[VOA英译汉-双语][9]William Henry Harrison: Short-Lived 威廉·亨利·哈里森：短命

译 / 陈式方程

America's Presidents - William Henry Harrison 美国总统 — 威廉·亨利·哈里森

VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about William Henry Harrison. Although he was elected in 1840, many Americans still remember his catchy^[1] campaign slogan^[2]: “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.”
今天，我们来谈论威廉·亨利·哈里森。尽管他是在1840年当选总统，但很多美国人仍然记得他那朗朗上口的竞选口号：“蒂珀卡努和泰勒”。

“Tyler” referred to John Tyler, Harrison’s partner on the ticket. In other words, Harrison was the candidate for president, and Tyler was the candidate for vice president.
“泰勒”是指约翰·泰勒，哈里森的选票搭档。换句话说，哈里森是总统候选人，泰勒是副总统候选人。

That seems straightforward enough. But “Tippecanoe”? That was Harrison’s nickname. It came from a battle he had fought nearly 30 years before the presidential campaign.
“泰勒”似乎看起来很直接了吧，但“蒂珀卡努”？那是哈里森的绰号。它来源于一场距总统竞选大约30年前（1811年）的战争。

At that time, Harrison led troops against an alliance of Native American tribes. The alliance was fighting white American settlers who were taking native people’s territory.
那时，哈里森领导了一支军队来对抗美洲印第安部落联盟。该联盟当时正与美国白人定居者作战，因为他们正在夺取印第安人的领土。

Harrison and his men wanted to prevent the alliance from getting the supplies and warriors it needed to fight a long war. They planned to attack an important Native American base in what is today the state of Indiana.
哈里森和他的部下想要阻止联盟获得打长期战的物资和士兵。他们计划袭击印第安人的一个重要基地，基地在如今的印第安纳州。

But Native American warriors attacked first. They struck at dawn, when Harrison’s men were still sleeping in a camp near the River Tippecanoe.
但印第安勇士率先发起了攻击。当时正值黎明时分，哈里森的部下还在蒂珀卡努河附近的营地熟睡。

The battle was confused and bloody. Many fighters on both sides died. After several hours, Harrison’s troops pushed the Native American fighters away from the camp.
这场战役是混乱血腥的。双方战死很多人。几个小时后，哈里森的部队将印第安人从营地击退。

It was not really clear who won, but Harrison declared victory.
这场战役不清楚谁赢了，但哈里森宣告了胜利。

His presidential campaign reminded voters about the battle. The nickname “Tippecanoe” suggested Harrison was a simple yet tough westerner who would fight for white Americans.
他的总统竞选口号让选民想起了这场战争。绰号“蒂珀卡努”暗示着哈里森还是一个为美国白人而战的纯粹坚定的西方人。

But that image of Harrison was not entirely true.
但哈里森的形象不完全是真的。

Early life 早期生活

Harrison did not come from a simple, western family.
哈里森并不是来自一个普通的西方家庭。

Instead, he was the youngest child of a wealthy family from the southern state of Virginia. The Harrisons were active in the politics of the young nation. His father signed the Declaration of Independence and became the governor of Virginia.
相反，他来自弗吉尼亚南部的一个富有家庭，是家里最小的一个孩子。哈里森家族在这个年轻国家的政治活动中十分活跃。他的父亲签署了独立宣言并成为了弗吉尼亚州州长。

Young William Harrison received a good education. But he did not want to become a doctor or lawyer. He joined the military instead.
年轻的威廉·哈里森受到了良好的教育。但他不想成为一名医生或律师，而是参加了军队。

Harrison succeeded quickly as an Army officer. He earned a reputation as an able leader in fights against Native Americans.
哈里森很快就成功当上了一名军官。他在对抗印第安人的战斗中为他赢得了能力卓越的指挥官的美誉。

Harrison became the governor of what was known as Indiana Territory.
哈里森当上了印第安纳属地的州长。

In that job, he persuaded Native Americans to enter into treaties that sold their land to the U.S. government – often for very little money.
在任时，他说服美洲印第安人签署售卖土地给美国政府的条约 — 通常是花很少的钱。

Harrison’s insistence on securing^[3] land for white settlers was one reason Native American tribes formed an alliance against the United States. A member of the Shawnee tribe, Tecumseh, was one of their most prominent^[4] leaders.
哈里森坚持为白人定居者寻求土地是美洲印第安部落结成联盟来对抗美国的一个原因。肖尼族部落成员特库姆塞，是其中一个最知名的部落领袖。

Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader 肖尼族领袖，特库姆塞

It was Tecumseh’s men who fought against Harrison in the Battle of Tippecanoe.
蒂珀卡努战役（1811年）中，就是特库姆塞部落与哈里森作战的。

Tecumseh’s men clashed again with Harrison during the War of 1812 at a battle in Ontario, Canada near the River Thames.
1812年战争期间，在靠近泰晤士河附近的加拿大安大略省的一场战役中，特库姆塞部落再次与哈里森发生了战争。

In that battle, both the British and Native Americans were clearly defeated. Tecumseh was killed.
在这场战役中，英国人和美洲印第安人都被打败，特库姆塞也牺牲了。

After that, the Native American alliance fell apart. And Harrison became famous again.
在那之后，美洲印第安联盟土崩瓦解。哈里森再一次成名。

Political career 政治生涯

Although Harrison was a well-known fighter against Native Americans, he could not find lasting success as a politician.
尽管哈里森是一位著名的反印第安人斗士，但作为政治家，他没能找到持久的成功。

He served briefly in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, but he did not stay in those positions long.
他曾短暂地服务于众议院和参议院，并没有呆多长时间。

He struggled with debt. His home in Indiana was very expensive.
他在债务中挣扎，他在印第安纳的房子非常昂贵。

He also had to provide for his ten children.
他还得抚养他的10个孩子。

The emotional cost of his family was also high: only four of his children lived past the age of 40.
他在家庭上的情感代价也很高：只有四个孩子活过40岁。

In 1836, Harrison’s fortunes seemed to change. A new party, called the Whigs, looked to him as a presidential candidate.
1836年，哈里森的运气似乎有所改变。一个新兴党派辉格党，推选他作为总统候选人。

The Whigs strongly opposed President Andrew Jackson and his policies. They did not want Jackson’s vice president and right-hand man^[5], Martin Van Buren, to become president. But they understood that Jackson was very popular with everyday Americans.
辉格党强烈反对安德鲁·杰克逊总统和他的政策。他们不想让杰克逊的副总统及得力助手马丁·范布伦成为总统。但他们也知道杰克逊在美国民众当中是很受欢迎的。

So the Whigs thought that Harrison – a military hero from the west, just as Jackson was – would appeal to voters. (At the time, voting was limited mostly to white men.)
所以辉格党想到了哈里森 —— 与杰克逊一样，是一位来自西方的军事英雄。这会吸引选民。（当时，投票权主要限于白人男性。）

The Whigs nominated Harrison as one of their candidates.
辉格党提名哈里森作为候选人之一。

Harrison did well – but not well enough. Van Buren won the 1836 election.
哈里森做得很好，但没有足够好。范布伦赢得了1836年大选。

But the next election belonged to Harrison.
但是，下一届选举属于哈里森。

His campaign developed that memorable song about “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.”
他的竞选口号“蒂珀卡努和泰勒”令人印象深刻。

Supporters also turned an insult against Harrison into an advantage^[6].
支持者也把对哈里森的侮辱变成了一种优势。

Harrison’s opposition said he would be happy to spend the rest of his life just sitting in a log cabin and drinking hard cider – an alcoholic drink made from apples.
哈里森的反对党（民主党）说，给他一桶含酒精的苹果汁，他会非常乐意余生都在自己的木屋中渡过。

The opposition wanted to suggest that Harrison was not really interested in becoming president and working hard for the American people.
反对党暗示哈里森并不是真正地想成为总统去为美国人民努力工作。

But Harrison’s supporters used the images of a log cabin and hard cider to portray Harrison as a humble man who could relate to common Americans.
但是哈里森的支持者用木屋和酒精苹果汁的形象将哈里森描绘成一位与普通美国民众一样的谦逊之人。

The plan was a success: Harrison won the election.
计划成功了：哈里森赢得了选举。

A surprising turn of events 事情的突然转变

At 68, Harrison was the oldest person yet to take office.
68岁的哈里森是当时年龄最大的总统。

On his Inauguration Day, he reportedly wanted to show that he was strong enough to serve as president by delivering a very long speech without wearing a coat or hat.
就职典礼当天，据说哈里森想要展示他的强壮来表明他可以担任总统，所以当时他发表了一篇很长的演讲，而且没有穿外套和帽子。

Several weeks later, Harrison became sick. He complained of many problems: anxiety, fatigue, and pain in his stomach.
几周之后，哈里森病倒了。他抱怨了很多问题：焦虑，疲乏，胃疼。

His health grew worse and worse.
他的病情越来越糟糕。

One month after he was sworn-in, Harrison died. It was the first time in the country’s history that a president had died in office.
哈里森宣誓就职总统一个月后就去世了。他成为美国历史上第一位在任内逝世的总统。

The event raised many questions about who would become president. That question is answered in the next episode of this series.
该事件引起了很多关于谁会成为总统的问题。这个问题将在本系列的下一篇中回答。

For future generations, it also raised a question about what Harrison died of. The traditional story is that his long inaugural speech led to a fatal pneumonia.
对于后代来说，这也提出了一个问题：哈里森是因为什么而死？通行的说法是由于他的就职演讲太长而导致了致命的肺炎。

But researchers in 2014 proposed a different reason.
但调查人员于2014年提出了不同的结论。

Jane McHugh and Philip Mackowiak wrote in the New York Times that, while Harrison was in office, Washington, DC did not have a good sewer system. Human waste “simply flowed onto public grounds a short distance from the White House.”
简·麦克休和菲利普·马克威在纽约时报上写道，哈里森执政时，华府还没有一套完善的下水道系统。人类排泄物很容易地就流淌到离白宫很近的公共区域。

The researchers conclude that Harrison probably died from problems related to drinking dirty water in the president’s house.
调查人员得出结论认为，哈里森很可能是因为在白宫喝了脏水而死的。

So, for Harrison, winning the White House may not have been good fortune at all.
所以，对于哈里森来说，赢得白宫的运气一点都不好。

[Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said that Harrison won the 1842 election. The election was in 1840.]
[编辑注：这个故事的早期版本写的是哈里森赢得了1842年大选，其实是1840年]

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原文链接：

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-william-henry-harrison/3806092.html

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1. catchy - adj. appealing and easy to remember - 引人注意的；容易记住的 ↩

2. slogan - n. a word or phrase that is easy to remember - 口号 ↩

3. securing - 弄到，得到，保护 ↩

4. prominent - adj. well known - 突出的，显著的；卓越的，杰出的 ↩

5. right-hand man - n. very important assistant - 得力助手 ↩

6. advantage - n. a good position or condition more likely to succeed - 优势 ↩