VOA慢速英语2014 法萨利亚种植园庆祝200周年

 

Pharsalia Plantation¹ Celebrates 200 with Old Time Music 法萨利亚种植园庆祝200周年

That’s old time American music to celebrate an anniversary -- for a house. Pharsalia Plantation is on a beautiful mountain country road in Virginia. You can understand why Thomas Massie decided² to build the house there in 1814.  He built it on a farm in the Appalachian Mountains, about three hours from Washington, D.C. Thomas Massie gave it to his son William 200 years ago as a wedding present.

Recently, artists and musicians gathered at Pharsalia. They were celebrating the anniversary, and remembering what life was like in the 1800s. 

The path is covered with small stones. Taking that walk is like stepping back in time.  Many of the old buildings are still there.  And they are still in good condition. There were demonstrations³ at the celebration, like the man shooting a gun from that time.

A blacksmith⁴ making tools by heating metal over fire.

A cider press making apple juice on a windy day.

Patsy Meyer, from nearby Lynchburg, Virginia, explained the American art of making a kind of bed cover, called a quilt.

“In the beginning it was an early part of our country. It was all for the need of having warm things to sleep under and so often old clothes would go into making the quilt. The top is a piece, is a fabric⁵ that we have pieced into designs to be real pretty.”

A local band, “Nina Pinto and the Santa Marias”, played a lot of American music with stringed instruments, fiddles⁶ and banjos. Both are popular American instruments.  Banjos are round with strings⁷ that extend up a long arm.

Listen for Jim Robertson playing a set of bones with the banjo.

Rachel Deddens, from Lynchburg, Virginia, was cooking in the old kitchen. It was in its own building, outside the house. The cook from Pharsalia would have used the large open fireplace⁸ to make meals for many people. Rachel Deddens calls it “amazing” because of all the work that was done there, mostly by women slaves.

“Some of these people could read, but many of them couldn’t, and they just had this knowledge in their head.”

William’s Massie’s great-great granddaughter  Foxie Morgan owns Pharsalia now and lives there.  

Foxie Morgan gets emotional talking about living here:

 “It’s very peaceful, we belong.”

Foxy Morgan, owner of PharsaliaFoxy Morgan, owner of Pharsalia

Once 10,000 acres, with four farms, Pharsalia is now just over 20 acres.  William Massie owned 170 slaves who worked the plantation.  They tried growing new things, like cranberries⁹. Now, the Morgans are growing flowers. Foxie Morgan says it’s not easy keeping up the plantation.

“I know they had to work really hard. and I feel that we are working really hard.”

She calls her great-great grandfather a “risk-taker.”  She says not only did he try new things, he left many writings about life at Pharsalia.

The Massies knew famous people. Family history says that America’s first president wanted to marry William Massie’s grandmother.

 “Supposedly George Washington proposed to her and she turned him down and called him a country bumpkin.”

Asked about stories that ghosts, or spirits of the dead, live there, Foxie Morgan answers this way:

“I don’t know about ghosts, but there are definitely spirits here, and there are good vibes.”

She says she doesn’t know exactly who the spirits are, but adds:

 “They’re just caretakers to make sure we’re doing right.”

For the Morgan family, doing right means taking care of the farm and all the buildings.  They hope that in another 100 years it will still be there for people to enjoy.

1 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。

2 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。

3 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

4 blacksmith   

n.铁匠，锻工

参考例句：

• The blacksmith is hammering the red-hot metal.铁匠正在锤烧红的铁。
• The blacksmith forged a bar of iron into a hook.铁匠把一根铁条锻造成一个钩子。

5 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

6 fiddles   

n.小提琴( fiddle的名词复数 )；欺诈；（需要运用手指功夫的）细巧活动；当第二把手v.伪造( fiddle的第三人称单数 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动

参考例句：

• He fiddles with his papers on the table. 他抚弄着桌子上那些报纸。 来自辞典例句
• The annual Smithsonian Festival of American Folk Life celebrates hands-hands plucking guitars and playing fiddles. 一年一度的美国民间的“史密斯索尼安节”是赞美人的双手的节日--弹拔吉他的手，演奏小提琴的手。 来自辞典例句

7 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

8 fireplace   

n.壁炉，炉灶

参考例句：

• The fireplace smokes badly.这壁炉冒烟太多。
• I think we should wall up the fireplace.我想应该封住壁炉。

9 cranberries   

n.越橘( cranberry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The tart flavour of the cranberries adds piquancy. 越橘的酸味很可口。
• Look at the fresh cranberries. 你看这些新鲜的蔓越橘。 来自无师自通 校园英语会话