Lesson 6 Mark Twain—Mirror of America(Excerpts)
全文翻译
马克·吐温——美国的一面镜子
诺埃尔·格罗夫
1.在大多数美国人的记忆中，马克·吐温是位伟大的作家，他描写了哈克·费恩在其永恒的童年所做的田园诗般的旅行，以及汤姆·索亚在那无尽的夏日里自由自在的历险故事。的确，这位美国最受人喜爱的作家，完全如人们所想象的那样，充满了冒险精神、爱国情怀、浪漫气质和幽默感。但我发现了另外一个马克·吐温——由于深受人生悲剧的打击而变得愤世嫉俗、尖酸刻薄的马克·吐温，一个为人类的弱点时常困扰而忧心忡忡，清楚地看到前途是一片黑暗的人。
2.印刷工、领航员、邦联游击队员、淘金者、充满幻想的乐天派、语言尖刻的讽刺家：这就是马克·吐温，原名塞缪尔·朗赫恩·克莱门斯，他的一生有三分之一以上的时间游历美国各地，体验了美国的新生活，尔后便以作家和演说家的身份与世人一道分享他的感受。他的笔名取自他在蒸汽船上做工时听到报告的水深两浔(12英尺)—即可以通航的深度。二十多部他的作品仍在印刷发行，译文版本也在世界各地被广泛阅读，这一事实足见其享誉程度。
3.在马克·吐温早年时期，美国的地理中心是密西西比河流域，而密西西比河是这个年轻国家中部的交通大动脉。龙骨船、平底船和大木筏运载着最重要的商品。木材、玉米、烟草、小麦以及皮毛制品通过这些运载工具顺流而下，被运送到河口三角洲地区，而蔗糖、糖浆、棉花和威士忌酒等货物则被运送到北方。19世纪50年代，在西部领土开发高潮到来之前，辽阔的密西西比河流域占美国已开发领土面积的四分之三。
4.1857年，年轻的马克·吐温踏上了这片土地，当时他在一艘蒸汽船上做见习领航员。在这个新的工作岗位上，他得以接触到各式各样的人物——这里俨然是一个多姿多彩的大千世界。他全身心地投入到这种生活当中，经常在操舵室里听人们谈论民间争斗、海盗劫掠、滥用私刑、游医卖药以及河边的一些化外民居的故事。所有这一切，都被他那留声机般的准确可靠的记忆，随后连同他那丰富多彩的语言一起，在其作品中得以再现。
5.汽船的甲板上不仅挤满了富有开拓精神的人们，而且也混杂着妓女、赌徒和恶棍。从这些形形色色的人身上，马克·吐温对人类的本性有了敏锐的认识，也认识到了人们言行之间的差距。他在蒸汽船上工作的四年半时间是他真正接受教育的开端，而且也是影响最为深远的教育。到了晚年，乌克吐温坦言是密西西比河让他了解了各色各样的人类的本性。这种生活体验对他的全部创作都起了促进作用，然而他描写得最为成功的还是那些密西西比河上的人物。
6.随着铁路运输的发展，社会上对汽船领航员的需求日渐减少，而美国内战的爆发又使贸易被暂时中断，于是马克·吐温便离开了密西西比河流域。他在南方邦联游击队的一支杂牌军里当了两个星期的兵，那支队伍总是想方设法避免与敌军交战。发现“我比那些发明撤退的人更懂得如何撤退”之后，马克·吐温便离开了部队。
7.他乘驿站马车来到西部，受到内华达州的华苏地区淘金热的诱惑。那些巨大的财富原本只属于那些既幸运而又锲而不舍的人，三心两意的马克·吐温在同这笔财富打了八个月交道之后惨遭失败。破产与灰心之余，他接受了为弗吉尼亚市《领土开发报》当记者的工作，这一决定获得了文学界永久的感激。
8.自从他因淘金失败而感到心灰意冷之后，马克·吐温便开始努力工作，希望能在当地成为一名小有名气的报社记者和幽默作家。虽说从事新闻报道工作不可能像淘金一样一夜暴富，但单就挣钱而言，他的笔杆比他的锄镐要有效得多。1864年春季，在他加盟《领土开发报》还不到两年的时候，他又乘驿站马车前往旧金山，那儿在当时和现在都是有前途的青年作家成长的摇篮。
9.马克·吐温在那儿磨炼并尝试了一下他新的写作技能，但是，由于他写了一些言辞尖锐的专栏文章，不得不暂时离开这座城市。他就虐待华人等一类问题对市政府进行了猛烈抨击，惹怒了政府官员们，所以只好逃到萨克拉门托山谷的金矿区暂避风头。他对那儿拓荒者的描写，在今天那些习惯于由西海岸引领流行趋势的人们看来，依然倍感亲切。“这儿的人们可真是了不起——因为所有那些笨手笨脚、无精打采、呆头呆脑的懒汉在家呆着……正是这些人为加利福尼亚赢得了这样的声誉：当他们立志开创一番宏伟大业时，他们会不计代价、不顾后果，以一种豪迈的气概和闯劲勇往直前，一干到底。加利福尼亚人至今仍保持着这样的声誉，因此，每当他们采取任何新的举措时，那些素来稳重的人便会像往常一样微笑着说：“瞧，这就是加利福尼亚的风格。”
10.1864年与1865年之交的那个阴郁的冬天，马克·吐温是在安吉尔斯矿区度过的。在这段沉闷的日子里，他记了一本笔记。在杂乱无章的有关天气情况和乏味无趣的有关矿区饭食情况的记录中，有一条记录叙述了他当天听到的一则故事—这条记录决定了他一生事业的发展方向：“科尔曼用他的跳蛙——与陌生人赌50美元——陌生人没有跳蛙，科尔曼去给他弄来一只——陌生人利用这段时间将科的跳蛙肚子灌满铅弹，这样一来，科的跳蛙便跳不起来了。陌生人的跳蛙获胜。”
11.经过马克·吐温的生花妙笔改写之后，这个故事刊登在美国各地的报纸上，成为家喻户晓的“卡拉韦拉斯县驰名的跳蛙”。至此，马克·吐温被公认为“太平洋海岸的狂放派幽默大师”,其声望已在全国范围内牢固确立起来了。
12.两年之后，他得到了一次以美国人独有的眼光去观察欧洲旧大陆的机会。在纽约市，“费城号”的蒸汽船准备进行一次到欧洲和圣地的观光航行。这是有史以来美国人第一次组织这么大规模的观光旅游——这也可以算是美国发展史上的一个里程碑。马克·吐温作为加州一家报社的记者被委派随同观光团采访。如果读者们期望能读到有关这次旅行见闻的生动描述的话，那他们就只有倍感意外了。
13.举例来说，他对土耳其的苏丹王印象不佳，于是在报道中这样写：“……你可以在随便什么地方设个陷阱，一夜工夫就能逮到一打比他能干的人。”他更是漫不经心地揭穿受人景仰的艺术家和艺术珍品，还言辞尖锐地将宗教圣地批评了一番。回国以后，越来越多的报纸开始刊登他的文章，整个美国都同他一起舒心大笑。他刚刚回到美国，这些游记集结的单行本《傻瓜出国记》立刻成为畅销书。
14.三十六岁时，马克·吐温开始在康涅狄格州的哈特福德镇定居下来，他的最优秀的作品全是在这段时期内问世的。
15.早在1870年，马克·吐温就尝试着写过一篇关于一个男孩的童年历险故事，他将这个男孩起名叫比利·罗杰斯。两年后，他又将主人公的名字改为汤姆，并着手将故事改编成剧本。直到1874年他才开始认真地扩展故事情节。1876年《汤姆·索亚》出版之后，很快成为美国儿童故事的经典之作。汤姆的顽皮、勇敢、机智以及他对贝琪·撒切尔天真纯洁的感情，让这部小说几乎像《独立宣言》一样成了今天美国学校里的必读之物。
16.马克·吐温本人的独立宣言却是通过另一个人物体现出来的。在《汤姆·索亚》第六章里，他引出了“村里的流浪少年，镇上酒鬼的儿子哈克贝利·费恩”。哈克不习惯在清教徒道格拉斯募妇家过上等人的体面生活，便从那里逃了出来，事后他向朋友汤姆·索亚抱怨说：“我试过了，还是不行；不行啊，汤姆。”那不是我过的日子……那寡妇家按点吃饭，按点睡觉，按点起床——总之，干什么事情都得规规矩矩，简直叫人受不了。”
17.《汤姆·索亚》风靡美国九年之后，哈克被赋予独立的生命，他在这部小说中通常被认为是最成功地描写美国人的作品。他同一个逃跑出来的奴隶一起乘坐木筏沿着密西西比河顺流而下，他们的漂流航程生动地展现了美国社会生活的全貌。
18.通过对密西西比河，尤其是对哈克·费恩这一人物的描写，马克·吐温将希望从那束缚着自己并常常令自己苦恼的生活步调中摆脱出来，从生活的各种清规戒律以及为了事业成功而进行的艰苦挣扎中解放出来的愿望表达得淋漓尽致。
19.马克·吐温认为，美国人的理想中缺少了一种成分。他说：“如果我们能偶尔地躺下来好好放松休息一下，使我们的棱角始终保持锋利，那么我们将有可能成为一个多么朝气蓬勃的民族，一个多么富有思想的民族啊!”
20.马克·吐温的一生都笼罩在悲剧的阴影之中，他的亲人接连离他而去：他的父亲在他十二岁那年死于肺炎，他的兄弟亨利在一次汽船爆炸事故中丧命；他的儿子朗顿才十九个月大便天折了；他的大女儿苏茜死于脊膜炎；他的妻子在佛罗伦萨死于心脏病；而他的小女儿也因癫痫病发作溺死在楼上的浴缸里。
21.痛苦噬咬着这个曾经让世界欢笑的人。他早期作品中的说教包裹着幽默的外衣，而现在，他脱去了幽默的外衣，换成了辛辣的讽刺。对于美军在一个火山口上疯狂屠杀六百名菲律宾摩洛人的行径，他没有直接进行抨击，而是假装为之高唱赞歌。在《神秘的陌生人》一书中，他坚持认为，人类应该抛弃宗教幻想，依靠自己而不是上帝的力量去创造一个更加美好的世界。
22.他自己的最后一个幻想到后来似乎也破灭了。在他晚年口述其自传的时候，他曾无比绝望地谈到人从尘世的苦难中得以最终的解脱：“………他们从世界上消失了，在这个世界上他们无足轻重，一事无成；甚至他们的存在本身就是个错误，是个失败，是件愚蠢的事。这个世界上也没有留下表明他们曾存在过的痕迹——这个世界将会为他们哀悼一日，然后永远地将他们遗忘。”
(摘自《国家地理》,1975年9月)
练习答案
Ⅱ.
A.
1.The other Mark Twain the author found was a man who grew cynical,biter,and saddened by the profound personal tragedies and a man who became obsessed with the frailties of the human race and saw clearly ahead a black wall of night.
2.He became a pilot on a steamboat in 1857 and stayed there for four and a half years.There he saw almost every type of human nature and gained a keen perception of the human race.This experience immensely enriched his writing,as is shown in his novels.
3.The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
4.Because the book centered on satirizing the old traditions of Europe and the Holy Land,it arose intense interest among Americans.
5.Because it is a classic tale of American boyhood describing Tom's mischievous daring,ingenuity,and the sweet innocence of his affection for Becky Thatcher.
In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,Twain best expressed the desire to escape from the place one lived,from life's regular activities,and from energy-consuming desire for success.And he also suggested that some important elements were missing in the American ambition and American people should keep their vitality and enterprise.
6.According to Twain,American people would be strong and vigorous and become a nation of thinkers if they occasionally relaxed,rested,and stayed away from all this crazy struggle for success occasionally and kept their minds sharp.That is,American people should maintain their vitality and enterprise.
7.Many of his loved ones:his brother,son,two daughters and wife,died.Profound personal tragedies and the death of his beloved family members made him become bitter late in life.
8.“…they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence;where they achieved nothing;where they were a mistake and a failure and a foolishness;where they have left ho sign that they had existed-a world which will lament them a day and forget them forever."He dictated his autobiography late in life and commented with a crushing sense of despair on men's final release from心earthly struggles.
9.Since Mark Twain lived a colorful life,doing a great variety of jobs and traveling extensively,he met all kinds of people whom he later depicted in his works.With such colorful and abundant life experience,Mark Twain's life and work can reflect the truth of American society at that time,so the writer calls Mark Twain “a mirror of America”.
B.
1.Paragraph one serves as a general introduction to the passage.And readers can have their own concepts of the great American writer-Mark Twain from two aspects:He was not only adventurous,patriotic,romantic,and humorous,but also cynical,biter and unhappy.
2.The second paragraph mainly describes that Mark Twain tried various means to make a living and traveled extensively before becoming a writer and lecturer and introduces his real name and how his pen name was adopted.
3.The author first introduced the geographical importance of Missisippi River and commerce carried on the river.t is on this river that Mark Twain worked as a young steamboat pilot on the river and met all sorts of people,which equipped him with a sharp and intense understanding of the human race and provided rich material for his works.In short,for Mark Twain,the life during this period of time was both instructive and interesting.
4.The author successfully combined the geographical locations of Twain's life with his career development in paragraph 7-11.
1)The author first takes the reader to travel with Mark Twain to Nevada's Washoe region where Twain accepted a job as reporter with the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise due to his mining failures.
2)Twain began digging his way to regional fame as a newspaper reporter and humorist since world literature is forever grateful to this turn of events.
3)Then the reader travels with Mark Twain to San Francisco,where is a hotbed of hopeful young writers and to the goldfields in the Sacramento Valley.There in Angels Camp,Mark Twain kept a notebook from which his first successful short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"was born.Mark Twain's national reputation as "the wild humorist of the Pacific slope"was well established.
5.Paragraph 12 and 13 mainly described that Twain as a correspondent for a California newspaper,had an opportunity to travel with a group of Americans to the Old World and the Holy Land.He showed contempt for the Sultan of Turkey and exposed the pretensions of respected artists and the false glamour of the art treasures.Upon his return,the book version of his travels,The Innocents Abroad,became an instant best-seller.
6.The author quotes from Huck in paragraph 16 to show that Huck is simple and honest with little education.
7.1)The last three paragraphs mainly described that haunted by his personal tragedies,Twain became mercilessly bitter and satirical.His illusions crumbled and he commented on men's final release from earthly struggles with an overwhelming sense of despair.
2)The end of the essay is closely related to the beginning of the essay where the author presents another aspect of Mark Twain who was saddened by the profound personal tragedies.In the end,the author shows the reader how Mark Twain felt hopeless with his illusions crumbing.
Ⅲ.
1.Mark Twain is known to most Americans as the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn.Huck Finn is noted for his simple and pleasant journey)through his boyhood which seems eternal and Tom Sawyer is famous for his free roam of the country and his adventure in one summer which seems never to end.The youth and summer are eternal because this is the only age and time we knew them)They are frozen in that age/season for all readers.
2.The stream boat was a miniature of the boundless universe that it enabled Mark Twain to meet all kinds of people when worked as a river pilot on it.
3.All would reappear in his books,written in the colorful language that he seemed to be able to remember and record as accurately as a phonograph.
4.Steamboat decks were filled with people who explored and prepared the way for others and also lawless people or social outcasts such as hustlers,gamblers and thugs.
5.He took a horse-drawn public vehicle and went west to Nevada,following the flow of people in the Gold Rush.
6.Mark Twain began working hard to get well known locally as a newspaper reporter and humorist.
7.Those who came pioneering out west were energetic,courageous and reckless people,because those who stayed at home were the slow,dull and lazy people.
8.That's typical of California.
9.If we relaxed,rested or stayed away from all his crazy struggle for success occasionally and kept the daring and enterprising spirit,
we would be able to remain strong and healthy and continue to produce great thinkers.
-
At the end of his life,he lost the last bit of his positive view of man and the world.
IV.
A.
1.starry-eyed:romantic,dreamy;with the eyes sparkling in a glow of wonder acid-tongued:sharp,sarcastic in speech
2.medicine shows:shows given by entertainers who travel from town to town,accompanied by quacks and fake Indians,selling care-alls,snake-bite medicine etc.
3.flirt:originally meaning pretending love without serious intention,here meaning trying but not hard or persistently enough
4.strike:the sudden discovery of some mineral ores
5.hotbed:a place that fosters rapid growth or extensive activity,often used of something evil
6.ring:to produce,as by sounding,a specified impression on the hearer trend setting:taking the lead in starting a new trend or new ways of doing things
7.project:to propose or make plan for
8.entry:an item in his notebook
9.shot:quantity of tiny balls of lead used in a sporting gun against birds or small animals
10.sorely:greatly or extremely
11.shots:critical remarks
12.bowl:a hollow land formation
B.
1.romantic意为“浪漫的”;sentimental意为“感情脆弱的”或“易感伤的”。例：She has romantic notions about becoming a famous actress.她心里充满幻想，总希望有一天会成为著名演员。He has a sentimental attachment to his birth place.他对自己的出生之地又眷恋之情。humorous意为“幽默诙谐的”;witty意为“机智灵敏的”。
2.cynic意为“愤世嫉俗者”,指的是对他人的自私行为表示不满；critic意为“批评家，评论家”,可以指对任何事情的评论。例：She was a cynic in her ways.她行为乖戾。He has a reputation for being a forthright critic.他是以直率著称的批评家。
3.在美国英语中，lumber指大量的在锯木厂和刨制厂生产的木制品，timber往往指森林中已经成材的树木。在英国英语里，这两个词意思相同。
4.proclaim多用于官方场合，指重大事件的宣布或声明；claim多指根据规定，对某项权利提出的要求或主张。Did you claim on the insurance after your car accident.出了车祸后，你向保险公司要求赔偿了么?The president proclaimed an emergency when the war came.当战争来临时总统宣布进入紧急状态。
5.demand本为经济术语，意为“需求量”,与supply相对。need为通用词，意为“需要”。halt比stop更具体，暗指暂停或中断。如：The soldiers halted for a rest.士兵们停下来休息。
6.mistreatment指错误地对待，不公平的待遇；ill-treatment指虐待，常用于对动物或囚犯的虐待。
7.consequence常指不良后果或结果；result为中性词，不带有感情色彩。
8.a pleasure cruise=a cruise for pleasure指乘船是为了观光游览，强调目的，但不一定船上的人都玩得高兴；a pleasant cruise指一次愉快的乘船旅行，强调旅行感受。
9.reporter是泛称，指通讯记者；corespondent指随军记者或驻外记者。本题中Twain是欧洲旅途中的记者，用correspondent更恰当。
10.despair是普通用词，指因灾难等因素而丧失希望和信心，陷入沮丧绝望的境地。desperation语气强烈，指因绝望而使人采取无所顾忌的疯狂行动。例：He give up the attempt in despair.她绝望之下放弃了努力。She pleaded with the attackers in desperation.绝望之下，她向攻击者哀求。
C.
1.metaphor
2.metaphor
3.metaphor
4.metaphor
5.metonymy
6.metaphor
7.alliteration
8.alliteration
9.personification
10.antithesis
V.
A.
1.Tom was every bit as intelligent as the top one in his class.
2.He was obsessed with fear of poverty.
3.Dongting Lake teems with fish and shrimps.
4.Under pressure,he had no choice but quit.
5.At that time many children succumbed to small pox.
6.Much to his horror,he found the cabin flooded.
7.Not until midnight did the surgeon finish the operation.
8.That's Peter all over.
9.The history course has acquainted me with ancient civilizations.
10.The pursuit and anxiety of young people find expression in the newly-staged play.
B.
1.这就是马克·吐温，原名塞缪尔·朗赫恩·克莱门斯，他的一生有三分之一以上的时间游历美国各地，体验了美国的新生活，尔后便以作家和演说家的身份与世人一道分享他的感受。
2.所有这一切，都被他那留声机般的准确可靠的记忆，随后连同他那丰富多彩的语言一起，在其作品中得以再现。
3.汽船的甲板上不仅挤满了富有开拓精神的人们，而且也混杂着妓女、赌徒和恶棍。
4.从这些形形色色的人身上，马克·吐温对人类的本性有了敏锐的认识，也认识到了人们言行之间的差距。
5.他对那儿拓荒者的描写，在今天那些习惯于由西海岸引领流行趋势的人们看来，依然倍感亲切。
6.他更是漫不经心地揭穿受人景仰的艺术家和艺术珍品，还言辞尖锐地将宗教圣地批评了一番。
7.“那寡妇家按点吃饭，按点睡觉，按点起床——总之，干什么事情都得规规矩矩，简直叫人受不了。”
8.他同一个逃跑出来的奴隶一起乘坐木筏沿着密西西比河顺流而下，他们的漂流航程生动地展现了美国社会生活的全貌。
9.“……他们从世界上消失了，在这个世界上他们无足轻重，一事无成；甚至他们的存在本身就是个错误，是个失败，是件愚蠢的事。这个世界上也没有留下表明他们曾存在过的痕迹——这个世界将会为他们哀悼一日，然后永远地将他们遗忘。”
C.
See the translation of the text.
VI.
1.The peculiar features of Huck's dialect include:
A.double negative,for example "there ain't nothing”,"there wasn't ho home",“you couldn't make nothing",
B.vivid modifiers,for example “powerful glad”,"mighty free"
C.irregular use of grammar and spelling,for example "we was free","there warn't no home like a raft".
All these features add to the vividness of the description and bring out the character of the narrator.
2.Yes,Huck's dialect is vivid and lively.
3.Huck's observations of the natural world,like the dawning of the day was so meticulous,so vivid,so real It takes one who had the actual experience to write such a description.
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