VOA常速英语2019--纪念美国奴隶制400周年

US Commemorates¹ 400th Anniversary of Slavery in America

Four centuries ago, a privately-owned English vessel² named the White Lion sailed these waters carrying human cargo³ to trade for food and supplies.

400年前，一艘名为“白狮”号的英国私人船只在这片水域航行，贩卖人口以换取食物和补给。 

The ship came up the Chesapeake Bay and it landed here at Port Comfort in the latter part of August of 1619, and on this ship were 20 and odd Africans.

1619年8月下旬，这艘船来到切萨皮克湾，停靠在康福特港，船上有20多个非洲人。 

Founder⁴ of Project 1619 Calvin Pearson walks the grounds of today’s Fort Monroe in Hampton Virginia.On this strip of land called “Port Comfort” then, the first enslaved Africans landed in colonial Virginia.

“1619号计划”的创始人卡尔文·皮尔森在而今弗吉尼亚汉普顿的门罗堡散步。在这片被称为“康福特港”的土地上，第一批被奴役的非洲人在弗吉尼亚殖民地登陆。

It marked the beginning of an odyssey⁵ of million of Africans being brought to America as slaves for more than 200 years.

这标志着200多年来数百万非洲人作为奴隶被带到美国这一征程的开端。 

The first Africans who were brought here were destined⁶ for a life of servitude.They had to work the plantations⁸ from sunup to sunset, the tobacco fields, the corn fields.They had to work these fields with no hope of ever being free.

第一批被带到这里的非洲人注定要过上受奴役生活。他们不得不从日出到日落一直劳作，种植烟草田、玉米田。他们必须在这些田地上干活，不可能有任何自由。

It makes me feel goosebumps and a sad nostalgia⁹.

这让我觉得很恶心，也很悲伤。 

Historian Bill Wiggins says the first captured Africans had no legal status until the Virginia Colony formally legalized lifelong slavery in 1661.

历史学家比尔·威金斯说，第一批被奴役的非洲人没有任何法律地位，直到1661年弗吉尼亚殖民地正式宣布终身奴隶制合法化。

I just can imagine the sailing into the bay of these chained individuals in a strange land, not knowing anything about where they were.Being taken off the vessel and told you’re going to work here, you’re going to live here.

我能想象他们戴着镣铐被运往这个海湾，然后登上了一片陌生的土地，不知道他们在哪里。从船上下来后就告诉你要在这里工作，要定居在这里。

Evidence from scarce records indicates more than two dozen Africans were aboard the White Lion.

稀缺记录的证据表明，有超过24名非洲人登上了“白狮”号。 

Weeks earlier, the Africans were forcibly taken from a Portuguese¹⁰ slave ship heading to Mexico.

在此几周前，这些非洲人被强行从一艘驶往墨西哥的葡萄牙奴隶船上带走。 

These were free people who had been kidnapped as free people and sold into slavery.

他们都是自由人，被绑架的自由人，然后被卖为奴隶。 

Two enslaved Africans named Anthony and Isabella, likely from Angola and baptized Catholic, were taken off the White Lion when it reached the shores of Port Comfort.

有两个被奴役的非洲人，名叫安东尼和伊莎贝拉，很可能来自安哥拉，他们接受了天主教徒的洗礼。当“白狮”到达康福特港的海岸时，他们从“白狮”号上被带了下来。

These are the sacred lands of our ancestors. When I walked this land I think about Antony and Isabella, I think about what were they thinking about getting off a ship in a strange land.This is ground zero. This is the beginning of the African imprint¹¹ on America.

这是我们祖先的圣地。当我走在这片土地上的时候，我想到了安东尼和伊莎贝拉，我想到了他们从船上来到一个陌生地方时的感想。这是完全未知的土地，也是非洲在美国留下烙印的开始。

The first Africans were sold or traded to wealthy white plantation⁷ owners in Hampton and the Jamestown Settlement which became the Virginia Colony.

第一批非洲人被出售或交易给汉普顿和后来成为弗吉尼亚殖民地的詹姆斯敦定居点富有的白人种植主。

A few days after the White Lion landed in Virginia, another ship the Treasure arrived carrying a few slaves, including one named Angela.

在“白狮”号登陆弗吉尼亚几天后，另一艘船“宝藏”号，也载着一些奴隶抵达了，其中包括一个叫安吉拉的奴隶。

Angela, interestingly, is the only African whose name was actually written in the records in 1620 that survived.Now there may have been other names mentioned, but those records did not survive.

有趣的是，“安吉拉”是唯一一个在1620年记录在案并保存下来的非洲人名字。当时可能还记录了其他名字，但都遗失了。

Archeologists say Angela spent part of her life in Jamestown Settlement, now a National Park where archaeologists are trying to unearth¹² clues about her life.

考古学家说安吉拉一生中的一部分时间都是在詹姆斯敦定居点度过的。这里现在是一个国家公园，考古学家正试图在这里发掘她生活的线索。

With Angela, we can tell the much broader story of slavery and the beginnings of slavery in our country and racism¹³ which really went hand in hand with slavery,and at the same time give Angela, through our imagination, some sense of identity, some sense of dignity.

从安吉拉上身我们可以发现更广泛的奴隶制往事、我们国家奴隶制以及真正与奴隶制联系在一起的种族主义的起源，同时通过我们的想象，还可以给安吉拉一些认同感和尊严感。

And it was Angela and so many others that made the colonists¹⁴ prosperous.

正是安吉拉和其他许多奴隶给殖民者带来了繁荣。 

They did most of the work and a number of them obviously died in the process,but we owe a debt to those Africans because they were the foundation of the economic development of what became the United States of America.

他们承担了大部分的劳作，很多人都死于这个过程，我们显然对他们有所亏欠，因为他们是美利坚合众国经济发展的基础。

Slavery began in Virginia and it was at this site where the first actions to end the system took place.

奴隶制开始于弗吉尼亚州，也就是在这个地方，打响了结束奴隶制的第一枪。 

During the Civil War, three runaway¹⁵ slaves working for the Confederate Army fled to Fort Monroe, seeking sanctuary¹⁶ from the Union troops there.Union Army Major General Benjamin Butler declared the slaves as contraband¹⁷ or seized goods.That decision eventually provided protection to thousands who sought freedom at Fort Monroe and laid the groundwork for an even broader measure.

南北战争期间，三名为南方军工作的奴隶逃到门罗堡，向那里的联邦军寻求庇护。联邦陆军少将本杰明·巴特勒宣布奴隶为违禁品或扣押货物。这一决定最终为在门罗堡寻求自由的数千名奴隶提供了保护，并为更广泛的措施奠定了基础。

They forced the federal government in Lincoln to issue the Emancipation¹⁸ Proclamation,which subsequently led of course to the Thirteenth Amendment¹⁹ ending enslavement, and paved the way for the 14th amendment which provided citizenship²⁰ in 1868.

他们促使林肯领导的联邦政府发布了《解放宣言》，促成了终结奴隶制的第十三修正案，并为1868年给黑人提供公民身份的第十四修正案打下了基础。

Fort Monroe now is a National Monument majestic²¹ grounds that future generations can explore to learn more about the early history of an emerging nation.

门罗堡现在是一座国家纪念碑，它雄伟壮观，后代可以在这里探索更多关于一个新兴国家早期历史的知识。

1 commemorates   

n.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的名词复数 )v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A tombstone is erected in memory of whoever it commemorates. 墓碑是为纪念它所纪念的人而建的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A tablet commemorates his patriotic activities. 碑文铭记他的爱国行动。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

6 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

7 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。

8 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

9 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

10 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

11 imprint   

n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记

参考例句：

• That dictionary is published under the Longman imprint.那本词典以朗曼公司的名义出版。
• Her speech left its imprint on me.她的演讲给我留下了深刻印象。

12 unearth   

v.发掘，掘出，从洞中赶出

参考例句：

• Most of the unearth relics remain intact.大多数出土文物仍保持完整无损。
• More human remains have been unearthed in the north.北部又挖掘出了更多的人体遗骸。

13 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

14 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

16 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

17 contraband   

n.违禁品，走私品

参考例句：

• Most of the city markets were flooded with contraband goods.大多数的城市市场上都充斥着走私货。
• The customs officers rummaged the ship suspected to have contraband goods.海关人员仔细搜查了一艘有走私嫌疑的海轮。

18 emancipation   

n.（从束缚、支配下）解放

参考例句：

• We must arouse them to fight for their own emancipation. 我们必须唤起他们为其自身的解放而斗争。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They rejoiced over their own emancipation. 他们为自己的解放感到欢欣鼓舞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

20 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

21 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。