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Unit 5
第五单元
Nelson Mandela- A Modern Hero
纳尔逊·曼德拉— 一位当代英雄
Reading
阅读
Elias'Story
伊莱亚斯的故事
My name is Elias.
我的名字叫伊莱亚斯。
I am a poor black worker in South Africa.
我是南非的一个穷苦的黑人工人。
The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life.
第一次见到纳尔逊·曼德拉的时候，是我一生中非常艰难的时期。
I was twelve years old.
当时我才12岁。
It was in 1952, and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice.
那是在1952年，曼德拉是我寻求帮助的一位黑人律师。
He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems.
他为那些穷苦黑人提供法律指导。
He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.
他十分慷慨地给予我时间，我为此非常感激。
I needed his help because I had very little education.
由于我所受的教育很少，所以我需要他的帮助。
I began school at six.
我六岁开始上学。
The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away.
我仅仅在那里读了两年的学校有三公里远。
I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare.
我不得不辍学，因为我的家庭无法继续支付学费和交通费。
I could not read or write well.
我既不太会读，也不怎么会写。
After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine.
几经周折，我才在一家金矿找到一份工作。
However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg.
然而在那个时候，你要想住在约翰内斯堡就非得要有身份证不可。
Sadly I did not have one because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.
糟糕的是我没有这个证件，因为我不是在那里出生的，我很担心我是不是会失业。
The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest.
曼德拉给予我帮助的那一天是我一生中最高兴的日子。
He told my how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg.
他告诉我要想在约翰内斯堡立住脚，应当如何获取所需证件。
I became more hopeful about my future.
我对自己的未来又充满了希望。
I never forgot how kind Mandela was.
我永远也忘记不了他对我的恩情。
When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could.
当他组织了非国大青年联盟时，我马上就参加了这个组织。
He said: “The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress,
他说：“过去30年来所出现的大量法律剥夺我们的权利，阻挡我们的进步，
until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.”
一直到今天，我们还处在几乎什么权利都没有的阶段。”
It was the truth.
他说的是事实。
Black people could not vote or choose their leaders.
当时黑人没有选举权，他们无权选择他们的领导人。
They could not get the jobs they wanted.
他们不能做自己想要做的工作。
The parts of town in which they had to live were decided by white people.
他们所能住的城区都是由白人决定的。
The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa.
他们被打发去住的城外地区是南非最贫穷的地区。
No one could grow food there.
在那儿，没有人能够种庄稼。
In fact as Nelson Mandela said:
事实上，就像纳尔逊·曼德拉所说的：
“we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government.
“我们被置于这样一个境地：要么我们被迫接受低人一等的现实，要么跟政府作斗争。
We chose to attack the laws.
我们选择向法律进攻。
We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed,
首先我们用和平的方式来破坏法律，而当这种方式也得不到允许时，
only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.
只有到这个时候，我们才决定用暴力反抗暴力。”
As a matter of fact, I do not like violence, but in 1963, I helped him blow up some government buildings.
事实上，我并不喜欢暴力，但是在1963年的时候，我帮助他炸毁了一些政府大楼。
It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison.
那是很危险的事情，因为如果我被抓住了，可能就会被关进监狱。
But I was happy to help because I knew it would help us achieve our dream of making black and white people equal.
但是，我乐于帮忙，因为我知道，这是为了实现我们的黑人和白人平等的梦想。
