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Using Language
语言应用
Reading and Discussing
阅读和讨论
The Rest of Elias' Story
伊莱亚斯的故事续篇
You cannot imagine how the name of Robben Island made us afraid.
你无法想象罗本岛这个名字听起来多么令我们恐惧。
It was a prison from which no one escaped.
那是一座任何人也逃不出去的监狱。
There I spent the hardest time of my life.
在那里我度过了人生中最艰难的岁月。
But when I got there Nelson Mandela was also there and he helped me.
但当我到达时曼德拉也在那里，他又帮了我。
Mr Mandela began a school for those of us who had little learning.
曼德拉先生为我们那些没有上过学的人开办学校。
He taught us during the lunch breaks and the evenings when we should have been asleep.
他在午餐后的休息时间和晚上本来该睡觉的时间教我们学习。
We read books under our blankets and used anything we could find to make candles to see the words.
我们躲在毯子下读书，我们用可以找到的任何东西作蜡烛来看书。
I became a good student.
我成为了一名好学生。
I wanted to study for my degree but I was not allowed to do that.
我想为我的学位而学习，但是别人不允许我这样做。
Later, Mr Mandela allowed the prison guards to join us.
后来，曼德拉先生让监狱加入我们。
He said they should not be stopped from studying for their degrees.
他说他们不应该被剥夺通学习获得学位的权利。
They were not cleverer than me, but they did pass their exams.
他们并不比我聪明，但通过了考试。
So I knew I could get a degree too.
这让我知道我也能获得学位。
That made me feel good about myself.
这使我自我感觉很好。
When I finished the four years in prison, I went to find a job.
我完成四年监狱的时候，我去找一份工作。
Since I was better educated, I got a job working in an office.
因为我受过比较好的教育，我得到了一份办公室的工作。
However, the police found out and told my boss that I had been in prison for blowing up government buildings.
然而，警方发现了，告诉了我的老板，说我因为炸毁政府大楼而坐过牢。
So I lost my job.
于是我失去了我的工作。
I did not work again for twenty years until Mr Mandela and the ANC came to power in 1994.
我有二十年没有工作，直到曼德拉先生和非国大1994年掌权。
All that time my wife and children had to beg for food and help from relatives or friends.
在此期间，我的妻儿只能从亲戚朋友处讨饭吃，并祈求帮助。
Luckily Mr Mandela remembered me and gave me a job taking tourists around my old prison on Robben Island.
幸亏曼德拉先生还记得我，给了我一份工作，让我带领游客参观罗本岛上我住过的那所旧监狱。
I felt bad the first time I talked to a group.
第一次给游客讲解时，我感觉很不好。
All the terror and fear of that time came back to me.
回想起了以前所有的恐怖和令人畏惧的情景。
I remembered the beatings and the cruelty of the guards and my friends who had died.
我想起了狱卒的殴打和暴行，我想起了我那死去的朋友。
I felt I would not be able to do it, but my family encouraged me.
我觉得我做不了这样的工作。但我的家人鼓励我。
They said that the job and the pay from the new South African government
他们说，从南非政府的到这份工作和薪饷，
were my reward after working all my life for equal rights for the Blacks.
是我毕生为争取黑人的平等权利而斗争所获得的回报。
So now I am proud to show visitors over the prison, for I helped to make our people free in their own land.
现在我还能给参观者介绍有关监狱的情况，为此我感到非常骄傲，因为我曾经为黑人在自己的国土上争取权利而奋斗过。
