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Literature (文学)

To Kill a Mockingbird 模仿鸟之泪：《梅冈城故事》

详细资料: 创建于 2010年8月25日; 最后更新于 2024年5月25日; 发布于 2012年10月01日; 作者：Mike Lee; 点击数：288

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Many books can capture our attention for a short while, but only a handful of classics can make an impact significant enough to stay with us throughout our lives. For many people, the Pulitzer prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is such a book. Published in 1960 at the apex of the Civil Rights movement, it captured the themes of racial tension and injustice that were tearing the U.S. in half at the time.

许多书能短暂地吸引我们的注意，但只有少许经典之作能于我们生命中产生意义深远的影响。对许多人来说，哈波．李所著的普立兹得奖小说《梅冈城故事》就是这类经典作品。这本书出版于黑人民权运动高涨的1960年代，书中探讨了当时使美国国内分裂的种族对立及不公义等主题。

The story is set in a fictional Southern U.S. town called Maycomb during the 1930s. Maycomb was modeled on Lee’s own hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, a small rural town that moved at a slow pace. Under this calm, however, existed a rigid racial division between blacks and whites that was ready to explode. The novel centers on the Finches, a white family. Atticus Finch is a widower who is doing his best to raise his children, a boy named Jem and a girl named Scout.

故事背景为1930年代一个虚构的美国南方小镇梅冈城，而梅冈城的构想则来自作者的家乡，蒙罗维尔：一个步调慵懒、位于亚拉巴马州的小乡镇。然而，和谐平静的梅冈城却存在黑人与白人间严格的种族界线且冲突会随时爆发。小说以一白人家庭芬鵸为中心。亚惕．芬鵸是一位鳏夫，努力扶养两个孩子──儿子杰姆与女儿思葛。

The story heats up when Atticus, a lawyer, is appointed to defend a young, disabled black man named Tom Robinson. Tom is accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. Due to his race, many of the townsfolk assume that Tom is guilty, but to Atticus, the facts of the case do not add up.

这本书精彩之处即在当律师亚惕被指派为一名年轻但残障的黑人汤姆．罗宾森辩护之际。汤姆被指控强暴一名白人女生梅薏拉．艾薇。镇上的许多人因汤姆的肤色而先行假设汤姆有犯罪，但对亚惕来说，案件所呈现的事实并不能证明汤姆有罪。

Vocabulary

单词发音

capture [ˋkæptʃɚ] v. 引起（注意）；吸引

a handful of 一小撮,少数

make an impact 造成影响

racial [ˋreʃəl] adj. 人种的，种族的

tension [ˋtɛnʃən] n. 紧张局势，紧张状况

tear [tɛr] v. 撕裂

model [ˋmɑd!] v. 模仿；将…做成范例

rigid [ˋrɪdʒɪd] adj. 严格的

division [dəˋvɪʒən] n.（意见等的）不一致，分裂

explode [ɪkˋsplod] v. 爆发

appoint [əˋpɔɪnt] v. 任命，指派[（+as/to）]

accuse [əˋkjuz] v. 指控，控告[（+of）]

assume [əˋsjum] v.（想当然地）认为

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单词发音

mockingbird [ˋmɑkɪŋ͵bɝd] n.【鸟】仿声鸟

apex [ˋepɛks] n. 顶，顶点

injustice [ɪnˋdʒʌstɪs] n. 不公正，不公平

widower [ˋwɪdoɚ] n. 鳏夫

heat up〔形势〕激化; 加剧 to become acute or intense

disabled [dɪsˋeb!d] adj. 残障的; 残疾的

townsfolk [ˋtaʊnz͵fok] n. 市民；镇民

add up【口】前后一致, 合理 to be reasonable, plausible, or consistent; make sense

课文朗读

课文讲解

In reality, it was Mayella who tried to seduce Tom. Although Tom refused her advances, Bob Ewell, Mayella’s father, witnessed the incident and decided to blame it on Tom because he is prejudiced against blacks. Despite evidence which demonstrates that Bob and Mayella are lying, Tom is convicted of the crime. Shortly after, he is killed by guards who claim that they shot him as he tried to escape prison.

实际上是梅薏拉试图勾引汤姆。虽然汤姆拒绝了她的求爱，但仍被梅薏拉的父亲鲍伯．艾薇撞见。鲍伯因对黑人存有偏见而决定怪罪汤姆。即使证据显示鲍伯和梅薏拉说谎，但汤姆仍被定罪。不久之后，汤姆死于监狱警卫的枪下。监狱警卫声称汤姆试着逃狱才射杀他。

After the trial, Bob Ewell continues to hold a grudge against Atticus, feeling that Atticus tried to ruin his name in court. So, to get even, Bob plans to hurt Atticus’s children while they are walking home from school. He jumps out of the bushes wielding a knife, knocks Jem to the ground, and breaks his arm. But before he can do anything else, a stranger suddenly comes to the rescue. When the struggle is over, Scout witnesses a large man carrying Jem back home.

审判之后，鲍伯．艾薇认为亚惕试着在法庭上诋毁他的名声，而对亚惕心生不满。鲍伯为了报复亚惕，打算趁亚惕的孩子们放学回家时伤害他们。他拿着一把刀子从草丛中跳出来，把杰姆撂倒在地并打断了杰姆的手臂。但就在鲍伯要做出更进一步的伤害时，一名陌生人突然前来搭救。打斗结束后，思葛看着这位高大的陌生人把杰姆扛回家。

Shortly after, the police come by the Finch household with the news that Bob Ewell was found dead at the scene of the attack. They discover that the stranger who saved the kids’ lives is their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley. To save Boo from a similar fate to Tom, the sheriff decides not to take Boo to trial, but instead to rule Bob’s death an accident.

这场打斗发生不久之后，警察来到芬鵸家中，并告诉他们鲍伯．艾薇被发现死于打斗现场。警察发现芬鵸家足不出户的邻居阿布．芮德就是小孩的救命恩人。警长为了不让阿布面临与汤姆相同的命运，决定不起诉阿布，并宣判鲍伯的死亡纯属一场意外。

Vocabulary

单词发音

seduce [sɪˋdjus] v.〔尤指对比自己年轻或处于弱势的人的〕诱奸﹐勾引

prejudiced [ˋprɛdʒədɪst] adj. 怀偏见的；有成见的

demonstrate [ˋdɛmən͵stret] v. 论证，证明

convict [kənˋvɪkt] v. 判……有罪

escape [əˋskep] v. 逃跑；逃脱

ruin [ˋrʊɪn] v. 使毁灭；毁坏

get even 报复 to obtain revenge

come by 来串门; 顺路拜访 to pay a visit

household [ˋhaʊs͵hold] n. 一家人；家眷

reclusive [rɪˋklusɪv] adj. 隐遁的；孤寂的

rule [rul] v. 作出裁决

More Information

单词发音

advances [ədˋvænsɪz] n. 挑逗; 勾引

incident [ˋɪnsədnt] n. 事件

grudge [grʌdʒ] n. 怨恨

wield [wild] v. 挥舞（剑等）

sheriff [ˋʃɛrɪf] n. 警长

课文朗读

课文讲解

In the novel, Harper Lee draws an analogy between mockingbirds and innocence. When Atticus gives his daughter a toy gun, he instructs her not to shoot any mockingbirds. He says “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but …… sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

哈波．李在小说中把「模仿鸟」与「纯洁无辜」做了模拟。当亚惕给他的女儿一把空气枪时，叮咛女儿不要去打死模仿鸟。亚惕说：「模仿鸟不做坏事……就只全心地唱歌给我们听。而这也是为什么射杀一只模仿鸟是一种罪过。」

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are both considered to be mockingbirds who are in danger of having their innocence destroyed. Like a mockingbird, Tom is small and harmless because he is crippled. When the jury finds Tom guilty, even though they know he’s innocent, they are committing a sin by killing a mockingbird. Boo is also a mockingbird, as he seldom leaves his house and never causes anyone trouble. This is why the sheriff decides to cover up Bob’s murder, and not make the same mistake by killing another mockingbird.

汤姆．罗宾森与阿布．芮德都被视为模仿鸟，他们的清白都有被诬陷的危险。汤姆就像一只模仿鸟一样，因身形矮小并身患残疾而不会对人造成伤害。陪审团犯下杀了模仿鸟的罪刑，因为他们即使知道汤姆清白仍定他入罪。阿布也是一只模仿鸟，因他鲜少离开家门而不会造成别人麻烦。这就是为什么警长决定掩饰鲍伯被谋杀的事情，而不再错杀另一只模仿鸟。

In addition to this theme, the book highlights the struggle between good and evil and the way in which prejudice dominates human society. Lee shows that judging people based on their color or other attributes is unfair and harmful. As Atticus explains to Scott, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view,” or “….. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” These wise words should serve as a lesson to us all.

除了纯洁无辜这个主题之外，这本书也揭示了正义与邪恶间的征战和偏见主导人类社会的情况。李使我们理解到，凭借肤色与其他特征来评断一个人是不公平且会造成伤害。亚惕向思葛解释道，「除非你从他人的观点看待事情……或设身处地替他人着想，否则你无法真正了解他人」，这些智慧的话语应能使我们得到教训。

−by Jamie Blackler

Vocabulary

单词发音