VOA慢速英語: 200年后，托馬斯?杰斐遜的藏品仍讓人震撼

Two hundred years after the U.S. Congress purchased a huge collection of books belonging to former President Thomas Jefferson, it remains the centerpiece of Washington’s Library of Congress.

200年后，托馬斯·杰斐遜的藏品仍然讓人震撼
The United States Library of Congress is the largest library in the world. It has a huge collection of books and other sources of information, including documents, maps and photographs. The Library of Congress carries out research for the U.S. Congress. But the library's three buildings in Washington are open to the public. People can visit, use the reading rooms and see the exhibits.
美國國會圖書館是世界上最大的一個圖書館。館中藏有大量的圖書和其它資料信息，包括文件、地圖和照片。國會圖書館是方便美國國會研究用的。但是華盛頓圖書館的三個館是向公眾開放的。人們可以參觀、使用閱覽室、觀看展品。
The Library of Congress opened in 1801. Its first home was the U.S. Capitol building. The United States and Britain fought during the War of 1812. During the war, British forces burned the Capitol, destroying many of the library's 3,000 books.
1801年，美國國會圖書館正式對外開放。國會圖書館首先是在美國的國會大廈。1812年，美國跟英國打仗期間，英國放火燒掉國會大廈，毀壞了圖書館中大約3000本書。
The third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, offered his personal library as a replacement. At the time, Jefferson had the largest personal collection of books in the country. In those times, books were costly. Most were made in Europe and shipped to the United States. Jefferson bought some of the books when he was serving as a diplomat in France.
美國第三任總統(tǒng)托馬斯·杰斐遜提供他的個人圖書館作為國會圖書館。那時，杰斐遜擁有全國最大的個人藏書。那時，書籍非常昂貴。很多書籍都是在歐洲出版印刷，然后用船運到美國。杰斐遜帶回很多他在法國擔任大使時的一些書籍。
Jefferson had been born into a wealthy family so he was able to buy the books he wanted. Two hundred years ago, on January 30, 1815, Congress bought Jefferson's collection of 6,487 books for $23,950. After the purchase, the Library of Congress had more than two times as many books as it had when the British attacked. Today, many of Jefferson's books are permanently displayed at the library.
杰斐遜出生在一個富裕的家庭，因此他能夠購買一些他想要的書籍。兩百年前，1815年1月30號，國會用23,950美元購買了杰斐遜6487本藏書。買進這一批書后，國會圖書館擁有的書籍數(shù)量是英國燒毀前圖書館書籍數(shù)量的兩倍。今天，很多杰斐遜的書永久性地陳列在圖書館。
Thomas Jefferson loved books and learning. He collected books on almost any subject.
托馬斯·杰斐遜喜歡讀書、學習。他收集的幾乎包含各個學科。
Mark Dimunation is Chief of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Library of Congress.
馬克·戴繆內森是國會圖書館珍貴書籍和特殊收藏品的主管。
"He liked books about clever invention. Massive holdings on law and then his great love, architecture."
“他喜歡有關發(fā)明創(chuàng)造的書籍，他有很多法律方面的書籍，然后是他的最愛：建筑方面的書籍。”
He says the original library was very different from Jefferson's collection.
他說最初的圖書館跟杰斐遜的收藏完全不同。
"It was a working library that members of Congress would need -- law, trade, dictionaries, some classical history."
“國會成員需要的圖書館是關于法律、貿易、詞典和一些古典史學。”
Mark Dimunation says Jefferson's many interests changed the Library of Congress' approach to collecting.
戴繆內森說杰斐遜的很多興趣改變了國會圖書館的收藏。
"It completely altered the notion of what was appropriate for that collection -- from needlepoint designs to architecture."
杰斐遜完全改變了圖書館的收藏種類，小到針的設計，大到建筑設計都受其影響。
Marcelo Alvez is an engineer and college professor from Brazil. He closely studied some of Jefferson's books.
馬賽羅·阿維斯是名來自巴西的工程師兼大學教授。他仔細地研究了一些杰斐遜的書籍。
"It's quite surprising to see a leader, a president that is interested in philosophy, mathematics, physics, agriculture. So he was a man of huge knowledge that we won't find today."
“一位領導人、總統(tǒng)對哲學、數(shù)學、物理和農業(yè)感興趣很讓人驚訝。當今再也找不到一個像他那樣知識那么淵博的人物了。”
Jefferson wrote the American Declaration of Independence from Britain. He read some of the most important and influential books on philosophy and politics. He also had an English-language copy of Islam's holy book, the Koran. He got it when he was studying to be a lawyer.
杰斐遜起草了《美國獨立宣言》，他閱讀了一些重要且頗具影響力的哲學書籍和政治書籍。他還擁有伊斯蘭教圣書——《古蘭經》的英語復制本。他在學習法律期間得到的這本書。
"Jefferson, we think, acquired it because the teaching was that the Koran was Arabic law (so) this would cover his understanding of international law on the part of Muslim countries."
“我們認為杰斐遜獲得這本書是因為《古蘭經》是阿拉伯國家的法律，這樣就有助于他了解穆斯林國家的法律制度。”
In 1851, a fire in the U.S. Capitol destroyed many books in the library and almost two-thirds of Jefferson's collection. After the fire, a large and beautiful building was put up across the street from the Capitol for the Library of Congress.
1851年，國會大廈的一場大火毀掉了很多書籍——差不多是杰斐遜收藏的三分之二。大火后，國會大廈和國會圖書館之間有很多高大、漂亮的大廈拔地而起。
Mr. Dimunation says the library is seeking replacements of all of Jefferson's books that were burned. It has been successful in that effort -- the collection is almost complete.
戴姆內森稱圖書館尋求一些替代品，代替大火中燒掉的杰斐遜的書籍。經過不斷的努力，藏手基本上完善。
"So out of the 4,000 or so books that I needed to replace to reconstruct Jefferson's library as it was before the 1851 fire, I am down to just less than 250 books to go."
“大概有4000本書籍需要替換，重建被大火燒掉錢的杰斐遜圖書館，還有不到250本書就可以完成了。”
After Jefferson sold his beloved books, he never saw them again.
杰斐遜賣掉他鐘愛的書籍之后，就再沒看到過那些書。
But he soon began building another collection of books. When he was finished he had several thousand. They were sold in 1829 after his death to pay his debts.
但是很快，他就又建立起另一個圖書收藏。這個收藏館建成后，他擁有好幾千本書籍。1829年他去世之后，這些書籍被變賣用來償還他的債務。
The former president loved books, but he also wanted to share them. So even today the Library of Congress still lets researchers use his books. Almost two hundred years after he died, Jefferson is still serving the nation he helped create.
前任總統(tǒng)熱愛書籍，但是他還想與人分享這些書籍。因此，即使在今天，國會圖書館仍然允許研究者使用他的書籍。自他去世大約二百年，杰斐遜仍然為國家的創(chuàng)造發(fā)明做貢獻。
I'm Christopher Cruise.
我是克里斯托弗·格魯斯。
VOA Correspondent Deborah Block reported this story from Washington. Christopher Cruise wrote the story in VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
source(s) – n. someone or something that provides what is wanted or needed
exhibit – n. displays of documents, paintings, sculptures or other works of art for people to see
clever – adj. showing intelligent thinking
massive – adj. large in amount or degree
alter(ed) – v. to change (something)
acquire(d) – v. to get (something); to come to own (something)
beloved – adj. very much loved; dearly loved
Does your country's legislature have its own library? If so, how did it get its books and other materials? And what does it collect? Have you or someone you know ever lost possessions in a fire? We want to hear from you. Write your thoughts in the comments section.