(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
I'm Mary Tillotson. And I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Today, we tell about writer Langston Hughes, who has been called the poet voice of African Americans.
Langston Hughes is usually thought of as a poet. But he also wrote novels, plays, short stories, essays, autobiographies, newspaper columns, children's books, and the words to operas. He also translated into English the works of foreign poets.
Hughes was one of the first black writers who could support himself by his writings. He is praised for his ability to say what was important to millions of black people.
Hughes produced a huge amount of work during his lifetime. He also has influenced the work of many other writers. He wrote for almost fifty years.
Langston Hughes was famous for his descriptions of black American life. He used his work to praise his people and voice his concerns about race and social injustice. His work is known all around the world and has been translated into many languages.
Hughes's poetry had serious messages. He often wrote about racial issues, describing his people in a realistic way. Although his story was not often pleasant, he told it with understanding and with hope.
Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, in nineteen-oh-two. His parents were separated. He spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas. She told him stories about their family and their fight to end slavery. Her storytelling filled him with pride in himself and his race. He first began to write poetry when he was living with her.
When he was fourteen, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to stay with his mother and her new husband.
He attended Central High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Langston was named Class Poet one year. He published his first short stories while he was still in high school.
Langston Hughes struggled with a feeling of loneliness caused by his parent's divorce. He developed a love of reading books as a way to deal with the lack of time his parents spent with him. His love for reading grew into a desire to write. He wanted to reproduce the powerful effect other writers had made upon him. Among the early influences on his writing were poets Walt Whitman, Carl Sandburg and Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
After graduating from high school in nineteen twenty, Langston moved to Mexico City to live with his father for one year. His father had moved there to escape racism in America. His father did not offer much warmth to his son. Yet, Langston turned the pain caused by his family problems into one of his most famous poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers." In this poem, he speaks of the strength and pride of black people in ancient African civilizations and in America.
Langston Hughes learned a lot about race, and about social and economic conditions while he was in Mexico. His ability to speak Spanish and his brown skin often made it easy for him to appear to be a native. Many of his works, including a play for children, deal with his days in Mexico.
During the time he stayed with his father in Mexico, Langston wrote many poems because he was always unhappy. He once said that he usually created his best work when he was really not happy.
Langston had a troubled relationship with his father from which he never recovered fully. His father did not think he could earn a living as a writer. His mother, however, recognized his need to be a poet.
Langston's father agreed to pay for his college education at Columbia University in New York City, if he studied engineering. Langston arrived in New York when he was nineteen years old. At the end of that first year at Columbia, he left school, broke with his father, and began traveling. Traveling was a lifelong love that would take him throughout the world before he died.
In nineteen twenty-two, Hughes took a job on a ship and sailed to Africa. He would later sail to France, Russia, Spain and Italy. He wrote poems and short stories during his travels. His experiences while traveling greatly influenced his work. He sent a few of his writings back home. They were published, which helped establish him as a professional writer.
Financial problems ended Hughes's travels. He tried to find work on a ship so he could return to the United States. But in Italy, he had problems finding work on a ship because he was black. In the poem, "I, Too", he noted that the American color line even reached all the way over there.
In nineteen twenty-four, Langston Hughes returned to the United States to live with his mother in Washington, D.C. The poet Vachel Lindsay ate in a hotel where Hughes was working. Hughes put some poems he had written next to Lindsay's dinner plate. Lindsay gave a poetry reading later that night. He read some of Hughes's poetry, too. Newspapers across the country wrote about Lindsay's poetry reading. Hughes became known as a new black poet.
A year later, Hughes returned to New York. Through the years he lived in many places, but always came back to New York's Harlem area. Harlem was the center of black life in New York City. Hughes's creativity was influenced by his life in Harlem.
Langston Hughes returned to New York during a period called the Harlem Renaissance. It took place during the nineteen twenties and thirties. The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great artistic creativity among black people. For the first time, black artistic expression was being widely recognized. Hughes became friends with other great black writers of the time, such as Claude McKay, Countee Cullen and Zora Neal Hurston. They hoped that great art could change the racist ideas in America about African Americans.
Hughes was considered one of the leading voices of the Harlem Renaissance. He was the first poet to use the rhythms of black music. He often wrote about the everyday experiences of black working people. And he helped bring the movement of jazz and the sound of black speech into poetry.
Langston Hughes experimented with his writing. Other Harlem Renaissance writers wrote traditional poems like those of English classic poets, such as William Shakespeare. Hughes broke free with his writing and helped change literature forever.
Hughes became firmly established as a successful writer in nineteen twenty-six with the publication of a collection of jazz poems called "The Weary Blues." Hughes wrote the poems in a place in Harlem where blues music was played. He loved to write while sitting in clubs listening to blues and jazz. The title poem, "The Weary Blues," was written to be played with musical instruments. The poem perfectly expressed the desire of Langston Hughes to combine black music and speech in his poetry.
"I got the Weary Blues and I can't be satisfied. Got the Weary Blues and can't be satisfied. I ain't happy no mo' and I wish that I had died."
"And far into the night he crooned that tune. The stars went out and so did the moon. The singer stopped playing and went to bed – while the Weary Blues echoed through his head. He slept like a rock or a man that's dead."
Poems in "The Weary Blues" are warm and full of color. They have a sense of freedom, like that of jazz music. Langston Hughes was excited about the new form of poetry he had discovered for himself.
重点解析
1.struggle with斗争
He is currently locked in a power struggle with his Prime Minister.
他目前陷入了一场同总理的权力之争当中。
2.deal with处理；应付
In dealing with suicidal youngsters, our aims should be clear
在对待有自杀倾向的青少年时，我们的目标应当很明确。
3.speak of谈到；说到
You must speak of other things, not just about what you do well.
你必须说些别的东西，而不只是那些你做得很成功的事情。
4.earn a living谋生
He wished to earn a living through writing but despaired of doing so.
他想通过写作来谋生，不过他对此不抱希望。
5.break with决裂
Abstract painters made a break with the tradition.
抽象派画家与过去的传统断绝了关系。
6.take place发生；举行
A total solar eclipse is due to take place some time tomorrow.
明天某个时刻会发生日全食。
参考译文
我是玛丽·蒂洛森，我是史蒂夫·恩贝尔，这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。今天我们讲述朗斯顿·休斯的故事，他一直被称为非裔美国人的诗人之声。
兰斯顿·休斯通常被认为是一位诗人。但他也写小说、戏剧、短篇小说、散文、自传、报纸专栏、儿童读物和歌剧剧本。他也将国外诗人的作品翻译成英文。
休斯是第一批靠写作养活自己的黑人作家之一。他因有表达对数百万黑人重要的事情的能力而受到赞誉。
休斯在他的一生中创作了大量作品。他也影响了很多其他作家的作品。他的写作时间几乎长达50年。
兰斯顿·休斯以描写美国黑人生活而闻名。他用自己的作品赞扬黑人，表达对种族和社会不公的担忧。他的作品世界知名，已被翻译成多国语言。
休斯的诗传达了严肃的信息。他经常写作关于种族问题的内容，以一种现实主义的方式描述黑人。尽管他的故事并不总是快乐的，但是他带着理解和希望讲述它们。
兰斯顿·休斯于1902年出生于密苏里州乔普林。他的父母分居了。他童年的大部分时间是和祖母一起在堪萨斯州的劳伦斯度过的。她给他讲了他们一家的故事，以及他们为结束奴隶制所做的斗争。祖母讲述的故事让他对自己和自己的种族充满自豪。他第一次写诗是在和祖母一块生活的时候。
他14岁时搬到了俄亥俄州的克利夫兰，与母亲和她的新婚丈夫住在一起。
他就读于俄亥俄州克利夫兰的中央高中。有一年兰斯顿被评为班级诗人。他还在读高中时就发表了自己的第一部短篇小说。
兰斯顿·休斯与父母离婚带来的孤独感作斗争。他爱上了读书，以此作为一种方式来应对父母没有陪着自己的时间。他对阅读的爱发展成一种写作的欲望。他想复制这种其他作家对他产生的这种巨大的影响。早期影响他写作的诗人有沃尔特·惠特曼、卡尔·桑德伯格和保罗·劳伦斯·邓巴。
1920年高中毕业后，兰斯顿搬到墨西哥城和他的父亲住了一年。他的父亲搬到那里是为了逃避美国的种族歧视。他的父亲没有给他儿子多少温暖。然而，兰斯顿把家庭问题带来的痛苦变成了他最著名的诗歌之一，《黑人话江河》。在这首诗中，他谈到了古非洲文明和美国的黑人的力量和骄傲。
兰斯顿·休斯在墨西哥期间学到了很多关于种族、社会和经济状况的知识。他会讲西班牙语，有着棕色的皮肤，这经常很容易使他看起来像是一个本地人。他的很多作品，包括一个儿童戏剧，都涉及到他在墨西哥的日子。
在和父亲一块待在墨西哥的时间，兰斯顿写了很多诗，因为他总是不开心。他曾说，他常常在自己真的不开心时创作出最好的作品。
兰斯顿和父亲的关系不太好，这个关系从来都没有完全恢复。他的父亲认为他不能以写作为生。但是，他的母亲发现了他成为一名诗人的需要。
兰斯顿的父亲同意支付他在纽约市哥伦比亚大学的大学学费，前提是他要学工程学。兰斯顿19岁时来到纽约。在哥伦比亚大学的第一年结束时，他离开了学校，和父亲关系破裂了，他开始旅行。在兰斯顿去世前，旅行是他的一生之爱，旅行带他走遍世界。
1922年，休斯在船上找了份工作，去了非洲。后来他将去到法国，俄国，西班牙和意大利。在旅行期间，他会写诗和短篇小说。他的旅行经历极大地影响了他的作品。他寄了一些作品回家。它们被出版了，这帮助他成为一名职业作家。
经济问题结束了休斯的旅行。他尝试找一份船上的工作，这样他就可以回到美国了。但是在意大利，他难以找到船上的工作，因为他是黑人。在诗歌《我也一样》中，他指出美国的肤色界限甚至一路来到了这里。
1924年，兰斯顿·休斯回到美国，和他的母亲住在华盛顿特区。诗人瓦谢尔·林赛在休斯工作的酒店用餐。休斯把他写的一些诗放在林赛的餐盘旁边。那天晚上晚些时候，林赛作了一次诗歌朗诵。他也读了休斯的一些诗歌。全国的报纸都报道了林赛的诗歌朗诵。休斯作为一名新的黑人诗人为人熟知。
一年后，休斯回到纽约。多年来他曾生活在很多地方，但是但是他经常回到纽约的哈莱姆区。哈莱姆是纽约市黑人生活的中心。休斯的创造力受到他在哈莱姆区的生活的影响。
兰斯顿·休斯在哈莱姆文艺复兴时期回到纽约。哈莱姆文艺复兴发生在二十世纪二三十年代。哈莱姆文艺复兴时期是黑人艺术创作最活跃的时期。这是黑人的艺术表达首次被广泛认可。休斯与其他伟大的黑人作家成为了朋友，如克劳德·麦凯，康提·卡伦和佐拉·尼尔·赫斯顿。他们希望伟大的艺术可以改变美国的关于非裔美国人的种族歧视观点。
休斯被认为是哈莱姆文艺复兴时期的领导者之一。他是首位使用黑人音乐节奏的诗人。他经常描写黑人劳动人民的日常经历。他帮助把爵士乐运动和黑人语言的声音带入诗歌。
兰斯顿进行着写作实验。其他哈莱姆文艺复兴时期的作家也像英国古典诗人威廉·莎士比亚那样写传统诗歌。休斯打破了写作的束缚，永远地改变了文学。
休斯在1926年出版了一本名为《疲倦的布鲁斯》的爵士诗集，从此奠定了他作为一个成功作家的地位。休斯在哈莱姆一个播放布鲁斯音乐的地方写了这些诗。他喜欢在俱乐部里听着布鲁斯和爵士的时候写作。题名为《疲倦的布鲁斯》的诗歌是为乐器演奏而写的。这首诗完美地表达了兰斯顿·休斯想在自己诗歌中将黑人音乐和演讲结合在一起的欲望。
“我有疲惫的布鲁斯，我不能满足。得到了疲惫的布鲁斯，不能满足。我一点也不快乐，我希望我已经死了。”
“夜深时，他吟唱那曲调。星星消失了，月亮亦如此。歌手停止了演奏，上床睡觉了——疲倦的布鲁斯在他的脑海中回荡。他睡得像块石头，或者像个死人。”
《疲惫的布鲁斯》中的诗歌温暖而富有色彩。他们有一种自由的感觉，就像爵士乐一样。兰斯顿·休斯为自己发现了一种新的诗歌形式而兴奋不已。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
