(单词翻译:单击)
On October 8, 1871, fires started in two different cities.
1871年10月8日，两个不同的城市都发生了火灾。
Legend has it that in Chicago a cow kicked over a lantern--or a comet hit a barn, or a pile of hay spontaneously combusted.
传说在芝加哥，是一头牛踢翻了灯笼，或者一颗彗星撞上了谷仓，或者一堆干草出现了自燃。
However it began, the Great Chicago Fire lives in infamy.
无论这场大火是如何引发的，芝加哥大火都被打上了耻辱的印迹。
But another, lesser-known fire was burning the same day.
但同一天，还出现了另一场鲜为人知的大火。
A few hundred miles north in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, small forest fires surrounded the city.
在威斯康星州佩什蒂戈以北几百英里处，小森林里着起的大火包围了这座城市。
By the time the sun rose on October 9, neither Chicago nor Peshtigo would ever be the same again.
到10月9日太阳升起时，芝加哥和佩什蒂戈都不再是原来的样子了。
The weeks preceding the fires in the Midwest had been frighteningly dry.
在中西部发生大火前的几周里，天气干燥得吓人。
The night before, a contained fire kept Chicago's fire department awake for hours.
前一天晚上，一场控制住的大火让芝加哥的消防部门几个小时都没有觉睡。
By now, Chicagoans were used to the danger: downtown was crowded, and most of the buildings were made of wood.
到现在为止，芝加哥人已经习惯了这种危险：市中心很拥挤，大部分建筑都是用木头建造的。
In Peshtigo, sawdust coated household floors.
在佩什蒂戈，居民家里的地板都是用木屑做的。
Lumber was abundant in Wisconsin, and Peshtigo was--even more so than Chicago--made of wood.
威斯康星州木材丰富，而佩什蒂戈--那里的木材甚至比芝加哥还要多--可以说是一座用木头建成的城。
In both cities, it felt like a spark could take down an entire block.
在这两座城市，好像星星之火都可以烧毁一整个街区。
And so it did.
事实的确如此。
When the fire started on the West Side of Chicago, steady wind carried flames and burning debris from street to street.
当芝加哥西区起火时，常风将火焰和燃烧的碎片从一条街刮到另一条街。
Also beset by heavy winds, the fires in Wisconsin flared, creating a firestorm: the heat from the fire was so powerful that it formed its own wind system.
同样受到大风的困扰，威斯康星州的大火烧了起来，形成了一场火风暴：大火燃烧产生的热量过于强大，致使它形成了自己的风力系统。
The Great Chicago Fire burned for two days, stopped only by a combination of heavy rainfall, the city's undeveloped north side, and the natural barrier of Lake Michigan.
芝加哥大火燃烧了两天，只有在暴雨、城市未开发的北区和密歇根湖的天然屏障的共同作用下才得以停止。
When the smoke cleared, residents saw that about one-third of Chicago lay in ruins.
当烟雾散去时，居民们发现芝加哥大约三分之一的地方变成了一片废墟。
About 300 people were dead, and almost 100,000 found themselves unexpectedly homeless.
大约300人死亡，近10万人竟然发现自己无家可归。
The Peshtigo firestorm had made quick work of the city up north: Peshtigo burned to the ground in just a few hours.
佩什蒂戈的大火迅速肆虐到了这座城市的北部：佩什蒂戈在短短几个小时内就被烧毁了。
By the time the sun rose the next morning, 1.2 million acres had burned and more than 1,000 people in Peshtigo and the surrounding areas had lost their lives.
到第二天早上太阳升起时，120万英亩的土地已经烧毁，佩什蒂戈和周边地区共有1000多人丧生。
In Chicago the infrastructure recovered more quickly than its people.
在芝加哥，基础设施恢复得比人们还快。
Now a blank slate, the city attracted architects who would create a new generation of downtown buildings.
现在，这座城市是一张白板，它吸引了建筑师来到这里，在市中心创造一种全新的建筑。
Chicago would expand and become famous for the skyscrapers they built.
芝加哥还会扩张，并因新建的摩天大楼而举世闻名。
When the downtown's previous residents couldn't compete, they were pushed out.
当市中心以前的居民无法适应竞争时，他们被迫离开了这座城市。
Peshtigo, though, was a much smaller city and is still small today.
而佩什蒂戈则是一个小得多的城市，现在依然很小。
It rebounded after the firestorm, but there was no "Great Rebuilding" there.
大火过后它已逐渐恢复，但那里没有“大重建”。
Both cities and their populations were devastated by fiery disaster.
这两座城市和那里的居民都曾被熊熊烈火摧毁。
Both, in their own ways, rose from the ashes.
但这两座城，都以自己的方式浴火重生了。
