VOA常速英语2013--总统肯尼迪葬礼上的号兵五十年后仍被铭记

 

Bugler² at President Kennedy’s Funeral Remembered 50 Years Later 总统肯尼迪葬礼上的号兵五十年后仍被铭记

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY³ — Military and state funerals include the playing of Taps, usually by a lone⁴ bugler. There is a shortage of buglers today, however, so the solemn music often is performed on other instruments or even from a recording⁵. Fifty years ago, the world experienced the emotional power of Taps being played, as President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. This week, a group called Taps for Veterans honored the man who played Taps at that ceremony, in the process, highlighting the importance of buglers.

阿灵顿国家公墓---军人和国家级葬礼上的音乐通常是仅仅由一个人演奏的。然而，现在缺乏号兵，因此这种庄严的音乐通常是由其它乐器代替或者放录音。五十年前，总统约翰肯尼迪在维吉尼亚的阿灵顿国家公墓下葬时，整个世界都感受到了号声的强大力量。这个星期，一群老练的号手纪念在肯尼迪总统葬礼上的号兵，在此过程中，他们还重点强调了号兵的重要性。

At Arlington National Cemetery, a bugler plays Taps at the gravesite of President John F. Kennedy to commemorate⁶ the 50th anniversary of his death. The event also honored Army Sergeant⁷ Keith Clark, who played the solemn melody at the president’s funeral. Clark was an experienced and polished musician, who faltered⁸ once during the 24-note piece.

在阿灵顿国家公墓，一名号兵在总统约翰肯尼迪的墓碑前吹号来纪念他的五十年祭日。这个纪念日还纪念了军人凯斯克拉克，他在总统的葬礼上演奏出了庄严地旋律。克拉克是一名有经验并且精炼的音乐家，他曾经在音乐中慢慢探索。

To some it was a flawed performance, but to others, it sounded mournful and reflected the sadness of the nation.  

对一些人说，他演奏的音乐有瑕疵，但是，对其他人来说，他的演奏是如此的悲恸，反映出了整个国家的悲伤情绪。

Bugler honored

被纪念的号兵

Clark died several years ago. But members of his family came to the commemoration, including his 90-year-old wife, Marjorie.

克拉克几年前去世了，但是他家庭里的其他成员继续来参加纪念日，其中包括他九十岁高龄的妻子，马乔里。

“Well, we looked at it as a normal mistake a trumpeter can make, combined with the cold and the pressure and the length of time he had to stand,” she said.

“我们把这个看做一名号兵犯的一个正常的错误，并且把寒冷，压力和长时间的站立考虑在内。“她说。

Afterward¹⁰, Sergeant Clark received letters of support, including from Eddie Hunter, who was then a 10-year-old learning to play the trumpet⁹. Clark wrote back. Today, Hunter meets members of Clark’s family for the first time.  

后来，军士克拉克接受了证明信，包括来自艾迪汉特的信件，艾迪学吹号已经学了十年。克拉克回了信。今天，汉特第一次见到克拉克的家人。

“Being here, it’s a little bit overwhelming, it’s very emotional for me and to meet Sergeant Clark’s family. It’s just great,” said Hunter.

“来到这里，有一点激动，对我来说见到克拉克的家人很激动，真的太棒了。“汉特说道。

The tribute was led by retired¹¹ military bugler Jari Villanueva. He’s with Taps for Veterans, a group that finds and arranges for buglers to perform Taps at military funerals and ceremonies. He said it's sometimes difficult.

颂词由退役的号兵杰瑞维兰纽瓦诵读。他还与一群熟练地号手共同演奏，这群人为在军中葬礼和典礼中演奏而建立。他说这是很困难的。

“The military has been downsizing, and as a result of that downsizing, military bands have been cut. So there’s a lack of active duty military buglers to sound taps at funerals,” said Villanueva.

“军队中已经裁员了，结果，军队中的乐队被裁掉了。因此葬礼中缺乏号兵吹号。”维兰纽瓦说。

Storied song

传奇的歌

Taps was first played during the American Civil War 150 years ago. A general wanted a different lights out call for the troops.

一百五十年前，在美国内战中第一次演奏号。一个将军想要一个不同的光来号召军队。

"The general was not very pleased with the call that was being sounded and decided¹² to change it. What he did was to revise an earlier bugle¹ call into these 24 notes that we know today as Taps. And it soon caught on as a bugle call of the evening and then became used at military funerals," said Villanueva.

“这个将军不喜欢当时的通知声，想要换掉它。因此他将早期的喇叭声改为了24个音符，也就是我们现在所知道的号。很快它成为了军队傍晚的号声，然后在军中葬礼上使用。”维兰纽瓦说道。

David Michel plays bugle at Civil War re-enactments and wants to preserve the tradition of Taps. “That’s why so many civilian¹³ horn players are trying to take up the call to fill the gap for important ceremonies, for the burial of veterans, and other things as well.”

戴维迈克在内战中吹奏号来表演希望可以保留吹号的传统。“这就是为什么内战时典礼中很多喇叭手试着吹喇叭来填补空缺，还有老练的号兵的葬礼哈其他的一些重要场合。”

Villanueva said Taps isn’t the same without the bugle. “When you have a live bugler sounding taps, it’s a piece of music that actually comes from the heart and a recording just can’t really replicate¹⁴ that sound.”

维兰纽瓦说没有号声的背景听起来很不一样。“有号兵演奏的时候，那种音乐是发自内心的，录下来的音乐不能够复制那种感觉。”

That sound brings him to tears, said bugler and military policeman, Gregory Simms, expressing a sentiment held by many.

号兵和军中的警察格雷戈里西姆斯说，那种音乐让他潸然泪下，他的表达了很多人都有的一种敏感。

“It is possibly one of the most stirring pieces of music I’ve ever heard,” he said.

他说：“这很可能时候我听到的最有感觉的音乐之一。”

1 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

2 bugler   

喇叭手； 号兵； 吹鼓手； 司号员

参考例句：

• The general ordered the bugler to sound the retreat. 将军命令号手吹号收兵。
• There was nothing faded about the bugler under the cap. 帽子下面那个号手可一点也不是褪色的。

3 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。

4 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。

7 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

8 faltered   

（嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃

参考例句：

• He faltered out a few words. 他支吾地说出了几句。
• "Er - but he has such a longhead!" the man faltered. 他不好意思似的嚅嗫着：“这孩子脑袋真长。”

9 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

10 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 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。

13 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

14 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。