马克吐温介绍解说稿.doc

《马克吐温介绍解说稿.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《马克吐温介绍解说稿.doc（7页珍藏版）》请在淘文阁 - 分享文档赚钱的网站上搜索。

1、Early lifeSamuel Clemens, age 15Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835, to a Tennessee country merchant, John Marshall Clemens (August 11, 1798 March 24, 1847), and Jane Lampton Clemens (June 18, 1803 October 27, 1890).4Twain was the sixth of seven children. Onl

2、y three of his siblings survived childhood: his brother Orion (July 17, 1825 December 11, 1897); Henry, who died in a riverboat explosion (July 13, 1838 June 21, 1858); and Pamela (September 19, 1827 August 31, 1904). His sister Margaret (May 31, 1830 August 17, 1839) died when Twain was three, and

3、his brother Benjamin (June 8, 1832 May 12, 1842) died three years later. Another brother, Pleasant (18281829), died at six months.5 Twain was born two weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halleys Comet. On December 4, 1985, the United States Postal Service issued a stamped envelope for Mark

4、Twain and Halleys Comet. 6When Twain was four, his family moved to Hannibal, Missouri,7 a port town on the Mississippi River that inspired the fictional town of St. Petersburg in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.8 Missouri was a slave state and young Twain became famil

5、iar with the institution of slavery, a theme he would later explore in his writing.Twains father was an attorney and a local judge.9 The Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was organized in his office in 1846. The railroad connected the second and third largest cities in the state and was the westernmo

6、st United States railroad until the Transcontinental Railroad. It delivered mail to and from the Pony Express.10In March 1847, when Twain was 11, his father died of pneumonia.11 The next year, he became a printers apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and

7、humorous sketches for the Hannibal Journal, a newspaper owned by his brother Orion. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York City, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. He joined the union and educated himself in public libraries in the evenings, finding wider informat

8、ion than at a conventional school.12 At 22, Twain returned to Missouri.On a voyage to New Orleans down the Mississippi, the steamboat pilot, Horace E. Bixby, inspired Twain to be a steamboat pilot. As Twain observed in Life on the Mississippi, the pilot surpassed a steamboats captain in prestige and

9、 authority; it was a rewarding occupation with wages set at $250 per month,13 roughly equivalent to $73,089 a year today. A steamboat pilot needed to know the ever-changing river to be able to stop at the hundreds of ports and wood-lots. Twain studied 2,000 miles (3,200km) of the Mississippi for mor

10、e than two years before he received his steamboat pilot license in 1859.While training, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him. Henry was killed on June 21, 1858, when the steamboat on which he was working, the Pennsylvania, exploded. Twain had foreseen this death in a dream a m

11、onth earlier,14 which inspired his interest in parapsychology; he was an early member of the Society for Psychical Research.15 Twain was guilt-stricken and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. He continued to work on the river and was a river pilot until the American Civil War broke ou

12、t in 1861 and traffic along the Mississippi was curtailed.Missouri was considered by many to be part of the South, and was represented in both the Confederate and Federal governments during the Civil War. Twain wrote a sketch, The Private History of a Campaign That Failed, which claimed he and his f

13、riends had been Confederate volunteers for two weeks before disbanding their company.16TravelsThe library of the Mark Twain House, which features hand-stenciled paneling, fireplaces from India, embossed wallpapers and an enormous hand-carved mantel that the Twains purchased in Scotland (HABS photo)T

14、wain joined Orion, who in 1861 became secretary to James W. Nye, the governor of Nevada Territory, and headed west. Twain and his brother traveled more than two weeks on a stagecoach across the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, visiting the Mormon community in Salt Lake City. The experiences ins

15、pired Roughing It and provided material for The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Twains journey ended in the silver-mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, where he became a miner.16 Twain failed as a miner and worked at a Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise.17 Here he firs

16、t used his pen name. On February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous travel account Letter From Carson re: Joe Goodman; party at Gov. Johnsons; music with Mark Twain.18Twain moved to San Francisco, California in 1864, still as a journalist. He met writers such as Bret Harte, Artemus Ward, and Dan DeQuille

17、. The young poet Ina Coolbrith may have romanced him.19His first success as a writer came when his humorous tall tale, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, was published in a New York weekly, The Saturday Press, on November 18, 1865. It brought him national attention. A year later, he tr

18、aveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii) as a reporter for the Sacramento Union. His travelogues were popular and became the basis for his first lectures.20In 1867, a local newspaper funded a trip to the Mediterranean. During his tour of Europe and the Middle East, he wrote a popular coll

19、ection of travel letters, which were later compiled as The Innocents Abroad in 1869. It was on this trip that he met his future brother-in-law.Marriage and childrenTwain in 1867Charles Langdon showed a picture of his sister, Olivia, to Twain; Twain claimed to have fallen in love at first sight. The

20、two met in 1868, were engaged a year later, and married in February 1870 in Elmira, New York.20 She came from a wealthy but liberal family, and through her he met abolitionists, socialists, principled atheists and activists for womens rights and social equality, including Harriet Beecher Stowe (his

21、next door neighbor in Hartford, Connecticut), Frederick Douglass, and the writer and utopian socialist William Dean Howells,21 who became a longtime friend.The couple lived in Buffalo, New York from 1869 to 1871. Twain owned a stake in the Buffalo Express newspaper, and worked as an editor and write

22、r. Their son Langdon died of diphtheria at 19 months.In 1871,22 Twain moved his family to Hartford, Connecticut, where starting in 1873, he arranged the building of a home (local admirers saved it from demolition in 1927 and eventually turned it into a museum focused on him). While living there Oliv

23、ia gave birth to three daughters: Susy (18721896), Clara (18741962)23 and Jean (18801909). The couples marriage lasted 34 years, until Olivias death in 1904.During his seventeen years in Hartford (18741891), Twain wrote many of his best-known works: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), The Prince an

24、d the Pauper (1881), Life on the Mississippi (1883), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court (1889).Twain made a second tour of Europe, described in the 1880 book A Tramp Abroad. His tour included a stay in Heidelberg from May 6 until July 23, 1878, and

25、a visit to London.His book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court features a time traveler from contemporary America, using his knowledge of science to introduce modern technology to Arthurian England. This type of storyline would later become a common feature of the science fiction sub-genre, A

26、lternate history.In 1909, Thomas Edison visited Twain at his home in Redding, Connecticut and filmed him. Part of the footage was used in The Prince and the Pauper (1909), a two-reel short film.Later lifeMark Twain in his gown (scarlet with grey sleeves and facings) for his D.Litt. degree, awarded t

27、o him by Oxford University.Twain passed through a period of deep depression, which began in 1896 when his daughter Susy died of meningitis. Olivias death in 1904 and Jeans on December 24, 1909, deepened his gloom.33 On May 20, 1909, his close friend Henry Rogers died suddenly.In 1906, Twain began hi

28、s autobiography in the North American Review. In April, Twain heard that his friend Ina Coolbrith had lost nearly all she owned in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and he volunteered a few autographed portrait photographs to be sold for her benefit. To further aid Coolbrith, George Wharton James v

29、isited Twain in New York and arranged for a new portrait session. Initially resistant, Twain admitted that four of the resulting images were the finest ones ever taken of him.34Twain formed a club in 1906 for girls he viewed as surrogate granddaughters, the Angel Fish and Aquarium Club. The dozen or

30、 so members ranged in age from 10 to 16. Twain exchanged letters with his Angel Fish girls and invited them to concerts and the theatre and to play games. Twain wrote in 1908 that the club was his lifes chief delight.35Oxford University awarded Twain an honorary doctorate in letters (D.Litt.) in 190

31、7.In 1909, Twain is quoted as saying:36I came in with Halleys Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it. It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I dont go out with Halleys Comet. The Almighty has said, no doubt: Now here are these two unaccountable frea

32、ks; they came in together, they must go out together.His prediction was accurate Twain died of a heart attack on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut, one day after the comets closest approach to Earth.Upon hearing of Twains death, President William Howard Taft said:3738Mark Twain gave pleasure r

33、eal intellectual enjoyment to millions, and his works will continue to give such pleasure to millions yet to come. His humor was American, but he was nearly as much appreciated by Englishmen and people of other countries as by his own countrymen. He has made an enduring part of American literature.M

34、ark Twain headstone in Woodlawn Cemetery.Twains funeral was at the Old Brick Presbyterian Church in New York.39 He is buried in his wifes family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. His grave is marked by a 12-foot (i.e., two fathoms, or mark twain) monument, placed there by his surviving

35、daughter, Clara.40 There is also a smaller headstone.马克?吐温名言快乐不是一件自我存在的，它仅是与其他不快乐的事情相比较而言的，这就是快乐的全部。Happiness aint a thing in itself - its only a contrast with something that aint pleasant. Thats all it is.缺乏钱财是所有罪恶的根源。The lack of money is the root of all evil.真正的大不敬是不尊重别人的神。True irreverence is disr

36、espect for another mans god.人类是唯一的动物，他爱护他的邻居就如同爱护他自己一样，但是如果对方的宗教神学有问题，他会割断对方的喉咙。He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself， and cut his throat if his theology isnt straight.每一个人生下来都拥有一项资产，它比其他所有的资产价值都高，这就是他最后的一口气。Each person is born to one possession which outvalues all his others - hi

37、s last breath.良好的教养在于隐藏我们对自己较佳的评价，以及隐藏我们对他人较差的评价。Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.“名声”如同是蒸气，“声望”如同是意外，在地球上唯一可以确定的事情是被遗忘掉。Fame is vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion.“原则”是“偏见”的另一个名称。Princi

38、ples is another name for prejudice.迷信的人总是相信那些大胆的预言。Prophecies boldly uttered never fall barren on superstitious ears.“需要”不懂任何的“法律”。Necessity knows no law.当你为爱情而钓鱼时，要用你的心当作饵，而不是用你的脑筋。When you fish for love， bait with your heart， not your brain.如果所有的人都是富有的，那么所有的人都是贫穷的。If all men were rich， all men wou

39、ld be poor.你经常坦白承认自己的过失，上司就会失去戒备之心，你才会有机会去犯更多的错误。Always acknowledge a fault frankly. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.先获得事实，然后你才能够随心所欲的扭曲误解它。Get your facts first， and then you can distort them as much as you like.一个人最危险的敌人是他自己的口舌。The deadl

40、y enemy of a man， his own tongue.一本怀有恶意的书籍将不会伤害到任何人，除了写作它的傻瓜。A malignant book would hurt nobody but the fool who wrote it.预言是唯一的一项人类技术，它是无法经由练习而改善。Prophesying was the only human art that couldnt be improved by practice.当一个人阅读圣经时，与其说他惊诧于上帝的智慧，倒不如说他惊诧于上帝的无知。When one reads Bibles， one is less surprised

41、 at what the Deity knows than at what he doesnt know.亚当真是一位老糊涂，他本来一切事情都很顺利，而且他已经成功的赢得社区内最漂亮女孩子的芳心，但是他对自己的征服成果却感到不满足，他必须去吃那一颗可怜的小苹果。What a fool old Adam was. Had everything his own way; had succeeded in gaining the love of the best looking girl in the neighborhood， but yet unsatisfied with his conque

42、st he had to eat a miserable little apple.印度拥有两百万个神，他们崇拜所有的这些神。在宗教上其他的国家都是穷人，印度是唯一的“百万富翁”。India has 2，000，000 gods， and worships them all. In religion other Countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire.如果你收养了一只饥饿可怜的狗，让它过的舒适，它就不会咬你，这便是一个人与一只狗之间最主要的差别。If you pick up a starving dog and make him

43、 prosperous， he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.从来就没有一个世纪，也没有一个国家曾经短缺这样的专家，他们能够知道上帝的心思，而且也愿意表示出来。There was never a century nor a Country that was short of experts who knew the Deitys mind and were willing to reveal it.有一个人从天堂来到人间旅游，他所使用的是有效期为三十天的减价票，他试图要把他

44、的回程票卖掉。Ingersolls story of the man that went down From heaven on a reduced-rate excursion ticket good for 30 days - and tried to sell his return ticket.上帝先创造了白痴，这只是热身而已，然后他才创造了教育委员会。In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then He made School Boards.成功之道无他，唯一的就是：无所知又信心十足耳。幽默是一股拯救的力

45、量。真理的靴子尚未穿上，谎言就跑遍世界。虽然在一切事物中，爱情看上去是最快的，其实却最迟缓。男男女女没有一个人晓得什么是十全十美的爱，除非一直到他们结婚了二十五年之后。Though love seems the fastest of all growths， it is really the slowest. No man or woman knows what perfect love is， until they have been married a quarter of a century.在四月一日，回想一下这一年来的其他364天自己在做些什么。The first of April

46、is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.我会用city而永不用Metropolis来表达城市，用cop而永不用policeman来表达警察，既然三丶四个字母的短词可以赚七分钱，为什么要用那些长词呢？I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get the same money for cop.不要把事实告

47、诉不值得的人。Never tell the truth to people who are not worthy of it.真相比小说还要不可思议。Truth is more of a stranger than fiction.Mark.vomit to say:Late come of true facts， be like suddenly horseshoe， ah of shooting the head， pain！马克吐温说：迟来的真相，就像突然击中头部的马蹄铁，哎，痛啊！Dont give up your imagination.When the imagination ha

48、d no after， you can also exist， but although you living dead still.不要放弃你的幻想。当幻想没有了以后，你还可以生存，但是你虽生犹死。Tell the truth forever， such of words you need not recorded you to once say some what.永远说实话，这样的话你就不用去记你曾经说过些什么。Those persons who have a good book but dont read are unlike and cant read the person of these books to own any advantage.那些有好书却不读的人不比无法读到这些书的人拥有任何优势。Rather shut up dont talk， dont be eager to expressing oneself， either.宁愿闭口不说话，也不要急于表现自己。Calculate to