The exceptional life of Benjamin Banneker - Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua

翻译人员: zhengyu chi 校对人员: Yulin Li

Sometime in the early 1750s,

十八世纪五十年代初的某一天

a 22-year-old man named Benjamin Banneker

一个名叫本杰明·班纳克的22岁小伙子

sat industriously carving cogs and gears out of wood.

坐在桌前认真地雕刻木制齿轮

He pieced the parts together

他把零部件拼起来

to create the complex inner working of a striking clock

想要制成一个内置复杂的报时钟

that would, hopefully, chime every hour.

希望它每小时都能鸣响报时

All he had to help him was a pocket watch for inspiration

那时，他只能依靠一支给他带来启发的怀表

and his own calculations.

以及自己的计算

And yet, his careful engineering worked.

尽管如此，他精巧的设计依然成功了

Striking clocks had already been around for hundreds of years,

报时钟早在几百年前就已经存在

but Banneker's may have been the first created in America,

但是班纳克是第一个在美国制造出报时钟的人

and it drew fascinated visitors from across the country.

时钟吸引着整个国家的人前来观看

In a show of his brilliance,

在班纳克的余生中，时钟持续报时

the clock continued to chime for the rest of Banneker's life.

这也是班纳克才华的佐证之一

Born in 1731 to freed slaves on a farm in Baltimore, Maryland,

班纳克生为一个自由人，于1731年出生在马里兰州巴尔的摩的一个农场之家

from his earliest days,

早年时期

the young Banneker was obsessed with math and science.

小班纳克就痴迷于数学和科学

And his appetite for knowledge only grew as he taught himself astronomy,

他的求知欲也越来越强，他自学天文学

mathematics,

数学

engineering,

工程学

and the study of the natural world.

和自然世界的知识

As an adult, he used astronomy to accurately predict

成年后，他通过天文知识精确预测

lunar and solar events,

月球和太阳活动

like the solar eclipse of 1789,

如1789年的日蚀现象

and even applied his mathematical skills to land use planning.

甚至运用数学技巧来规划土地使用

These talents caught the eye of a local Baltimore businessman, Andrew Ellicott,

这些才华吸引了巴尔的摩当地一位名叫安德鲁•埃利科特的商人的眼球

who was also the Surveyor General of the United States.

他是时任美国测量总署署长

Recognizing Banneker's skills in 1791,

发现了班纳克的才能后，埃利科特于1791年

Ellicott appointed him as an assistant to work on a prestigious new project,

任命班纳克为其助理，负责一个名誉世界的新项目

planning the layout of the nation's capitol.

规划美国国会的布局

Meanwhile, Banneker turned his brilliant mind to farming.

同时，班纳克将天资运用到了农耕上

He used his scientific expertise to pioneer new agricultural methods

他运用科学知识，率先将新的农耕方法

on his family's tobacco farm.

运用在自家的烟草农场上

His fascination with the natural world

他痴迷于自然世界

also led to a study on the plague life cycle of locusts.

也因此开始研究蝗虫祸患周期

Then in 1792, Banneker began publishing almanacs.

1792年，班纳克开始出版年鉴

These provided detailed annual information on moon and sun cycles,

里面详细记载着每年的日月周期信息

weather forecasts,

天气预报

and planting and tidal time tables.

以及种植和潮汐时间表

Banneker sent a handwritten copy of his first almanac

班纳克将其第一本年鉴的抄本

to Virginia's Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

送给了弗吉尼亚州州长托马斯·杰斐逊

This was a decade before Jefferson became president.

在那之后的十年，杰斐逊成为了美国总统

Banneker included a letter imploring Jefferson to

班纳克在附信中恳请杰斐逊

"embrace every opportunity to eradicate

“迎接每一个机会去根除

that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions"

充满荒唐和谬误想法的列车“

that caused prejudice against black people.

正是它们造成了对黑人的偏见

Jefferson read the almanac and wrote back in praise of Banneker's work.

杰斐逊阅读了年鉴并回信肯定了班纳克的努力

Banneker's correspondence with the future president

班纳克与未来总统的通信

is now considered to be one of the first documented examples

被视为最早一批有记载的

of a civil rights protest letter in America.

美国民权抗议信之一

For the rest of his life, he fought for this cause,

他的余生都在为此抗争

sharing his opposition to slavery through his writing.

通过写作抗议奴隶制度

In 1806 at the age of 75,

1806年，享年75岁的班纳克离世

Banneker died after a lifetime of study and activism.

结束了一生的学习和民权行动

On the day of his funeral, his house mysteriously burned down,

在他出殡的那一天，他的房屋神秘地被烧毁了

and the majority of his life's work,

其毕生的作品大部分也都化为灰烬

including his striking clock, was destroyed.

包括那报时木钟

But still, his legacy lives on.

但是，他给人类社会留下的财富会一直延续