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Jay was overwhelmed with emotion. "I started looking at faces and features.
杰伊激动地不知所措。我开始看着人们的脸和特征。
I'm looking for the physical connection to our DNA. Just taking it in," he says.
我在寻找着我们DNA中的身体联系。尽情体会吧，他说。
"You're kind of almost dazed because you find yourself in a situation that most African Americans really believe you can never step into,
“你几乎有种茫然的感觉，因为你发现自己处于一个处境，一个大多数美国人都真的觉得你永远不会进入的处境，
That can never happen, and that's to find the part of your DNA that comes from Africa."
这永远都不会发生，就是找到你来自非洲的DNA。
Once Jay composed himself and got out of the car, people cheered and chanted his name.
杰伊让自己冷静下来，从车里走出来后，人们就开始欢呼，不断喊着他的名字。
He smiled and waved while walking through the crowd. When he and his interpreter reached the palace,
他走过人群时，面带微笑，挥舞着双手。当他和他的口译到达宫殿时，
He received a quick lesson in royal etiquette—what he should do when the king entered and how he should address Beninese royalty.
他很快就学到了皇室礼节-当国王进来时他应该做什么，以及他应该如何称呼贝宁皇亲。
In the throne room, the king welcomed Jay home, and they spoke about his trip through their interpreters.
在王宫里，国王欢迎杰伊回家，他们通过翻译谈论了他的旅行。
Later that night, Jay participated in a ritual that was to show whether his ancestors would accept him into the family.
那天晚上，杰伊参加了一个仪式，用来展示他的祖先是否会接受他这个家人。
(Luckily, they did.) How Jay's royal ancestors came to America from Africa remains a mystery.
（幸运的是，他们接受了。）杰伊的皇室祖先是如何从非洲去到美国仍是一个谜。
Benin was once home to one of West Africa's biggest slave ports.
贝宁曾是西非最大的奴隶港。
African royalty would sell war captives into slavery,
非洲皇室会把战俘卖为奴隶，
And some would allow royal family members to travel with European merchants to the New World, where they would usually end up being enslaved.
还有一些会允许皇室成员与欧洲商人一起前往新大陆，在那里他们通常会被奴役。
Jay's Beninese relatives told him the royal family of Allada would not have sold their own people into slavery,
杰伊的贝宁亲戚告诉他阿拉达王室不会把自己的人民卖为奴隶，
But they couldn't tell him how his ancestors had ended up on a slave ship.
但是他们不知道他们的祖先如何上了奴隶船。
He is still grappling with being a descendant of slaves and people who led others into slavery,
他仍在努力克服作为奴隶的后代以及使他人变成奴隶的人们的问题。
But that knowledge doesn't keep him from embracing his Beninese heritage.
但是这些东西并没有阻止他接受贝宁的传统。
"i've stepped into my identity," he says. "I can point to a place on the map and say,
他说，“我已经进入了我的身份。我可以指着地图上的一个地方说，
'The Speights family comes from here, right here.' We're a royal family. We have a history.
史倍茨家族来自这里，就是这里。我们是皇室家庭，我们有历史。
We're tied into a much larger narrative." In fact, Jay has continued to deepen his connection to his homeland.
我们已经进到一个更大的故事里。实际上，杰伊一直在努力加深他和故乡的联系。
When they met, the king gave him "princely duties": Once he got back to Maryland,
他们相遇时，国王给了他高贵的职责：一旦他回到马里兰州，
He was to look for ways to bring clean water to the village surrounding the palace in Allada and to promote the kingdom in the United States.
他要寻找把干净的水带到阿里达宫殿周围村庄的方法，促进王国在美国的发展。
Now Jay is partnering with the Rotary Club of Alexandria West in Alexandria, Virginia, to raise money to build wells in the village.
现在杰伊正与弗吉尼亚州亚历山德里亚的西亚历山德里亚扶轮社合作，为村里建水井筹集资金。
He also serves as an ambassador to the kingdom's diaspora, searching for others who have DNA from Allada (primarily through GED Match) and introducing them to their ancestral home.
他现在还是王国以外的大使，寻找拥有阿里达DNA的人（主要通过GED Match数据库），并且把他们介绍到祖先的家中。
After all, not everyone can be lucky enough to be handed the king's phone number.
毕竟，不是每个人都足够幸运，可以得知国王的电话号码。
