2019-2020年高中英语 The Last of the Mohicans 课件　新人教版.doc

2019-2020年高中英语 The Last of the Mohicans 课件新人教版James Fenimore CooperThis eBook is designed and published by Planet PDF. For more freeeBooks visit our Web site at planetpdf/.The Last of the Mohicans2 of 698IntroductionIt is believed that the scene of this tale, and most of the information necessary to understand its allusions, are rendered sufficiently obvious to the reader in the text itself, or in the acpanying notes. Still there is so much obscurity in the Indian traditions, and so much confusion in the Indian names, as to render some explanation useful.Few men exhibit greater diversity, or, if we may soexpress it, greater antithesis of character, than the nativewarrior of North America. In war, he is daring, boastful,cunning, ruthless, self-denying, and self-devoted; in peace,just, generous, hospitable, revengeful, superstitious,modest, and monly chaste. These are qualities, it istrue, which do not distinguish all alike; but they are so farthe predominating traits of these remarkable people as tobe characteristic.It is generally believed that the Aborigines of theAmerican continent have an Asiatic origin. There aremany physical as well as moral facts which corroborate thisopinion, and some few that would seem to weigh againstit.The Last of the Mohicans3 of 698The color of the Indian, the writer believes, is peculiarto himself, and while his cheek-bones have a very strikingindication of a Tartar origin, his eyes have not. Climatemay have had great influence on the former, but it isdifficult to see how it can have produced the substantialdifference which exists in the latter. The imagery of theIndian, both in his poetry and in his oratory, is oriental;chastened, and perhaps improved, by the limited range ofhis practical knowledge. He draws his metaphors from theclouds, the seasons, the birds, the beasts, and the vegetableworld. In this, perhaps, he does no more than any otherenergetic and imaginative race would do, being pelledto set bounds to fancy by experience; but the NorthAmerican Indian clothes his ideas in a dress which isdifferent from that of the African, and is oriental in itself.His language has the richness and sententious fullness ofthe Chinese. He will express a phrase in a word, and hewill qualify the meaning of an entire sentence by a syllable;he will even convey different significations by the simplestinflections of the voice.Philologists have said that there are but two or threelanguages, properly speaking, among all the numeroustribes which formerly occupied the country that nowposes the United States. They ascribe the knowneBook brought to you byCreate, view, and edit PDF. Download the free trial version.The Last of the Mohicans4 of 698difficulty one people have to understand another tocorruptions and dialects. The writer remembers to havebeen present at an interview between two chiefs of theGreat Prairies west of the Mississippi, and when aninterpreter was in attendance who spoke both theirlanguages. The warriors appeared to be on the mostfriendly terms, and seemingly conversed much together;yet, according to the account of the interpreter, each wasabsolutely ignorant of what the other said. They were ofhostile tribes, brought together by the influence of theAmerican government; and it is worthy of remark, that amon policy led them both to adopt the same subject.They mutually exhorted each other to be of use in theevent of the chances of war throwing either of the partiesinto the hands of his enemies. Whatever may be the truth,as respects the root and the genius of the Indian tongues, itis quite certain they are now so distinct in their words asto possess most of the disadvantages of strange languages;hence much of the embarrassment that has arisen inlearning their histories, and most of the uncertainty whichexists in their traditions.Like nations of higher pretensions, the American Indiangives a very different account of his own tribe or race fromthat which is given by other people. He is much addictedThe Last of the Mohicans5 of 698to overestimating his own perfections, and toundervaluing those of his rival or his enemy; a trait whichmay possibly be thought corroborative of the Mosaicaccount of the creation.The whites have assisted greatly in rendering thetraditions of the Aborigines more obscure by their ownmanner of corrupting names. Thus, the term used in thetitle of this book has undergone the changes of Mahicanni,Mohicans, and Mohegans; the latter being the wordmonly used by the whites. When it is rememberedthat the Dutch (who first settled New York), the English,and the French, all gave appellations to the tribes thatdwelt within the country which is the scene of this story,and that the Indians not only gave different names to theirenemies, but frequently to themselves, the cause of theconfusion will be understood.In these pages, Lenni-Lenape, Lenope, Delawares,Wapanachki, and Mohicans, all mean the same people, ortribes of the same stock. The Mengwe, the Maquas, theMingoes, and the Iroquois, though not all strictly thesame, are identified frequently by the speakers, beingpolitically confederated and opposed to those just named.Mingo was a term of peculiar reproach, as were Mengweand Maqua in a less degree.The Last of the Mohicans6 of 698The Mohicans were the possessors of the country firstoccupied by the Europeans in this portion of thecontinent. They were, consequently, the first dispossessed;and the seemingly inevitable fate of all these people, whodisappear before the advances, or it might be termed theinroads, of civilization, as the verdure of their nativeforests falls before the nipping frosts, is represented ashaving already befallen them. There is sufficient historicaltruth in the picture to justify the use that has been made ofit.In point of fact, the country which is the scene of thefollowing tale has undergone as little change, since thehistorical events alluded to had place, as almost any otherdistrict of equal extent within the whole limits of theUnited States. There are fashionable and well-attendedwatering-places at and near the spring where Hawkeyehalted to drink, and roads traverse the forests where he andhis friends were pelled to journey without even apath. Glens has a large village; and while William Henry,and even a fortress of later date, are only to be traced asruins, there is another village on the shores of the Horican.But, beyond this, the enterprise and energy of a peoplewho have done so much in other places have done littlehere. The whole of that wilderness, in which the latterThe Last of the Mohicans7 of 698incidents of the legend occurred, is nearly a wildernessstill, though the red man has entirely deserted this part ofthe state. Of all the tribes named in these pages, there existonly a few half-civilized beings of the Oneidas, on thereservations of their people in New York. The rest havedisappeared, either from the regions in which their fathersdwelt, or altogether from the earth.There is one point on which we would wish to say aword before closing this preface. Hawkeye calls the Lac duSaint Sacrement, the Horican. As we believe this to be anappropriation of the name that has its origin withourselves, the time has arrived, perhaps, when the factshould be frankly admitted. While writing this book, fullya quarter of a century since, it occurred to us that theFrench name of this lake was too plicated, theAmerican too monplace, and the Indian toounpronounceable, for either to be used familiarly in awork of fiction. Looking over an ancient map, it wasascertained that a tribe of Indians, called Les Horicans bythe French, existed in the neighborhood of this beautifulsheet of water. As every word uttered by Natty Bumppowas not to be received as rigid truth, we took the libertyof putting the Horican into his mouth, as the substitutefor Lake George. The name has appeared to find favor,The Last of the Mohicans8 of 698and all things considered, it may possibly be quite as wellto let it stand, instead of going back to the House ofHanover for the appellation of our finest sheet of water.We relieve our conscience by the confession, at all eventsleaving it to exercise its authority as it may see fit.The Last of the Mohicans9 of 698Chapter 1Mine ear is open, and my heart prepared: The worst iswordly loss thou canst unfold:Say, is my kingdom lost?ShakespeareIt was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of NorthAmerica, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness wereto be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet. Awide and apparently an impervious boundary of forestssevered the possessions of the hostile provinces of Franceand England. The hardy colonist, and the trainedEuropean who fought at his side, frequently expendedmonths in struggling against the rapids of the streams, or ineffecting the rugged passes of the mountains, in quest of anopportunity to exhibit their courage in a more martialconflict. But, emulating the patience and self-denial of thepracticed native warriors, they learned to overe everydifficulty; and it would seem that, in time, there was norecess of the woods so dark, nor any secret place so lovely,that it might claim exemption from the inroads of thosewho had pledged their blood to satiate their vengeance, orto uphold the cold and selfish policy of the distantmonarchs of Europe.The Last of the Mohicans10 of 698Perhaps no district throughout the wide extent of theintermediate frontiers can furnish a livelier picture of thecruelty and fierceness of the savage warfare of thoseperiods than the country which lies between the headwaters of the Hudson and the adjacent lakes.The facilities which nature had there offered to themarch of the batants were too obvious to beneglected. The lengthened sheet of the Champlainstretched from the frontiers of Canada, deep within theborders of the neighboring province of New York,forming a natural passage across half the distance that theFrench were pelled to master in order to strike theirenemies. Near its southern termination, it received thecontributions of another lake, whose waters were solimpid as to have been exclusively selected by the Jesuitmissionaries to perform the typical purification of baptism,and to obtain for it the title of lake du Saint Sacrement.The less zealous English thought they conferred asufficient honor on its unsullied fountains, when theybestowed the name of their reigning prince, the second ofthe house of Hanover. The two united to rob theuntutored possessors of its wooded scenery of their nativeright to perpetuate its original appellation of Horican.*The Last of the Mohicans11 of 698* As each nation of the Indians had its language or itsdialect, they usually gave different names to the sameplaces, though nearly all of their appellations weredescriptive of the object. Thus a literal translation of thename of this beautiful sheet of water, used by the tribe thatdwelt on its banks, would be The Tail of the Lake. LakeGeorge, as it is vulgarly, and now, indeed, legally, called,forms a sort of tail to Lake Champlain, when viewed onthe map. Hence, the name.Winding its way among countless islands, andimbedded in mountains, the holy lake extended a dozenleagues still further to the south. With the high plain thatthere interposed itself to the further passage of the water,menced a portage of as many miles, which conductedthe adventurer to the banks of the Hudson, at a pointwhere, with the usual obstructions of the rapids, or rifts, asthey were then termed in the language of the country, theriver became navigable to the tide.While, in the pursuit of their daring plans ofannoyance, the restless enterprise of the French evenattempted the distant and difficult gorges of the Alleghany,it may easily be imagined that their proverbial acutenesswould not overlook the natural advantages of the districtwe have just described. It became, emphatically, theThe Last of the Mohicans12 of 698bloody arena, in which most of the battles for the masteryof the colonies were contested. Forts were erected at thedifferent points that manded the facilities of the route,and were taken and retaken, razed and rebuilt, as victoryalighted on the hostile banners. While the husbandmanshrank back from the dangerous passes, within the saferboundaries of the more ancient settlements, armies largerthan those that had often disposed of the scepters of themother countries, were seen to bury themselves in theseforests, whence they rarely returned but in skeleton bands,that were haggard with care or dejected by defeat. Thoughthe arts of peace were unknown to this fatal region, itsforests were alive with men; its shades and glens rang withthe sounds of martial music, and the echoes of itsmountains threw back the laugh, or repeated the wantoncry, of many a gallant and reckless youth, as he hurried bythem, in the noontide of his spirits, to slumber in a longnight of forgetfulness.It was in this scene of strife and bloodshed that theincidents we shall attempt to relate occurred, during thethird year of the war which England and France last wagedfor the possession of a country that neither was destined toretain.The Last of the Mohicans13 of 698The imbecility of her military leaders abroad, and thefatal want of energy in her councils at home, had loweredthe character of Great Britain from the proud elevation onwhich it had been placed by the talents and enterprise ofher former warriors and statesmen. No longer dreaded byher enemies, her servants were fast losing the confidenceof self-respect. In this mortifying abasement, the colonists,though innocent of her imbecility, and too humble to bethe agents of her blunders, were but the naturalparticipators. They had recently seen a chosen army fromthat country, which, reverencing as a mother, they hadblindly believed invinciblean army led by a chief whohad been selected from a crowd of trained warriors, for hisrare military endowments, disgracefully routed by ahandful of French and Indians, and only saved fromannihilation by the coolness and spirit of a Virginian boy,whose riper fame has since diffused itself, with the steadyinfluence of moral truth, to the uttermost confines ofChristendom.* A wide frontier had been laid naked bythis unexpected disaster, and more substantial evils werepreceded by a thousand fanciful and imaginary dangers.The alarmed colonists believed that the yells of the savagesmingled with every fitful gust of wind that issued from theinterminable forests of the west. The terrific character ofThe Last of the Mohicans14 of 698their merciless enemies increased immeasurably the naturalhorrors of warfare. Numberless recent massacres were stillvivid in their recollections; nor was there any ear in theprovinces so deaf as not to have drunk in with avidity thenarrative of some fearful tale of midnight murder, inwhich the natives of the forests were the principal andbarbarous actors. As the credulous and excited travelerrelated the hazardous chances of the wilderness, the bloodof the timid curdled with terror, and mothers cast anxiousglances even at those children which slumbered within thesecurity of the largest towns. In short, the magnifyinginfluence of fear began to set at naught the calculations ofreason, and to render those who should have rememberedtheir manhood, the slaves of the basest passions. Even themost confident and the stoutest hearts began to think theissue of the contest was being doubtful; and that abjectclass was hourly increasing in numbers, who thought theyforesaw all the possessions of the English crown inAmerica subdued by their Christian foes, or laid waste bythe inroads of their relentless allies.* Washington, who, after uselessly admonishing theEuropean general of the danger into which he washeedlessly running, saved the remnants of the British army,on this occasion, by his decision and courage. TheThe Last of the Mohicans15 of 698reputation earned by Washington in this battle was theprincipal cause of his being selected to mand theAmerican armies at a later day. It is a circumstance worthyof observation, that while all America rang with his wellmeritedreputation, his name does not occur in anyEuropean account of the battle; at least the author hassearched for it without success. In this manner does themother country absorb even the fame, under that systemof rule.When, therefore, intelligence was received at the fortwhich covered the southern termination of the portagebetween the Hudson and the lakes, that Montcalm hadbeen seen moving up the Champlain, with an armynumerous as the leaves on the trees, its truth wasadmitted with more of the craven reluctance of fear thanwith the stern joy that a warrior should feel, in finding anenemy within reach of his blow. The news had beenbrought, toward the decline of a day in midsummer, by anIndian runner, who also bore an urgent request fromMunro, the mander of a work on the shore of theholy lake, for a speedy and powerful reinforcement. Ithas already been mentioned that the distance betweenthese two posts was less than five leagues. The rude path,which originally formed their line of munication, hadeBook brought to you byCreate, view, and edit PDF. Download the free trial version.The Last of the Mohicans16 of 698been widened for the passage of wagons; so that thedistance which had been traveled by the son of the forestin two hours, might easily be effected by a detachment oftroops, with their necessary baggage, between the risingand setting of a summer sun. The loyal servants of theBritish crown had given to one of these forest-fastnessesthe name of William Henry, and to the other that of FortEdward, calling each after a favorite prince of the reigningfamily. The veteran Scotchman just named held the first,with a regiment of regulars and a few provincials; a forcereally by far too small to make head against the formidablepower that Montcalm was leading to the foot of hisearthen mounds. At the latter, however, lay GeneralWebb, who manded the armies of the king in thenorthern provinces, with a body of more than fivethousand men. By uniting the several detachments of hismand, this officer might have arrayed nearly doublethat number of batants against the enterprisingFrenchman, who had ventured so far from hisreinforcements, with an army but little superior innumbers.But under the influence of their degraded fortunes,both officers and men appeared better disposed to awaitthe approach of their formidable antagonists, within theirThe Last of the Mohicans17 of 698works, than to resist the progress of their march, byemulating the successful example of the French at Fort duQuesne, and striking a blow on their advance.After the first surprise of the intelligence had a littleabated, a rumor was spread through the entrenched camp,which stretched along the margin of the Hudson, forminga chain of outworks to the body of the fort itself, that achosen detachment of fifteen hundred men was to depart,with the dawn, for William Henry, the post at thenorthern extremity of the portage. That which at first wasonly rumor, soon became certainty, as orders passed fromthe quarters of the mander-in-chief to the severalcorps he had selected for this service, to prepar