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必修一Unit 5 ELIAS STORY伊莱亚斯的故事 My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa.我的名字叫伊莱亚斯。我是南非的一个穷苦的黑人工人。The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life.第一次见到纳尔逊曼德拉的时候,是我一生中非常艰难的时期。I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice.(当时)我才12岁,那是在1952年,曼德拉是我寻求帮助的一位黑人律师。He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems.他为那些穷苦黑人提供法律指导。He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.他十分慷慨地给予我时间,我为此非常感激。 I needed his help because I had very little education.由于我所受的教育很少,所以我需要他的帮助。I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away.我六岁开始上学,我仅仅在那里读了两年的学校有三公里远。I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare.我不得不辍学,因为我的家庭无法继续支付学费和交通费。I could not read or write well.我既不太会读,也不怎么会写。After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine.几经周折,我才在一家金矿找到一份工作。However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg.然而在那个时候,你要想住在约翰内斯堡就非得要有身份证不可。Sadly I did not have it because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.糟糕的是我没有这个证件,因为我不是在那里出生的,我很担心我是不是会失业。 The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest.纳尔逊曼德拉给予我帮助的那一天是我一生中最高兴的日子。He told me how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg.他告诉我要想在约翰内斯堡立住脚,应当如何获取所需证件。I became more hopeful about my future.我对自己的未来又充满了希望。I never forgot how kind Mandela was.我永远也忘记不了他对我的恩情,When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could.当他组织了非国大青年联盟时,我马上就参加了这个组织。He said:“The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress, until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.”他说:“过去30年来所出现的大量法律剥夺我们的权利,阻挡我们的进步,一直到今天,我们还处在几乎什么权利都没有的阶段。” It was the truth.他说的是真话。Black people could not vote or choose their leaders.当时黑人没有选举权,他们无权选择他们的领导人。They could not get the jobs they wanted. 他们不能做自己想要做的工作。The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people. 他们所能住的城区都是由白人决定的。 The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa.他们被打发去住的城外地区是南非最贫穷的地区。No one could grow food there.在那儿,没有人能够种庄稼。In fact as Nelson Mandela said:事实上,就像拉尔逊曼德拉所说的: “we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government. “我们被置于这样一个境地:要么我们被迫接受低人一等的现实,要么跟政府作斗争。We chose to attack the laws.我们选择向法律进攻。We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed首先我们用和平的方式来破坏法律,而当这种方式也得不到允许时,only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.只有到这个时候,我们才决定用暴力反抗暴力。” As a matter of fact, I do not like violencebut in 1963 I helped him blow up some government buildings.事实上,我并不喜欢暴力,但是在1963年的时候,我帮助他炸毁了一些政府大楼。It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison.那是很危险的事情,因为如果我被抓住了,可能就会被关进监狱。But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.但是,我乐于帮忙,因为我知道,这是为了实现我们的黑人和白人平等的梦想。 10. 必修一Unit 5 THE REST OF ELIAS STORY伊莱亚斯的故事续篇 You cannot imagine how the name of Robben Island made us afraid.你无法想象罗本岛这个 名字听起来多么令我们恐惧。It was a prison from which no one escaped.那是一座任何人也逃不出去的监狱。There I spent the hardest time of my life.在那里我度过了我一生中最艰难的岁月。But when I got there Nelsom Mandela was also there and he helped me.但是我到那里时,纳尔逊曼德拉也在那儿,他又帮助了我。Mr. Mandela began a school for those of us who had little learning.曼德拉先生为我们那些几乎没有上过学的人开办学校。He taught us during the lunch breaks and the evenings when we should have been asleep.他在午餐后的休息时间以及晚上本来该睡觉的时间教我们学习。We read books under our blankets and used anything we could find to make candles to see the words.我们躲在毯子下面读书,我们用可以找到的任何东西作蜡烛来看书。I became a good student. I wanted to study for my degree but I was not allowed to do that.我成了一名好学生,想要为我的学位而学习,但是别人不允许我这样做。Later, Mr. Mandela allowed the prison guards to join us.后来,曼德拉先生让狱卒参加我们一起学习。He said they should not be stopped from studying for their degrees.他说他们不应该被剥夺通过学习获得学位的权利。They were not cleverer than me , but they did pass their exams.他们并不比我更聪明,却通过了考试,So I knew I could get a degree too.因此我就知道我也能够拿到学位。That made me feel good about myself.这让我觉得自己还不错。 When I finished the four years in prison, I went to find a job.在监狱里呆完四年之后,我去找工作。Since I was better educated, I got a job working in an office.因为我受过比较好的教育,我得到了一份做办公室的工作However, the police found out and told my boss that I had been in prison for blowing up government buildings. So I lost my job.可是警察局发现了,告诉了我的老板,说我因为炸政府大楼而坐过牢。于是我失业了。I did not work again for twenty years until M r Mandela and the ANC came to power in 1994.在曼德拉和非国大于1994年掌权之前,我有20年没有工作。All that time my wife and children had to beg for food and help from relatives or friends.在此期间,我的妻儿只得从亲戚朋友处讨饭吃,并乞求帮助。Luckily Mr. Mandela remembered me and gave me a job taking tourists around my old prison on Robben Island.幸亏曼德拉先生还记得我,给了我一份工作,叫我带着旅行团去参观罗本岛上我住过的那座就监狱。I felt bad the first time I talked to a group.第一次给旅行团做讲解时,我的心情很不好。All the terror and fear of that time came back to me.我回忆起那时所有的恐怖和令人畏惧的情景。I remembered the beatings and the cruelty of the guards and my friends who had died.我记起了狱卒的鞭打和暴行,我想到了我那些死去的朋友,I felt I would not be able to do it, but my family encouraged me.我觉得我做不了这样的(导游的)工作。但是我的家人却鼓励我,They said that the job and the pay from the new South African government were my reward after working all my life for equal rights for the Blacks.他们说,从南非新政府得到的这份工作和薪饷,是我毕生为争取黑人的平等权利而斗争所得到的回报。So now I am proud to show visitors over the prison, for I helped to make our people free in their own land.现在,我还能给参观者介绍有关监狱的情况,对此我感到非常骄傲,因为我曾经为黑人在自己的国土上争取自由而出过力the Blacks.他们说,从南非新政府得到的这份工作和薪饷,是我毕生为争取黑人的平等权利而斗争所得到的回报。
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