Susan著 小哭译
上次，我只介绍了将在华盛顿D.C参观的三个景点。今天，我将再写两个：两个总统纪念物。在我们参观华盛顿期间，我们将参观罗斯福总统纪念公园和肯尼迪总统的永不熄灭的火焰纪念园。FDR、JFK和KFC这三个名字我都非常熟悉，但我经常把罗斯福、肯尼迪和肯德基弄混。甚至在阅读了这么多关于它们的资料后，我还是需要用几秒钟的时间去反应谁是谁。这趟华盛顿之旅，我的目标之一就是我能更好地将这三者的首字母缩写区分开来。
FDR罗斯福总统纪念公园
那么，FDR代表什么呢？FDR是美国第32届总统富兰克林.德兰诺.罗斯福的首字母缩写。除了他是二战期间的总统之外，我对他的了解并不太多。显然，他是一个非常成功的总统，否则不会有一个专门用来纪念他的公园。根据我的研究，他把美国从一场经济大萧条中带了出来，还帮助世界结束了第二次大战。哇！他一定是非常地聪明，能够做得了这么了不起的事情来。只是想想这些事情的麻烦劲儿就够让我头疼的了。我无法想像他在处理那些国际事务时所承受的压力，就是美国事务，解决起来也不容易，我们的国家当时正在遭受着大困难呢。可他最后都成功地解决了！他确实值得拥有一个纪念公园让人们来怀念他为这个国家所付出的辛勤劳动。
我很激动于要去看罗斯福总统的纪念公园，倒不是因为它的历史意义。我不是那种很关心那些用来纪念历史名人的雕像或什么的人。我不是很理解看到几片上面刻字的石头有什么不得了的。那和在家里读一读有关他们的介绍、然后再花几秒钟的时间去记住这个名人有什么不一样呢？重要的历史人物一样能够得到人们对他们应有的尊敬，而我却省掉了跑那么远的路去看一些十足枯燥的东西之辛苦。当然，那只是我的想法。
罗斯福纪念公园，比通常的雕像和石头令人激动之处，正是我急于想去的原因。从上图左边的照片中可见，在罗斯福纪念公园里有很多的水，相当地多。事实上，这些瀑布是罗斯福纪念公园的重要组成部分。它们在不同的分区里按顺序呈现不同的颜色。纪念公园里总共有四个分区，象征着罗斯福的四个任期（四个任期！那是有史以来美国总统最多的任期），每个分区有一个瀑布。当游客从一个分区转到另一个分区时，供水系统会变得越来越复杂，以反映那个任期内不断增加的巨大的经济危机和世界大战带来的大动荡。
第一个大的降落代表着美国经济的崩溃和走向大萧条。多重梯状降落代表着田纳西河谷管理局大坝建造项目（不管是什么吧。我认为那很重要，因为纪念公园里都有了嘛）。那个混乱的瀑布代表第二次世界大战。平静不动的水池代表罗斯福的死亡。最后的一个，汇集了所有的瀑布，用以追忆罗斯福总统的全部任期（译者注：介绍得很乱呢？跟Susan讨论后，她说最后一个可能不是指四个分区之一，而是在分区之外的空地吧。）。相当酷吧？是谁想到用水来表达的这一创意呢，真是妙极了！
关于罗斯福纪念公园的另一件相当有趣儿的事儿是辩论。我一直非常喜欢辩论，特别是对我有利的那种辩论，比如像这个：罗斯福是残疾人，他靠轮椅生活，所以，他的雕像应该是他坐在轮椅中还是不是呢？最后，设计者决定让他披个大披风坐在那里，罩住全身，让人看不清楚他所坐的椅子。那就是他一生中出现在公众面前的形象。然而，其余的很多人觉得纪念物需要真实地还原历史，需要告知公众罗斯福的伤残。所以，最后他们在他的雕像的椅子上加了轮子。如果从前面看就看不清，只有从后面看的时候才能看到。我觉得这非常地有趣儿。然而，一些人还是不满意。于是，为解决这场辩论，在纪念公园入口处又摆放了一座雕塑，这个可以让人清楚地看得到轮椅。（这是一个令人称奇的解决争议的办法！我需要记住它！那么下一次当我必须得在两个电影之间做决定的时候，其实，我根本不需要决定！我只需要两个都看！）
JFK肯尼迪总统永不熄灭的火焰
请看图。仅仅是看着它们，神奇吧？这火焰看起来好像是一种神秘的精灵在约翰.F.肯尼迪总统的陵墓上跳舞，看着好像根本就没有连到从石头上伸出来的小管子上。事实上，如果这个管子破裂，火焰就会熄灭。
JFK代表着（我刚在上段说过）约翰.F.肯尼迪，美国最著名的总统之一。做为第35届总统，在罗斯福总统之后，他的总统任期只是短暂的一瞬间。肯尼迪是一个非常好的总统，世人普遍喜爱着他。在他46岁的时候，他于任上被暗杀。死后，他的妻子要求在他的陵墓上建造一个永不熄灭的火焰。他的陵墓将会成为最酷的一个陵墓！一个火焰，不分昼夜地燃烧……那可远比一个石像有吸引力得多。
我喜欢肯尼迪夫人得到这个火焰创意的过程。她曾经在哪本书里读到过这个创意，也在跟丈夫一起去过的另一个陵墓上看到过。这跟我得到一个灵感的过程很类似：灵感来自于我读过的一些什么还有我看过的一些什么。肯尼迪夫人一旦决定在她丈夫的陵墓上安放一个永不熄灭的火焰之后，就再没有什么力量能够阻止她去做这件事了。她丈夫的兄弟警告她不要这样做，并且她只有很短的时间去建造这个火焰（当然，实际上是工程师们建造一个火焰机），但她还是给做成了。在肯尼迪的下葬仪式结束时，火焰被点燃了，象征着……我不太清楚它到底象征着什么，但是它是一个非常强烈并值得纪念的象征（也许是象征着肯尼迪的精神在死后仍然活着?）。
不知道你会怎么想，但我觉得这绝对是超级酷。我一直都很迷恋火焰，而这个是我看过的最酷的火焰（虽然我还没有看到，但是不久我就能了）！永不熄灭的火焰在第一次建成几年后就重建了，我不清楚为什么。所有的网站都说它随着陵墓被移到了另外一个更为永久的地点。有一些关于是否允许在墓地燃烧火焰的辩论，但是因为肯尼迪和他的两个女儿所埋葬的地方实际上并不属于阿灵顿国家公墓，所以那是被允许的。
维护永不熄灭的火焰并不便宜。为了保证火焰持续地燃烧，一个月大约需要200美元的费用。永不熄灭的火焰的那个初始的、人造的点火系统被放在一个不受天气影响的盒子里，并且要从陵墓所在的地方埋到地下几英尺深。这个系统控制了火焰的燃气和氧气流，保证它在靠近燃气灶处可用高压电缆和点火电极的火星点燃（不管那是什么）。这个系统监控着火焰并且只在火焰要熄灭的时候才激活点火系统，所以它用不着不得不一直打火来确保火焰被点燃。它运转得相当好，直到2012年年末，火焰只偶然地熄灭过一到两次。
2012年后期，永不熄灭的火焰开始出现故障。自动点火系统开始出现听得见的卡嗒卡嗒声，没有人知道原因。2013年1月份，一个组织获得了35万美元的经费去升级这个永不熄灭的火焰。这个工作要将永不熄灭的火焰熄灭，然后在一边放一个临时的火焰来替代。那是自永不熄灭的火焰安装后头一次使用临时火焰替代。更换火焰时四周围着围栏。最后，在2013年5月17日，旧的火焰被一个升级版的永不熄灭的火焰取代了，而那个临时的火焰便不复存在了。
介绍了了这么多关于永恒的火焰的工作原理之后，我还是觉得这个火焰远不止是一个热和汽的化学反应那么简单。在我眼里，它是如此地美丽和迷人，也许，只是因为我对火焰情有独钟才会这样。
这两个纪念物都是需要在参观前做些研究的景点。事实上，我认为绝大多数的纪念碑、古迹和历史名胜也都需要事先做好研究。因为我做了研究，所以当我到了景点以后，就会联想到一些相关的事情，这可比只是到那里去看水和火要酷多了。在看到它们的时候，我就会知道它们代表着什么，也会知道两个纪念物背后的故事。越了解这些事情，我就越想去参观！
【小哭介绍背景】这篇小文翻译起来也有点辛苦，也许是因为我们最终放弃了这两个景点，没有在现场参观的经验，所以就觉得Susan写得不够清楚。关于罗斯福那四个分区的介绍，我还查了中文资料，感觉和Susan的介绍没有无缝链接起来。如果为了翻译还需要做更多的研究工作，说实话，那也不是我的初衷。时间有限，我必须要做取舍。就如同有些翻译不够精妙传神之类的，我只能译成这样，我不想在译文上花费大把的时间。至少在我眼里，Susan现在的小文并不是什么文学巨著，我想分享的只是她的表达能力和写作带给她的另一番天地而已，我的重点不在译文上。如果哪位文友能够把更好的译文句子贴在留言里，小哭这里感谢不尽！
Susan关于去看石头上刻字的说法，我本人也是同意的。在国内因为工作的关系，有机会参观很多地方。一到碑林一类的景点，我就觉得头大。看着有人津津有味儿地欣赏，我都不知道自己是在一边休息一下好呢，还是装模作样地评头论足一番好。后来在美国，一到参观艺术博物馆，就又出现了类似的感觉，我在一屋子一屋子的油画里，找不到可以欣赏的契入点。波士顿的艺术博物馆排名世界前几，那么好的机会，我只能欣赏到其中非常非常微小的部分。每当那种时候，我都觉得自身缺乏欣赏美的能力，不知道是因为从小缺少了什么东西的培养。
后来跟Susan去大西洋那个美国第一个公共海滩瑞末尔沙滩观看年度沙雕展，当Susan发出由衷的赞叹时，我赶紧问她赞什么。她说妈妈你看，这么宏大的城堡模型，竟然可以把门卫衣服上吊下来的流苏表现得如此精细，你不觉得了不起吗？噢，原来如此。后来再看她在艺术课制作的印度手纹在高中展览，我再一次问她，为什么有的同学的作品会被拿出来，有的不会，我看着也差不多啊！她说妈妈，你慢慢地看，他们很不相同。嗯，于是我知道，我和她有着不一样的眼睛！她的眼睛更能发现造物的美！也许正是因为如此，她才会在13岁不到，就巴巴地自己张罗着受洗了，相信她比我更能感受到造物主的那些无声的语言！我相信她能听到上帝的召唤。
她介绍的这两个纪念物，主要是来自于她对水和火的热爱，还有她对创造性思维的欣赏，没有多少关于两位总统的东西。而事实上，这两位总统，都是我非常非常喜爱的美国总统！我特别喜欢看人物传记，最喜欢的就是读研时在校图书馆找到的一本《美国总统传记》，后来也看过一些第一夫人的传记。我喜欢看他们奋斗期的故事，我喜欢看他们受委屈时的心态，我总是能够从那些输得起、打不死的名人传记中，看到他们身上的那一份坚强和忍耐，希望和等待，他们性格中的这部分内容极其地吸引我，然而，Susan却对此毫无兴趣儿。我借了那么多的儿童版人物传记给她看，不到我要停掉她的虚幻类书的阅读，她绝不会去读一个字的传记类书。我想过强迫，最后决定任其自然。现在八年级的老师强迫他们阅读非虚幻类书了，她说，妈妈，我一个小时才读了17页老师推荐的书，太枯燥了！嗯，不错，如果是我强迫，她非和我吵翻了不可。
这个暑假Susan写了这么多的小文，这是第一篇她在文中附了图的。所以，我也会把图附上。说真的，我读她的文章，不是在读文章中的字儿，我觉得我在读她的心和她的脑。我想借着她的文字钻到她的心里，看看她在思考什么，又是如何思考的。
附上英文原文：
Last time, I only wrote about three of the places I would be visiting in Washington D.C. Today, I’ll be writing about two more: the two presidential memorials. During our visit to Washinton D.C., we’ll be visiting the FDR memorial and the JFK Eternal Flame memorial. Those three names are all very familiar to me, but I often get FDR and JFK and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) mixed up. Even after reading so much about all of them, I still need a few seconds before I can remember which one’s which. One of my goals for this trip to Washington D.C. is that I’ll be able to better distinguish the three acronyms.
FDR Memorial
So, what does FDR stand for? FDR is the initials for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, America’s 32nd president. I don’t know very much about him, other than the fact that he was president during World War 2. Apparently, he did a very good job as president, or else he wouldn’t have gotten a memorial dedicated to himself. According to my research, he brought America out of the great depression, and helped end World War 2. Wow, he must’ve been really smart, to be able to do such great deeds. Just thinking about it gives me headaches. I can’t imagine the pressure he must’ve gotten from the world, and especially from America, about fixing the problems our country was experiencing. And he managed to fix them in the end! He surely deserves a memorial dedicated to his hard work.
I’m very exciting to see the FDR memorial, but not because of its historical significance. I’m not the type of person that cares too much about statues and things dedicated to important people in history. I don’t really understand what’s so cool about seeing a few pieces of stone that has some words carved on them. Isn’t it just the same as reading about them at home, and then taking a few seconds to remember the famous person? The important historical figures still gets the respect they deserves, and I get to be spared a long journey to see something that’s very utterly boring. Of course, that’s just my opinion.
The FDR memorial, though, is a bit more exciting than the usual statue and stone. That’s why I’m so eager to see it. As you can see from the first picture from the left above, there is a lot of water at the FDR memorial. Quite a lot of it. In fact, the waterfalls are an important part of the FDR memorial. They appear in order in different rooms of the memorial. There are four rooms in all that symbolizes Roosevelt’s four terms in office (four terms! That’s the most any US president ever served!), and each contains a waterfall. As the tourist moves from room to room, the waterworks get more and more complicated, reflecting the increasing complexity of a presidency marked by the vast upheavals of economic depression and world war.
The first big drop symbolizes the United States’ economy crashing and leading to the Great Depression. The multiple staircase drops symbolizes the The Tennessee Valley Authority dam-building project (whatever that is. I think it’s pretty important, since it’s included in the memorial). The chaotic waterfalls represent World War 2. The calm and still pool represent Roosevelt’s death. And last of all, a collection of all the falls to represent a recollection of Roosevelt’s presidency. Pretty cool, huh? Whomever’s idea it was to use the water to represent stuff, bravo!
Another thing that’s pretty interesting about the FDR memorial is the controversies. I’ve always liked controversies, especially controversies that have already been settled in my favor, like this one: FDR was disabled, he needed to rely on a wheelchair while he was alive. So, should his statue have him sitting in a wheelchair or not? In the end, the designers decided on just showing him sitting with a cloak draped around himself, obscuring the chair he was sitting on. That’s how he appeared to the public during his lifetime. However, many other people feel that the memorial needs to be historically accurate, and need to acknowledge Roosevelt’s disabilities. So, they later added wheels on the chair of the statue, hidden from view if seen from the front. They can only been see if you look at the statue from the back. I find this very funny. However, some people still aren’t satisfied, so, to settle the disputes, another statue was built in front of the entrance to the memorial, this one with the wheelchair clearly visible. (This is an amazing way to settle a disagreement! I need to remember this, so next time I have to decide between two movies, well, I won’t need to decide! I’ll just watch both!)
JFK Eternal Flame
Look at the pictures. Just look at them. Aren’t they amazing? The fire looks as if it’s some sort of mystical spirit dancing above the grave of John F. Kennedy, and it looks as if it’s not connect at all to that little tube poking out from the stone. When in reality, if the tube breaks, the fire would go out.
JFK stands for (I just said it in the above paragraph) John F. Kennedy, one of the United State’s most famous presidents. As the 35th president, his presidency is only a short while after FDR’s. Kennedy was a very good president, and generally liked by most people. He was assassinated at age of 46, while he was still in office, and after he died, his wife requested an Eternal Flame be built above his grave. That’s gotta be one of the coolest graves ever! A flame, burning day and night… that’s way more attractive than a stone statue.
I like how Mrs. Kennedy came up with the idea of the flame. She read about it in a book somewhere, and saw it at another grave she and her husband went to. That seems like how I would come up with an inspiration: something I read and something I saw. After Mrs. Kennedy decided to have an Eternal Flame placed on top of her husband’s grave, nothing could stop her. Her brother-in-law cautioned against it, and there was only a very short time left for her to build the flame (well, for the engineers to build the mechanics for the flame, actually), but she succeeded. At the end of the burial service for JFK, the flame was lit, symbolizing….. I’m not sure what exactly it symbolizes, but it’s a very strong and memorable symbol (for JFK’s “spirit living on after death”, maybe?).
I don’t know about you, but I just find this super-cool. I’ve always been obsessed with flames, and this is the coolest flame I’ve seen (I haven’t seen it yet, but I will, soon)! The Eternal Flame was rebuilt a few years after it was first built, I’m not sure why. All the website said was that it was moved to a different, more permanent location, along with the grave. There was some debate about whether the flame was allowed in the cemetery, but since the plot of land where Kennedy and his two daughters were buried in wasn’t really part of the Arlington National Cemetery, it was allowed.
Maintenance of the Eternal Flame isn’t cheap. It costs approximately $200 a month to keep the fire going. The Eternal Flame's original, custom-manufactured ignition system was contained in a weather-proof box and buried a few feet from the grave site. The system controlled the flow of gas and oxygen to the flame and kept it lit with a high-voltage cable and spark ignition electrode (whatever that is) near the gas burner. The system monitored the flame and activated the ignition system only when the flame was extinguished, so it didn’t have to spark all the time to keep the flame lit. It worked fairly well, with the flame extinguishing only once or twice, by accident, until late 2012.
In late 2012, the Eternal Flame began malfunctioning. The automatic ignition system began clicking audibly, and nobody knew why. On January of 2013, an organization was given 350,000 to upgrade the Eternal Flame. The work required that the permanent flame be extinguished, and a temporary flame displayed to one side. That was the first time a temporary flame was used since the permanent flame was installed. A fence surrounded the flame during the renovations. Finally, the old flame was transferred to the upgraded permanent Eternal Flame on May 17, 2013, and the temporary flame extinguished.
After all that information about how the Eternal Flame works, I still feel that the flame is something more than just a chemical reaction of heat and gas. It’s something that’s enchantingly beautiful. Or maybe it’s just me and my love for fire that’s making me feel this way.
These two memorials are both places that need to be researched first before visiting. Actually, I think most memorials and monuments and historic places should be researched first, because that way, when I go there, I would have something to connect to. It would be way cooler than just going there and seeing water and fire, because when I see them, I would know what they represent, and know the story behind the two memorials. The more I learn about these things, the more I want to go and visit them!
| 雨林 (2013-09-11 11:43:51) |
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好有天赋的小作家！翻译也贴切地有文采。 |
| 周小哭 (2013-09-11 13:21:27) |
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谢谢雨林这么帖心地鼓励！我很高兴在小宝上学开始，我就把时间利用起来了。虽然翻译得不够理想，可是却一直都得到了雨林的肯定。真是多谢了。 最近几天在做调查，看看这组小文的读者群情况。发现读者群的定位需要再细化，可能国内三十岁左右的妈妈们更对这类文章感兴趣。最好家有孩子，孩子还不大，妈妈们的经验还不够多，这样我的文章传递出去的信息才能够发挥作用。文轩上年纪比我小的文友太少了，这里的文友关心的话题和年青的妈妈们相差太大了。不过这里的妈妈们英文水平高，如果我译的有明显问题，我想应该会得到无私地指正的：） |