美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Here's The Story Of Bonnie And Clyde': Gangster Duo's Poems Go Up For Auction

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Bonnie and Clyde - Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow wrote poems between robbing banks and killing¹ people before they died in a shootout with the law in 1934. And now some of the poems they wrote, along with a notebook and photos, are going up for auction². Don Ackerman is consignment³ director for Heritage Auctions⁴. They're putting the items up for bid. Mr. Ackerman, thanks for being with us.

DON ACKERMAN: Thank you.

SIMON: Where do the poems come from? Who's been keeping them?

ACKERMAN: They were actually consigned⁵ to us by Clyde Barrow's nephew.

SIMON: It was known during their lifetimes that Bonnie Parker wrote poetry. It would occasionally make it into print. As a matter of fact, we have a clip from that famous Arthur Penn film of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway where Faye Dunaway, as Bonnie Parker, reads some from one of her poems.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BONNIE AND CLYDE")

FAYE DUNAWAY: (As Bonnie Parker, reading) You've heard the story of Jesse James of how he lived and died. If you're still in need of something to read, here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde. Now, Bonnie and Clyde are the Barrow gang. I'm sure you all have read how they rob and steal, and those who squeal⁶ are usually found dying or dead.

SIMON: What are most of the poems about?

ACKERMAN: Well, it's pretty much along those same lines. They've - were written while they were trying to elude⁷ the police. They're trying to justify⁸ their existence. They're saying that they're getting bad press, that they're really not that bad. Like, if they tie somebody up to a tree, they don't tie them up too tightly so that when they leave, the person can get away. But it's really very redolent of the gangster⁹ type of language that was popular at the time in the Warner Brothers movies. But when you're reading the poetry, there's sort of a fatalism involved there. They know that they're doomed¹⁰ and that they're never going to be free.

SIMON: Is there a poem you could read for us?

ACKERMAN: Clyde also wrote a poem. And his spelling skills weren't very good. His grammar was not very good. But he's got, like, a 13-stanza poem. I'll try to read a couple of stanzas¹¹ from it. (Reading) Bonnie's just written a poem - "The Story Of Bonnie And Clyde." So I will try my hand at poetry with her writing by my side. As we travel down the highway never knowing where it will end, never very much money and not even a friend.

And then he concludes (reading) now, that's not as good as Bonnie's, so I guess I will call it a flop¹². But please, God, just one more visit before we are put on the spot.

SIMON: Boy, what's it make you feel like to read that?

ACKERMAN: These people are sort of like folk heroes. And it's a really - it adds a really a personal touch to it. And there's an authenticity¹³ to it because, I mean, it's not a Hollywood movie. This was actually written by the real people. And they're really doomed lovers. So, I mean, it's sort of - it has a very poignant¹⁴ aspect to it.

SIMON: These poems and photos, I gather, are slated¹⁵ to go up for auction on May 4, right?

ACKERMAN: May 4, yeah. They'll be put up for auction here in Dallas.

SIMON: Yeah. There are some people who won't handle this merchandise, aren't there?

ACKERMAN: I don't think so. A company has a policy not to handle serial¹⁶ killers¹⁷, like John Wayne Gacy and Charles Manson. But when it comes to the gangsters¹⁸, like, from the 1920s and 1930s, that's a different category as far as we're concerned. I don't think too many people would find this objectionable.

SIMON: Don Ackerman of Heritage Auctions, thanks so much for being with us.

ACKERMAN: OK. You're welcome. Thank you.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 consignment   

n.寄售；发货；委托；交运货物

参考例句：

• This last consignment of hosiery is quite up to standard.这批新到的针织品完全符合规格。
• We have to ask you to dispatch the consignment immediately.我们得要求你立即发送该批货物。

4 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

5 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 squeal   

v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音

参考例句：

• The children gave a squeal of fright.孩子们发出惊吓的尖叫声。
• There was a squeal of brakes as the car suddenly stopped.小汽车突然停下来时，车闸发出尖叫声。

7 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

8 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

9 gangster   

n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒

参考例句：

• The gangster's friends bought off the police witness.那匪徒的朋友买通了警察方面的证人。
• He is obviously a gangster,but he pretends to be a saint.分明是强盗，却要装圣贤。

10 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

11 stanzas   

节，段( stanza的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poem has six stanzas. 这首诗有六小节。
• Stanzas are different from each other in one poem. 诗中节与节差异颇大。

12 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

13 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

14 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

15 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

16 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

17 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

18 gangsters   

匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gangsters offered him a sum equivalent to a whole year's earnings. 歹徒提出要给他一笔相当于他一年收入的钱。
• One of the gangsters was caught by the police. 歹徒之一被警察逮捕。