(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today we tell about the life of Nineteenth Century philosopher and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. But it had yet to win its cultural independence. It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from western Europe.
What the American Revolution did for the nation's politics, Emerson did for its culture.
When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives saw him as radical -- wild and dangerous. But to the young, he spoke words of self-dependence -- a new language of freedom. He was the first to bring them a truly American spirit.
He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works. It is through his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's life was not as exciting as the lives of some other American writers -- Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway. Emerson traveled to Europe several times. And he made speeches at a number of places in the United States. But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in the small town of Concord, Massachusetts.
He once said that the shortest books are those about the lives of people with great minds. Emerson was not speaking about himself. Yet his own life proves the thought.
Emerson was born in the northeastern city of Boston, Massachusetts, in eighteen oh three. Boston was then the capital of learning in the United States.
Emerson's father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a Christian church. When Emerson was eleven years old, his father died. Missus Emerson was left with very little money to raise her five sons.
After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of Concord. There they joined Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody Emerson.
Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him. As a boy, he attended Boston Latin School. Then he studied at Harvard University.
For a few years, he taught in a girls' school started by one of his brothers. But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching. For a time, he wondered what he should do with his life. Finally, like his father, he became a religious minister. But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life.
In eighteen thirty-one, Ralph Waldo Emerson resigned as the minister of his church because of a minor religious issue. What really troubled him was something else.
It was his growing belief that a person could find God without the help of an organized church. He believed that God is not found in systems and words, but in the minds of people. He said that God in us worships God.
Emerson traveled to Europe the following year. He talked about his ideas with the best-known European writers and thinkers of his time. When he returned to the United States, he married and settled in Concord. Then he began his life as a writer and speaker.
Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, in Eighteen thirty-six. It made conservatives see him as a revolutionary. But students at Harvard University liked the book and invited him to speak to them.
His speech, "The American Scholar," created great excitement among the students. They heard his words as a new declaration of independence -- a declaration of the independence of the mind.
"Give me an understanding of today's world," he told them, "and you may have the worlds of the past and the future. Show me where God is hidden...as always...in nature. What is near explains what is far. A drop of water is a small ocean. Each of us is a part of all of nature."
Emerson said a sign of the times was the new importance given to each person. "The world," he said, "is nothing. The person is all. In yourself is the law of all nature."
Emerson urged students to learn directly from life. He told them, "Life is our dictionary."
The following year, Emerson was invited to speak to students and teachers at the Harvard religious school. In his speech, he called for moral and spiritual rebirth. But his words shocked members of Harvard's traditional Christian church. He said churches treated religion as if God were dead.
"Let mankind stand forevermore," he said, "as a temple returned to greatness by new love, new faith, new sight."
Church members who heard him speak called him a man who did not believe in God. Almost thirty years passed before Harvard invited Emerson to speak there again.
Away from Harvard, Emerson's speeches became more and more popular. He was able to make his living by writing and speaking. "Do you understand Mister Emerson?" a Boston woman asked her servant. "Not a word," the servant answered. "But I like to go and see him speak. He stands up there and looks as if he thought everyone was as good as he was."
Many people, especially the young, did understand Emerson. His ideas seemed right for a new country just beginning to enjoy its independence -- a country expanding in all directions.
Young people agreed with Emerson that a person had the power within himself to succeed at whatever he tried. The important truth seemed to be not what had been done, but what might be done.
In a speech called "Self-Reliance" Ralph Waldo Emerson told his listeners, "Believe your own thoughts, believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men."
Emerson said society urges us to act carefully. This, he said, restricts our freedom of action. "It is always easy to agree," he said. "Yet nothing is more holy than the independence of your own mind. Let a person know his own value. Have no regrets. Nothing can bring you peace but yourselves."
The eighteen fifties were not a peaceful time for America. The nation was divided by a bitter argument about slavery.
Most people in the South defended slavery. They believed the agricultural economy of the South depended on Negro slaves. Most people in the North condemned slavery. They believed it was wrong for one man to own another.
Emerson was not interested in debates or disputes. But he was prepared to defend truth, as he saw it.
Emerson believed that the slaves should be freed. But he did not take an active part in the anti-slavery movement. All his beliefs about the individual opposed the idea of group action -- even group action against slavery.
As the dispute became more intense, however, Emerson finally, quietly, added his voice to the anti-slavery campaign. When one of his children wrote a school report about building a house, he said no one should build a house without a place to hide runaway slaves.
Emerson's health began to fail in the early eighteen seventies. His house was partly destroyed by fire. He and his wife escaped. But the shock was great. Friends gave him money to travel to Egypt with his daughter. While he was gone, they rebuilt his house.
Emerson returned to Concord. But his health did not improve. He could no longer work. In April, eighteen eighty-two, he became sick with pneumonia. He died on April twenty-seventh. He was seventy-nine years old.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's death was national news. In Concord and other places, people hung black cloth on houses and public buildings as a sign of mourning. His friends in Concord walked to the church for his funeral service. They carried branches of the pine trees that Emerson loved.
After the funeral, Ralph Waldo Emerson was buried in Concord near the graves of two other important early American writers -- Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne.
重点解析
1.a number of 一些；许多
At the university, I participated in a number of social work practice and accumulated some experience.
在大学期间，我参加过许多的社会实践工作，积累了一定的经验。
2.settle in 迁入；安顿下来
She didnt settle in London until graduation from Cambridge University.
直到从剑桥大学毕业后她才在伦敦定居。
3.as always一如既往
As always, let us know what you think. Your feedback helps us decide what we do next!
一如既往地，让我们知道你的想法。你的反馈有助于我们下一步的决定。
4.as if 好像；犹如
She talked as if she knew all about our plans.
她说得就好像完全知道我们的计画似的。
5.make a living 谋生
No matter how you make a living or who you think you work for, you only work for one person, yourself.
不论你靠什么谋生，或者你认为为了谁而工作，事实上你都只在为一个人工作，那就是你自己。
6.depend on 取决于；依赖
Therefore, the integrity, legitimacy, survival and effectiveness of this Organization depend on you all.
因此，联合国的完整性、合法性、生存和效力取决于整个大会。
参考译文
我是雪莉·格里菲斯，我是史蒂夫·恩伯。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述19世纪的哲学家和作家拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生的故事。
艾默生出生时，美国脱离英国统治才22年。但是美国还未获得其文化上的独立。美国的文化依然取自其他国家的传统，主要是西欧国家。
独立战争对于美国政治的贡献就等同于爱默生对美国文化的贡献。
当他在19世纪30年代开始演讲时，保守派认为他是激进-狂野而危险的。但是对于年轻人来说，他讲的是自力更生的话语--一种新的自由的语言。爱默生是首位带给年轻人真正美国精神的人。
他说美国需要自己的法律、教堂和作品。我们将通过他自己的作品来观察拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生。
爱默生的生活不像其他一些美国作家的生活那样精彩，比如赫尔曼·梅尔维尔，马克·吐温或欧内斯特·海明威。爱默生去欧洲旅行过几次。他在美国的许多地方发表演讲。但是，除了那些旅行，他的一生都生活在马萨诸塞州康科德小镇。
他曾经说过，最短的书是关于有伟大思想的人的生活。爱默生没有在说他自己。但是他自己的生活证明了这个观点。
爱默生于1803年出生在马萨诸塞州东北部城市波士顿。当时波士顿是美国的学术之都。
爱默生的父亲，像他家里的许多男人一样，是基督教会的牧师。爱默生11岁时，他的父亲去世了。爱默生太太几乎没有钱来抚养她的五个儿子。
在波士顿住了几年之后，他们一家搬到了附近的康科德镇。在那里，他们和爱默生的姑姑玛丽·穆迪·爱默生一起生活。
爱默生似乎接受了他母亲和姑妈想给他的生活。小时候，他就读于波士顿拉丁中学。然后他在哈佛大学学习。
有几年，他在他的一个兄弟创办的女子学校教书。但他不喜欢这种教学生活。有一段时间，他不知道自己的人生该怎么办。最终，像他的父亲一样，他成为了一个宗教的牧师，但是他有诸多关于自己的信仰和人生目的的疑惑。
1831年，爱默生因一个小的教会问题辞去了他所在教会牧师的职务。真正使他困扰的是其它的事情。
他越来越相信一个人在没有一个有组织的教会的帮助下也可以找到上帝。他认为上帝不存在于制度或话语中，但是存在于人的心中。他认为是我们心中的上帝崇拜上帝。
爱默生第二年旅行去了欧洲。他和同时代欧洲最知名的作家和思想家谈论了自己的思想。爱默生回到美国后结了婚，定居在康科德。然后他开始了作为一个作家和演说家的生活。
1836年，爱默生出版了自己的第一部作品《论自然》。这让保守派人士将他视为革命者。但哈佛大学的学生喜欢这本书，并邀请他给他们演讲。
他的演讲《美国学者》给学生带来了极大的兴奋。他们听到了一个新的独立宣言的话语--思想的独立宣言。
爱默生告诉他们，“请让我了解当今的世界，”然后你或许可以了解以前和未来的世界。告诉我上帝藏在哪里...一如既往...在自然界中。近者可解释远者。一滴水是一个小的海洋。我们每个人都是大自然的一部分。”
爱默生认为，一个时代的标志是赋予每个人新的重要性。他说“这个世界是虚无的。”人就是一切。一切自然的法则都存在于人之中。”
爱默生敦促学生从生活中学习。他告诉他们，“生活就是我们的字典”。
第二年，爱默生受邀到哈佛大学宗教学院向学生和老师发表演讲。在他的演讲中，他呼吁道德和精神的再生。但他的话震惊了哈佛传统基督教会的成员。他认为教堂对待宗教的方式就好像上帝是死的一样。
他说，“让人类永远站立起来吧，就像一个庙宇通过新的爱、新的信念、新的视野变得重新伟大。”
听爱默生演讲的教会成员称他为一个不信仰上帝的人。差不多30年后，哈佛大学才再次邀请爱默生去那里演讲。
在哈佛大学之外，爱默生的演讲变得越来越受欢迎。他能够靠写作和演讲谋生。一个波士顿女性问她的仆人，“你能听懂爱默生的演讲吗？”仆人回答道，“一个字也不懂。”“但是我喜欢去听他的演讲。他站在那里，看起来好像他觉得每个人都和他一样优秀。”
很多人，尤其是年轻人都理解爱默生。他的思想对于一个开始享受其独立的新国家来说似乎是合适的--一个正在各方面发展的国家。
年轻人同意爱默生的观点，他认为一个人有能力在他尝试的任何事情上取得成功。重要的真理似乎不是做过的什么事情，而是可能做的事情。
爱默生在一个名为“自立”的演讲中告诉自己的听众，“相信你自己的想法，相信你内心深处真实的东西对所有人都是真实的。”
爱默生认为社会要求我们谨慎行事。他认为这限制了我们行动的自由。他说“我们很容易就会同意，没有什么比取得思想的独立更神圣的事情了。让一个人了解自己的价值。不留遗憾。只有你们自己才能给你们带来平静。”
19世纪50年年代，美国经历的并不是一段和平的时期。这个国家因关于奴隶制的激烈争论而产生分裂。
南方的大多数人拥护奴隶制。他们认为南方的农业经济依赖于黑奴。北方的大多数人则谴责奴隶制。他们认为一个人拥有另一个人是不对的。
爱默生对于争论并不感兴趣。但是他准备捍卫真理，正如他看到的那样。
爱默生认为奴隶们应该获得自由。但是他没有积极地参与反奴隶制运动。他对个体的所有的信念与群体运动的观点都是对立的--甚至是反奴隶制的群体运动的观点。
然而，随着争论变得越来越激烈，爱默生最终悄悄地加入了反奴隶制运动。当他的一个孩子写了一篇关于盖房子的学校报告时，他说任何人都不应该盖没有藏逃跑奴隶的地方的房子。
爱默生的健康在19世纪70年代早期开始衰退。他的房子起火被部分烧毁，他和妻子逃过一劫。但是这次打击是很棒的。朋友们给爱默生钱让他和女儿去埃及旅游。他不在的时候，朋友们给他重建了房屋。
爱默生回到了康科德。但是他的健康状况没有改善。他不能再工作了。1882年4月份，他患上了肺炎。他于4月27日去世。享年79岁。
拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生的去世成为了全国新闻。在康科德和其他地方，人们在房屋和公共建筑上悬挂黑布，以表示对他的悼念。他在康科德的朋友去教堂参加他的葬礼。他们带着爱默生喜欢的松树的树枝。
葬礼后，拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生埋葬在了两个重要的美国早期作家的坟墓旁边--亨利·大卫·梭罗和纳撒尼尔·霍桑。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
