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Tensions rose in London and Boston.
紧张在伦敦和波士顿蔓延。
Parliament did eventually repeal the stamp duty, but still the Americans boycotted British goods.
议会最终废除了印花税，但北美人依旧联合抵制英货。
Parliament put troops on the streets of Boston to keep order. The Americans assaulted and abused them.
议会在波士顿街头布置军队维持秩序。北美人攻击并辱骂他们。
Then, in one notorious incident, the tormented Redcoats opened fire before the State House.
在一次臭名昭著的事件中，英军不堪其扰，在议会大厦前开火。
Five Bostonians were left dead on the street.
五名波士顿人横尸街头。
Shocked by the killings, over the next three years, both sides let things calm down.
在死亡的震慑下，之后的三年内，双方都把事件平息下来。
Eventually, the British dropped all their taxes expect one, that on tea.
最终，英政府取消了所有税收，只留下一项，茶税。
The import duty had been lowered to sweeten the cup.
东印度公司的茶税被大幅削减以倾销茶叶。
The government supposed no one would notice the tax. Well, they noticed.
政府以为没人会注意到。但是他们发现了。
The ships carrying the tea duly arrived in Boston. Unloading them meant paying the import duty.
茶船如期抵达波士顿港。卸货意味着要支付进口税。
On the night of December 16, 1773, the largest hall in Boston was filled to capacity with people listening orators
1773年12月16日晚，波士顿最大的礼堂里挤得满满的，人们聆听演说家们的警告，
warning that to bring the tea ashore, much less to brew it, was to swallow slavery along with a cuppa.
不要把茶叶运上岸，更不要泡了喝，而要用茶给英国的奴役陪葬。
At a pre-arranged signal, the doors burst open and a group of patriots, dressed in blankets as Mohawk Indians, urged the crowd to storm the ships.
在事先安排好的信号下，门被猛然打开，一群伪装成莫霍克印第安人的爱国者鼓励群众们洗劫货船。
About 30 to 60 of our Mohawks, with their faces all blackened up, blankets still in place, climbed aboard with lanterns.
大约30到60个"莫霍克人"脸上全部涂黑，还披着毯子，提着灯爬上船。
They used hatchets, which they called, of course, tomahawks, to break open the chests and poured the stuff straight into the water.
他们用短柄斧，他们称之为战斧，砸开箱子，把茶叶全部倒入大海。
For those who knew, and of course the leaders of the patriot campaign were very shrewd about this, understood that it was indeed an incredibly fateful moment.
知情人们和爱国运动的领袖都清醒地知道，这是真正决定性的时刻。
John Adams said: "This was the most magnificent moment of all, that I cannot but call it an epoch in history." How right he was.
约翰·亚当斯说，“这是最壮丽的时刻，我不得不称其为历史的新纪元。”此言不假。
To punish Boston, the British now closed its port, galvanising all of the American colonies to come to the distressed city's aid.
为了惩罚波士顿，英政府关闭了其港口，而英国在美洲的所有殖民地都纷纷向波士顿伸出了援手。
Cartloads of food came from colonies north and south.
周围的殖民地纷纷运来食物进行支援。
George Washington declared: The cause of Boston now is, and ever will be, the cause of America.
乔治·华盛顿宣称：波士顿的利益现在是，将来也是美利坚的利益。
And yet, still, there was hesitation on the brink of catastrophe. Few wanted irrevocable divorce from the motherland.
即便如此，民心仍在风暴边缘犹豫不决。几乎没有人想同祖国彻底决裂。
