- If you’re an American and you’re not having fun, it just might be your own fault. Our long national expedition is entering its 238th year, and from the start, it was clear that this would be a bracing place to live.
- There would be plenty of food, plenty of land, plenty of minerals in the mountains and timber in the wilderness. You might have to work hard, but you’d have a grand time doing it.
- That promise, for the most part, has been kept. There would be land rushes and gold rushes and wagon trains and riverboats and cities built hard against cities until there was no place to build but up, so we went in that direction too.
- All human beings may come equipped with the pursuit-of-happiness impulse—the urge to find lusher land just over the hill, fatter buffalo in the next valley—but it’s Americans who have codified the idea, written it into the Declaration of Independence and made it a central mandate of the national character.
- American happiness would never be about savor-the-moment contentment. That way lay the reflective café culture of the Old World—fine for Europe, not for Jamestown.
If you’re an American and you’re not having fun, it just might be your own fault. Our long national expedition is entering its 238th year, and from the start, it was clear that this would be a bracing place to live.
如果你生为美国人，却总是郁郁寡欢，问题可能出在你自身。经过漫长的征程，我们国家即将迎来独立238周年纪念。独立伊始，我们就很清楚地知道，这里会是一片宜人宜居的土地。
如果你是个美国人，却始终觉得自己活得闷闷不乐，那你可能多少需要反思一下了。建国 238 年以来，在这片宜住宜居的神恩乐土之上，一代代美国人从未停下开拓进取的步伐。
There would be plenty of food, plenty of land, plenty of minerals in the mountains and timber in the wilderness. You might have to work hard, but you’d have a grand time doing it.
荒无人烟的山脉和林地里，有充足的食物、广袤的土地和丰富的矿产。你可能需要努力劳作，但过程也不乏有趣。
这片沃土物产丰饶，土地广袤，群山之间埋藏富矿，沃野之中遍布密林。 工作或许颇为辛苦，但勤勤恳恳一定会让你心满意足，功不唐捐。
反思
- 在某地有…→主谓结构
- 功不唐捐有必要吗）
That promise, for the most part, has been kept. There would be land rushes and gold rushes and wagon trains and riverboats and cities built hard against cities until there was no place to build but up, so we went in that direction too.
这些设想大部分都一一实现。独立之后，美国兴起土地收购浪潮，迎来淘金潮，展开西进运动，发展内河航运。一座座城市就地崛起，鳞次栉比。直到每一寸土地都被开发，再挤不下别的大楼，这些大楼就越建越高。就像我们的路，越走越光明。
这种美好愿景在很大程度上一直延续至今。拓荒热潮、淘金热潮此起彼伏，成群的马车队、一艘艘往来的江轮、一座座城市如雨后春笋般地拔地而起，直到无处可建为止。我们转而又开始开发垂直维度，向上发展。
反思
- 搭配 愿景延续至今？
- 马车和江轮拔地而起 牛
- 在考虑wagon trains和riverboats要不要译出来历史背景
- no place to build译成无处可建（离谱），但是我翻的太长了其实，“开发”译过头了吗（思考
- but up译成开发垂直维度也太formal了
- we went in that direcition too还是要分出来译。“我们向上发展”很怪
All human beings may come equipped with the pursuit-of-happiness impulse—the urge to find lusher land just over the hill, fatter buffalo in the next valley—but it’s Americans who have codified the idea, written it into the Declaration of Independence and made it a central mandate of the national character.
全人类生来便有追求幸福的想法。他们渴望翻山越岭找到更茂密的土地，渴望在下一个山谷看到更健壮的水牛。然而，是美国人将这种想法整理出来，编入《独立宣言》，刻入美国的民族性格。
追求幸福应当是人类与生俱来的本能。带着这种动力，人们渴望着翻越 山丘，发现更富饶的土地；跨过山谷，遇到更健硕的水牛。美国人率先将这 种本能写进了宪法和《独立宣言》，对幸福的追求也成了美国国民性格中的核心部分。
- 想法→本能
- “带着这种动力”有利于衔接上下句？
- but的转折意味不是很强
- codify 编进法典（这里指美国宪法）
American happiness would never be about savor-the-moment contentment. That way lay the reflective café culture of the Old World—fine for Europe, not for Jamestown.
美国人不会因为慢慢享受时光而感到幸福。这种悠闲的满足只存在于旧大陆具有代表性的咖啡文化中，欧洲人很受用，但美国人不是如此。
美国人的幸福观绝不耽溺于当下的片刻欢愉。这种短暂的幸福感让欧洲旧大陆的咖啡文化应运而生（是欧洲旧大陆咖啡文化的写照）。对欧洲人而言或许颇为适宜，在美国却显得格格不入。
- 搭配？“幸福感耽溺于”（但是耽溺这个词用的挺好）
- lay the reflective xxx …应运而生/是…的写照
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