Black history 4 reading and freedom

公主号：MT英语（ID:mtkouyu)

专辑：【历史·眼界】黑人历史月

本期主播：【英】Joe

文本编辑&翻译：Grammy

文本校对：Doris Tang

---

主播简介

Joe，中文名周培森，精通四门语言（英、中、法、西）的英国才子。毕业于世界百强名校利物浦大学，研读英美文学专业。喜欢旅行、雷鬼音乐和运动。才华与颜值与八块腹肌并存。

电台文本

Hello! Welcome back to MT English. I’m Joe. This is a podcast about black history. And today I’m gonna be focusing on Frederick Douglass. And why it’s so important to read ? Slavery began in 1619 in USA and was abolished and ended in 1865, and which point there were four million slaves and in the states.

大家好!欢迎来到MT英语。我是周培森。这一集是关于黑人的历史。今天我主要讲的是弗雷德里克·道格拉斯。为什么学习阅读这么重要？奴隶制于1916在美国开始，并在1865年底废除。指的是四百万奴隶的工作。

Frederick Douglass was born as a slave. And he was born in 1818. He died in 1895. However, in 1838 he escaped from slavery. So just like introduction into his life. As a child, Frederick Douglass lived with his master（主人） and mistress（女主人） in Maryland. And his mistress was very kind to him. And she wanted to teach him the alphabet(字母）, and teach him to read. However, one day his master was very, very angry with this, this teaching of the alphabet. So this gave him some insight into how slavery worked. So now I’m gonna read a passage from his autobiography（自传、自传文学） and which recorded narrative（叙述） of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

弗雷德里克·道格拉斯1818年出生在一个黑奴家庭，他卒于1895年。然而，1838年后他摆脱了奴隶制度。就像他的自传中介绍的一样，弗雷德里克·道格拉斯还是个小孩的时候，他与他的奴隶主以及奴隶主的妻子一起生活在马里兰州。他的女主人对他很好，她想教他字母，教他阅读。然而，有一天，他的主人对自己的妻子教奴隶学习字母的做法感到非常生气。这使他对奴隶制有了一些了解。现在我想读一篇他的自传文章，这是弗雷德里克·道格拉斯以叙述者的身份将自己的人生故事记录在他的自传里面了。

I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read. The very decided manner with which he spoke, and strove to impress his wife with the evil consequences of giving me instruction, served to convince me that he was deeply sensible of the truths he was uttering. It gave me the best assurance that I might rely with the utmost confidence on the results which, he said, would flow from teaching me to read.  我怀着极大的希望和一种坚定的目标，不惜一切代价去学习如何读书。他的说法非常武断的并努力让他的妻子知道，教我阅读是一件可怕的事情。这也让我知道他对自己所说的事实是非常敏感的。这使我对阅读产生了更大的自信。

What he most dreaded, that I most desired. What he most loved, that I most hated. That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to me a great good, to be diligently（勤奋地）sought（寻找）; and the argument which he so warmly urged, against my learning to read, only served to inspire me with a desire and determination to learn. In learning to read, I owe almost as much to the bitter opposition of my master, as to the kindly aid of my mistress. I acknowledge the benefit of both.

他最害怕的就是我最想要的。他最爱的反而是我最恨的。对他来说，教我阅读是一个极大的罪恶，我要小心地避开它；但这对我来说是一件很好的事，我很勤快地去追寻着；而他如此强烈地反对我读书的观点，只不过激发了我学习的欲望和决心。在学习读书的过程中，我既感谢主人强烈反对读书所带来的痛苦，也感谢他妻子的善意帮助。我感谢我能收益于他们。

So the important thing here is that the masters did not want slaves to read. If they learn how to read, then they will become wise. They will understand the situation, the inequity(不公平，不公正),the unfairness  of their lives. Of course, they would run away, or they would kill the masters,they would rebel.

所以最重要的是主人不想让奴隶读书。如果奴隶们学会了阅读，他们会变得聪明，他们会了解自身情况，不平等和他们的生活。他们可能会想逃跑，或者会萌生杀了主人的念头,也有可能他们会反抗奴隶主/奴隶制。

So I think this message we get from Frederick Douglass and his life is about knowledge, is about reading and how reading is still very important. If you can read English, then you have more access to knowledge. You have more access to knowledge, then you’re more free. It’s an extremely important message.

所以我觉得从弗雷德里克·道格拉斯和他的生活得到的是知识，是关于如何阅读，并且认为阅读仍然是非常重要的。如果你能读英语，然后你有更多获取知识的途径。你有了横过获取知识的途径，那么你会变得更自由，这一点是非常重要的。

So hope you enjoy listening and I encourage you to read Frederick Douglass of autobiography in English is, I mean, incredible piece of writing. One question today is have you ever thought of the connection between learning languages, learning to read and write, and how they connect to freedom. Thanks for your listening! See you next time! I’m Joe. Bye!

所以节目最后我想说：我希望你喜欢收听我的专辑，并且我现在也鼓励你读英文版的弗雷德里克•道格拉斯的自传，因为它真的是一个极好的的作品。今天的有一个问题问大家：你有没有想过学习语言与学习读书、写字之间的联系，这些因素与“自由”是怎么联系的。谢谢你的倾听！下次见!我是周培森。再见!

重点词汇

1. mistress  n.情妇；女主人；主妇；女教师；女能人

e.g. Go now and tell your mistress.

现在去告诉你的女主人。

2. alphabet n.字母表，字母系统；入门，初步

e.g. The letters AB begin the alphabet.

在字母表中AB是头两个字母。

3. autobiography n.自传；自传文学

e.g. To repent of egoism: is autobiography the best method?

对自私的忏悔：自传是最好的方式吗？

4. diligently adv.勤奋地；勤勉地

e.g. In short,we must work diligently to make the world a better place for coming generations.

简而言之，我们必须勤奋工作，为了下一代把世界变成更美好的地方。

5. inequity n.不公平，不公正

e.g. She pestered her parents about inequity, insisting that she wanted to do something.她纠缠着她的爸爸说那不公平，坚持要做些什么事情。