堅持就是力量:美國愚公 32年隻身挖通穿山隧道
Somewhere in the Mojave Desert’s El Paso range there is a strange tunnel that traverses 2,087 feet of solid rock up in Copper Mountain. What’s strange is that it doesn’t lead to anywhere special. It simply emerges on the high ledge, in the middle of nowhere. The only reason it exists is because an eccentric man named William Henry ‘Burro’ Schmidt – a.k.a. the human mole – wanted it there.
莫哈韋沙漠厄爾巴索段（美國德克薩斯州）有一條穿越了岩石聳立的銅山、長達2087英尺的奇怪隧道。之所以說它奇怪，是因爲它的終點並不是什麼特別的地方，而是就這樣突兀地出現在峭壁上。它存在的唯一原因就是，“鼴鼠人”威廉·亨利·布羅·施密特想在這鑿一條隧道。
Although he spent 32 years of his life single-handedly digging a half-mile long tunnel through a solid granite mountain, he never talked much about it. When questioned about his bizarre project, he simply replied that it was a shortcut. To where, no one really knows.
他花了32年的時間隻身在堅硬的崖壁間挖出半英里長的隧道，但卻從來緘口不提。當被問及這項工程時，他也只是扼要地回答這是條“近路”。然而究竟通向哪裏卻沒人知道。
Schmidt first migrated to the California desert from Rhode Island in the Late 19th century, in order to improve his health. He is believed to have started digging the tunnel in 1902. He carried out the excavation using picks, hammers, hand drills and explosives. At times, he even carried it out on his back. Eventually, he installed iron tracks and a mine car to transport debris.
爲了健康着想，施密特於19世紀末從羅德島搬到加利福尼亞沙漠。據稱，他在1902年開始挖掘隧道。挖掘工具包括鶴嘴鋤、錘子、手搖鑽和炸藥。甚至有時他還自己往外背岩石。後來，他安裝了鐵軌和礦車來輸送碎片。
Until this day, the Burro Schmidt tunnel is still a source of great mystery and awe, and continues to rouse the curiosity of people who visit it. He had no formal training and picked up most of the skills required for the job while doing it, but the accuracy of his work is unmistakable. Still, the question remains – why would anyone want to build a tunnel to nowhere?
直至今日，布羅·施密特隧道仍舊是個謎團，始終困擾着來訪的人們。施密特本人沒有接受過任何正式培訓，只是在開鑿過程中習得的技能，然而他的工程卻準確到分毫不差。然而，爲什麼會有人想要修築這樣一條不通往任何地方的隧道呢？
When a man religiously sticks to a ostensibly meaningless task, he naturally gives rise to a whole lot of questions. He lived a life so simple that the theory of hidden treasure simply doesn’t check out. Several people have explored Schmidt’s land and work in an attempt to find some answers to his life’s work, but he left no records of his motivation.
當一個人虔誠地投入到一項看似無意義的工作時，他自然地也不會問那麼多問題。施密特一生節儉，關於隧道中有埋藏的寶藏一說也從未得到過證實。有人去探索過這片土地和隧道，試圖找到他施工的理由，然而關於開鑿動機卻未留下隻字片語。
It is speculated that Schmidt needed to create the shortcut to bring his gold ore from the mine to the market. But when the construction of a new road made his effort unnecessary, he still chose to continue the gruelling, backbreaking work for several years. In the lack of conclusive evidence, people have been forced to accept that he was probably just obsessed with his strange project.
有人推測，施密特是要開闢一條近路來將礦藏中的金子運到市場上。然而，當新路修成，他的工作成了徒勞之後，施密特仍然選擇繼續挖掘。由於缺少證據，人們只好相信他真的是出於對此工作某種特殊的情感。
No one knows if he ever struck gold, but when he broke through to daylight on the other side in 1938, he simply walked away from his life’s work. Stooped and gnarled from 32 years of rigorous tunneling, he packed up and left Copper Mountain to live the last part of his life in a nearby town. Later, he took on a partner named Mike Lee, and together they gave visitors tours of the tunnel. He died in 1954, taking with him all the secrets of the burrow he built.
沒人知道施密特是否真的挖出來過金子，然而待到1938年隧道鑿通，他只是從出口、從他畢生的工作中走了出去。結束了32年虔誠的挖掘，他收拾行裝離開了銅山，在附近另一個城鎮定居。後來和一位名叫邁克·李的人搭檔，引領遊客參觀隧道。1954年，施密特逝世，也帶走了他修建隧道的全部祕密。
If you visit the tunnel today, you could walk upright through its entire length in about 30 minutes. It is structurally sound and along the walls you might be able to identify exposed mineral veins. And when you reach the ledge at the end of the tunnel, a spectacular view awaits you. Although located in a remote area, the Burro Schmidt tunnel is a huge tourist attraction.
如果你去隧道參觀，不到30分鐘就能走完全程。隧道堅固，沿着牆體還可以看見岩石的紋路。然而當你抵達隧道的另一端時，會有壯觀的景色。儘管地處偏遠，布羅·施密特隧道還是吸引了不少遊客前來參觀。
