Mark Twain was born in a small Missouri village near the Mississippi River2 in 1835. At thattime, Andrew Jackson3 was the president of the country. Abraham Lincoln was still a youngfarm laborer in Illinois. The first railroad had been built seven years before. The IndustrialRevolution was at hand. 4 The economic collapse of American prosperity, called the Panic of1837, still lay ahead. This was also the literary period later called the“New England Renaissance”

　　Mark Twain was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the firstwinter. But with his mother’s tender care , he managed to survive. He had been born in a tinytwo-room cabin. Eight people lived together there . He had four brothers and sisters. A slavegirl lived with them too.

　　As a boy, Mark Twain caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play practical jokes on allof his friends and neighbors. The nature of his jokes often led to violence . He hated to go toschool, and he constantly ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearbyMississippi. He was fascinated by that mighty river. He liked to sit on the bank of the river forhours at a time and just gaze at the mysterious islands and the passing boats and rafts. Hewas nearly drowned nine different times. He learned many things about the river during thosedays. He learned all about its history and the unusual people who rode up and down5 it. Henever forgot those scenes and those people. He later made them part of the history of Americain his books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn6.

　　閱讀自測

　　Ⅰ. This is the summary of the passage. Try to fill in the blanks with proper words :

　　Mark Twain was born in a small village near the __________River in 1835. He was not ahealthy baby, so he was not expected to live __________ the first winter. Thanks to hismother’s __________care, he managed to survive . He has been born in a tiny two-room__________ . __________people lived together there. He had __________brothers and sistersand a girl live with them too. When he was a boy, he used to play __________jokes on hisfriends and neighbors. He hated to go to school but was __________ by the mighty river. Helearned all about its history and __________the unusual people who rode __________ and__________ it. Later in his works Tom Sawyer and he made them part of American history.

　　Ⅱ. Quizzes:

　　1. What has four eyes ( Ⅰ) but cannot see?

　　2. It is said that river is richer than any other things. Why?

　　參考答案

　　Ⅰ. Mississippi / through / tender / cabin / Eight / four / slave / practical / fascinated up / down /Huckleberry Finn

　　Ⅱ. 1. Mississippi. 2. Because on each side of the river, there is one bank.

　　參考譯文

　　密西西比河上的舵手

　　這位聲名顯赫的人物12 歲前在一所由原木搭建的小木屋學校上學, 他的正規教育僅 此而已。盡管如此, 他仍成為他那一代最著名的文學家。

　　馬克· 吐溫, 1835 年出生于密蘇里州的一個小村莊, 靠近密西西比河。那時, 安德 魯· 杰克遜是這個國家的總統。亞伯拉罕· 林肯仍是伊利諾斯州的一位年輕的農場工人。 第一條鐵路七年前就已建成。第一次工業革命迫在眉睫。美國繁榮經濟的崩潰, 即“ 1837 年大恐慌”, 也即將發生。這也是后來在文學史上被稱為“ 新英格蘭文藝復興”的時期。

　　馬克· 吐溫從小體弱多病。事實上, 誰也沒料到他能活過第一個冬天。然而, 在母親 的悉心照料下, 他還是活了下來。馬克· 吐溫出生在一幢僅兩室的狹小木屋里。那屋里擠了 八口人, 他有四個兄弟姐妹, 還有一個女奴和他們一起住。

　　馬克· 吐溫小時候給父母惹了很多麻煩。他老是對他所有的朋友和鄰居制造惡作劇。 他的惡作劇常常招來一頓暴打。他討厭上學, 還不斷地從家里跑出來, 總是朝著附近的密 西西比河方向走去。馬克· 吐溫被那條浩瀚壯觀的河流迷住了: 他喜歡在岸邊一坐幾個小 時, 目不轉睛地盯著一個個神秘的島嶼和過往的船只與竹筏。有九次他都差點溺水而亡。 在那些日子里, 馬克· 吐溫學了很多有關這條河的知識, 了解了它的歷史和河上來來往往 不同尋常的人。他永遠都忘不了那些景色和那些人。后來, 馬克· 吐溫把那一切作為美國 歷史的一部分寫進了他的著作《湯姆· 索耶歷險記》和《哈克貝里· 費恩歷險記》。

　　閱讀導釋

　　1. 馬克·吐溫———19 世紀后期美國批判現實主義文學的卓越代表、杰出的幽默諷刺家。 他的本名叫塞繆爾·蘭霍恩·克萊門斯( Samuel Langhorne Clemens) 。馬克·吐溫只是 他的筆名。他曾做過水手。筆名源自水手們測量水深時呼喊的術語。“mark twain”原意為“記下( mark) , 兩英尋( twain, 兩英尋等于十二英尺) ”。在這個深度, 領航員就可 以放心地領航了。于是, 塞繆爾就把這一響亮的呼喊聲當作自己的筆名以作永久的紀 念。

　　2. 密西西比河, 美國主要河流, 也是世界上最長的河流之一, 全長6 020 公里, 支流遍及從 阿巴拉契亞山脈到落基山脈之間的21 個州, 流域面積約322 萬平方公里, 約占美國國土 面積十分之四。“密西西比”, 印第安語即“ 大河”, 美國黑人愛把它稱為“ 老人河”。它 素有“百河之父”之稱。

　　3. 安德魯·杰克遜( 1767—1845) , 美國第七任總統, 美國歷史上第一位生于“ 小木屋”的總 統。他粗獷好斗, 綽號“老核桃”, 曾在新奧爾良大敗英軍, 是西部新興勢力的象征。

　　4. Industrial Revolution, 工業革命, 是18 世紀60 年代從英國開始的產業革命。詞組at hand 的意思是“ 即將到來, 即將發生”, 下文出現的lay ahead 同它意思相近。同hand 組成的短 語很多, 如: have an openhand ( 慷慨, 大方) ; at close hand ( 在附近, 在近處) ; wash one’s hands of ( 洗手不干, 斷絕關系) 。諺語“ 人多好辦事”即Many hands make light work。

　　5. 詞組up and down 不只是字面上“ 上上下下”的意思, 這里是“ 來來回回, 往返”的含義。 這個詞組可作“沿⋯⋯來回, 在各處”解, 如: His eyes moved up and down the rows of people, looking for his son’sface. ( 他來回掃視一排排的人, 尋找他的兒子

　　6.《湯姆·索耶歷險記》取材于美國內戰前的社會生活, 作家通過對自己童年生活的回顧 來引起人們關注現實生活。《哈克貝里·費恩歷險記》是一部反對種族歧視, 探索黑人 命運問題的長篇小說。該書是馬克·吐溫名垂青史之作, 美國作家海明威曾稱贊它為美 國歷史上所有書中最好的一本。兩部作品都是馬克·吐溫的代表作, 均以兒童冒險經歷 為主要線索, 它們被稱為姐妹篇。