2022年11月03日 VOA慢速英語：屬于托馬斯愛迪生的鋼琴顯示出不尋常的痕跡

 

Thomas Edison may have found an unusual way to enjoy piano music. As someone played, the famous inventor, who had hearing problems, would move close to the instrument and bite it.
托馬斯愛迪生可能已經(jīng)找到了一種不同尋常的方式來欣賞鋼琴音樂。當有人演奏時，這位有聽力問題的著名發(fā)明家會靠近樂器并咬它。
 
Pressing his teeth into the wood of phonographs and pianos helped Edison experience the music in his skull. Or in his own words, it allowed him to "hear through my teeth."
用牙齒咬住留聲機和鋼琴的木頭，幫助愛迪生體驗了他頭骨中的音樂?；蛘哂盟约旱脑拋碚f，這讓他“聽得見”。
 
Robert Friedman recently showed off marks on a Steinway piano that was once owned by Edison. The piano has groups of small marks above the keyboard. Keys are what the piano player strikes to make sounds.
羅伯特弗里德曼最近展示了愛迪生曾經(jīng)擁有的施坦威鋼琴上的標記。鋼琴在鍵盤上方有一組小標記。琴鍵是鋼琴演奏者用來發(fā)出聲音的東西。
 
Friedman, who buys and sells Steinways, purchased the piano last year, and said he was surprised by the tooth marks left by the inventor of the phonograph, a music playing device. Friedman is now looking for the right home for the instrument.
買賣施坦威的弗里德曼去年購買了這架鋼琴，他說他對留聲機（一種音樂播放設(shè)備）的發(fā)明者留下的牙印感到驚訝。弗里德曼現(xiàn)在正在為該儀器尋找合適的歸宿。
 
"I believe that it belongs somewhere where many, many, many people can see it," Friedman said.
“我相信它屬于很多、很多、很多人可以看到它的地方，”弗里德曼說。
 
Edison bought the Model "B" Ebony from Steinway & Sons in 1890 for $725.
愛迪生于 1890 年以 725 美元的價格從施坦威公司購買了 Model "B" Ebony。
 
Paperwork with the sale includes the words "office furniture," suggesting it was sent to his laboratory in New Jersey. The piano "for some reason unknown to me ... gives better results than any so far tried," Edison wrote the company. "Please send bill with lowest price."
出售的文件包括“辦公家具”字樣，表明它被送到了他在新澤西州的實驗室。這架鋼琴“出于某種我不知道的原因......提供了比迄今為止任何嘗試過的更好的效果，”愛迪生在公司寫道。“請以最低價格寄出賬單。”
 
Edison invented the phonograph in 1877. When he bought the piano 13 years later, he was experimenting with sound recording. Edison owned the instrument for many years, so it is possible it was used in early recordings.
愛迪生于 1877 年發(fā)明了留聲機。13 年后他買了這架鋼琴時，正在試驗錄音。愛迪生擁有該樂器多年，因此它有可能用于早期錄音。
 
There is no known photograph of Edison biting this piano. But he was known to bite into phonographs and pianos to help him experience music as his hearing worsened. His daughter once remembered that a guest cried at the sight of Edison biting on to a piano as someone played it.
沒有已知的愛迪生咬這架鋼琴的照片。但眾所周知，當他的聽力惡化時，他會咬著留聲機和鋼琴來幫助他體驗音樂。他的女兒曾經(jīng)記得，一位客人看到愛迪生在有人彈鋼琴時咬著鋼琴哭了。
 
Edmund Morris wrote a 2019 biography of Edison's life. In it, he wrote that Edison said: "I hear through my teeth, and through my skull." The inventor added: "I bite my teeth into the wood and then I get it good and strong."
埃德蒙·莫里斯（Edmund Morris）在 2019 年寫了愛迪生生平傳記。在其中，他寫道愛迪生說：“我通過牙齒和頭骨聽到。” 發(fā)明者補充說：“我把牙齒咬進木頭里，然后我就讓它變得又好又結(jié)實。”
 
Friedman said he has seen thousands of Steinway pianos over 50 years. "I've never seen that anywhere," he said about the possible tooth marks.
弗里德曼說，50 多年來，他已經(jīng)看過數(shù)千架施坦威鋼琴。“我從來沒有在任何地方看到過這種情況，”他談到可能的牙印時說。
 
Friedman bought the piano for about $45,000 in early January 2021. He did not notice the marks at first.
弗里德曼在 2021 年 1 月上旬以約 45,000 美元的價格買下了這架鋼琴。起初他并沒有注意到這些痕跡。
 
His friend Charles Frommer is a musician and recording history lover. He came to Friedman's house in New York's Hudson Valley to tune the piano. Frommer noticed the marks and told him "those are Edison's bite marks."
他的朋友 Charles Frommer 是一位音樂家和唱片歷史愛好者。他來到紐約哈德遜河谷的弗里德曼家為鋼琴調(diào)音。Frommer 注意到這些痕跡并告訴他“那些是愛迪生的咬痕。”
 
Friedman calls himself the Steinway hunter. He finds and buys the famous pianos from people and then sells them, usually to dealers or rebuilders. But this piano is more complex.
弗里德曼稱自己為施坦威獵人。他從人們那里找到并購買著名的鋼琴，然后將它們出售給經(jīng)銷商或翻新商。但這架鋼琴更復(fù)雜。
 
Friedman does not want it to go back into private hands because of its connection to Edison. He has yet to find a historical group that would buy the piano, which he is offering to sell for what it cost him.
弗里德曼不希望它回到私人手中，因為它與愛迪生有聯(lián)系。他還沒有找到愿意購買這架鋼琴的歷史集團，他愿意以他的價格出售。
 
The Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey, passed up a chance to buy the piano from its earlier owner in 2020 for several reasons. These included limited space, cost and the fact that some original parts were replaced since Edison owned it, museum curator Jerry Fabris said in an email.
新澤西州西奧蘭治的托馬斯愛迪生國家歷史公園因幾個原因放棄了在 2020 年從其前任所有者那里購買鋼琴的機會。博物館館長杰里·法布里斯（Jerry Fabris）在一封電子郵件中說，其中包括有限的空間、成本以及自愛迪生擁有它以來更換了一些原始零件的事實。
 
Friedman is still looking for a home for the piano. A film also is possible, as is having the piano recorded for a special instrument recording library.
弗里德曼仍在尋找鋼琴的歸宿。電影也是可能的，就像為特殊樂器錄音庫錄制的鋼琴一樣。
 
Edison's listening method has been tested on the piano. Not wanting to mark the instrument any further, Frommer said he and others tried biting the instrument when small wooden pieces were placed on the piano to protect it.
愛迪生的聽力方法已經(jīng)在鋼琴上進行了測試。Frommer 不想再在樂器上做任何標記，他說他和其他人試圖在鋼琴上放置小木片以保護樂器時咬住樂器。
 
"We were able to replicate the effect," Frommer said. "And yeah, you do hear it in your skull."
“我們能夠復(fù)制這種效果，”Frommer 說。“是的，你確實在你的頭骨里聽到了它。”