实战口语情景对话 第844期:The Nature of Myths 神话性质

Shirley: So you said Paul Bunyan is famous. How do people know about him. Is he in children's story books or do you learn about him at school?
雪莉：你说过保罗·班扬非常有名。人们是怎么知道他的？他是出现在儿童故事书中还是孩子们会在学校听到他的故事？

Jake: Yes, both. At school I remember having maybe a Paul Bunyan day. It's not an actual national holiday but at school I think we had maybe one day when I was in preschool or kindergarten where we would just talk about Paul Bunyan. They would show us picture books of Paul Bunyan and we would make art based on Paul Bunyan. Things like that.
杰克：两者都有。我记得学校有保罗·班扬日。那天并不是国家假日，不过我记得我在上幼儿园时，那一天会讲保罗·班扬的故事。老师会给我们看有关保罗·班扬的图画书，我们要以保罗·班扬为基础做手工。

Shirley: That's pretty amazing that he's so famous and just for making the Mississippi river. Is there something special about the river that makes it important in America?
雪莉：他这么有名而且还创造了密西西比河，真是太惊人了。有没有什么特殊的原因使那条河成为美国的重要河流？

Jake: Well it's definitely the most important river in America, I would say. It's large and it crosses the entire United States down the middle and, yes, the Mississippi river is very important to the United States and especially where I'm from because I live near the Mississippi river in the United States.
杰克：我认为那是美国最重要的河流。那条河流很宽阔，穿越整个美国，延伸至中部地区，密西西比河对美国非常重要，而且我的家乡就临近密西西比河。

Shirley: Are there any Native American stories to explain why the Mississippi river is such a big river and why it's there?
雪莉：美国有没有什么故事解释为什么密西西比河这么大？为什么会在那个位置？

Jake: I'm sure there are but unfortunately we choose to talk about the Paul Bunyan story more for one reason or another. I'm not sure why it's the most famous, but I'm sure the Native Americans have much older stories to explain the Mississippi river.
杰克：肯定有，不过因为一些原因，我们选择以保罗·班扬的故事来解释。我不知道这个故事为什么最著名，不过我确定美国肯定有一些更古老的故事来解释密西西比河的形成。

Shirley: So Jake, is he famous for anything else other than making that big river?
雪莉：杰克，除了创造了一条重要的河流，保罗·班扬还因为什么出名？

Jake: Well, I think it's maybe just a story about hard work for children and things like that, because they would say he had a huge ax and he could cut down ten trees with one swing and things like that.
杰克：我认为那是个鼓励儿童努力学习的故事，因为故事里说他有一把巨大的斧子，他一挥斧子就能砍掉10棵树。

Shirley: So, not really an environmentalist.
雪莉：所以，与环境学家无关。

Jake: Not really. I think the story was invented before the environment (movement) was invented, so it's a bit of an old story...
杰克：无关。我想那个故事产生于环境运动开始之前，是一个有些古老的故事。

Shirley: So do they want children to go cut down trees or what's the purpose of the story now?
雪莉：他们希望孩子们去砍树吗？这个故事的目的是什么？

Jake: Well I think it just means work hard and prosper, like many stories in the United States.
杰克：我认为是努力工作和成功，就像美国许多其他的故事一样。

Shirley: I see.
雪莉：我明白了。