现在是1805年 而你是个纽约人It’s 1850 and you’re a New Yorker hearing你听说在西海岸有那可爱的金矿about that sweet sweet gold on the west coast.你现在有三条路线可以走You’ve three options骑着骡子横跨美国Across the country by mule,航行环过合恩角sail around Cape Horn,或者乘船到巴拿马并穿过丛林or a boat to Panama trek through the jungle再乘船就到了大陆的另一端and hop on another the other side.一切顺利的话 两个月内你就可以到加州的迪斯尼乐园了All going well, you’ll be at Disneyland within two months.但由于巴拿马极度危险But the Panama track was incredibly deadly,因此在修建铁路时使用了大量爱尔兰以及中国劳工so using Irish and Chinese laborers the Panama railroad was built.在建成后的头十年里就有五十万人穿过Half a million people traveled it in the first ten years.它立刻变成了美国邮电业的主干道It became a major artery for the US Postal Service并且很快就就成为了纽约证券交易所的头股and was soon the highest-priced stock on the New York exchange.跨陆航行是个大生意Transcontinental travel was big business.而五十英里的陆地成为了大西洋和太平洋的唯一阻隔50 miles of land was the only thing stopping the Atlantic for meeting the Pacific.在货物贸易之后 随之而来的是政治和权力And all the trade, politics and power that came with it.法国人的尝试French Attempt在苏伊士运河建成后 雷赛布作为欧洲的英雄凯旋After completing the Suez  Ferdinand de Lesseps returned to Europe a hero.他将欧洲与印度的距离缩短了6000英里并让非洲变成了一个岛He’d brought India 6,000 miles closer and made Africa an island.在伦敦 3万人前来祝贺这位法国人30,000 people came out to congratulate the Frenchman, in London.在巴黎 皇室成员接待了他His reception in Paris was one of royalty.他还交了几个新朋友 有凡尔纳 雨果以及埃菲尔His new friends included Jules Verne Victor Hugo and Gustave Eiffel.因此当他宣布他的下一个目标是打穿中美洲时So when he announced his next project was to cut几乎没有人质疑他through Central America few people doubted him.在这之前 美国人已经对这里做了调查The Americans had already done surveys of the area决定在尼加拉瓜建立水闸控制系统and were convinced of a lock system at Nicaragua.然而 雷赛布却决定在巴拿马建造一条与海水齐平的运河However de Lesseps was set on a sea-level  at Panama.因为这是最短的路径It was the shortest route, and that’s all that mattered.但在巴拿马有高山 急流 丛林 火山岩But Panama had mountains, rivers, jungles, volcanic rock,以及分水岭 瘴气 黄热病 美洲虎和毒蛇a continental divide, malaria, yellow fever, jaguars, snakes,并且严格来说 这里仍然属于哥伦比亚and was still technically a region of Colombia.法国工程师戈丹表示Godin de Lépinay, the French engineer pointed out苏伊士是因其平坦的荒漠而易于施工that Suez have been easy for de Lesseps because it was a flat desert.而在巴拿马使查格雷斯河改道几乎是不可能的Re-routing the Chagres River in Panama would be an impossible task.因此他建议用人工湖和水闸将陆地打穿He suggested bridging the land with artificial lakes and locks.大家都不屑一顾Everyone laughed.这时 万人敬仰的雷赛布发话了The all respected de Lesseps had spoken.运河将与海水齐平It would be at sea level.然后 一个国际会议就此召开 将决定最后的方案An international conference was held to decide the final route.除了几个去过巴拿马的工程师Everyone but the few engineers who had actually其余所有人都赞同雷赛布的方案been to Panama voted with de Lesseps.一个法国公司就此成立A French company was set up,他们使用加勒比和印第安工人they bought the railroad and修建了铁路agreed to give Colombia 5 % of any revenue.并同意给哥伦比亚政府其5%的总收益Using Caribbean and Indian workers1881年 河道两旁的丛林开始被砍掉the jungle began to be chopped back in 1881.巴拿马每年的降水量可达3000毫米Annual rainfall in Panama could be three meters,因此很快任务的艰巨也开始显现出来soon the monumental scale of the task became apparent.风暴后的塌方意味着所有的进程都将白费Mudslides meant any progress would be undone after the next big storm.因此 为了防止运河墙下滑To stop the  walls from sliding in,必须削减1到4个坡度a new slope of one to four had to be cut.这将会使挖掘工程量翻倍Doubling the amount of excavation.而在运河两岸的两个最高点At the highest point along the它们间的距离将扩展到四分之三英里the new width would have to be three-quarters of a mile.劳工的装备则只有砍刀和镐Laborers were armed with nothing but a machete and a pickaxe.有时每天就能有40个人死亡The death toll was at times 40 a day.在沼泽地区这样的非人道条件下 黄热病和疟疾像野火一样蔓延Yellow fever and malaria spread like wildfire in the swampy inhumane conditions.那些黑人劳工的尸体Bodies of black workers will often just rolled被当作垃圾从他们死的地方被扔到垃圾场from where they died into the dumping grounds.人们有时也会谈到那艘从加勒比海来的鬼船People spoke of ghost ships arriving from the Caribbean,船员在到达巴拿马之前就都死了the crew dead even before reaching Panama.1889年 法国公司破产 工程也不得不暂停In 1889 the French company went bankrupt and work came to a halt.有80万的投资者赔光了他们的钱 2万3千人在此丧命800,000 investors lost their money and 23,000 people their lives.美国人的努力US Effort运河一直无人敢动The  sat untouched until直到十年后罗斯福成功当选Theodore Roosevelt was elected a decade later.他确信如果美国海军要快速进入太平洋的话He was convinced the US Navy needed quick access to the Pacific Ocean运河是必经之路and a  would be the only way.因此关于是在巴拿马还是尼加拉瓜的论辩又再次被提及So the Panama versus Nicaragua debate resurfaced,巴拿马又一次赢了Panama winning again.如果不是因为法国人先前的尝试Though ever hadn’t been for the French attempt.很可能今天运河就会在尼加拉瓜了It’s likely the  today would be at Nicaragua.但是许多工作都已经开始了but a lot of the work was already started并且年轻有雄心的美国无法抗拒and the young ambitious America couldn’t resist in succeeding在强大的法兰西失败的地方取得成功where the mighty French Empire had failed.一个小问题是The slight problem was that巴拿马是为哥伦比亚所有的一个地区Panama was a region of and owned by Colombia.但是美国政府拒绝签订任何But the US refused to sign any treaty where they他们对运河没有完全主权的条约didn’t have complete sovereignty over the  zone, and而哥伦比亚也不愿放弃该地区Colombia weren’t willing to give that up.1903年 哥伦比亚陷入政治动荡In 1903 Colombia was in political unrest因此 美国政府就直接和巴拿马谈了so the US turned to Panama directly…嘿 巴拿马 你想独立吗Psssttt… Panama! Do you wanna be a new country?如果你们要闹革命If you were to have a revolution我们不会 不用我们的军舰保护你们 /调皮微笑We wouldn’t not protect you with our massive warships ; )嗯 好吧Yeah, sure.巴拿马与美国签订了条约并承诺And Panama signed a treaty giving America total control在独立后会将运河的控制权交给美国over the  once they became independent.许多人对美国干预巴拿马的做法并不满意A lot of people weren’t happy with the US因此罗斯福让检察长诺克斯intervention at Panama, so Roosevelt asked Attorney General做出了如下辩护Knox to form a legal defense.“亲爱的总统阁下 不要因为这么一点的不合法“Ah Mr. President, do not let so great an achievement让如此之大伟大的功绩无法服务于大众”suffer from any taint of legality”1904年 工程开始In 1904 work began.以约瑟夫和诺贝尔为主导的美国计划The US plan by Joseph Ripley and Alfred Noble would be an adaptation改进于25年前的戈丹方案of de Lépinay’s from 25 years earlier.他们在两端沿海修了许多水闸A series of locks on either ocean将船舶提升到海拔26米to raise ships 26 meters above sea level.然后在查格雷斯河上筑堤 让其淹没巴拿马中部的大片区域And then dam the Chagres river to flood huge areas of central Panama.164平方英里的丛林 城镇和铁路消失在了水下164 square miles of jungle, town and railroad would be lost underwater.加顿湖就此诞生 而查格雷斯河Creating Gattun lake. The Chagres River, so本来是海平面通道的障碍difficult and obstacle for a sea-level passage, would现在变成了锁渠的生命线become the lifeline of the lock – feeding其水源源不断地流进锁渠it with a constant water supply.但其所需的工程量仍然是巨大的Yet the engineering required would still be immense.工程仍需穿过库莱布拉山脉The Culebra mountains must still be cut through.而就像其巨大的水闸一样 加通大坝Gatun dam would have to be one of the largest in the world.也成为了世界上最大的大坝之一As would the locks themselves.1906年 罗斯福参观此地 并成为了美国历史上Roosevelt himself visited in 1906 becoming the first第一位在位期间离开本国的总统president to leave the country while in office.没有镐和铲子 美国人带来的是炸药Not resigned to pickaxe and shovel the Americans brought dynamite with them.这项工程不是单纯的挖掘 它还包括土的运输The project became not one of digging but of Earth removal.这就意味着数英里持续不断的铁路运输And this meant miles and miles of continuously moving railroads.卫生保健 住宿以及食物在这里也都有提供Health care, accommodation and food were all provided for.政府运营旅馆商店获取的稳定利润Government run hotels and shops were making a steady profit, while也都被用来补贴运河工人的费用subsidizing the expenses of  workers.国内的报纸警告说Papers back home warned那些向社会主义发展的美国人of the political threat these people would be when they returned.回国后将面临政治威胁Americans who had thrived into sociali但如果你去巴拿马寻找社会主义的乌托邦But if you’d gone to Panama looking for a socialist utopia.那你可能会失望You’d have been disappointed.因为那里并没有所谓的共享所有权和民主There was no shared ownership or democracy in action.而且你最好是个白人And you’d better have been white.因为种族隔离仍然存在于各行各业Because segregation still existed in all walks of life.据估算An estimated有20万人从加勒比海迁移过来200,000 people migrated from the Caribbean,他们充当了绝大多数的劳工making up the vast majority of the workforce.提供给黑人劳工的是糟糕的食宿条件Black workers were given appalling food and accommodation, if any at all.单身汉往往居住在沿着运河线改装的棚车里Single men often lived in converted boxcars along the c：没有line,而有家庭的人也不得不在巴拿马城 或科隆and families were forced to fend for themselves抑或在丛林中自生自灭in Colon, Panama City or the jungle.尽管医疗安全取得了一定进展Despite all the medical and safety advancements但黑人劳工的死亡率made a black worker was four times仍然是白人劳工的四倍more likely to die than a white worker.他们往往是被掉落的岩石砸到 或被卷入机器中Being struck by falling rock caught in machinery or还有的是被炸药炸得四分五裂blown apart by dynamite.花费了33年 移走了1.8亿立方米的土块33 years, 180 million cubic meters成立了一个新国家of earth, a new country and和失去了2万7千人的生命27,000 lives later.运河最终完工了The  was finished.1914年8月3日It’s completion book marked the end克里斯托瓦尔号首次完成跨洋航行of a global era, on August the 3rd 1914,这也标志着一个全球时代的结束the Cristobal made the first ocean to ocean crossing.但在巴拿马并没有大张旗鼓的庆祝But there was no fanfare or celebration in Panama就在那天夜幕降临的时候As night fell that same day,半个地球之外half a (now slightly) world away德国向法国宣战了Germany declared war on France.而贸易 政治和权力也再也不会是之前那样了Trade, politics, and power would never be the same again.1914年之后Post 1914在随后的一些年里 它已经变成了全球航行的生命线In the coming years it became a lifeline of global travel.有5%的全球贸易都要穿过这里5% of all world trade passes through the而其政治和金融的重要性It’s political and financial更是难以估计importance became hard to overestimate.美国与巴拿马之间的关系也越来越紧张Tensions between the US and Panama continued to rise.巴拿马人认为运河的控制权应当属于他们Panamanians believed that control of the was rightfully theirs.在美国向英法施加压力After the US pressured the UK and France让其放弃对苏伊士的主权后to give up their claim to Suez,巴拿马人更是把他们看作伪君子many in Panama saw this as hypocritical.在整个六十年代都充斥着骚乱和死亡There were riots and deaths throughout the sixties,这给美国带来了巨大的国际压力building international pressure on the US.1977年 卡特签署了一项条约In 1977 Jimmy Carter signed a treaty granting Panama只要运河保持永久中立future ownership and control of the, as他们将授予巴拿马对运河的所有权long as it remained in neutral waterway.卡特：“对于在1903年起草的巴拿马运河条约Carter:”Your own strong feelings about the Panama Treaty of 1903.”你们的不满情绪“Drafted in a world so different from ours today.”已经成为改善拉美关系的障碍”“Has become an obstacle to better relations with Latin America.”在1989年美国推翻将军诺列加之后After a quick US invasion in’89 to overthrow general Noriega.20世纪的最后一天The Panama巴拿马运河officially became the property of Panama,终于正式回到了祖国的怀抱on the last day of the 20th century.但是到那时But by then it had started to become more建造比运河更大的货船航行环过合恩角economical to build ships larger than the and则变得更加经济划算start sailing around Cape Horn again.2007年 巴拿马开始扩展运河In 2007 Panama began expansion of their  two两套新水闸在与旧水闸平行处拔地而起new sets of locks were built parallel to the old ones,增加了它的最大规模和容量increasing the maximum size and capacity.扩展本身就是一个耗资巨大的项目The expansion itself was a massive project,几乎花费了和美国一样长的时间taking almost as long as the Americans did.因此是谁建造的运河这个问题变得复杂起来So the issue of who built the is complicated.美国雇用爱尔兰和中国劳工修建了铁路It was the US that built the railroads with Irish and Chinese workers.法国人雇用印第安和牙买加人挖了5000万立方米的岩石The French excavated 50 million cubic meters of rock with Indians and Jamaicans.美国雇用加勒比和中美洲工人完成了该项目The US finished the project using Caribbean and Central American workers.然而 你今天实际看到的大部分运河[基础设施]都是由巴拿马人建造的Yet most of the  [infrastructure] you actually see today was built by Panamanians.它往往被认为是一个国家的成就Yet it would be remembered as the achievement of a single president,但实际上它是在几个国家的共同努力下完成的while actually completed under several others,他们都站在了前人的肩膀上all while standing on the shoulders of other nations.人类进步就要有超越时代的规模和野心Human progress requires scale and ambition that exceeds generations.而不仅仅是在他们的时代Not just terms of office.这条运河以及随后的项目This and later projects were built是在许多跨大洲国家和人民的努力下完成的by many people and nations working together across continents.有时要花费几个世纪