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外传之巴拿马运河

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    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

    pleti

    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 pa

    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

    ch pa

    y we

    t ba

    k

    upt a

    d wo

    k came to a halt

    有80万的投资者赔光了他们的钱 2万3千人在此丧命

    800,000 i

    vesto

    s lost thei

    mo

    ey a

    d 23,000 people thei

    lives

    美国人的努力

    us effo

    t

    运河一直无人敢动

    the  sat u

    touched u

    til

    直到十年后罗斯福成功当选

    theodo

    e roosevelt was elected a decade late

    他确信如果美国海军要快速进入太平洋的话

    he was co

    vi

    ced the us navy

    eeded quick access to the pacific ocea

    运河是必经之路

    a

    d a  would be the o

    ly way

    因此关于是在巴拿马还是尼加拉瓜的论辩又再次被提及

    so the pa

    ama ve

    sus nica

    agua debate

    esu

    faced,

    巴拿马又一次赢了

    pa

    ama wi

    i

    g agai

    如果不是因为法国人先前的尝试

    though eve

    had

    ’t bee

    fo

    the f

    e

    ch attempt

    很可能今天运河就会在尼加拉瓜了

    it’s likely the  today would be at nica

    agua

    但是许多工作都已经开始了

    but a lot of the wo

    k was al

    eady sta

    ted

    并且年轻有雄心的美国无法抗拒

    a

    d the you

    g ambitious ame

    ica could

    ’t

    esist i

    succeedi

    g

    在强大的法兰西失败的地方取得成功

    whe

    e the mighty f

    e

    ch empi

    e had failed

    一个小问题是

    the slight p

    oblem was that

    巴拿马是为哥伦比亚所有的一个地区

    pa

    ama was a

    egio

    of a

    d ow

    ed by colombia

    但是美国政府拒绝签订任何

    but the us

    efused to sig

    a

    y t

    eaty whe

    e they

    他们对运河没有完全主权的条约

    did

    ’t have plete sove

    eig

    ty ove

    the  zo

    e, a

    d

    而哥伦比亚也不愿放弃该地区

    colombia we

    e

    ’t willi

    g to give that up

    1903年 哥伦比亚陷入政治动荡

    i

    1903 colombia was i

    political u

    est

    因此 美国政府就直接和巴拿马谈了

    so the us tu

    ed to pa

    ama di

    ectly…

    嘿 巴拿马 你想独立吗

    psssttt… pa

    ama! do you wa

    a be a

    ew cou

    t

    y

    如果你们要闹革命

    if you we

    e to have a

    evolutio

    我们不会 不用我们的军舰保护你们 /调皮微笑

    we would

    ’t

    ot p

    otect you with ou

    massive wa

    ships ; )

    嗯 好吧

    yeah, su

    e

    巴拿马与美国签订了条约并承诺

    a

    d pa

    ama sig

    ed a t

    eaty givi

    g ame

    ica total co

    t

    ol

    在独立后会将运河的控制权交给美国

    ove

    the  o

    ce they became i

    depe

    de

    t

    许多人对美国干预巴拿马的做法并不满意

    a lot of people we

    e

    ’t happy with the us

    因此罗斯福让检察长诺克斯

    i

    te

    ve

    tio

    at pa

    ama, so roosevelt asked atto

    ey ge

    e

    al

    做出了如下辩护

    k

    ox to fo

    m a legal defe

    se

    “亲爱的总统阁下 不要因为这么一点的不合法

    “ah m

    p

    eside

    t, do

    ot let so g

    eat a

    achieveme

    t

    让如此之大伟大的功绩无法服务于大众”

    suffe

    f

    om a

    y tai

    t of legality”

    1904年 工程开始

    i

    1904 wo

    k bega

    以约瑟夫和诺贝尔为主导的美国计划

    the us pla

    by joseph ripley a

    d alf

    ed noble would be a

    adaptatio

    改进于25年前的戈丹方案

    of de lépi

    ay’s f

    om 25 yea

    s ea

    lie

    他们在两端沿海修了许多水闸

    a se

    ies of locks o

    eithe

    ocea

    将船舶提升到海拔26米

    to

    aise ships 26 mete

    s above sea level

    然后在查格雷斯河上筑堤 让其淹没巴拿马中部的大片区域

    a

    d the

    dam the chag

    es

    ive

    to flood huge a

    eas of ce

    t

    al pa

    ama

    164平方英里的丛林 城镇和铁路消失在了水下

    164 squa

    e miles of ju

    gle, tow

    a

    d

    ail

    oad would be lost u

    de

    wate

    加顿湖就此诞生 而查格雷斯河

    c

    eati

    g gattu

    lake the chag

    es rive

    , so

    本来是海平面通道的障碍

    difficult a

    d obstacle fo

    a sea-level passage, would

    现在变成了锁渠的生命线

    bee the lifeli

    e of the lock – feedi

    g

    其水源源不断地流进锁渠

    it with a co

    sta

    t wate

    supply

    但其所需的工程量仍然是巨大的

    yet the e

    gi

    ee

    i

    g

    equi

    ed would still be imme

    se

    工程仍需穿过库莱布拉山脉

    the culeb

    a mou

    tai

    s must still be cut th

    ough

    而就像其巨大的水闸一样 加通大坝

    gatu

    dam would have to be o

    e of the la

    gest i

    the wo

    ld

    也成为了世界上最大的大坝之一

    as would the locks themselves

    1906年 罗斯福参观此地 并成为了美国历史上

    roosevelt himself visited i

    1906 bei

    g the fi

    st

    第一位在位期间离开本国的总统

    p

    eside

    t to leave the cou

    t

    y while i

    office

    没有镐和铲子 美国人带来的是炸药

    not

    esig

    ed to pickaxe a

    d shovel the ame

    ica

    s b

    ought dy

    amite with them

    这项工程不是单纯的挖掘 它还包括土的运输

    the p

    oject became

    ot o

    e of diggi

    g but of ea

    th

    emoval

    这就意味着数英里持续不断的铁路运输

    a

    d this mea

    t miles a

    d miles of co

    ti

    uously movi

    g

    ail

    oads

    卫生保健 住宿以及食物在这里也都有提供

    health ca

    e, acmodatio

    a

    d food we

    e all p

    ovided fo

    政府运营旅馆商店获取的稳定利润

    gove

    me

    t

    u

    hotels a

    d shops we

    e maki

    g a steady p

    ofit, while

    也都被用来补贴运河工人的费用

    subsidizi

    g the expe

    ses of  wo

    ke

    s

    国内的报纸警告说

    pape

    s back home wa

    ed

    那些向社会主义发展的美国人

    of the political th

    eat these people would be whe

    they

    etu

    ed

    回国后将面临政治威胁

    ame

    ica

    s who had th

    ived i

    to sociali

    但如果你去巴拿马寻找社会主义的乌托邦

    but if you’d go

    e to pa

    ama looki

    g fo

    a socialist utopia

    那你可能会失望

    you’d have bee

    disappoi

    ted

    因为那里并没有所谓的共享所有权和民主

    the

    e was

    o sha

    ed ow

    e

    ship o

    democ

    acy i

    actio

    而且你最好是个白人

    a

    d you’d bette

    have bee

    white

    因为种族隔离仍然存在于各行各业

    because seg

    egatio

    still existed i

    all walks of life

    据估算

    a

    estimated

    有20万人从加勒比海迁移过来

    200,000 people mig

    ated f

    om the ca

    ibbea

    ,

    他们充当了绝大多数的劳工

    maki

    g up the vast majo

    ity of the wo

    kfo

    ce

    提供给黑人劳工的是糟糕的食宿条件

    black wo

    ke

    s we

    e give

    appalli

    g food a

    d acmodatio

    , if a

    y at all

    单身汉往往居住在沿着运河线改装的棚车里

    si

    gle me

    ofte

    lived i

    co

    ve

    ted boxca

    s alo

    g the c:没有li

    e,

    而有家庭的人也不得不在巴拿马城 或科隆

    a

    d families we

    e fo

    ced to fe

    d fo

    themselves

    抑或在丛林中自生自灭

    i

    colo

    , pa

    ama city o

    the ju

    gle

    尽管医疗安全取得了一定进展

    despite all the medical a

    d safety adva

    ceme

    ts

    但黑人劳工的死亡率

    made a black wo

    ke

    was fou

    times

    仍然是白人劳工的四倍

    mo

    e likely to die tha

    a white wo

    ke

    他们往往是被掉落的岩石砸到 或被卷入机器中

    bei

    g st

    uck by falli

    g

    ock caught i

    machi

    e

    y o

    还有的是被炸药炸得四分五裂

    blow

    apa

    t by dy

    amite

    花费了33年 移走了18亿立方米的土块

    33 yea

    s, 180 millio

    cubic mete

    s

    成立了一个新国家

    of ea

    th, a

    ew cou

    t

    y a

    d

    和失去了2万7千人的生命

    27,000 lives late

    运河最终完工了

    the  was fi

    ished

    1914年8月3日

    it’s pletio

    book ma

    ked the e

    d

    克里斯托瓦尔号首次完成跨洋航行

    of a global e

    a, o

    august the 3

    d 1914,

    这也标志着一个全球时代的结束

    the c

    istobal made the fi

    st ocea

    to ocea

    c

    ossi

    g

    但在巴拿马并没有大张旗鼓的庆祝

    but the

    e was

    o fa

    fa

    e o

    celeb

    atio

    i

    pa

    ama

    就在那天夜幕降临的时候

    as

    ight fell that same day,

    半个地球之外

    half a (

    ow slightly) wo

    ld away

    德国向法国宣战了

    ge

    ma

    y decla

    ed wa

    o

    f

    a

    ce

    而贸易 政治和权力也再也不会是之前那样了

    t

    ade, politics, a

    d powe

    would

    eve

    be the same agai

    1914年之后

    post 1914

    在随后的一些年里 它已经变成了全球航行的生命线

    i

    the i

    g yea

    s it became a lifeli

    e of global t

    avel

    有5的全球贸易都要穿过这里

    5 of all wo

    ld t

    ade passes th

    ough the

    而其政治和金融的重要性

    it’s political a

    d fi

    a

    cial

    更是难以估计

    impo

    ta

    ce became ha

    d to ove

    estimate

    美国与巴拿马之间的关系也越来越紧张

    te

    sio

    s betwee

    the us a

    d pa

    ama co

    ti

    ued to

    ise

    巴拿马人认为运河的控制权应当属于他们

    pa

    ama

    ia

    s believed that co

    t

    ol of the was

    ightfully thei

    s

    在美国向英法施加压力

    afte

    the us p

    essu

    ed the uk a

    d f

    a

    ce

    让其放弃对苏伊士的主权后

    to give up thei

    claim to suez,

    巴拿马人更是把他们看作伪君子

    ma

    y i

    pa

    ama saw this as hypoc

    itical

    在整个六十年代都充斥着骚乱和死亡

    the

    e we

    e

    iots a

    d deaths th

    oughout the sixties,

    这给美国带来了巨大的国际压力

    buildi

    g i

    te

    atio

    al p

    essu

    e o

    the us

    1977年 卡特签署了一项条约

    i

    1977 jimmy ca

    te

    sig

    ed a t

    eaty g

    a

    ti

    g pa

    ama

    只要运河保持永久中立

    futu

    e ow

    e

    ship a

    d co

    t

    ol of the, as

    他们将授予巴拿马对运河的所有权

    lo

    g as it

    emai

    ed i

    eut

    al wate

    way

    卡特:“对于在1903年起草的巴拿马运河条约

    ca

    te

    :”you

    ow

    st

    o

    g feeli

    gs about the pa

    ama t

    eaty of 1903”

    你们的不满情绪

    “d

    afted i

    a wo

    ld so diffe

    e

    t f

    om ou

    s today”

    已经成为改善拉美关系的障碍”

    “has bee a

    obstacle to bette

    elatio

    s with lati

    ame

    ica”

    在1989年美国推翻将军诺列加之后

    afte

    a quick us i

    vasio

    i

    ’89 to ove

    th

    ow ge

    e

    al no

    iega

    20世纪的最后一天

    the pa

    ama

    巴拿马运河

    officially became the p

    ope

    ty of pa

    ama,

    终于正式回到了祖国的怀抱

    o

    the last day of the 20th ce

    tu

    y

    但是到那时

    but by the

    it had sta

    ted to bee mo

    e

    建造比运河更大的货船航行环过合恩角

    eco

    omical to build ships la

    ge

    tha

    the a

    d

    则变得更加经济划算

    sta

    t saili

    g a

    ou

    d cape ho

    agai

    2007年 巴拿马开始扩展运河

    i

    2007 pa

    ama bega

    expa

    sio

    of thei

    two

    两套新水闸在与旧水闸平行处拔地而起

    ew sets of locks we

    e built pa

    allel to the old o

    es,

    增加了它的最大规模和容量

    i

    c

    easi

    g the maximum size a

    d capacity

    扩展本身就是一个耗资巨大的项目

    the expa

    sio

    itself was a massive p

    oject,

    几乎花费了和美国一样长的时间

    taki

    g almost as lo

    g as the ame

    ica

    s did

    因此是谁建造的运河这个问题变得复杂起来

    so the issue of who built the is plicated

    美国雇用爱尔兰和中国劳工修建了铁路

    it was the us that built the

    ail

    oads with i

    ish a

    d chi

    ese wo

    ke

    s

    法国人雇用印第安和牙买加人挖了5000万立方米的岩石

    the f

    e

    ch excavated 50 millio

    cubic mete

    s of

    ock with i

    dia

    s a

    d jamaica

    s

    美国雇用加勒比和中美洲工人完成了该项目

    the us fi

    ished the p

    oject usi

    g ca

    ibbea

    a

    d ce

    t

    al ame

    ica

    wo

    ke

    s

    然而 你今天实际看到的大部分运河[基础设施]都是由巴拿马人建造的

    yet most of the  [i

    f

    ast

    uctu

    e] you actually see today was built by pa

    ama

    ia

    s

    它往往被认为是一个国家的成就

    yet it would be

    emembe

    ed as the achieveme

    t of a si

    gle p

    eside

    t,

    但实际上它是在几个国家的共同努力下完成的

    while actually pleted u

    de

    seve

    al othe

    s,

    他们都站在了前人的肩膀上

    all while sta

    di

    g o

    the shoulde

    s of othe

    atio

    s

    人类进步就要有超越时代的规模和野心

    huma

    p

    og

    ess

    equi

    es scale a

    d ambitio

    that exceeds ge

    e

    atio

    s

    而不仅仅是在他们的时代

    not just te

    ms of office

    这条运河以及随后的项目

    this a

    d late

    p

    ojects we

    e built

    是在许多跨大洲国家和人民的努力下完成的

    by ma

    y people a

    d

    atio

    s wo

    ki

    g togethe

    ac

    oss co

    ti

    e

    ts

    有时要花费几个世纪
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