听力练习

在印第安人来到这片土地之前，这里居住着许多各式各样的神话人物，如鸟、兽、蜥蜴等等，它们的形状全都像人一样……。出于某种原因，神话人物都很坏，于是草原狼把它们全部变成了石头。你现在在那里就可以看到，它们全都成了石头，有的一排排地站着，有的坐在那里，有的互相靠着。你可以看到它们脸上还保留着变成石头以前的原有色彩……

The Bryce Canyon1)

Situated in Utah State，the Bryce Can yon is one of the National Parks in the United States of America，of which many stories were told，here is one of them．

Before there were any lndians，the Legend2) People lived in that place，there were many of them．They were of many kinds－－birds，animals，lizards3)，and such things－－but they looked like people．．．For some reason，the Legend People in that place were b ad．Because they were bad，Coyote turned them all into rocks．You can see them in that place now；all turned into rocks；some standing in rows，some sitting down，some holding on to others．You can see their faces，with paint on them just as they were before they became rocks．．．This is the story the people tell．The Paiute Indian legend of Bryce Canyon as told by Indian Dick．To the Paiutes，Bryce Canyon was one thing．But to Mormon pioneer Ebenezer Bryce，the badlands of the Canyon that now bears his name were simply“a helluva4) place to lose a cow．”

In 1875 Ebenezer Bryce was 45 years old．By that time，he had already served as a shipyard apprentice，a carpenter，a millwright，a sawmill operator，an architect，and a Mormon pioneer in Utah．He'd also emigrated from Scotland，survived a cholera epidemic in St．Louis，and found time to raise a large family．

Ebenezer traded his home in Pine Valley，Utah，for some livestock and moved to the warmer climate of the upper Paria Valley，hoping that his wife's health would improve．Water wasn't where he needed it，so he dug ditches to bring it from the Paria River to his farm near the present town of Tropic．To get timber and fire wood from the forest along“the breaks”of the plateau to his farm，he built a road．Among the residents who used the road，the canyon became known as Bryce's Canyon．

Bryce left the valley in 1880 and moved to Arizona．Perhaps the climate was not warm enough，or perhaps he just tired of searching for strays among the bewildering labyrinth of rocks．But he left the valley a little more habitable than when he came，and he left the canyon with the name it still bears．

参考译文

布赖斯峡谷

布赖斯峡谷是美国的一个国家公园，位于犹他州境内。关于这个峡谷，有许多传说，其中有这样一段故事。

在印第安人来到这片土地之前，这里居住着许多各式各样的神话人物，如鸟、兽、蜥蜴等等，它们的形状全都像人一样……。出于某种原因，神话人物都很坏，于是草原狼把它们全部变成了石头。你现在在那里就可以看到，它们全都成了石头，有的一排排地站着，有的坐在那里，有的互相靠着。你可以看到它们脸上还保留着变成石头以前的原有色彩……，这就是传说中的故事。这是印第安人讲的有关布赖斯峡谷派尤特印第安人的神话。对派尤特人来说，布赖斯峡谷是这么回事，而对现在以其名字命名这片峡谷不毛之地的拓荒者---摩门教徒埃比尼泽·布赖斯来说，这里只不过是“丢失母牛的活地狱”。

1875年，埃比尼泽·布赖斯时年45岁。在此之前，他当过造船厂学徒、木工、水磨匠、锯木厂操作员、建筑师，后来成了犹他地方的摩门教徒拓荒人。他也是从苏格兰移民过来的；在圣路易斯险些丧生于流行的霍乱病，活下来后他得供养他的一大家子人。

埃比尼泽将他在犹他派因山谷的家舍变卖成了一些牲畜，而后全家迁往气候较暖和、地势较高的帕里阿山谷，期待着他妻子的身体能在那里逐渐好起来。在那里，他要水而没有水，于是他挖沟从帕里阿河引水灌溉他的田地，即在现在的特罗匹克镇附近。为了从高原上运送断层两旁森林的木材和木柴，他又修了一条道路。使用这条道路的居民因而就把这个峡谷叫做布赖斯峡谷，于是这个名字就传开了。

布赖斯于1880年离开山谷迁往亚利桑那。也许是由于气候不够暖和，也可能是他厌烦了在迷宫般的石头山中终日烦扰不安地寻找走失的牲畜。不过，他留下的山谷比他来时更适于人居住了，同时也留下了直到现在仍以他姓氏命名的峡谷。

词汇解释

NOTE 注释：

1. canyon [5kAnjEn] n. <美>峡谷, 溪谷

2. legend [5ledVEnd] adj. 传奇的，神话的

3. lizard [5lizEd] n. [动]蜥蜴

4. helluva [`helEvE] adj. 很难的, 很大的

5. cholera [5kClErE] n. [医]霍乱

6. epidemic [7epi5demik] adj. 流行的, 传染的, 流行性