VOA常速英语2019--美国独特乐器：班卓琴

The Banjo is a uniquely American instrument. The roots of the banjo were brought over by enslaved peoples from Africa, who were brought to the Caribbean into the United¹ States, and they made the early gourd² banjos. And then in the 1830s, the African American design was modified³ by some white Southerners, who lived in Virginia, to create the basis of the modern banjo.

班卓琴是美国特有的乐器。究其渊源，班卓琴是非洲奴隶带来的，他们先是到了加勒比海，然后又流入了美国。随后，他们制作了早期的葫芦班卓。后来，也就是19世纪30年代的时候，这个来自非裔美国人的设计得到了一些美国南方人的修改，这些人住在弗吉尼亚州。他们修改的版本是现代班卓琴的雏形。

So really, the banjo is the American instrument and it was made by both black and white cultures came together to produce this instrument.

所以，其实班卓琴是美国乐器，是由黑人文化和白人文化的融合，才有了这种乐器。

And so, I bought a banjo from Tommy and that’s how we met.

我从汤米手中买了一把班卓琴，我们就是这样认识的。

And Tommy very graciously⁴ invited me to start coming over. And I would come over and work for a couple of hours, and in three months, I had a banjo that I had made myself.

汤米很热情地邀请我来做客。然后我每次做客都会待上几小时。之后，在不到3个月的时间里，我给自己做了一把班卓琴。

You have the round part and you have the straight part and they’re made separately⁵. We start with a board. I will take this and I will put it in a steam box and the steam will make it very soft. And then, I will put it in this form and it will actually be able to bend without breaking. It’ll bend around this and I will put one layer inside and another layer inside. When it comes out, it will look something like this.

班卓琴有圆的部分，也有直的部分，这两部分是单独制作的。制作班卓琴要从琴身着手。我会把这个放进蒸笼里，蒸气会让它变软。然后，我会把它变成这个样子，弯曲之后也不会折断。它会这样弯曲，然后我把一个又一个镶嵌物放在里面。等做好之后，大概是这个样子。

I wanted a banjo when I was a teenager, so I mowed⁶ yards around my neighborhood to raise money, and I bought a banjo, and I said, maybe I can improve it. So, I started trying to improve that one and thought, I could make one a little better than that and a little better than that and then on up till today. As I sell one, you know, I don’t take the money or spend it. I kind of put it back in. I’ll buy more parts to make more banjos. The next one I do may sound different. It may sound better. It may not sound as good as the last one. I always say if you use good parts and you put it together right, you’re going to have a good banjo.

我还是少年的时候，就想要一把班卓琴。所以我通过为街坊邻里除草来赚钱，然后买了一把班卓琴。然后我又觉得，我可以改进这把班卓琴。于是，我开始改进我手上的那把。之后，我又突发奇想，还能继续改进那把班卓琴，精益求精，一直到今天。每次卖出一把班卓琴，我不会攒着钱不花，或者挥霍而尽。我选择将这笔钱投入到零部件的购置中，从而制作更多的班卓琴。每次我制作的班卓琴，音色都不同，可能更好听些，也可能更难听些。我总是说，零部件用得好，班卓琴就能组装的好，就能制成一把精良的班卓琴。

I like making banjos. I like working with wood. I like working with inlay. I like working with customers. I like working with people to help them take their vision⁷ and make something real out of it.

我喜欢制作班卓琴。我喜欢跟木头打交道，跟镶嵌物打交道，跟顾客打交道。我还喜欢跟人共事，帮他们选择适合自己的班卓琴，通过这样来做些有意义的事。

1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 gourd   

n.葫芦

参考例句：

• Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。
• Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。

3 modified   

adj.改良的，改进的，修正的vt.修饰v.修改，更改( modify的过去式和过去分词 )；改变；修饰；缓和

参考例句：

• The software we use has been modified for us. 我们使用的软件已按我们的需要作过修改。
• The heating system has recently been modified to make it more efficient. 暖气设备最近已进行了改造，使其效率得到提高。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 graciously   

ad. 仁慈地,和蔼庄重地

参考例句：

• All the guests were graciously served at the party. 宴会上所有客人都受到殷勤款待。
• She graciously accepted my apology. 她很有风度地接受了我的道歉。

5 separately   

adv.单独地，分开地

参考例句：

• Bulky items will be collected separately.大件物品将分开收集。
• Text and graphics are prepared separately and then combined.文字和图分别编排后再进行混排。

6 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

7 vision   

n.视觉，先见之明，光景，视力，眼力，幻想，影像；vt.幻想

参考例句：

• The wall cuts across our line of vision.那面墙挡住了我们的视线。
• Much reading has impaired his vision.大量读书损害了他的视力。