Using Language
語言應用
Reading and Discussing
閱讀和討論
The Rest of Elias' Story
伊萊亞斯的故事續篇
You cannot imagine how the name of Robben Island made us afraid.
你無法想象羅本島這個名字聽起來多么令我們恐懼。
It was a prison from which no one escaped.
那是一座任何人也逃不出去的監獄。
There I spent the hardest time of my life.
在那里我度過了人生中最艱難的歲月。
But when I got there Nelson Mandela was also there and he helped me.
但當我到達時曼德拉也在那里,他又幫了我。
Mr Mandela began a school for those of us who had little learning.
曼德拉先生為我們那些沒有上過學的人開辦學校。
He taught us during the lunch breaks and the evenings when we should have been asleep.
他在午餐后的休息時間和晚上本來該睡覺的時間教我們學習。
We read books under our blankets and used anything we could find to make candles to see the words.
我們躲在毯子下讀書,我們用可以找到的任何東西作蠟燭來看書。
I became a good student.
我成為了一名好學生。
I wanted to study for my degree but I was not allowed to do that.
我想為我的學位而學習,但是別人不允許我這樣做。
Later, Mr Mandela allowed the prison guards to join us.
后來,曼德拉先生讓監獄加入我們。
He said they should not be stopped from studying for their degrees.
他說他們不應該被剝奪通學習獲得學位的權利。
They were not cleverer than me, but they did pass their exams.
他們并不比我聰明,但通過了考試。
So I knew I could get a degree too.
這讓我知道我也能獲得學位。
That made me feel good about myself.
這使我自我感覺很好。
When I finished the four years in prison, I went to find a job.
我完成四年監獄的時候,我去找一份工作。
Since I was better educated, I got a job working in an office.
因為我受過比較好的教育,我得到了一份辦公室的工作。
However, the police found out and told my boss that I had been in prison for blowing up government buildings.
然而,警方發現了,告訴了我的老板,說我因為炸毀政府大樓而坐過牢。
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.
我有二十年沒有工作,直到曼德拉先生和非國大1994年掌權。
All that time my wife and children had to beg for food and help from relatives or friends.
在此期間,我的妻兒只能從親戚朋友處討飯吃,并祈求幫助。
Luckily Mr Mandela remembered me and gave me a job taking tourists around my old prison on Robben Island.
幸虧曼德拉先生還記得我,給了我一份工作,讓我帶領游客參觀羅本島上我住過的那所舊監獄。
I felt bad the first time I talked to a group.
第一次給游客講解時,我感覺很不好。
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懼的情景。
I remembered the beatings and the cruelty of the guards and my friends who had died.
我想起了獄卒的毆打和暴行,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.
我覺得我做不了這樣的工作。但我的家人鼓勵我。
They said that the job and the pay from the new South African government
他們說,從南非政府的到這份工作和薪餉,
were my reward after working all my life for equal rights for the Blacks.
是我畢生為爭取黑人的平等權利而斗爭所獲得的回報。
So now I am proud to show visitors over the prison, for I helped to make our people free in their own land.
現在我還能給參觀者介紹有關監獄的情況,為此我感到非常驕傲,因為我曾經為黑人在自己的國土上爭取權利而奮斗過。