性仅仅通过出售她烤的馅饼就赚了一万八千美元。

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Another woman charged eight dollars just to wash a dozen pieces of laundry, when in other states it cost only 25 cents

另一位女性洗十几件衣服就要收八美元，而在其他州这只需25美分。

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Other women made dinner for twenty men every night and sold each plate of food for ten dollars!

其他女性每晚为二十个男人做晚餐，每盘食物卖十美元！

旁白 neutral

In any other state, these prices would have been robbery, but in California the miners were desperate and paid the high prices

在其他任何州，这些价格都像是抢劫，但在加州，矿工们十分迫切需要，只好付高价。

旁白 neutral

Many men who left their homes to find gold in California also left their families behind

许多离开家去加州淘金的男人，也把家人留在了身后。

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" I'll be home in a year, and we'll be richer than you can dream," a man would promise his family as he left

“我一年后就会回家，我们会比你能梦想的还要富有。”一个男人离开时会这样向家人承诺。

旁白 neutral

But with so many people in California, it became very difficult to find gold, and many men were not able to return to their families

但因为加州人太多，淘金变得非常困难，许多人无法返回家人身边。

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Women were scarce in California, and the men were lonely

加州女性稀少，男人们都很孤独。

旁白 neutral

One man was able to find a bride in California, and when he got married, he charged men five dollars to come to the wedding to see his new wife

有一个人在加州找到了新娘，他结婚时，向来看他妻子的男人们收取五美元的门票。

旁白 neutral

The men were so desperate to see a woman's face that they happily paid five dollars each!

那些男人如此渴望看到女人的脸，以至于每人都高高兴兴地付了五美元！

旁白 neutral

The story of the Gold Rush is a story of both riches and poverty

淘金热的故事既是财富的故事，也是贫穷的故事。

旁白 neutral

Though many people didn't become rich, in the end they created a very rich state

尽管很多人没有变富，但最终他们造就了一个非常富有的州。

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Today California celebrates its Gold Rush history in many ways —

如今，加州以多种方式纪念它的淘金热历史——

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one of which is San Francisco's football team, named the 49ers after the many gold miners who arrived in 1849

其中之一就是旧金山的橄榄球队，命名为49人队，以纪念1849年到达的众多淘金矿工。

旁白 neutral

Of course there may still be gold in that American River; no one really knows

当然，那条美洲河里可能还有黄金；没人真正知道。