美國拉什莫爾山
推薦理由：榜樣的力量是無窮的，名人傳記是小朋友甚至成年人人生成長路上的良師益友，指路明燈。通過閱讀美國國父漢密爾頓的成長故事，我們可以知道一個孤兒也可以通過勤奮負責為自己贏得信任，獲得身邊成功人士的幫助和提供事業、學習機會。當自己通過堅持不懈的努力站在更高的平臺上，也能憑藉良知、道德、智識和勇氣，摁住命運的咽喉，幹出一番惠及大眾，不朽的事業！
All hands on deck!
A ship's crew rushed
to put out a fire.
Days later,
the burned ship
docked at Boston Harbor.
Young Alexander Hamilton
had been at sea for three weeks.
He was restless and ready
to start a new life.
It was 1773.
在海上漂泊了三周後，年輕的漢密爾頓到達了波士頓港。
他已經迫不及待準備開啟新生活了。
這一年是1773年。
Alexander Hamilton
was born in 1755
on Nevis,
an island in the Caribbean
(ka-ruh-BE-yun).
漢密爾頓1755年出生在加勒比海的一個小島上。
His father left when Alex was a boy.
Three years later,
while living on St. Croix,
Alex's mother died.
Alex was now an orphan
with nothing.
亞歷克斯父母早亡，幼年就成為一個一無所有的孤兒。
Alex got work as a clerk
in a company that traded
with New England,
in America.
He learned
about money and business.
老天爺餓不死瞎家雀。
亞歷克斯在美國東北部的新英格蘭地區的一家貿易公司
找到了一份小職員的工作。
他在那裡了解了金錢和商業。
When the boss placed him
in charge for six months,
Alex ran the company
as though it were his own.
He was only
fourteen years old.
當老闆讓他代管六個月生意，
亞歷山大把公司當做自己的生意一樣經營。
他那時只有14歲。
In 1772,
a hrricane hit the islands.
Roaring winds tore up trees
and blew away houses.
Alex wrote about the storm,
and his account was published
in the local newspaper.
1772年，
一場颶風襲來，
肆虐狂嘯的大風將大樹連根拔起，
也吹倒了房屋。
亞歷克斯記錄下了這場風暴，
發表在當地報紙上。
Some rich businessmen
liked the way Alex wrote.
They decided to send him
to college in America.
一些富有的商人
喜歡亞歷克斯描述的方式。
他們決定資助他
去美國大學深造。
When Alex arrived in America,
there were thirteen colonies.
England ruled Amercia
and taxed everything——
books, sugar, coffee, paint....
The colonists wanted the right
to make their own taxes and
to have a say in
how their money was spent.
Alex was at King's College
in New York
the night rebel colonists
took action in Boston.
亞歷克斯在紐約入讀國王學院（哥倫比亞大學前身），
當晚殖民地反抗聯盟在波士頓採取了行動。
The king of England was mad.
He closed Boston Harbor
to punish the colonists.
King George sent in soldiers.
Redcoats crowded the streets!
Alex became a patriot.
He gave speeches
about the need to end British rule.
穿紅色軍裝的 英國士兵擠滿街頭！
亞歷克斯成為一名愛國者。
他到處發表演講
鼓舞大家終結英國的統治。
As a boy,
Alex had read about
wars that brought change.
War might be the only way
for America
to break free of England.
On April 19, 1775,
British soldiers marched
into Lexington, Massachusetts.
The patriots stood their ground.
No one knows who fired
the first shot,
but the American Revolution
had beguan.
After college,
Alex joined the army.
Captain Alexander Hamilton
loved to drill his troops.
"Right flank ... march!"
亞歷克斯從大學畢業後
參了軍。
亞歷山大·漢密爾頓上尉
喜歡訓練軍隊。
右翼部隊...前進！
On Bayard's Mount,
the highest point
in Lower Manhattan,
Alex and his men
got ready for battle.
The Founding Fathers had written
the Declaration of Independence.
It stated that the colonies
no longer belonged to England.
國父們已經起草了
《獨立宣言》，
宣布殖民地不再屬於英國。
On July 9, 1776,
General Washington read it aloud
to soldiers in New York.
Captain Hamilton was proud.
Thirteen gunshots rang out——
one for each state.
In New York Harbor,
British battleships waited.
The British ships began firing.
BOOM!
Captain Hamilton ordered
his soldiers to fire back.
BOOM!
Hour after hour,
cannons exploded.
Smoke and noise choked the air.
Captain Hamilton
knew the British Navy
was powerful.
They had more guns and men
than the patriot army.
The British captured Brooklyn!
General George Washington ordered people to leave the city.
Washington had seen
Captain Hamilton in action.
He asked him to be his personal secretary.
英軍佔領了紐約布魯克林地區！
喬治·華盛頓將軍命令人民撤離。
華盛頓看到漢密爾頓上尉在行動。
他請他做自己的私人秘書。
Hamilton had to think about it.
He wanted to be in battle!
But he could not refuse
the great General Washington.
Hamilton wrote
letters to Congress
to ask for more supplies
for the army.
He was a fine writer.
He would do this job for years.
But Hamilton never quit asking
to fight again.
He got his chance in 1781.
他是一個出色的作家。
他要做很多年寫作工作。
但是漢密爾頓從未放棄請求參戰。
他終於在1781年得到機會。
The British were dug in
at Yorktown，Virginia.
They had built ten barriers
to protect their positions.
英軍在維吉尼亞州約克郡挖戰壕
他們建造了十個堡壘
來保衛他們的陣地。
Numbers nine and ten
were near American lines.
They were the weakest.
Hamilton was ordered
to attack number ten.
第九和十號堡壘
靠近美國前線。
他們也是防守最弱的。
漢密爾頓受命
進攻十號堡壘。
Hamilton led the charge.
"Let's get 'em, boys!" he shouted.
He raced across open ground.
He leaped over the barricades.
He fought hard and with courage.
漢密爾頓率領部隊。
「弟兄們跟我上，拿下他們！」 他喊道。
他穿過開闊地，
跳過戰壕，
奮力、勇敢地戰鬥！
The British were beaten.
The Battle of Yorktown
ended the war.
Hamilton was a hero.
英軍被打敗了。
約克郡戰役終結了美國獨立戰爭。
漢密爾頓成為大英雄。
It was 1782.
Hamilton left the army
and lived in Lower Manhattan.
He was now a husband,
a lawyer, and a father.
1782年，
漢密爾頓離開軍隊，
居住在曼哈頓下城。
他現在是一位丈夫，
一位律師，和一位父親。
But he still worried about his country.
The states were in trouble.
They didn't work together.
They had no money.
Hamilton thought about
some of the books he had read.
漢密爾頓想起他讀過的那些書。
The early Greeks and Romans
wrote about how to build a city,
run a government,
and take care of the citizens.
Hamilton knew states
had to form a union
or they would not survive.
古希臘和古羅馬的先賢
寫過如何建造城市，
管理政府機構，照管市民的書。
漢密爾頓知道各州
必須團結起來形成一個共同體
否則他們很難生存。
The states needed a set of laws.
These laws would become
the Constitution.
Hamilton attended months
of meetings in Philadelphia
to work on the document.
聯邦各州需要建立一套法律體系。
這套法律將成為憲法。
漢密爾頓在費城參加了數月的會議
討論和起草相關文件。
At least nine states
had to accept it
to make it the law.
Hamilton wanted voters
in New York State
to understand the Constitution.
He and two other men wrote
many essays that were
published in newspapers.
Hamilton wrote most
of what came to be called
the Federalist Papers.
漢密爾頓和其他兩人在報紙上寫了大量文章
努力說服紐約州的選民理解憲法的意義。
漢密爾頓寫的大量文章
後來結集為著名的《聯邦黨人文集》。
Voters now understood
and accepted the Constitution.
The states were on nation!
People in New York celebrated
with a parade.
A ship on wheels
called the Hamilton
was pulled down Broadway.
Alexander Hamilton,
an immigrant,
had helped steer
his adopted home
into forming a union.
Now it was time to build
the new nation.
亞歷山大·漢密爾頓，
一個新移民，
幫助駕駛收留他的第二故鄉之舟
駛向一個獨立完整的國家。
現在該是建設新國家的時候了。
The United States of America
needed a leader.
The people chose
General Washington
to be the first president.
President Washington
chose Alexander Hamilton to be the secretary of the treasury.
華盛頓總統提名亞歷山大·漢密爾頓
擔任美國首任財政部長。
Hamilton was smart with money.
He helped set up the first
national bank,
with one national currency,
or money system.
漢密爾頓管錢很精明，
一手建立了美國的金融體系。
他幫助建立起美國第一家國家銀行，
發行了第一套全國貨幣。
Alexander Hamilton
always had very strong opinions.
He wrote articles about some of
the men who ran the government,
calling them awful names.
亞歷山大·漢密爾頓
總是觀點犀利。
他寫文章批評那些政府官員，
稱他們糟糕透頂。
One of the men, Aaron Burr,
challenged Hamilton
to a gunfight called a duel.
漢密爾頓的政敵亞倫·伯爾
向漢密爾頓提出槍戰決鬥。
At dawn on July 11, 1804,
in Weehawken, New Jersey,
the pair stood face to face.
Hamilton shot to miss.
Burr shot to kill.
Hamilton died the next day.
1804年7月11日拂曉時分，
在新澤西州維霍肯，
兩個人面對面站立。
漢彌爾頓與亞倫·伯爾舉起各自的手槍，
開始瞄準對方。
漢密爾頓開槍射失了。
伯爾射出了致命的一槍。
漢密爾頓第二天離開了這個世界。
Alexander Hamilton's life
is a real rags-to-riches story.
He came to America with nothing,
but quickly found himself
in the middle of making
a new country.
亞歷山大·漢密爾頓的一生
是白手起家的傳奇。
他一無所有來到美國，
但很快就參與到建立新國家的
革命大潮中。
Hamilton's story is one of daring,
hard work,
and ideas.
It still inspires us today.
漢密爾頓的故事
充滿勇氣，
勤奮，
和夢想。
它直到今天仍然激勵著我們。
10美元上的頭像是漢密爾頓
小朋友，你還記得在《漢密爾頓：從孤兒到國父》這個故事裡，青少年時期的漢密爾頓是如何到達美國的？他用什麼籤證？在美國讀的什麼大學？用什麼申請材料？畢業後用什麼籤證工作？身經百戰、擁有遠大理想的漢密爾頓為何衝動地接受了決鬥並最終命喪政敵槍下？有些問題可能超越了本書的內容，歡迎你和爸爸查閱更多資料，在文章下方的評論區給我留言。