公眾人物畢業(yè)演講(MP3+字幕)第80期:米歇爾奧巴馬迪拉德大學(xué)(6)

and you have become an indelible part of the history of this school

并讓自己也成為了學(xué)校歷史中不可抹去的一部分

a history that, as you all know, stretches back

大家都知道 整個(gè)歷史可以一直

to well before the Civil War, back to 1826

追溯到南北戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之前 追溯到1826年

the year a child named Emperor Williams was born

這一年 一個(gè)叫作皇帝·威廉姆斯的小孩出生了

Now, Emperor was born into slavery

皇帝一出生就成為了奴隸

But as he grew up, he managed to teach himself to read and write well enough

但在成長(zhǎng)過(guò)程中 他設(shè)法自學(xué)了讀寫(xiě)

to create a pass that allowed him to

并自己寫(xiě)了一張通行證

come and go around the city without getting hassled

讓他能在城里自由行走

But one day, his master saw the pass

但有一天 他的主人看到了這張通行證

and he said, where did you learn to write like that

問(wèn)他 你是在哪學(xué)會(huì)寫(xiě)這個(gè)的

Now, just imagine the fear Emperor must have felt when he heard that question

請(qǐng)大家想象一下皇帝聽(tīng)到主人質(zhì)問(wèn)時(shí)的心理狀態(tài)

because remember, back then it was illegal for a slave to learn to read or write

要知道 當(dāng)時(shí)奴隸學(xué)習(xí)讀寫(xiě)是非法的

So who knows what kind of punishment he may have gotten

誰(shuí)知道他會(huì)受到怎樣的懲罰

a beating, a whipping, even worse

挨打 鞭撻 甚至更糟

We don't exactly know what happened on that day

我們不知道那一天實(shí)際發(fā)生了什么

but we do know that when Emperor turned 32

但我們知道皇帝32歲時(shí)

after more than three decades in bondage, he became a free man

終于掙脫了三十余年的枷鎖 成為一個(gè)自由人

He decided to stay in New Orleans, and he went on to become a minister

他決定留在新奧爾良 并成為了一名牧師

even founded a church right here in town

甚至在城里建立了一座教堂

And in 1869, when abolitionists, missionaries

1869年 奴隸廢除主義者和傳教士

black folks and white folks came together

黑人和白人團(tuán)結(jié)在一起

to create a school for freed slaves here in New Orleans

在新奧爾良為被釋放的奴隸創(chuàng)建了一所學(xué)校

Emperor was one of the original signers of the charter

當(dāng)時(shí) 皇帝就是學(xué)校章程的最初簽署者之一

They decided to name the school New Orleans University

他們決定將學(xué)校命名為新奧爾良大學(xué)

because even though most of the classes would be taught at a high school level or below

雖然學(xué)校的大多數(shù)課程都只有高中或以下水平

oh, their aspirations were much higher than that

但他們的壯志要遠(yuǎn)高于此

And when they laid the cornerstone for that

當(dāng)他們?cè)谑ゲ闋査勾蠼?/p>

university's first building down on St. Charles Avenue

為學(xué)校的第一座建筑奠基時(shí)

Emperor got a chance to speak

皇帝終于迎來(lái)了發(fā)言機(jī)會(huì)