Chapter 6
第6章
New England
新英格兰
42. The Puritans.
42．清教徒
The New England colonies were founded by English Puritans who left England because they could not do as they wished in the home land. All Puritans were agreed in wishing for a freer government than they had in England under the Stuart kings and in state matters were really the Liberals of their time. In religious matters, however, they were not all of one mind. Some of them wished to make only a few changes in the Church. These were called Non-Conformists. Others wished to make so many changes in religion that they could not stay in the English State Church. These were called Separatists. The settlers of Plymouth were Separatists; the settlers of Boston and neighboring towns were Non-Conformists.
新英格兰殖民地由英国清教徒创立，他们因为在家乡不能实现理想而离开英格兰。所有清教徒都希望看到一个更为自由的政府，这个政府比英格兰的斯图亚特王朝更给人以自由。他们都认为自己是那个时代国家事务的自由人。然而，在宗教事务中他们意见不一，有的人仅仅希望在教堂中做出一点改变，这就是非英国国教徒；其他人则希望在宗教事务中做出许多改革，从而使得他们不可能聚集到英国国教中，这些人就是所谓分离主义者。普利茅斯的聚居者是分离主义者，而波士顿和附近城镇的居民都是非英国国教徒。
43. The Pilgrims.
43．朝圣者
Of all the groups of Separatists scattered over England none became so famous as those who met at Elder Brewster's house at Scrooby. King James decided to make all Puritans conform to the State Church or to hunt them out of the land. The Scrooby people soon felt the weight of persecution. After suffering great hardships and cruel treatment they fled away to Holland. But there they found it very difficult to make a living. They suffered so terribly that many of their English friends preferred to go to prison in England rather than lead such a life of slavery in Holland. So the Pilgrims determined to found a colony in America. They reasoned that they could not be worse off in America, because that would be impossible. At all events, their children would not grow up as Dutchmen, but would still be Englishmen. They had entire religious freedom in Holland; but they thought they would have the same in America.
英格兰各地分散聚居着许多分离主义者群体，它们都没有斯科罗比聚集在老布鲁斯特家族的那些人著名。詹姆斯国王下了决心，要让所有清教徒都服从于国教，否则，就把他们逐出英格兰。斯科罗比人很快就感受到这种迫害的压力，他们历经磨难逃往荷兰，但是，他们发现在荷兰谋生非常困难，他们的遭遇非常之惨，以至于他们的英国朋友当中有许多人宁愿选择进英格兰的监狱也不想在荷兰过这种奴隶生活。因此，朝圣者决心在美洲创建一片殖民地，他们认为自己在美洲的处境不可能会更糟糕，因为这种情况是不可能出现的，无论如何，他们的孩子长大将不会像是荷兰人，而仍然是英国人。朝圣者在荷兰有宗教自由，但是，他们认为自己在美洲也有会有同样的自由。
44. The Voyage across the Atlantic.
44．横穿大西洋的航行
Brewster's old friend, Sir Edwin Sandys, was now at the head of the Virginia Company. He easily procured land for the Pilgrims in northern Virginia, near the Dutch settlements. Some London merchants lent them money. But they lent it on such harsh conditions that the Pilgrims' early life in America was nearly as hard as their life had been in Holland. They had a dreadful voyage across the Atlantic in the Mayflower. At one time it seemed as if the ship would surely go down. But the Pilgrims helped the sailors to place a heavy piece of wood under one of the deck beams and saved the vessel from going to pieces. On November 19, 1620, they sighted land off the coast of Cape Cod. They tried to sail around the cape to the southward, but storms drove them back, and they anchored in Provincetown harbor.
此时，布鲁斯特的老朋友埃德温·森迪斯爵士是弗吉尼亚公司的领导者，他轻而易举地在弗吉尼亚北部靠近荷兰聚居地的地方为朝圣者获得一片土地，一些伦敦商人借给他们钱，但是，他们为之付出了惨痛代价，朝圣者最初在美洲的生活一如他们在荷兰的生活一样艰辛。他们乘坐“五月花”号船，经过艰难的航行穿过大西洋，有一次他们的船似乎注定要沉入大海，但是，朝圣者帮助水手们将一块沉重的木板放到甲板平衡木的下面，船才免于厄运。1620年11月19日，他们远远地看到科德角的陆地，并试图绕过科德角向南航行，但是，风暴将他们赶回来，他们在普罗文森特港口抛锚。