The Road to Literacy
识字之路
Frederic Douglass
弗雷德里克·道格拉斯
My new mistress Mrs. Auld proved to be all she appeared when I first met her at the door, a woman of the kindest heart and finest feelings. She was entirely unlike any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not approach her as I was used to approaching other white ladies. My early instructions were all out of place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, disturbed her. She did not consider it unmannerly for a slave to look her in the face. Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music.
结果表明,我的新主人奥尔德太太的表现如我首次在门口遇到她时一样——善良而仁慈。她与我以前见过的其他白人女性完全不同。我不能用已习惯的与其他白人女性交往的方式与她打交道。我以往的做法都无济于事。卑躬屈膝是人们认为奴隶该具有的品质,但这却让她感到不安。她认为,奴隶直视她并不是不礼貌。她的笑容无比甜蜜,声音犹如恬静的音乐。
Soon after I went to live with the Aulds, she very kindly started to teach me the A, B, C, and then help me in learning to spell words of three or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade her to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. "If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger," he said.
我与奥尔德一家生活在了一起,不久之后,她开始非常友善地教我字母,随后又教我拼写有三四个字母的单词。正在我取得进步的时候,奥尔德先生发现了此事。他立刻禁止她继续教我,并告诉她,教一个奴隶读书是不合法的,也是不安全的。他说:“如果你给奴隶一寸,他就会要一尺。一个奴隶什么都不应该知道,除了服从主人、照主人说的去做。最好的奴隶也会被学习给毁掉。”