The Legend of John Henry

The Legend of John Henry written by Heather Lynn Banks illustrated by Joel Snyder

《约翰·亨利的传说》 作者：希瑟·林恩·班克斯 插画：乔尔·斯奈德

John Henry was born into a slave family. When he was just a boy, he had to do the work of a full -grown man. He grew so fast that sometimes the pants he put on in the morning were too short by nightfall. Soon he was the biggest man around and the strongest too.

约翰·亨利出生在一个黑奴家庭。 他还只是个小男孩的时候，就得干成年男子的活。 他长得太快了，有时候早上刚穿的裤子，到傍晚就短了。 没过多久，他就成了附近块头最大、力气也最大的人。

When the Civil War ended, the slaves became free, but life was still hard. John Henry needed to find a job. Who will hire me? he wondered. John Henry lived before there were cars or airplanes. Railroad companies were hiring workers to build tracks all across America. The work was hard and dangerous, but John Henry was brave and strong. So, like many other black men who had once been slaves, he went to work on the railroad.

美国内战结束后，黑奴们获得了自由，但日子还是过得很艰难。 约翰·亨利得找份工作。 谁会雇我呢？ 他心里琢磨。 约翰·亨利生活的年代还没有汽车和飞机。 铁路公司正在招工，要在全美国修建铁路。 这份工作又苦又危险，但约翰·亨利很勇敢也很强壮。 所以和许多曾经是黑奴的黑人男子一样，他去铁路上干活了。

John Henry became a steel driver, a hammer man. Every day he swung his 20 pound hammer over and over again. Another man would hold a drill bit against a rock. Then John Henry would hit the end of the drill bit with his hammer. He broke up rocks and dug tunnels through hills to make a path for the tracks.

约翰·亨利成了一名打钢工，也就是抡锤子的工人。 每天他都要一遍又一遍地抡起他那把20磅重的锤子。 另一个工人会扶着抵在岩石上的钻头。 然后约翰·亨利就用锤子砸钻头的尾部。 他砸开岩石，在山里挖隧道，为铁轨开辟通路。

The other workers liked John Henry. He worked harder and faster than any three other men. John Henry had a deep, booming voice, and the other men enjoyed singing work songs with him.

其他工人都很喜欢约翰·亨利，他干起活来比随便三个工人加起来都更快更卖力。 约翰·亨利的嗓音低沉洪亮，其他工人都爱和他一起唱劳动号子。

One day, the railroad tracks ran smack into Big Bend Mountain. Big Bend was so huge that the railroad couldn't be built around it. A tunnel would have to be built through the mountain instead. Don't worry, John Henry said, that old mountain's just a big rock, and smashing through rocks is what I do.

有一天，铁路修到大弯山的时候被挡住了去路。 大弯山太大了，铁路没法绕着它修。 所以只能在山里凿一条隧道穿过去。 约翰·亨利说：“别担心，那座老山不过就是块大石头，” “砸开石头本来就是我的拿手活呀。”