A strange din arose from it. "What is going on?" we exclaimed,
这时,从里面传出一阵奇怪的喧闹声。“什么声音?”我们喊道,
"The building of the city," was the reply. "Twelve days ago there was not a house here.
“在建城呢。”有人答道。“十二天前,这儿连一栋房屋都没有。
Today there are one hundred and five, and in a week more there will be two hundred;
现在有一百零五栋了,再过一个星期就有二百栋了;
Each man is building his own home, and working day and night to get it done ahead of his neighbor.
大家都在建自己的家园,夜以继日地要赶在邻居之前完工。
There are four sawmills going constantly, but they can't turn out lumber half fast enough,
四家锯木厂不间断地开工,可是最快也只能加工一半的木料,
everybody has to be content with a board at a time. If it were not for that, there would have been twice as many houses done as there are."
一时间大家不得不同桌共食。如果不这样的话,这里的房子会增加一倍。”
We drove on down the ravine. A little creek on our right was half hid in willow thickets.
我们驱车下了山谷。右手的一条小溪有一半掩在柳树丛里。
Hundreds of white tents gleamed among them, tents with poles; tents made by spreading sailcloth over the tops of bushes;
树丛中间,数以百计的白色帐篷忽明忽暗地泛出光亮,帐篷都是由木杆撑起来的,帆布在灌木顶端向四周摊开;
round tents; square tents; big tents; little tents; and for every tent a camp fire,
有圆帐篷,也有方帐篷;有大帐篷,也有小帐篷;每个帐篷旁边都有营火,
hundreds of white-topped wagons, also, at rest for the night, their great poles propped up by sticks,
除此之外,还有数以百计的白顶四轮马车,在当天晚上他们那巨大的柱子由木棍支撑着,
and their mules and drivers lying and standing in picturesque groups around them.
骡子和车夫在马车四周或躺着或站着,组成一幅生动有趣的画卷。
It was a scene not to be forgotten. Louder and louder sounded the chorus of the hammers as we drew near the center of the "city;"
这是无法令人忘怀的风景。在我们走近“城”中央时,锤子合唱团“奏”出的响声越来越大,
more and more the bustle thickened. Great ox teams swaying unwieldily about, drawing logs and planks, backing up steep places.
越来越忙乱嘈杂。体型硕大的公牛组成的车队拉着圆木和木板,难以驾驭地左摇右摆,将地势陡峭的地方都给塞满了。