LESSON 90

STARVED ROCK

饥饿的岩石

Francis Parkman, 1823-1893, the son of a clergyman of the same name, was born in Boston, and graduated at Harvard University in 1844. He spent more than twenty years in a careful study of the early French explorations and settlements in America; and he published the fruits of his labor in twelve large volumes. Although troubled with an affection of the eyes, which sometimes wholly prevented reading or writing, his work was most carefully and successfully done. His narratives are written in a clear and animated style, and his volumes are a rich contribution to American history.

The cliff called “Starved Rock,” now pointed out to travelers as the chief natural curiosity of the region, rises, steep on three sides as a castle wall, to the height of a hundred and twenty-five feet above the river. In front, it overhangs the water that washes its base; its western brow looks down on the tops of the forest trees below; and on the east lies a wide gorge, or ravine, choked with the mingled foliage of oaks, walnuts, and elms; while in its rocky depths a little brook creeps down to mingle with the river.

From the rugged trunk of the stunted cedar that leans forward from the brink, you may drop a plummet into the river below, where the catfish and the turtles may plainly be seen gliding over the wrinkled sands of the clear and shallow current. The cliff is accessible only from the south, where a man may climb up, not without difficulty, by a steep and narrow passage. The top is about an acre in extent.

Here, in the month of December, 1682, La Salle and Tonty began to entrench themselves. They cut away the forest that crowned the rock, built storehouses and dwellings of its remains, dragged timber up the rugged pathway, and encircled the summit with a palisade. Thus the winter was passed, and meanwhile the work of negotiation went prosperously on. The minds of the Indians had been already prepared. In La Salle they saw their champion against the Iroquois, the standing terror of all this region. They gathered around his stronghold like the timorous peasantry of the Middle Ages around the rock-built castle of their feudal lord.

From the wooden ramparts of St. Louis,—for so he named his fort,— high and inaccessible as an eagle’s nest, a strange scene lay before his eye. The broad, flat valley of the Illinois was spread beneath him like a map, bounded in the distance by its low wall of wooded hills. The river wound at his feet in devious channels among islands bordered with lofty trees; then, far on the left, flowed calmly westward through the vast meadows, till its glimmering blue ribbon was lost in hazy distance.

There had been a time, and that not remote, when these fair meadows were a waste of death and desolation, scathed with fire, and strewn with the ghastly relics of an Iroquois victory. Now, all was changed. La Salle looked down from his rock on a concourse of wild human life. Lodges of bark and rushes, or cabins of logs, were clustered on the open plain, or along the edges of the bordering forests. Squaws labored, warriors lounged in the sun, naked children whooped and gamboled on the grass.

Beyond the river, a mile and a half on the left, the banks were studded once more with the lodges of the Illinois, who, to the number of six thousand, had returned, since their defeat, to this their favorite dwelling place. Scattered along the valley, among the adjacent hills, or over the neighboring prairie, were the cantonments of a half score of other tribes, and fragments of tribes, gathered under the protecting aegis of the French.

【中文阅读】

这个悬崖被称为“饥饿的岩石”，现在作为该地区的主要自然奇观伫立在游人面前。陡峭的三个立面作为一个城堡的墙壁，高耸于河流之上达一百二十五英尺。在正面，悬崖悬于拍打着底座的水流之上；它东面的坡顶俯瞰着下面丛林的顶端，而倚着一条宽阔的峡谷，或者说山谷，橡树、胡桃树和榆树枝叶繁茂，错落有致。在岩石纵深处一条小溪蜿蜒流下，与那条小河汇合。

从由峭壁伸向前方的矮小的雪松那粗壮的树干，可以直接下到底下的河里。在那里，你能清晰地看到鲶鱼和河龟在清澈且浅浅的水流漫过的沙洲上爬行。这个悬崖只有南面可以攀爬，一个人沿一条陡峭而狭窄的通道，不费多少气力就能爬上来。顶端方圆大约一英亩的样子。

1682年12月，他们开始挖壕沟将拉萨尔和唐棣围起来。他们伐掉岩石顶部生长的森林，建了仓库和住处，将木材拖到崎岖不平的小路上，用栅栏将崖顶围起来。就这样，安然度过寒冬。与此同时，谈判事宜进行得很顺利。印第安人在心里已经做好准备。在拉萨尔，他们看到自己的拥护者反对易洛魁族人，该地区所有人都处于惊恐之中。他们像中世纪胆怯的农民围在他们封建领主石头砌成的城堡周围一样，聚在要塞周围。

从圣路易斯用木头搭成的防御工事——他命名他的城堡——就像鹰巢一样高高在上和难以接近，奇怪的一幕在他眼前出现了。伊利诺斯宽阔且平坦的山谷像地图一样在他脚下展开，通过树木茂密的山丘那低矮的屏障与远方连在一起。在与高耸入云的树木接壤的小岛之间。小河在下游分成迂回曲折的数条水道，然后在左侧的远处，穿过广阔的草地缓缓向西流去，直到闪闪发光的蓝色水带在薄雾微明的远方消失不见了。

曾几何时，并非遥远的过去，当时这些相当肥美的草地还是一片荒芜和死寂，一次易洛魁族人取得大捷，用火烧地，然后撒上草籽借此纪念那次胜利。现在，一切都已面目全非。拉萨尔从岩石处俯瞰着野蛮人的生活。在开阔的平原上，或者沿着森林边缘，用树皮砌成的乡间小屋、人们的忙碌，以及用木头搭建的木屋，组成一番别样的景象。印第安女人在辛勤劳作，勇士们在太阳底下懒洋洋地坐着休憩。赤身裸体的孩子在草地上高声大叫，嬉戏着。

在河对岸左侧一英里半处，伊利诺斯人的乡间小屋点缀着堤岸，有6000伊利诺斯人由于战败已经回到这里，他们心仪的住处。在相邻的山丘之间，或者相邻的大草原上，沿着山谷稀稀拉拉地遥相守望的是其他部落十余座宿营地。部落零零散散的在法国人的庇护下聚在一起。