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Unforgettable Miss Bessie
令人难忘的贝茜老师
Carl T. Rowan
卡尔·T. 罗恩
She was only about five feet tall and probably never weighed more than 110 pounds,
贝茜老师只有五英尺高，体重可能从来没有超过110镑，
but Miss Bessie was a towering presence in the classroom.
但她却是我们班里举足轻重的人物。
She was the only woman tough enough to make me read Beowulf and think for a few foolish days that I liked it.
她是唯一一位严格到能让我读《贝奥武甫》的老师。而且有那么几天，我还真傻乎乎地认为我喜欢这部史诗。
From 1938 to 1942, when I attended Bernard High School in McMinnville, Tenn.,
从1938年到1942年我在田纳西州麦克明维尔市的伯纳德高中就读期间，
she taught me English, history, civics—and a lot more than I realized.
贝茜老师教过我英语、历史、公民学，并且远远不止这些。
I shall never forget the day she scolded me into reading Beowulf.
我永远忘不了她责备我，并让我读《贝奥武甫》的那一天。
"But Miss Bessie," I complained, "I ain't much interested in it."
“贝茜老师，我对它并不感兴趣，”我抱怨道。
"Boy," she said, "how dare you say 'ain't' to me! I've taught you better than that."
她说：“小伙子，你怎么敢在我面前说ain’t？我教过你该怎么说。”
"Miss Bessie," I pleaded,
“贝茜老师，”我争辩道，
"On the football team, if I go around saying '"it isn't' and 'they aren't,' the guys are gonna laugh me off the team."
“在足球队里如果我说it isn't或they aren't，那帮人会笑话我，会把我赶出足球队的。”
"Boy," she responded, "you'll play football because you have guts.
她回答说：“小伙子，你参加足球队是因为你有勇气。
But do you know what really takes guts?
你知道真正需要勇气的是什么吗？
Refusing to lower your standards to those of the crowd.
不愿把自己的标准降低到和那帮人一样。
It takes guts to say you've got to live and be somebody fifty years after all the football games are over."
在所有的足球比赛都结束了的50年之后，你要成为一个大人物，要出人头地生活50年，说出这样的话需要勇气。”
