美国国家公共电台 NPR You Might Learn A 'Little' About Madame Tussaud In New Novel Based On Her Life

You Might Learn A 'Little' About Madame Tussaud In New Novel Based On Her Life

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Madame Tussaud is a familiar name. You might have visited one of her wax museums, but few people know anything about Madame Tussaud, like the fact that she was tiny. That is why a new novel based on her life is called "Little." It's by Edward Carey, who wrote and illustrated¹ the book. NPR's Lynn Neary met Carey at one of Madame Tussaud's wax museums, of course, and has this story.

LYNN NEARY, BYLINE²: We start in New York's Times Square because that's where the biggest Madame Tussaud's in the U.S. is located. Surrounded by massive video billboards³ and the cacophony⁴ of 42nd Street, it feels like the right setting for a museum filled with famous figures built from wax.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Madame Tussaud's - discount.

NEARY: A few doors down from the entrance, a woman hawks⁵ discount coupons⁶ for the wax museum. Writer Edward Carey points to the sign rising above her. Topping it is a huge, gold hand.

EDWARD CAREY: It's Marie Tussaud's enormous hand as if she was a genie⁷. She's suddenly become enormous, and she's holding a sign that says her name in flashing lights. I think it's just wonderful pointing out to everybody this is it. Madame Tussaud is here.

NEARY: Carey remembers visiting the original wax museum in London as a child.

CAREY: And it terrified me. I hated going there, and I never forgot it.

NEARY: Carey became fascinated with Madame Tussaud when he worked at the museum many years later. She seemed like a character from a fairy tale. A small woman, she fled the French Revolution, arrived in England with the wax heads of many of the famous people who had lost theirs under the guillotine and set up a museum, which became wildly successful.

CAREY: It's a strange fairy tale, but I feel it is the most extraordinary fairy tale, and it is a fairy tale about this little person and history.

NEARY: Tussaud began her career in wax under the tutelage of Dr. Philippe Curtius, who made body parts of wax for medical students. In the novel, the two moved to Paris and with the help of a despotic widow named Picot, Curtius expands his craft to the sculpting⁸ of heads, which they display in a converted monkey house for a fee. Later, Tussaud, who everyone calls Little, becomes a companion to a royal princess and lives in Versailles before the revolution. Carey did extensive research on the history of that period.

CAREY: And I got lost in the research, and I had to try and take myself back to how it felt working in the waxworks¹⁰, to how it was being with these dolls, about the atmosphere of the dolls, about the personalities¹¹ of the dolls themselves.

NEARY: Which is why we decided¹² to immerse ourselves in the world of these wax figures. The first stop on our tour - the A-list room, where you'll see the stars of the red carpet - Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Carrie Underwood - standing¹³ stock still as deafening¹⁴ dance music pounds around them. Visitors move in to stare and have their pictures taken with them.

CAREY: It's a very strange way of looking at humanity, and, of course, there's now a lady standing next to Anne Hathaway and putting on a smile and holding her arm. There's something both delightful¹⁵ but also very upsetting about it.

NEARY: Well, you said when you worked here that you liked being alone with the wax figures.

CAREY: Yeah. I loved being alone with the waxworks. It was my favorite, favorite moment of any day because you stand beside them and when there's nobody here, there is enough oxygen for the models to have own presence.

NEARY: The atmosphere changes as we leave the celebrities¹⁶ behind and move toward the rooms filled with historical figures - Amelia Earhart, Albert Einstein, the Kennedys. The original London museum, says Carey, was like the French Revolution brought to life. He remembers seeing some of the original wax heads made by Tussaud herself.

CAREY: Voltaire was a waxwork⁹ that she made when she was very young, and it was just amazing. Voltaire's toothless grin as an old man who looks like a monkey - it's an incredible face, and they had a different spirit because she was touching¹⁷ history. She knew these people.

NEARY: These strange recreations of human beings captured Carey's visual imagination. It got him thinking about writing and illustrating¹⁸ a book. But what really inspired him was Madame Tussaud's own self-portrait in wax.

CAREY: She's incredible, this tiny little Dickensian mollusk¹⁹ of a woman. She's wearing Victorian bombazine, and she looks kind of small and wise, and she is in charge. There's no doubt about it.

NEARY: Fiction, it turns out, was a good way to capture her because Carey says Madame Tussaud is an enigma²⁰. No one is sure how much of what she said about her life is true. And he says she died before photography was invented.

CAREY: Nobody ever took a photograph of her, which seems to me perfect - not her medium. She was wax.

NEARY: Edward Carey - his new novel, based on the life of Madame Tussaud, is called "Little." Lynn Neary, NPR News, Washington.

1 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

2 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。

3 billboards   

n.广告牌( billboard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Large billboards have disfigured the scenery. 大型告示板已破坏了景色。 来自辞典例句
• Then, put the logo in magazines and on billboards without telling anyone what it means. 接着我们把这个商标刊在杂志和广告看板上，却不跟任何人透漏它的涵意。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年4月号

4 cacophony   

n.刺耳的声音

参考例句：

• All around was bubbling a cacophony of voices.周围人声嘈杂。
• The drivers behind him honked,and the cacophony grew louder.后面的司机还在按喇叭，且那刺耳的声音越来越大。

5 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

6 coupons   

n.礼券( coupon的名词复数 )；优惠券；订货单；参赛表

参考例句：

• The company gives away free coupons for drinks or other items. 公司为饮料或其它项目发放免费赠券。 来自辞典例句
• Do you have any coupons? 你们有优惠卡吗？ 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

7 genie   

n.妖怪，神怪

参考例句：

• Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心灵中最阴暗最软弱的部分有一个精灵在说话。
• He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。

8 sculpting   

雕刻( sculpt的现在分词 )； 雕塑； 做（头发）； 梳（发式）

参考例句：

• The quality of the result is determined by a Craft( sculpting) check. 由手艺（刻）定决定结果质量如何。
• Another difficulty in the process of ice sculpting is time control. 冰雕过程中的另一项困难是时间的掌控。

9 waxwork   

n.蜡像

参考例句：

• The waxworker brought a new waxwork into the room.蜡制品工人把一个新蜡像搬进了屋。
• She's only a waxwork.她只是一座蜡像罢了。

10 waxworks   

n.公共供水系统；蜡制品，蜡像( waxwork的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Madame Tussaud is one of most famous waxworks in the world. 杜莎夫人蜡像馆是世界上最著名的蜡像馆之一。 来自互联网
• A lot of people in the waxworks will get the axe. 蜡像馆里的很多人将被解雇。 来自互联网

11 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 deafening   

adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
• The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。

15 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

16 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

17 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

18 illustrating   

给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• He upstaged the other speakers by illustrating his talk with slides. 他演讲中配上幻灯片，比其他演讲人更吸引听众。
• Material illustrating detailed structure of graptolites has been etched from limestone by means of hydrofluoric acid. 表明笔石详细构造的物质是利用氢氟酸从石灰岩中侵蚀出来。

19 mollusk   

n.软体动物

参考例句：

• I swear I have never seen such a mollusk with thorns all over its body.我敢发誓我从来没有见过这种全身长满棘刺的软体动物。
• The colour varies with the mollusk and its environment.颜色因母体及其环境的不同而异。

20 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。