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Unit 5
第五單元
Nelson Mandela- A Modern Hero
納爾遜·曼德拉— 一位當代英雄
Reading
閱讀
Elias'Story
伊萊亞斯的故事
My name is Elias.
我的名字叫伊萊亞斯。
I am a poor black worker in South Africa.
我是南非的一個窮苦的黑人工人。
The time when I first met Nelson Mandela was a very difficult period of my life.
第一次見到納爾遜·曼德拉的時候，是我一生中非常艱難的時期。
I was twelve years old.
當時我才12歲。
It was in 1952, and Mandela was the black lawyer to whom I went for advice.
那是在1952年，曼德拉是我尋求幫助的一位黑人律師。
He offered guidance to poor black people on their legal problems.
他為那些窮苦黑人提供法律指導。
He was generous with his time, for which I was grateful.
他十分慷慨地給予我時間，我為此非常感激。
I needed his help because I had very little education.
由于我所受的教育很少，所以我需要他的幫助。
I began school at six.
我六歲開始上學。
The school where I studied for only two years was three kilometers away.
我僅僅在那里讀了兩年的學校有三公里遠。
I had to leave because my family could not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare.
我不得不輟學，因為我的家庭無法繼續支付學費和交通費。
I could not read or write well.
我既不太會讀，也不怎么會寫。
After trying hard, I got a job in a gold mine.
幾經周折，我才在一家金礦找到一份工作。
However, this was a time when one had got to have a passbook to live in Johannesburg.
然而在那個時候，你要想住在約翰內斯堡就非得要有身份證不可。
Sadly I did not have one because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would become out of work.
糟糕的是我沒有這個證件，因為我不是在那里出生的，我很擔心我是不是會失業。
The day when Nelson Mandela helped me was one of my happiest.
曼德拉給予我幫助的那一天是我一生中最高興的日子。
He told my how to get the correct papers so I could stay in Johannesburg.
他告訴我要想在約翰內斯堡立住腳，應當如何獲取所需證件。
I became more hopeful about my future.
我對自己的未來又充滿了希望。
I never forgot how kind Mandela was.
我永遠也忘記不了他對我的恩情。
When he organized the ANC Youth League, I joined it as soon as I could.
當他組織了非國大青年聯盟時，我馬上就參加了這個組織。
He said: “The last thirty years have seen the greatest number of laws stopping our rights and progress,
他說：“過去30年來所出現的大量法律剝奪我們的權利，阻擋我們的進步，
until today we have reached a stage where we have almost no rights at all.”
一直到今天，我們還處在幾乎什么權利都沒有的階段。”
It was the truth.
他說的是事實。
Black people could not vote or choose their leaders.
當時黑人沒有選舉權，他們無權選擇他們的領導人。
They could not get the jobs they wanted.
他們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.
他們所能住的城區都是由白人決定的。
The places outside the towns where they were sent to live were the poorest parts of South Africa.
他們被打發去住的城外地區是南非最貧窮的地區。
No one could grow food there.
在那兒，沒有人能夠種莊稼。
In fact as Nelson Mandela said:
事實上，就像納爾遜·曼德拉所說的：
“we were put into a position in which we had either to accept we were less important or fight the government.
“我們被置于這樣一個境地：要么我們被迫接受低人一等的現實，要么跟政府作斗爭。
We chose to attack the laws.
我們選擇向法律進攻。
We first broke the law in a way which was peaceful; when this was not allowed,
首先我們用和平的方式來破壞法律，而當這種方式也得不到允許時，
only then did we decide to answer violence with violence.
只有到這個時候，我們才決定用暴力反抗暴力。”
As a matter of fact, I do not like violence, but in 1963, I helped him blow up some government buildings.
事實上，我并不喜歡暴力，但是在1963年的時候，我幫助他炸毀了一些政府大樓。
It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could be put in prison.
那是很危險的事情，因為如果我被抓住了，可能就會被關進監獄。
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，我樂于幫忙，因為我知道，這是為了實現我們的黑人和白人平等的夢想。
