The breathtaking courage of Harriet Tubman - Janell Hobson

翻译人员: Liu Qi 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

Escaping slavery;

摆脱奴隶身份，

risking everything to save her family;

赌上一切，只为拯救家人，

leading a military raid;

领导军队突袭，

championing the cause of women’s suffrage;

投身妇女选举权事业，

these are just a handful of the accomplishments

作为美国最勇敢的英雄之一，

of one of America’s most courageous heroes.

这些只是她所取得的 成就中的一小部分。

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross in Dorchester County, Maryland,

哈莉特 · 塔布曼（Harriet Tubman）， 原名阿拉明塔 · 罗斯（Araminta Ross），

出生于 19 世纪 20 年代早期的 马里兰州里的多切斯特郡。

in the early 1820s.

Born into chattel slavery, Araminta, or Minty, was the fifth of nine children.

生而为奴的阿拉明塔，小名明蒂， 在九个孩子之中排行第五。

Two of Minty’s older sisters were sold to a chain gang.

明蒂的两个姐姐被卖， 成了带着镣铐干活的苦力。

Even as a small child,

从小开始，

Minty was hired out to different owners,

明蒂就被雇给两个不同的主人，

who subjected her to whippings and punishment.

受到鞭打和惩罚。

Young Minty’s life changed forever on an errand to a neighborhood store.

一次，年幼的明蒂去附近商店跑腿， 从此，她的人生永远地改变了。

There, an overseer threw a two-pound weight at a fugitive enslaved person,

在那个商店，监督员向一个 黑人逃奴砸去一块两磅的砝码，

missed, and struck Minty instead.

没有砸中逃奴， 却意外砸中了明蒂。

Her injury caused her to experience sleeping spells,

受伤之后，她仿佛中了睡魔的诅咒，

which we know of today as narcolepsy,

就是我们现在所说的嗜睡症，

for the rest of her life.

一辈子都昏昏欲睡。

Minty’s owner tried to sell her,

明蒂的主人想把她卖掉，

but there were no buyers for an enslaved person who fell into sleeping spells.

但没有买主想要购买 中了睡魔诅咒的奴隶。

She was instead put to work with her father, Ben Ross,

所以她被安排到跟着她爸爸， 本 · 罗斯（Ben Ross），一起干活，

who taught her how to lumber.

她爸爸教会她伐木。

Lumbering increased Minty’s physical strength

伐木使明蒂的身体强壮起来，

and put her in touch with free black sailors who shipped the wood to the North.

让她接触到将木材运往 北方的自由黑人水手。

From them, Minty learned about the secret communications

从他们身上， 明蒂学会了贸易线路一带

that occurred along trade routes,

秘密沟通方式，

information that would prove invaluable later in her life.

后来证明这些信息 在她生命中十分重要。

In this mixed atmosphere of free and enslaved blacks working side by side,

在自由黑人和奴役黑人 并肩工作的混合环境下，

Minty met John Tubman, a free black man she married in 1844.

明蒂遇到了自由黑人约翰 · 塔布曼 （John Tubman），并于 1844 年结婚。

After marriage, she renamed herself Harriet, after her mother.

婚后按照母亲的名字， 她改名为哈丽特。

Harriet Tubman’s owner died in 1849.

1849 年，哈莉特 · 塔布曼的主人去世。

When his widow planned to sell off her enslaved human beings,

当他的遗孀打算把奴隶卖掉时，

Harriet feared she would be sold away from everyone she loved.

哈莉特害怕被卖到远方， 被迫离开她爱的所有人。

She had heard of an “underground railroad,"

她听说有一条“地下铁路”，

a secret network of safe houses,

有一些秘密的安全屋，

boat captains,

船长，

and wagon drivers

和马车车夫

willing to harbor fugitive enslaved people on their way north.

愿意将逃亡的奴隶带到北方去。

So Tubman fled with two of her brothers, Ben and Harry.

所以塔布曼和她的两个兄弟， 本和哈利，一起逃走了。

They eventually turned back, fearing they were lost.

因为害怕迷路， 他们最终回头了。

But in one of her sleeping spells,

但是在一次入魔般的睡梦中，

Harriet dreamed that she could fly like a bird.

哈丽特梦见她能像鸟一样飞翔。

Looking down below, she saw the path to liberation.

从天上往下看时， 她看到了通往自由的道路。

And in the autumn of 1849, she set out on her own,

在 1849 年秋天，她独自出发，

following the North Star to Pennsylvania, and to freedom.

跟着北极星指引， 去了宾夕法尼亚州，获得了自由。

Tubman returned to the South 13 times to free her niece,

塔布曼先后 13 次返回南方， 解救了她的侄女、

brothers,

兄弟、

parents,

父母、

and many others.

和许多其他人。

She earned the nickname Black Moses

她获得了黑人摩西的绰号，

and worked diligently with fellow abolitionists

并与废奴主义者一起努力工作，

to help enslaved people escape,

帮助奴隶逃脱，

first to the North, and later to Canada.

先到北方，后来到加拿大。

Harriet Tubman worked as a Union army nurse,

内战中，哈莉特 · 塔布曼 在联军中担任护士、

scout,

侦探、

and spy during the Civil War.

和间谍。

In 1863, she became the first woman in United States history

1863 年，她成为了美国历史上第一位

to plan and lead a military raid,

策划和领导了军事突袭的女性，

liberating nearly 700 enslaved persons in South Carolina.

在南卡罗来纳州解放了近 700 名奴隶。

After the war, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

内战之后，美国宪法第 13 次修正案

legally abolished slavery,

从法律上废止了奴隶制度，

while the 14th expanded citizenship

之后第 14 次修正案扩大了公民权，

and the 15th gave voting rights to formerly enslaved black men.

第 15 次修正案赋予了 曾被奴役地黑人男性们投票权，

But she was undaunted, and she persisted.

但她毫不畏惧，不屈不挠。

She raised funds for formerly enslaved persons

她为曾被奴役的人们筹集资金，

and helped build schools and a hospital on their behalf.

并帮助他们建立学校和医院。

In 1888, Tubman became more active in the fight for women’s right to vote.

1888 年，塔布曼更加积极地参与 争取妇女投票权的斗争。

In 1896, she appeared at the founding convention

1896 年， 她现身于 在华盛顿特区召开的

of the National Association of Colored Women in Washington D.C.

黑人女性全国联盟创始大会。

and later at a woman’s suffrage meeting in Rochester, New York.

之后又现身于纽约罗切斯特举行的 女性选举权会议上。

There she told the audience:

会上，她告诉观众：

“I was a conductor on the Underground Railroad,

“我曾是地下铁路的列车长，

and I can say what many others cannot.

我可以说其他人不能说的事情。

I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger.”

我开的火车从来没有脱轨， 也从来没有弄丢一名乘客。”

As her fame grew,

随着她的名气增长，

various friends and allies helped her in the fight

许多朋友和盟友帮助她争取

to collect a veteran’s pension for her service in the Union Army.

在联邦军服务后应得的 退伍军人退休金。

In 1899, she was finally granted $20 a month.

1899 年，她终于获得了 每月 20 美元的退休金。

In a fitting twist of fate,

命运扭转，

the United States Treasury announced in 2016

美国财政部在 2016 年宣布，

that Tubman’s image will appear on a redesigned twenty dollar bill.

塔布曼的形象将出现在 重新设计的二十美元钞票上。

Harriet Tubman died on March 10, 1913.

哈里特 · 塔布曼 于1913年3月10日去世。

Even on her deathbed at age 91,

即便 91 岁的高龄躺在床上，

she kept the freedom of her people in mind.

她仍然心系人民的自由。

Her final words were:

她临终的最后一句话是：

"I go away to prepare a place for you.”

我要去为你们准备自由的净土。