VOA常速英语2019--《星球大战9》天行者传奇落幕

Born exactly one month after its theatrical¹ debut² in May of 1977,

在1977年5月首次公演后整整一个月，

I grew up on a steady diet of Star Wars films like many other American kids of that era.

和那个时代的许多美国孩子一样，我也是看着《星球大战》系列电影长大的。

Through toys and merchandise, I charted the journey of Luke Skywalker from desert farm boy to galactic hero,

通过玩具和商品，我绘制了卢克·天行者从沙漠农场男孩到银河英雄的旅程，

one of many storylines that filled my imagination.

这是我想象中的众多故事情节之一。

It’s become this one enormous story and you can take from Italy,the thriller³ the battle scenes.

它已经成为一个宏大的故事，你可以从意大利惊悚的战斗场面看出来。

You can take from it the affection of the human characters reach out that the love indeed.

你可以从它身上提取出人性的情感，延伸出真爱。

No Star Wars movies were released from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s,

从20世纪80年代中期到90年代末，没有一部《星球大战》电影上映，

depriving me of new space battles or love stories in my teenage years.

所以在我十几岁的时没有看到新的太空战争或爱情故事。

Undaunted I wrote my own Star Wars screenplays

我毫不气馁，自己写了《星球大战》的剧本

which I sent to the man I admired, creator George Lucas himself.

我把它寄给了我崇拜的人，创作者乔治·卢卡斯本人。

All were politely returned, unread.

所有的信件都被礼貌地退回，没有被读过。

Even so my love for Star Wars never faded.

即便如此，我对《星球大战》的热爱从未消退。

Star Wars to me has been really important in sort of looking beyond

《星球大战》对我来说真的很重要

just a hero and a villain⁴ to larger questions of culture and identity.

在更大的文化和身份问题上，他既是英雄又是恶棍。

Media and cinema studies professor Blair Davis has a simple explanation for people’s fascination⁵ with Star Wars and devotion to the franchise⁶.

媒体和电影研究教授布莱尔·戴维斯对人们对《星球大战》的迷恋和对《星球大战》系列的热爱给出了一个简单的解释。

It’s telling us older stories about who we are and why we become the people that we seek to become.

它告诉我们关于我们是谁以及我们为什么成为我们想成为的人的古老故事。

While youthful dreams of collaborating⁷ on Star Wars projects never came true,

尽管年轻时合作拍摄《星球大战》的梦想从未实现，

they set me on a communications path and are a continuing part of my identity as a fan and a reporter.

但让我走上了沟通之路，并成为我作为粉丝和记者身份的一部分。

For many of this people just up the starwars constumes,

因为很多人都是星战迷，

it’s more than just a movie, it’s a way of life.

所以这不仅仅是一部电影，更是一种生活方式。

You’re certainly not alone in having Star Wars as being so key to who you are,

《星球大战》是塑造你的关键，你当然不是唯一这样做的人，

because so many of my students share the same story about what it means to them as fans and then becoming media scholars as well.

因为我的很多学生都分享了一个故事，那就是这对他们作为粉丝意味着什么，然后又成为了媒体学者。

It tells stories that I think are uniquely human, despite all of the aliens on display,

它讲述了我认为是人类独有的故事，尽管所有的外星人都在展览中，

they’re about family, about finding family, losing family

它们是关于家庭，关于寻找家庭，失去家庭

and about really trying to become the person that you’re meant to be.

关于努力成为你想成为的人。

Family is central to my Star Wars story today.

家庭是我今天《星球大战》故事的中心。

A love of the saga⁸ is passed on to my children.

我把对这个传奇故事的热爱传给了我的孩子们。

I see their imaginations fueled as mine once was and continues to be.

我看到他们的想象力就像我过去和现在一样丰富。

It is sort of the end of an era of one part of the saga,

这可以说是这个传奇故事的一个时代的终结，

but I look forward to the fact that Star Wars will live on hopefully longer than I will.

但我很期待《星球大战》能活跃得更久

And certainly longer than George Lucas.

当然比乔治·卢卡斯还长。

Although Lucas turned Star Wars over to Disney in 2012,

尽管卢卡斯在2012年将《星球大战》交给了迪士尼，

he is still intimately connected to his creation.

但他仍然与他的创作紧密相连。

It’s one of the hottest tickets in town

这是城里最热门的票之一

and not even the rain will keep these fans away from the trip,

即使下雨也不能阻止这些粉丝们去旅行，

and although he never read my screenplays many years ago,

尽管多年前他从未读过我的剧本，

I did have an opportunity to finally speak to him at a London Star Wars film premiere in 2005.

2005年，我终于有机会在伦敦的《星球大战》首映式上与他交谈。

What do you want them to take away from the whole saga?

你想让他们从整个故事中得到什么?

While ultimately what cause you to turn the dark side and what the consequences are?

而最终是什么导致你去改变黑暗的一面，其后果是什么?

While the Skywalker saga is ending,fans can take solace⁹,

当天行者的传奇故事结束时，粉丝们可以得到安慰，

at least three more Star Wars movies are planned for the coming decade.

未来十年，至少还会有三部《星球大战》电影计划上映。

New characters and plot lines sure to emerge.

新的角色和情节肯定会出现。

For now I doubt waiting in line with my children to see episode 9, The Rise of Skywalker.

现在我和孩子们一起排队看《星球大战9:天行者崛起》。

For this very report,will be the end of my continuing Star Wars journey.

在这篇报道中，我将结束我的星球大战之旅。

1 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

2 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

3 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

4 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

5 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

6 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

7 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

8 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

9 solace   

n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和

参考例句：

• They sought solace in religion from the harshness of their everyday lives.他们日常生活很艰难，就在宗教中寻求安慰。
• His acting career took a nosedive and he turned to drink for solace.演艺事业突然一落千丈，他便借酒浇愁。