In the summer of 1963, a high school teacher changed the way the world looked at 'The Wizard of Oz.'
1963年的夏天，一名高中老师改变了人们对《绿野仙踪》的看法。
His name was Henry Littlefield, and he was teaching an American history class.
他叫亨利·利特菲尔德，是一名教授美国历史的老师。
He'd made it to the late 19th century, a time called The Gilded Age,
他顺利地教到了被称为镀金时代的19世纪，
but he was struggling to keep his class interested in the complex social and economic issues of the time.
但是往后，他很难再提起学生们的兴趣了，因为这段时间的社会经济问题非常复杂。
Then one night, while he was reading 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' to his daughters, he had an idea.
有一天晚上，他正在给他的女儿们读《绿野仙踪》，他突然想到了一个好主意。
In the 1890s, farmers wanted to add silver to the gold standard
19世纪90年代，农民们希望在金子里掺入银，
to put more money in circulation and make it easier for farmers to borrow.
以此增加能够流通的钱，这样就能更容易地借到物资。
In the book, Dorothy walked to the Emerald City on the Yellow Brick Road in her silver shoes.
书中写到桃乐茜沿着黄砖路走到了翡翠城，脚上穿着一双银鞋子。
The movie's ruby red slippers started out as silver.
电影里的红宝石鞋子，一开始其实是银的。
Silver and gold on the road to prosperity.
通往繁荣富裕路上的金和银。
L. Frank Baum had published the book in 1900 at the height of The Gilded Age,
作者L. Frank Baum在1900年出版了这本书，正值镀金时代的辉煌时期，
and the analogy didn't seem out of the question.
而这个比喻似乎并没有什么问题。
No one else had seen these connections, but that didn't deter Littlefield.
没有任何人发现这其中的联系，不过这并没有阻止利特菲尔德。
He taught his class about The Gilded Age using the book, and soon he and his students were finding more connections.
他用这本书来给学生讲镀金时代，很快，他的学生们渐渐找到了更多的联系。
For instance, in the late 1890s, the U.S. had recently recovered from the Civil War
例如，在19世纪90年代末，美国终于从南北战争的创伤中恢复过来，
and integrated vast new territories, bringing an era of prosperity for some.
并且将广阔的领土集合成了一个整体，给一些人带来了繁荣时代。
But while industry and finance in the North and East prospered, farmers across the South and Midwest struggled.
不过，当工业和金融业在北部和东部繁荣发展的同时，广大的南部和中西地区的农民却过着艰难的生活。
This led to the Populist movement, uniting farmers and workers against urban elites.
这于是引起了民粹主义运动，农民和工人联合起来反对城市精英。
By 1896, the movement had grown into the People's Party,
到了1896年，这项运动已经发展成了“人民党”，
and its support of Democrat Williams Jennings Bryan put him in reach of the presidency.
并且它对民主党Williams Jennings Bryan的支持让他坐上了总统的宝座。
Meanwhile in Oz, claimed Littlefield, Dorothy is a typical American girl
利特菲尔德说，同时在《绿野仙踪》里面，女主桃乐茜是一个典型的美国女孩，
whose hard life in Kansas is literally turned upside down by powerful forces outside her control.
她在堪萨斯穷困潦倒的生活完全被超出她所能控制的外界力量所彻底改变了。
The munchkins are the common people oppressed by the Witch of the East, banks and monopolies.
小矮人们是被“东方女巫“压迫的普通人，“东方女巫”就是银行和垄断资本。

The Scarecrow is the farmer, considered naive but actually quite resourceful,
稻草人是农民，虽然看起来很天真，但其实足智多谋，
the Tin Woodman is the industrial worker dehumanized by factory labor,
铁皮人是被工厂劳动麻木了人性的工人，
and the Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan
而胆小的狮子，就是总统William Jennings Bryan，
who could be an influential figure if only he were brave enough to adopt the Populist's radical program.
如果他足够勇敢，采用民粹主义的激进计划，那他就会成为一个很有影响力的人物。
Together, they travel along a golden yellow road towards a grand city
他们一起沿着金黄色的路朝着伟大的城市而去，
whose ruler's power turns out to be built on illusions.
然而城市统治者的权力事实上只构建于幻想之上。
Littlefield published some of these observations in an essay.
利特菲尔德发布了论文，讲述了他的一部分发现。
His claim that this fantasy was actually a subversive critique of American capitalism appealed to many people in 1960s.
他认为这部幻想小说其实是一部对美国20世纪60年代吸引了很多人的资本主义的颠覆性批判。
Other scholars took up the theme, and the proposed analogies and connections multiplied.
其他学者接受了这个理论，而这种类比和联系更是被延伸了。
They suggested that Dorothy's dog Toto represented the teetotalers of the prohibition party.
他们说女主桃乐茜的宠物狗TOTO隐喻美国禁酒党的禁酒主义者。
Oz was clearly the abbreviation for ounces, an important unit in the silver debate. The list goes on.
书名的“Oz”明显是“盎司”的缩写，银金属交易的重要单位。这样的隐喻还有更多。
By the 1980s, this understanding of the book was accepted so widely
到了20世纪80年代，这样的解读被广泛接受，
that several American history textbooks mentioned it in discussions of late 19th century politics.
以至于一些美国历史教科书也引用其来讨论20世纪后期的政治问题。
But is the theory right? L. Frank Baum's introduction claims the book is just an innocent children's story.
但这些理论真的正确吗？作者的序言中说了这本书只是童话故事。
Could he have been deliberately throwing people off the trail?
他真的一直在给大家留下线索吗？
And is it fair to second guess him so many decades later?
而在几十年后才对他的意图进行猜测真的合适吗？
There's no definitive answer, which is part of why authorial intent is a complex, tangled, fun question to unravel.
这些仍没有确定的答案，因为阐述作者写作意图是个复杂有趣的过程。
And some recent scholars have interpreted 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' in the opposite way as Littlefield.
最近，有学者对《绿野仙踪》的解读出现了另一个相反的版本。
They claim it's a celebration of the new urban consumer culture.
他们说这是向新的城市消费文化致敬。
Historian William Leach argued that the dazzling Emerald City of Oz was meant to acclimate people to the shiny, new America.
历史学家William Leach说，书中令人眼花缭乱的翡翠城是想使人们适应这个闪耀的新美国。
In the end, all we know for sure is that Baum, inspired by European folk legends,
最后，我们可以确定的是作者Baum，受到欧洲民间传说的启发，
had set out to create one for American children.
为美国儿童创作了一个好童话。
And whether or not he intended any hidden meanings,
先不说他是否有意暗喻现实，
its continuing relevance suggests he succeeded in creating a fairytale America can call its own.
这些层出不穷的解读表明了作者成功地写出了一本属于美国自己的本土童话。