必修一课文U5 Elias' Story 伊莱亚斯的故事

必修1  Unit 5  Nelson Mandela-a modern hero

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ELIAS ' STORY  

伊莱亚斯的故事

My name is Elias. I am a poor black worker in South Africa. The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life. I was twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems. He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.

我的名字叫伊莱亚斯。我是南非的一个穷苦的黑人工人。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。（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。他为那些穷苦黑人提供法律指导。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. I began school at six. The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away. I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write well. After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine. However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadly I did not have it because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.

由于我所受的教育很少，所以我需要他的帮助。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。我不得不辍学，因为我的家庭无法继续支付学费和交通费。我既不太会读，也不怎么会写。几经周折，我才在一家金矿找到一份工作。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。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. He told my how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg. I became more hopeful about my future. I never forgot how kind Mandela was. When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could. 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.”

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。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。我对自己的未来又充满了希望。我永远也忘记不了他对我的恩情，当他组织了非国大青年联盟时，我马上就参加了这个组织。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. Black people could not vote or choose their leaders. They could not get the jobs they wanted. The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people. The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa. No one could grow food there. In fact as Nelson Mandela said:

“…we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government. We chose to attack the laws. We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed…only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.

他说的是真话。当时黑人没有选举权，他们无权选择他们的领导人。他们不能做自己想要做的工作。他们所能住的城区都是由白人决定的。他们被打发去住的城外地区是南非最贫穷的地区。在那儿，没有人能够种庄稼。事实上，就像拉尔逊·曼德拉所说的：

“……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。我们选择向法律进攻。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，……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 violence…but in 1963 I helped him blow up some government buildings. It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison. But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.

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。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。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。