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(6)

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

并讓自己也成為了學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 整個歷史可以一直

to well before the Civil War, back to 1826

追溯到南北戰(zhàn)爭之前 追溯到1826年

the year a child named Emperor Williams was born

這一年 一個叫作皇帝·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

但在成長過程中 他設法自學了讀寫

to create a pass that allowed him to

并自己寫了一張通行證

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

問他 你是在哪學會寫這個的

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

請大家想象一下皇帝聽到主人質問時的心理狀態(tài)

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

要知道 當時奴隸學習讀寫是非法的

So who knows what kind of punishment he may have gotten

誰知道他會受到怎樣的懲罰

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

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

黑人和白人團結在一起

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)建了一所學校

Emperor was one of the original signers of the charter

當時 皇帝就是學校章程的最初簽署者之一

They decided to name the school New Orleans University

他們決定將學校命名為新奧爾良大學

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

雖然學校的大多數(shù)課程都只有高中或以下水平

oh, their aspirations were much higher than that

但他們的壯志要遠高于此

And when they laid the cornerstone for that

當他們在圣查爾斯大街

university's first building down on St. Charles Avenue

為學校的第一座建筑奠基時

Emperor got a chance to speak

皇帝終于迎來了發(fā)言機會