美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Eloise At The Museum' Tells The Story Behind The Beloved Mischief-Maker

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society tells the story behind the "Eloise" children's books. For one, author Kay Thompson was not a fan of children. Thompson died in 1998. The illustrator of the books, Hilary Knight¹, is 90 years old. Jeff Lunden talked to Knight, the curator of the exhibit and a very dedicated² fan.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE³: For generations of children, Eloise is a favorite.

ANNIE CLARK: I'm Eloise. I'm 6. I'm a city child. I live in the Plaza⁴.

LUNDEN: I met 10-year-old Annie Clark at the Plaza Hotel. She was dressed like Eloise.

ANNIE: I think that I do kind of relate to her because I can be mischievous⁵ sometimes, but not always like her.

LUNDEN: Eloise was the brainchild of the multi-talented Kay Thompson, who at various points in her career was a radio personality, a vocal⁶ arranger at MGM and a popular cabaret performer.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HELLO, HELLO")

KAY THOMPSON: (Singing) Hello, hello. Hello...

LUNDEN: Thompson liked to amuse her friends with the voice of a little girl called Eloise. One of those friends thought the character might make a good children's book and introduced Thompson to a young artist named Hilary Knight. They hit it off.

HILARY KNIGHT: We would get our ideas and we would collectively paste them together. You know, she would talk to me and I would draw them.

LUNDEN: Eloise has an absent mother, a close relationship with her nanny, her dog Wienie, her turtle Skipperdee and the staff of the Plaza Hotel, where she skibbles (ph) about and makes a lot of mischief⁷. Jane Curley, the exhibition's curator, says Eloise became part of the cultural zeitgeist.

JANE CURLEY: She landed at the Plaza in 1955 in the midst of the staid Eisenhower era, when role models for women were June Cleaver⁸ and Donna Reed. And all of a sudden, here's this wild, irrepressible 6-year-old rushing around, barging into things, getting into trouble. And she struck a chord.

LUNDEN: The exhibition features drawings and drafts, as well as ephemera to illustrate⁹ what a popular phenomenon Eloise became - toys, dolls, even a song Kay Thompson wrote and performed.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ELOISE")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Who is the little girl who lives at the Plaza in New York?

THOMPSON: That's me, Eloise. I'm 6. I live on the top floor.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing) Who is the little girl...

LUNDEN: Kay Thompson never thought of Eloise as a children's book. Hilary Knight points out its subtitle¹⁰ is "A Book For Precocious¹¹ Grownups, About A Little Girl Who Lives At The Plaza Hotel."

KNIGHT: To her dying day she said it was not a child's book. It offended her.

CURLEY: She didn't like children very much. And she would waltz into Doubleday's and pick up stacks of her books out of the juvenile¹² section and plunk them down in the grown-up section and then walk out.

LUNDEN: The exhibition's centerpiece is a large portrait of Eloise that Hilary Knight painted for Kay Thompson's birthday.

CURLEY: There's Eloise standing¹³ there, looking like English royalty¹⁴.

LUNDEN: Curator Jane Curley says the painting hasn't been displayed for 57 years. Thompson had donated it to the Plaza where it hung in the lobby, but it was stolen on the night of the Junior League ball in 1960.

CURLEY: Walter Cronkite announced on national TV, Eloise kidnapped from the Plaza Hotel. Kay offered a reward. There was a great amount of excitement. But the portrait failed to show up.

LUNDEN: Two years later, Hilary Knight got an anonymous¹⁵ phone call telling him the portrait was in a dumpster on the East Side. He picked up the damaged painting and put it in storage, but the mystery remains¹⁶. Who took it?

CURLEY: I strongly suspect that this was Kay Thompson's best stunt¹⁷ ever. She was tired of Eloise. It was 1960. She'd taken the three books out of publication and only left the original book in publication. So to have the portrait disappear was a great exit.

LUNDEN: Kay Thompson was difficult and controlling. She grew addicted¹⁸ to drugs and was supported by her goddaughter, Liza Minnelli, for the last 20 years of her life. But Hilary Knight says she never lost her brilliant wit. At the end of the exhibition is a picture Knight drew of Kay Thompson shortly before her death. It says, I am Eloise, with Thompson knocking the little girl off a chair.

KNIGHT: She did feel that way. And she did knock her off the chair.

LUNDEN: "Eloise At The Museum" will be on display through October. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF DEEP EAST MUSIC'S "COTTON WOOL")

1 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

5 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。

6 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

7 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

8 cleaver   

n.切肉刀

参考例句：

• In fact,a cleaver is a class of ax.实际上，切肉刀也是斧子的一种。
• The cleaver is ground to a very sharp edge.刀磨得飞快。

9 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

10 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

11 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。

12 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

15 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

18 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。