美国名人 作家 马克·吐温.docx

美国名人作家马克吐温MarkTwain:OneofAmerica'sBestKnownandBestLovedWritersplaystopmutemaxvolume00:00-15:41repeatByShelleyGollust2006-2-18(MUSIC)VOICEONE:mBarbaraKlein.VOICETWO:AndmBobDoughtywithPeopleinAmericainVOASpecialEnglish.TodaywetellaboutoneofAmerica'sbest-knownwriters,MarkTwain.Wealsotalkabouthisfamousbook,"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn."(MUSIC)VOICEONE:MarkTwainwrote"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn"ineighteeneighty-four.Sincethen,thebookhasbeenpublishedinatleastsixtylanguages.SomepeoplesayitisthebestbookevercreatedbyanAmericanwriter.Americanstudentsstillread"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn."Andparents,teachersandliteraryexpertsstilldebatetheissuesdiscussedinthebook.VOICETWO:ThewriterwhobecameMarkTwainwasbornSamuelLanghorneClemensineighteenthirty-five.HegrewupinHannibaLMissouriontheMississippiRiver.Afterhisfatherdiedineighteenforty-seven,youngSamuelwenttoworkasanassistanttoapublisher.TenyearsIatechebecameapilotonasteamboatthatsailedontheMississippi.Heheardtheriverboatworkerscalloutthewords"marktwain!"Thatwasameasureforthedepthofwater.Ineighteensixty-one,theAmericanCivilWarputanendtosteamboattrafficontheMississippi.SoClemenstraveledwestandbecameareporterfornewspapersinNevadaandCalifornia.VOICEONE:1.atehewrotefunnystoriesandcalledhimselfMarkTwain.Twainbecamefamousforhisstory,"TheCelebratedJumpingFrogofCalaverasCounty"ineighteensixty-five.Ittellsaboutajumpingcompetitionamongfrogs.Twainalsotraveledalotandbeganwritingbooksabouthistravels.HisstoriesaboutatriptoEuropeandtheMiddleEastwerepublishedin"TheInnocentsAbroad."AndhisstoriesaboutlifeinthewesternUnitedStatesbecamethebookcalled"RoughingIt."Ineighteenseventy,hemarriedOliviaLangdonandmovedtoHartford,Connecticut.Duringtheeighteeneighties,hewrotebooksforchildren,suchas"ThePrinceandthePauper."IttellsaboutapoorboywhotradesidentitieswithamemberofEngland'srulingfamily.Twainalsowrote"LifeontheMississippi."Thisbookdescribeshisdaysasasteamboatpilotandhisreturntotherivertwentyyearslater.VOICETWO:MarkTwainwasalreadyasuccessfulwriterbeforehebecamefamousasapublicspeaker.Overtheyears,hehadinvestedalotofmoneyinunsuccessfulbusinesses.Ineighteenninety-three,hefoundhimselfdeeplyindebt.Sotoearnmoney,hetraveledaroundtheworldgivinghumoroustalks.Hisspeechesmadepeoplelaughandremembereventstheyhadexperienced.However,hislaterlifewasnotahappyone.Twoofhisdaughtersdied.Hiswifediedinnineteen-oh-fourafteralongsickness.SomecriticsthinkMarkTwain'slaterworksweremoreseriousbecauseofhissadness.Hediedofheartfailureinnineteenten.(MUSIC)VOICEONE:MarkTwainwasthefirstwritertousethespeechofcommonAmericansinhisbooks.HeshowedthatsimpleAmericanEnglishcouldbeasfineaninstrumentforgreatwritingasmorecomplexlanguage.Throughhisbooks,hecapturedAmericanexperiencesasnootherwriterhad.ManyofthestoriestakeplaceinHannibal,Missouri.Thesmallwoodenhousewherehelivedasaboystillstandsthere.Nexttothehouseisawoodenfence.ItisthekinddescribedinTwain'sbook,"TheAdventuresofTomSawyer,"publishedineighteenseventy-six.Inthatstory,Tomhasbeentoldtopaintthefence.Hedoesnotwanttodoit.Butheactsasifthejobisgreatfun.Hetricksotherboysintobelievingthis.Histrickissosuccessfulthattheyagreetopayhimmoneytoletthemfinishhiswork."TheAdventuresofTmSawyer"isconsideredoneofthebestbooksaboutanAmericanboy'slifeintheeighteenhundreds.TomSawyer'sgoodfriendisHuckleberry,or"Huck,"Finn.MarkTwaintellsthisboy'sstoryin"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn."Huckisapoorchild,withoutamotherorhome.Hisfatherdrinkstoomuchalcoholandbeatshim.Huck'ssituationhasfreedhimfromtherestrictionsofsociety.Heexploresinthewoodsandgoesfishing.Hestaysoutallnightanddoesnotgotoschool.Hesmokestobacco.Huckrunsawayfromhome.HemeetsJim,ablackmanwhohasescapedfromslavery.TheytraveltogetheronaraftmadeofwooddowntheMississippiRiver.Huckdescribesthetrip:READER:"Itwaslovelytoliveontheraft.Otherplacesseemsocrampedupandsmothery,butaraftdon't.Youfeelmightyfreeandeasyandcomfortableonaraft.Sometimeswe'dhavethatwholerivertoourselvesforthelongesttime.Wehadtheskyupthere,allspeckledwithstars,andweusedtolayonourbacksandlookupatthem,anddiscussaboutwhethertheywasmadeoronlyjusthappened.Jim,heallowedtheywasmade,butIallowedtheyhappened;Ijudgeditwouldhavetooktoolongtomakesomany."(MUSIC)VOICEONE:MarkTwainstartedwriting"HuckleberryFinn"asachildren'sstory.Butitsoonbecameserious.Thestorytellsaboutthesocialevilofslavery,seenthroughtheeyesofaninnocentchild.Huck'sideasaboutpeoplewereformedbythewhitesocietyinwhichhelived.So,atfirst,hedoesnotquestionslavery.Huckknowsthatimportantpeoplebelieveslaveryisnatural,thelawofGod.So,hethinksitishisdutytotellJim'sownerswheretofindhim.HereispartofthestoryafterHuckdecideshemustdothis.READER:"IfeltgoodandallwashedcleanofsinforthefirsttimeIhadeverfelt.AndIknowedIcouldpraynow.ButIdidn'tdoitstraightofbutlaidthepaperdownandsettherethinking-thinkinghowgooditwasallthishappenedsozandhownearIcometobeinglostandgoingtohell.Andwentonthinking.AndIseeJimbeforemeallthetime;inthedayandinthenight-time,sometimesmoonlight,sometimesstorms,andwea-floatingalong,talkingandsingingandlaughing.ButsomehowIcouldn'tseemtostrikenoplacestohardenmeagainsthim,butonlytheotherkind."HuckcomestounderstandthatJimisagoodman.HefindshecannotcarryouthisplantotellJim'sownerswheretofindhim.Instead,hedecidestohelpJimescape.Hedecidestodothis,evenifGodpunisheshim.Huck'smoralsearchispartofTwain'shumor.Huck'sheartleadshimtodotherightthing,evenwheneverythinghehasbeentaughttellshimitiswrong.Huck'snatureisgood,buthehasnoideaofit.TwaintellsusmorethroughHuck'svoicethanHuckhimselfknows.VOICEONE:IttookMarkTwainlongertowrite"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn"thananyofhisotherbooks.Hestartedwritingineighteenseventy-six,butputthestoryawayafterabouttwoyearsofwork.Hereturnedtoitineighteeneighty-three.Itwaspublishedthenextyear.Fromthebeginning,thebookwashotlydebated.Someearlycriticspraiseditsrealismandhonesty.ButtheleadingcriticsofTwain'stimehatedit.TheyobjectedtothepersonalityofHuck-arough,dirtyanddisobedientboy.TheywereinsultedbyTwain'sattacksonthecommonlyacceptedmoralsandtraditionsofwhitesociety.AndtheydislikedthewayTwainusedthelanguageofacommon,uneducatedpersontotellthestory.Nowriterhadeverdonethatbefore.VOICETWO:Thedebateover"HuckleberryFinn"re-openedinrecentyears,butfordifferentreasons.Thebookusestheracistexpressionsofitstime.Sosomepeoplesayreadingitistoopainfulandinsultingforblackchildren.TheyknowthatTwainwasreallyattackingracism.Butheattackedindirectly,andwithhumor.Sotheyfeelyoungpeoplewillnotunderstandwhathewasattemptingtodo.AfewAmericanschoolshavebannedthebookforyoungchildren.Afewhavebanneditforallstudents.Someschoolsusedaversioninwhichallracistwordshavebeenremoved.Otherpeoplesayyoungpeoplecanunderstand"HuckleberryFinn"iftheystudyitwithagoodteacher.Theysaythebookremainsoneofthebestdenunciationsofracismeverwritten.VOICEONE:Thereisnolongeranydebateabouttheimportanceof"TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn"inAmericanliterature.Innineteenthirty-five,ErnestHemingwaywrote:"AllmodernAmericanliteraturecomesfromonebookbyMarkTwaincalled'HuckleberryFinn.'Therewasnothingbefore.Andtherehasbeennothingasgoodsince."(MUSIC)VOICETWO:ThisprogramwaswrittenbyShelleyGollust.CatyWeaverwasourproducer.DougJohnsonreadthepartofHuckleberryFinn.mBobDoughty.VOICEONE:AndmBarbaraKlein.JoinusagainnextweekforPeopleinAmericainVOASpecialEnglish.