評(píng)論
打印
So Thomas Coram determined to tap some of that new-found wealth to create a foundling hospital,
托馬斯·考勒姆遂決定把新大陸的財(cái)富 用以建立育嬰堂以收留被遺棄的新生兒
a place where babies could be deposited,legitimate or illegitimate,
那里的嬰兒不論是寄送 婚生亦或私生
and would be given a decent chance of survival.
都將有希望存活
For nearly 20 years, he made himself a nuisance to his friends,
20年間 他成了朋友中的討厭鬼
petitioning the king and everyone else until the funds got raised.
他輾轉(zhuǎn)化緣 從國(guó)王到平民 直至籌資完畢
In 1741, the hospital opened its doors to its first children.
1741年 育嬰堂迎來(lái)第一個(gè)孤兒
Not surprisingly, it couldn't cope with demand.
不出所料 果然供不應(yīng)求
To decide which children could and couldn't get places,there was a heartbreaking lucky dip.
人們只好通過(guò)揪心的摸彩桶 決定誰(shuí)家孩子能夠擁有一席之地
Mothers lined up to draw wooden balls out of a bag.
母親們輪流從袋子里摸木球
A white ball, and your baby was in.
摸到白球 便意味著孩子被接納
A red ball, you were on the reserve list.
摸到紅球 則要等上一段時(shí)間
A black ball... Well,you were back on the streets.
如果摸到黑球 對(duì)不起 你們被拒之門(mén)外了
Inside this cabinet are some of the saddest things left to us by the 18th century.
這個(gè)展柜里是一些 18世紀(jì)遺留下來(lái)的頗為傷感的物件
These are the keepsake tokens given to their babies by desperate mothers
這些是絕望的母親們 在把孩子交給育嬰堂
just at the point when they'd leave them to the tender mercies of the Foundling Hospital.
聽(tīng)天由命的最后時(shí)刻 留給孩子的紀(jì)念品
There's a whole world of sorrow and love in this extraordinary cabinet.
這個(gè)不同尋常的展柜里 彌漫著傷痛與母愛(ài)
It speaks not just of the destitute.
然而它并非只表現(xiàn)了那時(shí)的窘迫
Some of the pieces, like this beautiful mother-of-pearl heart
有些物件 比如這個(gè)漂亮的心形珍珠母貝
with the initials, presumably of the baby,
刻有名字的縮寫(xiě) 大概是孩子的名字
suggest that some of these mothers were quite well-to-do.
說(shuō)明有些母親生活條件相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)
