【双语有声阅读】加菲猫的创造者吉姆·戴维斯(上)

Jim Davis, Creator of Garfield

 

加菲猫的创造者吉姆·戴维斯

Jim Davis, is an American cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Garfield in 1978.

吉姆·戴维斯是美国漫画家，他在1978年创作了十分受欢迎的漫画连载《加菲猫》。

As an Art and Business major at Ball State University,

作为波尔州立大学商业艺术专业的学生，

Davis distinguished¹ himself by earning one of the lowest accumulative grade point averages in the history of the school.

很多人都认识他，因为他大学时累计平均绩点是学校有史以来最低的。

Prior to creating Garfield, Davis worked for a local advertising² agency.

在创作加菲尔德之前，戴维斯曾在当地的广告公司工作。

Garfield is now one of the most popular cartoon characters in the world.

现在，加菲猫是世界最受欢迎的卡通人物之一。

The Garfield character is a selfish, overweight, orange and black cat with drooping³ eyelids⁴.

他自私，超重，是一只橙色兼黑色，喜欢耷拉着眼睛的猫。

Davis was born on July 28, 1945, in Indiana, where he grew up on a small farm with his parents and brother Dave.

945年7月28日，戴维斯出生于印第安纳州，和他的父母，弟弟大卫一起生活，在一个小农场长大。

His love of cartooning emerged during the time he would normally be doing chores, but couldn't due to asthma⁵. Davis' inspiration for Garfield probably came from his childhood on the farm, where he was surrounded by some 25 cats.

对漫画的热爱可能和小时候常做家务活有关，是和哮喘无关。加菲尔德的灵感来自他的童年生活的农场，在那里他的身边伴有25只猫。

The Garfield character is named after Davis' grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, a big short-tempered man.

加菲猫是戴维斯用他祖父的名字命名，詹姆斯·加菲尔德·戴维斯，一个脾气暴躁的人。

Garfield is a tribute to the lazy person in all of us. His idea of a daily routine is sleeping, eating and occasionally biting a mail man or two just for the fun of it.

加菲猫对所有懒惰的人来说是一份礼物。它每天的例行公事就是睡觉、吃饭和偶尔为了好玩，咬一下邮递员。

Everyone can relate to Garfield in some way because most of the humor is about eating or sleeping, something we all do.

在某种程度上，每个人都可以与加菲猫联系起来，因为它大多数的幽默是和饮食、睡觉这些我们都会做的事情相关。

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

3 drooping   

adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词

参考例句：

• The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。
• The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

4 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。