VOA慢速英语2011--The Man Who Declared Himself Emperor of

THIS IS AMERICA - The Man Who Declared Himself Emperor of the US

BARBARA KLEIN: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein. This week on our program, the man who declared himself emperor of the United States: Joshua Norton. Here are Steve Ember and Robert Cohen with the story of Emperor Norton.
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STEVE EMBER: The small city of Colma, California is just a few kilometers south of San Francisco. Many people visit the city each year to see the burial place of one very unusual man in Colma’s Woodlawn Cemetery¹. These visitors come to see a memorial stone placed on his grave.
The writing on the stone says in large letters , “NORTON THE FIRST, - EMPEROR OF THE UNITED STATES AND PROTECTOR OF MEXICO.” Under this, in smaller size letters, is, “Joshua A. Norton Born Eighteen-Nineteen. Died January Eighth, Eighteen-Eighty.
ROBERT COHEN: Anyone who has studied American history knows that the United States is a democracy. The president and other political leaders of the United States are elected to office by the citizens. There is no royal family, no king, and no emperor.
Yet, Joshua Abraham Norton declared himself to be Emperor of the United States on September Seventeenth, Eighteen Fifty-Nine.
He sent an announcement to the newspapers of San Francisco saying he was Emperor Norton the First of the United States and the Protector of Mexico. The newspapers did not publish it.
STEVE EMBER: Many people in San Francisco knew Joshua Norton. He was born in England in Eighteen-Nineteen. He moved to San Francisco from South Africa. He arrived with a lot of money. He later lost all his money in a very bad financial deal. His many friends knew that this greatly affected² him.
Joshua Norton no longer was the same man. Most of his friends believed the shock of losing all his money had taken away his ability to reason and to live in the real world. Poor Joshua Norton was not dangerous or violent, but he no longer knew what was real and what was only imaginary.
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ROBERT COHEN: Soon after he declared himself to be the Emperor of the United States, Joshua Norton began wearing blue military clothing. A soldier at the army base in San Francisco gave him the gold colored buttons and gold cloth. It made his uniform seem as if it belonged to a general, or perhaps a king, or even an Emperor.
Emperor Norton the First soon became the best known man in San Francisco. He always wore his uniform and a tall hat. When people saw him they would show the respect given a king…or emperor. Emperor Norton usually did not have any money. But he did not need any. If Emperor Norton went to an eating place, he was served a meal - free. If he needed something little from a store, that was also freely given. Sometimes he paid with his own kind of money. It was paper money with his picture on it.
Many stores began placing a small sign in the store window. The sign said, “By Appointment to his Majesty³, Emperor Norton the First.” The sign meant the store or eating-place had been approved by the Emperor of the United States. Stores that had the signs noted⁴ that their business increased.
STEVE EMBER: Emperor Norton began sending royal orders…called decrees⁶…to the newspapers of San Francisco. The newspapers began publishing them. Many people thought they were funny. Some people bought the newspapers just to read about the latest decree⁵ from the Emperor of the United States.
Many of the decrees, however, made people think. For example, Emperor Norton said that Governor Wise of Virginia was to be removed from office by royal decree. Emperor Norton said this was necessary because Governor Wise had ordered the death by hanging of John Brown. John Brown was a rebel who had tried to start a war to free slaves.
Emperor Norton’s decree said John Brown had tried to capture the state of Virginia with only seventeen men. That was evidence, Emperor Norton said, that John Brown was mentally sick and should have been put in a hospital for treatment.
Emperor North said John Brown never should have been executed. Many people in San Francisco agreed with Emperor Norton. The execution⁷ of John Brown was one of the many issues that led to the American Civil War.
ROBERT COHEN: Another Emperor Norton decree had to do with the name of the city. Some people often use a short name for city of San Francisco. They call it “Frisco.” Emperor Norton did not like this short name. He decreed⁸ that anyone found guilty of using the word “Frisco” must pay a penalty⁹ of twenty-five dollars. Even today many citizens of San Francisco warn visitors never to call the great city “Frisco."
Perhaps Emperor Norton’s most famous decree ordered the city government to build a bridge from the city of Oakland to a small island in San Francisco Bay. It said the bridge should extend from the little island to San Francisco.
City leaders did nothing about building the bridge. So Emperor Norton ordered them removed from office. Nothing happened, of course, to the city leaders or about the bridge.
Many years later, after Emperor Norton’s death, a bridge was built extending from San Francisco to the city of Oakland. It was placed almost in the exact spot that Emperor Norton had decreed. It is called the Bay Bridge. Thousands of cars pass over it every day.
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STEVE EMBER: San Francisco has always been home to many Chinese people. It still is today. One story about Emperor Norton involves the Chinese. In his time many people did not like Chinese people. One group of people organized an anti-Chinese committee. They believed too many Chinese lived in San Francisco. They decided¹⁰ to cause violence in the Chinese area of the city.
Many people knew about the committee’s plans but no one did anything to stop the planned violence. One night members of the committee left a meeting and walked toward the area of the city where most of the Chinese lived. As they got close to the area, one man stood in the street blocking their way.
He said nothing. He did not move. His head was low on his chest and he seemed to be praying. The mob¹¹ of troublemakers¹² stopped. They looked at the old blue uniform with its gold colored bottoms. They said nothing. They did nothing. Slowly, the mob turned and walked away. Emperor Norton had prevented the planned violence.
ROBERT COHEN: Emperor Norton had two dogs. They were named Bummer and Lazarus. They were with him all the time. If a San Francisco theater was presenting a new play or musical, Emperor Norton, Bummer and Lazarus had three seats at it. If the San Francisco Science Academy was meeting, the three might attend to listen to a discussion of the latest developments in science.
One night, a new member of the San Francisco police department arrested Emperor Norton. The young policeman thought anyone who claimed to be the Emperor of the United State might be a danger to the public. Very soon a judge and the chief of police arrived at the police station. The judge said, “The Emperor has hurt no one that I know of.” He quickly ordered the Emperor freed and apologized for the mistake. From that time on, the San Francisco policemen showed respect to Joshua Norton by giving a military salute¹³.
STEVE EMBER: On January Eighth, Eighteen-Eighty, Emperor Norton was walking along California Street inspecting his city as usual. People in the area saw him fall down. Several rushed to his aid. Moments later it was clear that Joshua Norton was dead.
The next day, the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper printed four words in French across the front of the paper. They were “LE ROI EST MORT.” They mean, “The King is dead.”
The newspaper reported the death of the city’s most famous citizen. The report said that Joshua Norton had no real money…not even enough to pay for his burial. Almost immediately, wealthy members of a San Francisco business group collected enough to pay for the funeral.
Businesses closed in San Francisco the day of the funeral. Newspapers reported that more ten thousand people attended the burial ceremony for Emperor Norton. One newspaper said that the world would be a much better place if all kings and emperors were as kind and honest as Joshua Norton.
ROBERT COHEN: Today, some stores and eating places in San Francisco still have signs which say, “By Appointment to His Majesty, Emperor Norton the First.” And each year a group of citizens meets at Joshua Norton’s burial place to honor the first and only Emperor of the United States.
(MUSIC)
Our program was written by Paul Thompson and Nancy Steinbach. The narrators were Steve Ember and Robert Cohen. I'm Barbara Klein. You can find transcripts¹⁴, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. We hope you join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 decree   

n.法令，政令，判决，裁决；vt.判决，命令

参考例句：

• The court granted her a decree of divorce.法院判决她离婚。
• They had to obey the decree that beards be shaved off.他们只得服从剃光胡须的法令。

6 decrees   

命令( decree的名词复数 )； 法令； （法院的）裁定； 教令

参考例句：

• The emperor's decrees and letters were in the national archives. 皇帝的御令和信件保存在国家档案馆里。
• The emperor's decrees and letters were kept in the national archives. 皇帝的御令和信件保存在国家档案馆里。

7 execution   

n.死刑，实行，执行，履行，演奏，表演

参考例句：

• The musician's execution was perfect,but he played without feeling.演奏者的技巧完美，但他演奏得毫无感情。
• His original idea was good,but his execution of the scheme was disastrous.他的设想很好，但实行起来却糟糕透顶。

8 decreed   

命令（decree的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The Queen has decreed her order. 女王已经颁布了她的命令。
• The king decreed a general amnesty. 国王颁布了大赦令。

9 penalty   

n.处罚，刑罚，罚款

参考例句：

• If you knock the ball with your hand in football,you will suffer a penalty.如果在踢足球时你用手碰到球，你将受到处罚。
• One of those arrested could face the death penalty.被捕的那些人中有一人可能被判死刑。

10 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。

11 mob   

n.暴民，民众，暴徒；v.大举包围，乱挤，围攻

参考例句：

• The king was burned in effigy by the angry mob.国王的模拟像被愤怒的民众烧掉以泄心中的愤恨。
• An angry mob is attacking the palace.愤怒的暴徒在攻击王宫。

12 troublemakers   

n.惹是生非者，捣乱者( troublemaker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was employed to chuck out any troublemakers. 他受雇把捣乱者赶走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers. 她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 salute   

vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮

参考例句：

• Merchant ships salute each other by dipping the flag.商船互相点旗致敬。
• The Japanese women salute the people with formal bows in welcome.这些日本妇女以正式的鞠躬向人们施礼以示欢迎。

14 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句