伊塔斯卡州立公园

字幕原文

At one quiet spot in northern Minnesota, you can do something remarkable: 在明尼苏达州北部一个宁静的地方，你可以做一件了不起的事：

step across the Mississippi River. 跨过密西西比河。

Here, at Itasca State Park, 在这里，伊塔斯卡州立公园，

the mighty river begins — 这条大河发源于此——

so small at its source 在它的源头是如此之小，

that you can walk right over it, 你可以径直走过去，

before it rolls on more than two thousand miles to the sea. 在它奔腾两千多英里汇入大海之前。

The place is old in every sense. 这个地方处处都透着古老。

Thousands of years ago, hunters tracked bison here. 几千年前，猎人在这里追踪野牛。

Later peoples built lasting settlements, leaving burial mounds still seen today. 后来的居民建立了持久的定居点，留下了至今仍可见的墓葬土丘。

The park even owes its name to a clever bit of Latin: 这个公园的名字甚至来源于一段巧妙的拉丁语：

an explorer joined the words for "truth" 一位探险家将“真理”一词

and "head" 与“源头”一词结合，

to coin "Itasca" — the true head, 创造了“伊塔斯卡”这个词——意为真正的源头，

or source, of the river. 或者说，河流的源头。

The park exists at all thanks to one stubborn man. 这个公园之所以能存在，多亏了一个固执的人。

In the late 1800s, a surveyor named Jacob Brower 在19世纪末，一位名叫雅各布·布劳尔的测量员

watched loggers tearing through the ancient pines 看着伐木工人肆意砍伐着古老的松树，

and fought to save them. 并为保护它们而奋斗。

The law that finally protected Itasca passed by a single vote. 最终保护伊塔斯卡的法案仅以一票之差获得通过。

Today its giant pines still stand, home to loons, eagles, beavers, and bears. 今天，那些巨大的松树依然挺立，是潜鸟、鹰、海狸和熊的家园。

One vote, one determined person — and a forest gets to keep growing for centuries more. 一票，一个坚定的人——一片森林得以继续生长数百年。