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

譯者: Helen Chang

Sometime in the early 1750s,

1750 年代初

a 22-year-old man named Benjamin Banneker

22 歲的男子班傑明 · 班納克

sat industriously carving cogs and gears out of wood.

勤快地用木頭雕刻成齒輪

He pieced the parts together

一個個拼湊在一起

to create the complex inner working of a striking clock

造出響鐘內部複雜的機件

that would, hopefully, chime every hour.

希望它能每小時報時

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

幫到他的只是來自懷錶的靈感

and his own calculations.

和他自己的計算

And yet, his careful engineering worked.

儘管如此，他精心的作品成功運轉了

Striking clocks had already been around for hundreds of years,

會敲響的時鐘雖已存在數百年

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

但班納克做的鐘可能是美國第一個

and it drew fascinated visitors from across the country.

吸引全國各地入迷的人來參觀

In a show of his brilliance,

他的卓越展現在

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

那個鐘在他的餘生持續報時

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

1731 年馬里蘭州巴爾的摩 農場裡的自由民生下了他

from his earliest days,

自幼時起

the young Banneker was obsessed with math and science.

小小的班納克便對數學和科學著迷

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

他對知識越來越渴望

他自學天文學、

mathematics,

數學、工程

engineering,

and the study of the natural world.

和研究大自然

As an adult, he used astronomy to accurately predict

成年後的他用天文學

準確預測了月球和太陽運行的大事

lunar and solar events,

like the solar eclipse of 1789,

像是 1789 年的日食

and even applied his mathematical skills to land use planning.

甚至還用數學技巧來規劃土地的使用

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

這些才華吸引了巴爾的摩當地商人 安德魯 · 埃利科特的目光

who was also the Surveyor General of the United States.

後者是美國的測量師總監

Recognizing Banneker's skills in 1791,

在 1791 年認識到班納克的技能

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

埃利科特任命他為 一高聲望新專案的助理

planning the layout of the nation's capitol.

規劃國會大廈的佈局

Meanwhile, Banneker turned his brilliant mind to farming.

同時，班納克把聰明才智用在耕種上

He used his scientific expertise to pioneer new agricultural methods

他以科學專長開創新農法

用於自家的煙草耕作

on his family's tobacco farm.

對自然界的著迷

His fascination with the natural world

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

使他研究蝗災

Then in 1792, Banneker began publishing almanacs.

他自 1792 年起開始發布年曆

These provided detailed annual information on moon and sun cycles,

提供詳細的月球 和太陽週期的年度資訊、

weather forecasts,

天氣預報、

and planting and tidal time tables.

種植和潮汐的時間表

Banneker sent a handwritten copy of his first almanac

他把首本年曆的手抄本

to Virginia's Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.

送了一份給維吉尼亞州出身的 國務卿湯瑪斯 · 傑佛遜

This was a decade before Jefferson became president.

時間是在傑佛遜成為總統的十年前

Banneker included a letter imploring Jefferson to

班納克在裡頭放了封信，懇求傑佛遜

"embrace every opportunity to eradicate

「抓住每一個根除那一長串

that train of absurd and false ideas and opinions"

荒謬、錯誤想法和意見的機會

that caused prejudice against black people.

那些想法和意見 造成反對黑人的偏見」

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

傑佛遜讀了年鑑 並回信讚美班納克的成果

Banneker's correspondence with the future president

班納克與未來總統的通信

is now considered to be one of the first documented examples

現被視為是美國記錄有案的

of a civil rights protest letter in America.

公民權利抗議信首例

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

他在餘生為這使命而戰

sharing his opposition to slavery through his writing.

通過寫作分享反對奴隸制度

In 1806 at the age of 75,

1806 年，75 歲的班納克

Banneker died after a lifetime of study and activism.

在終生學習和貫徹行動主義後長眠

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

葬禮當天，他的房子神秘地燒毀了

and the majority of his life's work,

他一生的大部分成果也灰飛煙滅

including his striking clock, was destroyed.

連同他那個會報時的時鐘

But still, his legacy lives on.

但他的遺產長存