(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
PEOPLE IN AMERICA -- a program in Special English by the Voice of America. Each week at this time, we bring you a story about people who were important in the history of the United States. Today Larry West and Doug Johnson complete the story of writer Stephen Vincent Benet.
Benet was one of the most popular writers in the United States during the first half of the nineteen-hundreds. By the middle nineteen-twenties, Benet had published five books of his own. He had won national prizes for his writing. Some of his poems were considered part of the American literary tradition.
Although Benet was famous, most of the money he earned came from the stories he wrote for popular magazines. The stories were not about serious people or ideas. They were light things...meant to be read quickly and forgotten. Sometimes, Benet was not happy with the stories. But he did not have time to make them better. He felt he had no choice but to work in this way. He had a wife and a child to support.
All the while Benet was trying to please the magazine editors, he was thinking about a new direction and a greater purpose for his writing. He wanted to bring to life America's history and heroes. He wanted to show why these things were important and valuable. Most of all, he wanted people to remember the beauty and goodness of the America he had seen as a boy. He began to experiment.
Benet's new stories were about life in small towns. All kinds of people were in the stories. All of them had helped -- in some way -- to build America.
The voice telling the story was not a modern voice. It did not sound tired of the world ...as did the voices in most stories of that time. Instead, it was the voice of someone who had lived a long time in the small town. The voice sounded wise. And the language was a little like poetry.
In nineteen-twenty-six Benet won an award of two-thousand five-hundred dollars. He would use the money to continue his writing. Five years earlier, he had spent some time in Paris as a writer. He loved the city, and had met his wife there. So he decided to return to France. Soon after he and his wife arrived, their second child was born.
Benet was living far from America. But America remained central to his work. He began to write a poem about America's Civil War. The war had been fought between northern states and southern states from eighteen sixty-one to eighteen-sixty-five. Benet's poem described common soldiers, battles and the military and political leaders of both sides. It described the two major reasons for the war: saving the union of states, and freeing the black slaves. The poem was published in nineteen-twenty-eight. It was as long as a book. It was called ‘John Brown's Body.' Here is part of the poem.
'He must have been a peaceable man, that farmer.
It is said that he died of what he had heard and seen in that one brief moment, although no bullet came near him.
He should have known that even minor battles are not the place for peaceable men -- but he died, instead, it is said. The general came and the South came and the end came.
And the grass comes and the wind blows...on the grown grass and the wind says long ago, long ago.
‘John Brown's Body' was praised for its power and truth. It was so filled with color and details that professors of history used it to teach their students about the Civil War. It was read on American and British radio. The year after it was published, Stephen Vincent Benet received America's Pulitzer prize for poetry.
Benet returned to New York from France. He took the money he earned from the sales of ‘John Brown's Body' and invested it in the stock market on Wall Street. But that year – nineteen twenty-nine -- was the year the stock market crashed. Investments were worth nothing. All of Benet's money was lost.
The next few years were very difficult. Benet's father died, and he had to help support his mother and sister. Another child came. And Benet began to suffer more from the effects of arthritis.
The pain in his joints made it hard for him to work. And a weak heart gave him little energy.? Yet he had little choice. He had to earn money the only way he knew how: by writing.
So Benet began writing magazine stories again. He also went to Hollywood, California to write a motion picture story about Abraham Lincoln -- America's president during the civil war. And he traveled around the country giving talks on poetry and writing.
Times were hard in America in the nineteen-thirties. But as President Franklin Roosevelt began his economic reforms, Benet began to look forward to a brighter future for the country. He and his wife, Rosemary, wrote a book of poems for children. It was called ‘A Book of Americans.' Many of the poems were humorous. Many were full of hope.
In nineteen thirty-six, Benet published a story called 'The Devil and Daniel Webster." It is a story about a farmer who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for ten years of good luck. Ten years go by, and the devil comes to collect the farmer's soul. The farmer begs the great American statesman, Daniel Webster, to defend him before a jury chosen by the devil. Webster agrees. And the power and emotion of the great statesman's voice wins the case for the farmer. The story begins like this:
"Yes. Dan'l Webster's dead, or at least, they buried him. But every time there's a storm, they say you can hear his rolling voice in the empty places in the sky. And they say that if you go to where he's buried, and speak loud and clear - "Dan'l Webster! Dan'l Webster -- the ground'll begin to shake. And after a while you'll hear a deep voice saying, 'Neighbor! How stands the nation?'
"You see for a while, he was the biggest man in the country. He never got to be president. But he was the biggest man. There were thousands that trusted him right next to God almighty. And they told stories about him.
"They said when he stood up to speak...stars came right out in the sky. And once he spoke against a river....and made it sink into the ground. And the fish would jump right out of the water into his hands...for they knew it was no use putting up a fight against him. And the biggest legal case he argued never got written down in the books...for he argued it against the devil."
‘The Devil and Daniel Webster' was another great success for Stephen Vincent Benet. The story was made into a play, an opera and a motion picture. With that success Benet was able to get guarantees of payment for his work. He was able to pay what he owed. Publishers asked him to help choose which new books would be printed. And they asked him to give advice to young writers.
Toward the end of the nineteen-thirties, Benet became interested in political developments in Europe. He began to write more political pieces. After World War Two began, he put aside his other work and wrote only for the allied cause. He wrote for radio broadcasts and documentary films. He worked for aid for the French and the Russian people. He wrote a small book called "America" for the United States government. The book began:
"There is a country of hope...there is a country of freedom. It has made mistakes at home, mistakes in its relations with the world. But it looks to the future always."
Stephen Vincent Benet's health was not equal to his spirit. He died of a heart attack in New York in March, nineteen-forty-three. He was forty-four years old.
The next year, his collection of poems called, 'Western Star' won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. And American troops began giving his book "America" to people all over Europe and Asia, as World War Two was coming to an end.
重点解析
1.all the while 一直
You end up dropping out of high school all the while unhappy with this path that will leave you destined to be broke or end up in jail.
你读完高中就辍学了，一直对这条路感到不开心，这会导致你命中住地地成为破坏者或者在监狱终此一生。
2.bring to life 使苏醒
There's so much subtext with the characters, how difficult was that to bring to life? Your character sacrifices a lot with his job.
这些角色都有着太多的内心戏，把它们栩栩如生的展现出来有多困难？你的角色为他的工作牺牲了很多。
3.tired of 厌烦
If you are tired of your life you should do something about it.
如果你厌倦了你的生活，你就应该为此做点什么。
4.be filled with充满
We were filled with hope, with passion, with dreams for the future.
我们浑身上下都是希望和激情，对未来充满了梦想。
5.look forward to 盼望；期待
We thank you for your past support and look forward to a successful future together.
我们感谢您在过去对得嘉的支持并期待与您共创美好的未来。
6.put aside撇开；把...放在一边
I have to put aside my emotions, and look at it from his standpoint.
我得把我的感情放在一边，从他的角度去看这件事。
参考译文
这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周的这个时间，我们都会为您讲述美国历史上的重要人物的故事。今天，道格·约翰逊和拉里·韦斯特为您讲述史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特的故事。
贝尼特是20世纪上半叶最受欢迎的美国作家之一。到20世纪20年代中期，贝尼特已经出版了5本书，他凭借写作赢得了国家级的奖项。他的一些诗被认为是美国文学传统的一部分。
尽管贝尼特很出名，但是他挣得大部分的钱都来自他为流行杂志写的故事。那些故事写的不是严肃的人或观点。那些是轻松的故事...人们会快速阅读这些故事，然后会忘了它们。有时，贝尼特对这些故事并不满意。但是他并没有时间把他们变得更好。他感觉自己没有选择，只能这样工作。他还得养活妻子和孩子。
一直以来，贝尼特都在努力取悦杂志编辑，他想到了一个新的写作方向和写作的更大的目的。他想复苏美国的历史和英雄。他想展示为什么这些东西是重要而有价值的。最重要的是，他想让人们记起来自己儿时感受到的美国的美丽与善良。他开始了自己的实验。
贝尼特的新故事写的是小城镇的生活。故事中有各种各样的人。他们每个人都以某种方式创建了美国。
讲述这个故事的声音并不是现代的声音。它听起来并不厌倦这个世界...就像那个时代大多数故事里的声音一样。相反，它是一个在小镇生活了很长时间的一个人的声音。这个声音听起来很智慧。语言也有点像诗歌的语言。
1926年，贝尼特赢了一项2500美元的奖。他将使用这笔钱来继续自己的写作。五年前，他以作家的身份在巴黎呆了一段时间。他喜欢巴黎这个城市。在那里，他遇到了自己的妻子。所以他决定返回法国。他和妻子到法国后不久，他们的第二个孩子出生了。
贝尼特在离美国很远的地方生活。但是美国仍然是他创作的中心。他开始创作关于美国内战的诗歌。从1861年到1865年，美国内战发生于北方各州和南方各州之间。贝尼特的诗歌描述了双边的普通士兵、战斗人员以及军事和政治领导人。诗歌描述了美国内战爆发的两个主要原因：拯救国家联盟，解放黑奴。诗歌出版于1928年。这首诗跟一本书一样长。诗歌名为《约翰·布朗之躯》。下面是这首诗的一部分。
那个农民一定是个爱好和平的人。
据说，他因自己在一个片刻的所见所闻而丢了性命，尽管并没有子弹靠近他。
他早就该知道，即使小型的战役也不适合爱好和平的人，但是，据说他不知道这个，丢了自己的性命。将军来了，南方士兵也来了，末日就来了。
草长，风飞。在生长的草地上，风念着，很久以前，很久以前。
《约翰·布朗之躯》因它的能量和真实收到人们的赞誉。诗中充满了颜色和细节，历史教授会用它教学生有关美国内战的知识。这首诗在美国和英国的电台上播出。在它出版一年后，史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特获得了美国普利策诗歌奖。
贝尼特从法国回到纽约。他把从《约翰·布朗之躯》赚来的钱投资到华尔街的股票市场。但是那一年，1929年是股票市场崩溃的一年。投资一文不值。贝尼特失去了所有的钱。
贝尼特接下来的几年过得非常困难。他的父亲去世了，他不得不帮助供养他的母亲和妹妹。又一个孩子降生了。贝尼特开始更多的受到关节炎的影响。
关节的疼痛使他很难工作。衰弱的心脏供能又很少。但是他几乎没有选择。他不得不通过他仅知的方式赚钱：通过写作。
所以贝尼特又开始为杂志写故事了。他也去了加州的好莱坞，创作了一个关于美国内战时期的总统亚伯拉罕·林肯的电影故事。他也在全国各地做关于诗歌和写作的演讲。
20世纪30年代的美国生活是很艰难的。但是，当富兰克林·罗斯福总统开始他的经济改革的时候，贝尼特开始展望美国的更光明的未来。他和他的妻子露丝玛丽写了一本儿童诗集。诗集名为《美国人的书》。很多的诗都很幽默。很多的诗都充满了希望。
1936年，贝尼特发表了一个叫《黑夜煞星》的故事。它讲的是一个农民把自己的灵魂出卖给魔鬼，以换取十年的好运。十年过去了，魔鬼来取农民的灵魂。农民请求伟大的美国政治家，丹尼尔·韦伯斯特，在魔鬼挑选的陪审团中为他辩护。韦伯斯特同意了。这个伟大的政治家的声音的能量和情感为农民赢得了这次审判。故事开头是这样的：
“是的，丹尼尔·韦伯斯特死了，或者至少他们埋葬了他。但是每次暴风雨的时候，他们说你都可以在空荡的天际中听到他呼啸的声音。而且他们说，如果你去到埋葬他的地方，清楚大声的喊出“丹尼尔·韦伯斯特”的时候，地面就会开始震动。而且当你听到一个深沉的声音说“邻居，这个国家怎么样”的时候，过一会儿，
你会看到，他是这个国家最伟大的人。他没能当上总统。但是他是最伟大的人。仅次于上帝之后，有成千上万的人信任他。他们会讲关于他的故事。
“他们说当他站起来讲话的时候...星星就在天空中出现了。有一次，他对着河流讲话...后来使河水沉入了地下。河里的鱼会跳出来落到他的手上...因为它们知道反抗他是没有用的。他辩护的最伟大的法律案件从来没有写进书里...因为他辩护的对手是魔鬼。”
《黑夜煞星》是史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特另外一部取得重大成功的作品。这个故事被改编成戏剧，歌剧，和电影。取得了这样的成功，贝尼特就有了写作收入的保证。他还了自己欠下的所有的债。出版商请他选择要出版的书。他们请他给年轻的作家提建议。
到20世纪30年代末，贝尼特开始对欧洲的政治发展感兴趣。他开始写更多的政治文章。第二次世界大战开始后，他把其他工作放在一边，只为盟军事业写作。他为电台广播和纪录片写作。他为法国和俄国人民争取援助。他为美国政府写了一本名为《美国》的小书。这本书开始是这样的：
“有一个充满希望的国家...有一个充满自由的国家。在国内它会犯错误，处理和世界的关系时也会犯错误。但是它总是面向未来。”
史蒂芬·文森特·贝尼特的健康并不像他的精神一样好。1943年3月在纽约，他死于心脏病发作。享年44岁。
下一年，他的诗集《西部之星》赢得了普利策诗歌奖。美国军队开始把他的书《美国》赠给欧洲和亚洲的人们，因为二战就要结束了。
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