美国国家公共电台 NPR Looking 'Beyond The Big House' And Into The Lives Of Slaves

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The question of how to remember the ugliest parts of U.S. history continues to divide the country. Last month's violence over Confederate monuments in Charlottesville, Va., was the latest reminder¹ of that. Charleston, S.C., has its own difficult racial history, which includes the murder of nine people two years ago at a black church by a white supremacist. This weekend, historians are highlighting the enslaved people who spent their lives in the shadows of Charleston's sprawling² mansions³. NPR's Sarah McCammon has more.

SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE⁴: Anne Blessing⁵ grew up in a classic antebellum Charleston home with double-decker porches and gorgeous brickwork. For years, it's been a stop on a popular historic home tour hosted by the Historic Charleston Foundation.

ANNE BLESSING: Normally people want to see the fancier parts of the house.

MCCAMMON: This weekend, for the first time, visitors will skip the formal areas and go straight to the kitchen. With its wooden beams and massive hearth⁶, it's a favorite hangout spot for the family. But as Blessing has learned, it's also where enslaved people once spent most of their lives toiling⁷ over hot fires.

BLESSING: If you were the cook, you probably just slept on a pallet in this room and maybe with your whole family as well.

MCCAMMON: Joseph McGill is with The Slave Dwelling⁸ Project, which is a partner for the tour called Beyond The Big House. He says many former slave quarters are hidden amongst Charleston's majestic⁹ homes.

JOSEPH MCGILL: So one would have to go physically¹⁰ beyond the front entrance. And in examining the depth of the lot, you can see the carriage houses, the kitchens.

MCCAMMON: Past tours have discussed some former slave quarters, but they've never been the focus before even though the city was central to the U.S. slave trade. Historians estimate some 40 percent of enslaved Africans passed through Charleston's port. Their labor¹¹ has left literal marks on the city, including Anne Blessing's home.

BLESSING: I've always loved the bricks. They're sort of - like, they change colors in different light, and they kind of contract and expand with the weather.

MCCAMMON: What she didn't realize until she met Joseph McGill was that some of the indentations in the bricks are the fingerprints¹² of the slaves who made them.

MCGILL: You know, that's the evidence of the enslaved ancestors reaching out to us saying, we were here; tell our stories. And when I go and I put my fingers in those prints, my fingers are way too big, which is an indication that there were children - enslaved children, you know, making those bricks.

MCCAMMON: McGill says it's important to preserve and remember the lives and work of enslaved people whose names have often been forgotten. Blessing agrees even if it means facing unpleasant truths about the history of her city and her home.

BLESSING: I think it's important that as a country we talk about it. It's such a major part of our history. It's so much of how we built our country. And I think anything that you don't talk about for a long time is going to come out at some point.

MCCAMMON: The tour of former slave quarters begins this year with eight properties, a number organizers hope will grow in years to come. Sarah McCammon, NPR News, Charleston.

1 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

6 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

7 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

8 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

9 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

10 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》