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9 The Great Lakes
9 五大湖
The Great Lakes are the greatest wonder of America. It is the largest group of lakes in the world and the biggest body of fresh water.It is hard to grasp that a land should contain several freshwater seas so big that a ship can steam out of sight of the shore for a day or more or even founder in giant waves, as happens from time to time.
五大湖是美洲最壮观的景观，是世界上最大的湖群和最大的淡水储存区。很难想象，一片陆地上的几个淡水湖泊可以大到可以让一艘船出航一天而不靠岸，甚至有时经常翻起巨浪。
Let us approach the lakes the best way: We should get on board a ship and start from the Lake Ontario. It is the smallest of the Great Lakes,but compared with the other lakes, Ontario is more illusive. This Niagara Falls with its sheer thunderous drop has been an illusive barrier between this and other lakes, and the St. Lawrence sluicing out its eastern end draws Ontario's attention seaward. The Welland Canal, 27 miles long, with eight locks to lift the ship over the Niagara Falls Escarpment to Lake Erie, has beautiful scenery on both sides. The ship drifts between backyards, orchards, and the back porch of a small farmhouse. Then, the ship breaks through the last lock and goes into Lake Erie.
让我们以最佳的方式来了解五大湖：我们可以从安大略湖上船。安大略湖是五大湖中最小的，但是比起其它湖泊，它又是最迷幻的。尼亚加拉大瀑布带着它清澈的水花轰鸣而下，并成为安大略湖与别的湖泊难以分辨的界岭。圣劳伦斯河位于安大略湖东侧，湖水在此注入海洋。韦兰运河长27英里，有8个船闸可以将船从尼亚加拉瀑布悬崖提升至伊利湖，在其两侧均有怡人的风景。船只在‘后院’，‘果园’以及‘农舍的后门廊’中穿梭，接着，船只通过最后的一道船闸，然后驶入伊利湖。
Erie has a reputation for treacherous flash storms. The shallowest of the lakes, it can be pale as glass, and as smooth. Then a few hours later it can be insensately churning under a fugitive sky. Its shores are low-lying,its beaches are narrow, but it is succulently pastoral.
伊利湖以其突如其来的闪电式风暴而闻名。它是五湖中最浅的湖，有时平静如镜。但短短几个小时后，会在阴晴不定的天空下狂暴地翻滚。湖岸很低，也很窄，但是却有着无限的田园风光。
After a day's sailing, the ship passes the Detroit lighthouse at dusk.Detroit lies beside us now, an immense suffusion of light, sound of machine and people.
经过一天的航行，轮船在暮色中经过了底特律灯塔。底特律近在咫尺，灯火通明，机器轰鸣，人声鼎沸。
The next day the ship enters Lake Huron, the second largest of the lakes. You can smell north here; the wind has the resinous taste of pine, and stings having blown a long way across cold water.
第二天，船开入人休伦湖，这是第二大湖。面向北边你可以嗅到风中夹有松脂的气味，经过冰冷的湖面从远处吹来。
The ship enters St Mary's River at the upper end of Huron at twilight. The river is wide and still. On either side of the river the forest comes down to the water. The country behind rises to low hunched mountains. The overwhelming impression is its absolute silence. Not even Huron itself seemed so wide, so empty, so soundless as these woods. In this silence, a gull rises beside the rail and then wheels and soars high, floats for a moment and then vanishes.
在黎明时分，轮船进入休伦湖的上游圣玛丽河。圣玛丽河宽广宁静。河的两岸都有树木延伸至水中。城镇以低矮的群山为背景建起。最为深刻的印象是静谧。休伦湖是那么宽，那么空灵，寂静一如周围的树木。在寂静中，一只海鸥从围栏后飞起，盘旋，冲向云霄，滑翔一会儿，消失在在远方。
Our destination now is Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world, also the deepest of the Lakes. There is a graceful stillness on Lake Superior. The rounded humped mountains along the shores look like burial mounds of the gods.
我们的目的地是苏必利尔湖，它是世界上最大的淡水湖，也是最深的湖。苏必利尔湖优雅而平静。沿岸有圆形的驼峰似的群山，仿佛是天神的坟茔。
The ship slowly steams up to Fort William. The town wears the look of any city, but what strikes one most is the gleaming tracks and lines of cars. Forty-eight hours later we enter Lake Michigan. It is the only one of the lakes that built Chicago. It is the main route of the Oceangoing ships. Its shores are green and tangled in the north and white with dunes to the east.
船缓缓地顺流而上至威廉堡。城镇带有城市的面貌，但最为引人注目的是灯光闪烁的轨道，和一排排的汽车。48小时后，我们进入密歇根湖。这是五大湖中唯一缔造了芝加哥这座城市的湖，是远洋船只的出海通道。岸的北边是一片绿树，枝丫盘桓，而东边是一片白色的沙丘。
Now the whole lake is glassy, and the sky is black. There are distant rumbles, and suddenly the storm comes. In no time the ship begins to lift and roll. The curtains swing. Lightning illuminates the whole ship. From that windless dusk to this black age, tomorrow the ship is to reach Chicago. Chicago? Shouldn't it be a port it England or France? Well, it is better to lie and listen to the water.
目前整个湖面平静如镜，此时天色已黑。远处转来轰隆声，风暴突如其来。船体即刻上下左右摇摆。帘子被吹得乱颤，闪电照亮了整个船舱。从无一丝风色的黄昏到此时的一片黑暗。明天船将到达芝加哥。到芝加哥吗？还是英国或法国的某个港口？嗯，现在最好躺下，静听雨声。
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
