Former model Melania Trump will soon become the first foreign-born woman to be first lady of the United States in almost 200 years. Before the election campaign, many Americans knew little of Melania Trump or her country of origin, the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia, a tiny nation of fewer than two million people tucked among Austria, Italy and Croatia.

曾经身为模特的梅拉尼亚·川普很快将成为美国近200年来首位非本国出生的第一夫人。在大选之前，大多数人对梅拉尼亚·川普以及她的故乡，也就是曾经属于前南斯拉夫的斯洛文尼亚共和国并不甚了解。这是一个人口少于200万的小国，身处奥地利，意大利和克罗地亚三国之间。

Visually, Slovenia is reminiscent of fairy tales: a little-known land of castles on hilltops and tall Christmas trees. As Slovenians see it, Melania Trump is putting their country on the map.

提起斯洛文尼亚，总让人想起童话故事里的场景和情节：一片被高高的圣诞树包围着、山顶上矗立着城堡的神秘土地。在斯洛文尼亚人眼中，梅拉尼亚·川普让世界知道了这个国家。

“Slovenia, what is Slovenia? Is that a food? Is that a car? Nobody knows it's a country. Nobody knows it's a nation and nobody knows that Melania is from Slovenia,” said Jakob Susteric, the young CEO of a medical device company, out celebrating Christmas with friends in Ljubljana. “This is a big opportunity that our two million-nation basically gets its place in Europe, in the world, and people will know us,” Susteric said.

雅各布·萨斯特里克是一家医疗设备公司的CEO，他在卢布尔雅那和朋友们一起庆祝圣诞节。他说：“斯洛文尼亚是什么？是食物名称？还是汽车牌子？没有人知道这是一个国家。没有人知道梅拉尼亚来自斯洛文尼亚。所以这是个很好的机会，让我们这个拥有200万人的国家在欧洲乃至世界都受到关注。”

Stane Jerko, the photographer, who discovered Melania as a quiet teenager at a fashion show in 1987. She was 17.

摄影师斯塔内·耶尔克在一场时装秀上发现了安静腼腆的少年梅拉尼亚。她当时只有17岁。

“She was tall and slim, long hair and long legs, and that's why I found her suitable to be a photo model,” Jerko said, “I noticed not just her good looks but also - even though it may sound strange - her inner energy.”

耶尔克说：“她身材高挑，长发飘逸，双腿修长，这也就是为什么我觉得她适合做平面模特。虽然听起来可能有点怪怪的，但我不仅注意到她的美貌，还注意到她有种内在的力量。”

That energy took her to the top.

这种力量让她登上顶峰。

“It is my small contribution to America and its history,” Jerko told VOA. “She got going with the photos I took.”

耶尔克对美国之音表示，“这是我为美国历史做的一个小小的贡献。有了我拍的照片，她才进一步发展。”

As first lady, Melania has said she wants to work on combating cyber bullying.

作为第一夫人，梅拉尼亚说她希望在网络霸凌问题上做些事。

“Because she was beautiful. She was a model, a lot of girls talked about this and they were also jealous,” said Petra Sedej, a friend and classmate at the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana. “But she didn't react to this, and I think this is something strong inside of her, because she knew that she was good. And if you know that you are good, you don't need to prove this with words,” Sedej said.

梅拉尼亚的高中同学皮特拉·塞德吉这样回忆到：“因为她很漂亮，又是模特，很多女孩子就拿这个说事儿，她们也很是嫉妒。但是梅拉尼亚并没有反击。我觉得她内心有种强大的力量在支撑着她，因为她知道自己是优秀的。如果你认为自己是优秀的，你就不需要用言语来证明。”

“We talked about studying, about how to see the world, and she (as) a model, she knew that Slovenia was too small for her,” Sedej said as she showed a reporter around the school on a recent winter morning.

塞德吉说：“我们谈论学习，谈论世界。作为模特，她知道斯洛文尼亚这个舞台对她来说太小了。”

After Ljubljana, came Milan, then Paris, and finally New York where Melania Trump met the future U.S. President.

离开卢布尔雅那之后，梅拉尼亚先后来到米兰、巴黎、纽约，并在那里遇见了未来的美国总统唐纳德·川普。

For many Slovenians, having one of their own in the White House means the image of America shines brighter than ever.

对于许多斯洛文尼亚人来说，有一位自己人入主白宫，意味着美国的形象更加光鲜。

“It expresses the message that America is sending from past years which is that America is a land of opportunities, so anybody that lives (in) and comes to America can achieve great things,” Susteric said.

萨斯特里克说：“它所传达出的就是美国过去多年来所发出的信息：美国是一片充满机遇的土地。任何人到美国都有可能成就大业。”