(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION –American history in VOA Special English. Texas won its independence from Mexicoduring the administration of President Andrew Jackson. Leaders of the territorythen wanted to become part of the United States. Jackson wanted to make Texas astate in the Union. But more important to him was the Union itself. Jacksonfelt that to give statehood to Texas would deepen the split between thenorthern and southern states. Texas would be a state where slavery waspermitted. For this reason, the anti-slavery leaders in the North stronglyopposed Texas statehood. Jackson told Texas minister William Wharton that therewas a way that statehood for Texas would bring the North and South together,instead of splitting them apart. Now, this week in our series, Doug Johnson andGwen Outen continue our story.
Jackson said Texas should claim California.The fishing interests of the North and East, said Jackson, wanted a port on thePacific coast. Offer it to them, the president said, and they will soon forgetthe spreading of slavery through Texas. Jackson and Wharton held thisdiscussion just three weeks before the end of the president's term. Whartonspent much time at the White House. He also worked with congressmen, urging thelawmakers to recognize Texas. He was able to get Congress to include in a billa statement permitting the United States to send a minister to Texas. Such aminister was to be sent whenever the president received satisfactory evidencethat Texas was an independent power. This bill was approved four days beforethe end of Jackson's term. Wharton went back to the White House. Again andagain he gave Jackson arguments for recognizing Texas. On the afternoon ofMarch third, eighteen thirty-seven, Jackson agreed to recognize the newrepublic led by his old friend, Sam Houston. He sent to Congress his nominationfor minister to Texas. One of the last acts of that Congress was to approve thenomination. The United States recognized Texas as an independent republic. Butnine years would pass before Texas became a state. The fourth of March,eighteen thirty-seven, was a bright, beautiful day. The sun warmed thethousands who watched the power of government pass from one man to another.
AndrewJackson left the White House with the man who would take his place, Martin VanBuren. They sat next to each other as the presidential carriage moved downPennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol building. Cheers stopped in the throatsof the thousands who stood along the street. In silence, they removed theirhats to show how much they loved this old man who was stepping down. "Foronce," wrote Senator Thomas Hart Benton, "the rising sun was eclipsedby the setting sun." The big crowd on the east side of the Capitol grewquiet when Jackson and Van Buren walked out onto the front steps of thebuilding. After Chief Justice Taney swore in President Van Buren, the newpresident gave his inaugural speech. Then Andrew Jackson started slowly downthe steps. A mighty cheer burst from the crowd. "It was a cry," wroteSenator Benton, "such as power never commanded, nor man in power received.It was love, gratitude and admiration. I felt a feeling that had never passedthrough me before." Why was this, men have asked? Why did the people love Jackson so?Senator Daniel Webster gave this reason: "General Jackson is an honest andupright man. He does what he thinks is right. And he does it with all hismight." Another senator put it this way: "He called himself 'the people'sfriend.' And he gave proofs of his sincerity. General Jackson understood thepeople of the United States better, perhaps, than any president beforehim."
Jackson was always willing to let thepeople judge his actions. He was ready to risk his political life for what hebelieved in. Jackson's opposition could not understand why the people did notdestroy him. They said he was lucky. "Jackson's luck" the oppositioncalled it. Jackson seemed always to win whatever struggle he began. And the menhe fought against were not weak opponents. They were political giants: HenryClay, John C. Calhoun, Nicholas Biddle. The old general fought these menseparately and, at times, all together. The day after Van Buren becamepresident, Jackson met with a few of his friends. Frank Blair, the editor ofJackson's newspaper, was one of them. Senator Benton was another. It was awarm, friendly meeting. They thought back over Jackson's years in the WhiteHouse and talked about what had been done. Jackson said he thought his bestpiece of work was getting rid of the Bank of the United States. He said he hadsaved the people from a monopoly of a few rich men. Someone asked about Texas.Jackson said he was not worried about Texas. That problem would solve itself,he said. Did the general have any regrets about anything? "Only two,"said Jackson. "I regret I was unable to shoot Henry Clay or to hang JohnC. Calhoun." The next morning, March sixth, Jackson left Washington toreturn to his home in Tennessee. President Van Buren protested that Jackson wasnot well enough to travel. The old man had been sick for the last few months ofhis presidency. He suffered from tuberculosis, and at times lost great amountsof blood from his lungs. When Jackson refused to listen to Van Buren'sprotests, the president sent the army's top doctor, Surgeon General ThomasLawson, to travel with Jackson. General Jackson was to leave the capital bytrain. Thousands of people lined the streets to the train station, waiting fora last look at their president. Jackson stood in the open air on the rearplatform of the train. His hat was off, and the wind blew through his longwhite hair.
Not a sound came from the people whocrowded around the back of the train. A bell rang. There was a hiss of steam.And the train began to move. General Jackson bowed. The crowd stood still. Thetrain moved around a curve and could no longer be seen. The crowd began tobreak up. One man who was there said it was as if a bright star had gone out ofthe sky. Jackson lived for eight more years. He died as he had lived, withdignity and honor. A few hours after his death, a tall man and a small childarrived at the Jackson home. They had traveled a long way -- all the way fromTexas. The big man was Sam Houston, the president of Texas. He had heard thathis friend was dying. Houston was too late to say goodbye. He stood beforeJackson's body, tears in his eyes. Then Houston dropped to his knees and buriedhis face on the chest of his friend and chief. He pulled the small boy close tohim. "My son," he said, "try to remember that you have looked onthe face of Andrew Jackson."
Andrew Jackson stepped down from the presidency in March, eighteen thirty-seven. Hispresidential powers were passed to his most trusted political assistant, MartinVan Buren of New York. Van Buren was elected president after campaign promisesto continue the policies of Jackson. He was opposed by several candidates, allof the new Whig Party. Van Buren won easily with the help of Andrew Jackson.Years before, Van Buren had done much himself to elect Jackson to the WhiteHouse. After the election of eighteen twenty-four had divided the opponents ofJohn Quincy Adams, Van Buren began to put together a political alliance for thefuture. We will continue our story on Van Buren next week.
重点解析
1.instead of 代替；取代
It felt like I'd had two babies instead of one.
我感觉像是有两个孩子而不是一个。
2.split apart 分开；裂成碎片
He proposed that the two continents might have been one, then split apart.
他提出，这两个大陆曾经可能是一整块，然后分开了。
3.step down 辞职；让位
efense Secretary Robert Gates has said he would step down in 2011.
国防部长罗伯特-盖茨曾表示将于2011年退位。
4.put together 装配；加在一起
We wouldn't have time to put together an agreement.
我们没有时间来制订出一个协议。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。德克萨斯在总统安德鲁·杰克逊执政期间从墨西哥独立出来，其领导人当时想加入美国。杰克逊想让德克萨斯成为美国的一个州，但对他来说更重要的是联邦本身。杰克逊认为，赋予德克萨斯州地位将加深南北方的分歧。德克萨斯允许奴隶制存在，因此，北方的反奴隶制领导人强烈反对赋予德克萨斯州的地位。杰克逊告诉德克萨斯公使威廉·沃顿，有一种方式可以通过赋予德克萨斯州的地位而将南北方结合起来，而不是让它们分裂。在本周的系列节目中，道格·约翰逊和格温·奥登继续为我们讲述这段故事。
杰克逊说德克萨斯应该向加利福尼亚州提出索赔，对渔业感兴趣的北部和东部各州想在太平洋沿岸拥有一个港口。把这个港口给他们，他们很快就会忘记遍布在整个德克萨斯的奴隶制。杰克逊在总统任期结束前三周与沃顿进行这次讨论。在这期间，沃顿绝大部分时间都在白宫。他还与国会议员合作，敦促立法者承认德克萨斯的地位。他让国会在一项法案中包含一条允许美国派遣一名公使前往德克萨斯的声明。总统每收到能够证明德克萨斯是一个独立国家的证据时，就会派去一名公使。这项法案在杰克逊任期结束前四天获得批准。沃顿回到了白宫，他一次又一次地因为杰克逊承认德克萨斯而与他争论不休。
1837年3月3日下午，杰克逊同意认可老朋友萨姆·休斯顿领导新共和国。他向国会提交了对德克萨斯公使的提名。国会最后通过的法案之一是批准提名的德克萨斯公使。美国承认德克萨斯是一个独立共和国，但德克萨斯成为美国一个州还将经过九年的时间。1837年3月4日是阳光明媚的一天，上千人站在温暖的阳光下，见证着政府权力的交接。安德鲁·杰克逊和接替他的马丁·范布伦一起离开了白宫。当总统的马车沿着宾夕法尼亚大道向国会大厦驶去时，他们坐在一起。沿街站着的数千民众，欢呼雀跃。他们默不作声地摘下帽子，展现出他们对这位即将卸任的老人的敬爱。参议员托马斯·哈特·本顿写道，“这一次，初升的太阳被落日遮住了。”当杰克逊和范布伦走到国会大厦门前的台阶时，国会大厦东侧的人群很快安静下来。在首席大法官塔尼为范布伦举行总统宣誓就职仪式后，新总统发表了就职演说。随后，安德鲁·杰克逊缓缓走下台阶。人群中爆发出热烈的欢呼声。参议员本顿写道，“这是一种呐喊，从未见过如此洪亮的声音，没有一位当权者曾受过这样的礼遇。这是爱、感激和钦佩。我感到一种从未经历过的感觉。”人们问，为什么会这样？为什么人们这么爱戴杰克逊？参议员丹尼尔·韦伯斯特给出了这样的原因：“杰克逊将军是一位诚实正直的人，他做他认为正确的事情，并倾尽全力。”另一位参议员这样说：“他称自己为‘人民的朋友’，并彰显自己的诚意。杰克逊将军或许比以往任何一位总统都更了解美国人民。”
杰克逊总是愿意让人们评判他的行为，他甘愿冒着威胁政治生涯的风险，坚持自己的信仰。反对杰克逊的人不明白为什么人们无法摧毁他。他们说他很幸运。”反对党称其为“杰克逊的运气”。杰克逊似乎总能在他引起的任何争斗中获胜，与他争斗的人并不是软弱的对手。他们都是政治巨头：亨利·克莱、约翰·C·卡尔霍恩、尼古拉斯·比德尔。杰克逊这位老将军与这些人单独对决，有时还一起争斗。的几个朋友，弗兰克·布莱尔就在其中，他是一名编辑，为支持杰克逊的报纸撰稿。参议员本顿也参加了这次热情友好的会面，他们回顾了杰克逊在白宫的岁月，谈论他的丰功伟绩。杰克逊说，他对所做的工作感到最满意的就是摆脱美国银行，他从少数富人的垄断中拯救了人民大众。有人问起德克萨斯的情况，杰克逊表示他不担心德克萨斯。他说，这个问题将自行解决。将军有什么遗憾吗？杰克逊说：“只有两个，我很遗憾不能射杀亨利·克莱，也不能绞死约翰·C·卡尔霍恩。”第二天早上，也就是3月6日，杰克逊离开华盛顿要返回田纳西州的家。总统范布伦反对杰克逊这样做，因为杰克逊身体不好，不宜长途跋涉。这位老人在总统任期的最后几个月里一直生病，他患了肺结核，有时肺部会失血过多。杰克逊拒绝听从范布伦的反对意见，总统范布伦只好指派军队的高级医生，卫生部长托马斯·劳森，陪同杰克逊回家。
杰克逊将军将乘火车离开首都，成千上万的人排在通向火车站的街道两旁，等待同他们的总统告别。杰克逊站在火车站后面的站台上，他摘掉帽子，微风轻抚着他长长的白发。铃声响了，传出一阵蒸汽的嘶嘶声。火车开始移动，杰克逊将军向人们点头致敬，人群一动不动。火车蜿蜒前行，消失在人们的视野中。人群开始散开，当时在场的一个人说，那就像是一颗明亮的星星从天空中隐匿。杰克逊又活了八年，他去逝时与他活着的时候一样高贵和荣耀。他死后几个小时，一个高个子男人和一个小孩来到杰克逊家里。他们从德克萨斯远道而来。高个子男人是德克萨斯总统萨姆·休斯顿。他听说自己的朋友要去世了。休斯顿来晚了一步，无法和杰克逊道别了。他站在杰克逊的尸体前，眼里满是泪水。休斯顿跪了下来，把脸埋在这位既是自己的朋友，也是首领的胸口上。他把小男孩拉到身边。他说，“儿子，记住你曾经见到过安德鲁·杰克逊的容颜。”
安德鲁·杰克逊于1837年3月辞去总统职务，该职位移交给了他最信任的政治助手，纽约州的马丁·范布伦。范布伦竞选时承诺要延续杰克逊实施的各项政策，之后他当选为总统。他遭到几位候选人的反对，这几个人都是辉格党的新成员。范布伦在安德鲁·杰克逊的帮助下轻松获胜。几年前，范布伦为助杰克逊入主白宫做了很多事。1824年的选举使约翰·昆西·亚当斯的反对者四分五裂，范布伦开始为未来组建一支政治联盟。下周我们将继续讲述范布伦的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
