Carl Rowan grew up to be appointed as an ambassador for his country. And yet he came from a poor family and was raid at a time and in a place where black Americans were denied many of the advantages enjoyed by whites. How did he manage to ri so high from such a disadvantaged background? Much of the credit must go to Miss Bessie.
卡尔·罗旺长大成人后被任命为代表国家的大使。可是，他出生在一个贫穷的家庭里，生长在美国黑人被剥夺了白人享有的许多权益这样一个时代，这样一个地方。他是如何从这样低的社会阶层升到这样高的地位的呢？这很大程度上得归功于贝西小姐。
Unforgettable Miss Bessie
Carl T. Rowan
1 She was only about five feet tall and probably never weighed more than 110 pounds, but Miss Bessie was a towering prence in the classroom. She was the only woman tough enough to make me read Beowulf and think for a few foolish days that I liked it. From 1938 to 1942, when I attended Bernard High School in McMinnville, Tenn., she taught me English, history, civics—and a lot more than I realized.
难忘恩师贝西小姐
卡尔芭比故事·T·罗旺
她身高不过5英尺上下，体重可能从来不超过110磅，但贝西小姐在教室里形象极其高大。她是个厉害女人，只有她能逼得我去读《贝奥武甫》，而且有那么几天，我还真傻乎乎地觉得自己挺喜欢这首史诗。从1938年到1942年，我在田纳西州麦克敏维尔的伯纳德高中上学，她教我英语、历史、公民学，还有许多当时我未能领悟的东西。
2 I shall never forget the day she scolded me into reading Beowulf.
我永远忘不了她训斥着要我读《贝奥武甫》的那一天。
美丽的花园
3 "But Miss Bessie," I complained, "I ain't much interested in it."
"可是，贝西小姐，"我抱怨说，"我对它不怎么感兴趣。"
4 Her large brown eyes became daggerish slits. "Boy," she said, "how dare you say 'ain't' to me! I've taught you better than that."
她那双褐色的大眼睛眯成一条缝，射出的目光犀利如刀。"小伙子，"她说，"你竟敢对我说'ain't'!我教过你该怎么说。"
5 "Miss Bessie," I pleaded, "I'm trying to make first-string end on the football team. And if I go around saying 'it isn't' and 'they aren't,' the guys are gonna laugh me off the squad."
"贝西小姐，"我恳求道，"我正在努力争取当上橄榄球队的正式边锋。要是我老是说'it isn't'和'they aren't'，那帮人会嘲笑我，把我撵出球队的。"
it百科
6 "Boy," she responded, "you'll play football becau you have guts. But do you know what really takes guts? Refusing to lower your standards to tho of the crowd. It takes guts to say you've got to live and be somebody fifty years after all the football games are over."
"小伙子，"她回答说，"图片英文你打橄榄球是因为你有勇气。可你是不是知道什么事情真正需要勇气？那就是决不把你的做人标准降低到和那帮子人一样。你要鼓起勇气对他们说，橄榄球比赛全部结束后你还想出人头地生活50年呢。"
7 I started saying "it isn't" and "they aren't," and I still made first-string end—and class valedictorian—without losing my buddies' respect.
我开始说"it isn't"和"they aren't"了，而且照样当上了正式边锋——还成为班级里致告别辞的毕业生代表——却一点也没有失去伙伴们的尊重。
8 During her remarkable 44-year career, Mrs. Bessie Taylor Gwynn taught hundreds of economically deprived black youngsters—including my mother, my brother, my sisters and me. I remember her now with gratitude and affection—especially in this era when Americans are so wrought-up about a "rising tide of mediocrity" in public education and the problems of finding competent, caring teachers. Miss Bessie was an example of an informed, dedicated teacher, a blessing to children and an ast to the nation.
在她44年不平凡的教学生涯中，贝西·泰勒·格温太太教过许多穷困的黑人孩子——其中有我的母亲、兄弟、姐妹，还有我本人。今天，我怀着热爱和感激之情记住她——尤其在今天这个时代，在国人对公共教育"日益平庸化"，对称职的、有爱心的教师难觅等问题深感不安之时，我更是忘不了她。贝西小姐有见识、有奉献精神，堪称教师楷模，有她这样的
老师是孩子们的福分，对国家来说她是宝贵的人才。
9 Born in 1895, in poverty, she grew up in Athens, Ala., where there was no public school for blacks. She attended Trinity School, a private institution for blacks run by the American Missionary Association, and in 1911 graduated from the Normal School (a "super" high school) at Fisk University in Nashville. Mrs. Gwynn, the esnce of pride and privacy, never talked about her years in Athens; only in the months before her death did she reveal that she had never attended Fisk University itlf becau she could not afford the four-year cour.
她于1895年出生在贫苦人家，在亚拉巴马的阿森斯长大。当时那里没有黑人公立学校。她上的是三一学堂，一所美国传教士协会为黑人开设的私立学校。1911年她毕业于纳什维尔的菲斯克大学附属师范学校(一所"极棒的"高级中学火牙)。格温太太是个自尊心很强、很想维护隐私的人，从来不提她在阿森斯读过的岁月。直到她去世前几个月，她才透露说，她从来没上过菲克斯大学本部，因为她付不起4年的学费。
广州休闲
10 At Normal School she learned a lot about Shakespeare, but most of all about the profound importance of education—especially, for a people trying to move up from slavery. "What you put in your head, boy," she once said, "can never be pulled out by the Ku Klux Klan, the Congress or anybody."
在师范学校求学时，她学到许多关于莎士比亚的知识，但更重要的是她认识了教育的极端重要性——对一个正试图摆脱奴隶地位的民族尤为重要。"你装进脑袋的东西，小伙子，"她说过，久假不归的意思"三K党夺不走，国会夺不走，谁都夺不走。"
11 Miss Bessie's bearing of dignity told anyone who met her that she was "educated" in the best n of the word. There was never a discipline problem in her class. We didn't dare to mess with a woman who knew about the Battle of Hastings, Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights—and who could also play the piano.
见过贝西小姐的人都从她端庄的举止中看出她是绝对"有学识的"。她任课的班上从来没有纪律问题。我们不敢跟一个知道黑斯廷斯战役、英国大宪章、权利法案——又能弹钢琴的女教师捣乱。
12 This frail-looking woman could make n of Shakespeare, Milton, Voltaire, and bring to life Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. Believing that it was important to know who the officials were that spent taxpayers' money and made public policy, she made us 隶书张迁碑memorize the names of everyone on the Supreme Court and in the President's Cabinet. It could be embarrassing to be unprepared when Miss Bessie said, "Get up and tell the class who Frances Perkins is and what you think about her."
