公众人物毕业演讲 第80期:米歇尔奥巴马迪拉德大学(6)

 　　and you have become an indelible part of the history of this school

　　并让自己也成为了学校历史中不可抹去的一部分

　　a history that, as you all know, stretches back

　　大家都知道 整个历史可以一直

　　to well before the Civil War, back to 1826

　　追溯到南北战争之前 追溯到1826年

　　the year a child named Emperor Williams was born

　　这一年 一个叫作皇帝?威廉姆斯的小孩出生了

　　Now, Emperor was born into slavery

　　皇帝一出生就成为了奴隶

　　But as he grew up, he managed to teach himself to read and write well enough

　　但在成长过程中 他设法自学了读写

　　to create a pass that allowed him to

　　并自己写了一张通行证

　　come and go around the city without getting hassled

　　让他能在城里自由行走

　　But one day, his master saw the pass

　　但有一天 他的主人看到了这张通行证

　　and he said, where did you learn to write like that

　　问他 你是在哪学会写这个的

　　Now, just imagine the fear Emperor must have felt when he heard that question

　　请大家想象一下皇帝听到主人质问时的心理状态

　　because remember, back then it was illegal for a slave to learn to read or write

　　要知道 当时奴隶学习读写是非法的

　　So who knows what kind of punishment he may have gotten

　　谁知道他会受到怎样的惩罚

　　a beating, a whipping¹, even worse

　　挨打 鞭挞 甚至更糟

　　We don't exactly know what happened on that day

　　我们不知道那一天实际发生了什么

　　but we do know that when Emperor turned 32

　　但我们知道皇帝32岁时

　　after more than three decades in bondage², he became a free man

　　终于挣脱了三十余年的枷锁 成为一个自由人

　　He decided³ to stay in New Orleans, and he went on to become a minister

　　他决定留在新奥尔良 并成为了一名牧师

　　even founded a church right here in town

　　甚至在城里建立了一座教堂

　　And in 1869, when abolitionists, missionaries⁴

　　1869年 奴隶废除主义者和传教士

　　black folks and white folks came together

　　黑人和白人团结在一起

　　to create a school for freed slaves here in New Orleans

　　在新奥尔良为被释放的奴隶创建了一所学校

　　Emperor was one of the original signers of the charter⁵

　　当时 皇帝就是学校章程的最初签署者之一

　　They decided to name the school New Orleans University

　　他们决定将学校命名为新奥尔良大学

　　because even though most of the classes would be taught at a high school level or below

　　虽然学校的大多数课程都只有高中或以下水平

　　oh, their aspirations⁶ were much higher than that

　　但他们的壮志要远高于此

　　And when they laid the cornerstone for that

　　当他们在圣查尔斯大街

　　university's first building down on St. Charles Avenue

　　为学校的第一座建筑奠基时

　　Emperor got a chance to speak

　　皇帝终于迎来了发言机会

1 whipping   

鞭打（作为惩罚）； 替罪羊，代人受过者

参考例句：

• He could not possibly have endured a whipping without a whimper. 他不可能一声不吭地忍受鞭打。
• The huntsman was whipping in his pack of hounds. 猎人正在用鞭子把他那群猎犬赶到一处。

2 bondage   

n.奴役，束缚

参考例句：

• Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隶主们有时允许奴隶为自己赎身。
• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 charter   

n.特许状，执照，宪章；v.特许，发给特许执照

参考例句：

• This new law amounts to a tax evader's charter.这项新法律简直成了为逃税者开的许可证。
• We will charter a steamer to convey the goods.我们将租一艘船运送这批货物。

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。