本杰明·富蘭克林

內(nèi)容概要

本杰明·富蘭克林是殖民地時期美洲最著名的人士之一。他出身貧寒，只受過兩年的傳統(tǒng)教育，卻憑借自身的努力，成了成功的商人、杰出的科學家和卓越的政治家。富蘭克林首創(chuàng)了美國的一些代共機構(gòu)（如圖書館），簽署了《獨立宣言》，幫助起草了美國憲法，并成功贏得了法國的支持，從而幫助美國人民贏得了獨立戰(zhàn)爭。富蘭克林還非常具有好奇心，他積極探索閃電等自然現(xiàn)象的奧秘，為后人留下了諸如避雷針等創(chuàng)造發(fā)明。

作者簡介

作者：(美)斯特雷古斯

書籍目錄

一、聞名遐邇的富蘭克林博士二、創(chuàng)造自己的財富三、費城的富蘭克林四、不列顛使命之行五、殖民地接踵而至的麻煩六、響徹世界的槍聲七、為新生國工作

章節(jié)摘錄

書摘1778年2月的一天，一輛四輪大馬車停在法國國王路易十六宏偉的宮殿——凡爾賽宮巨大的鐵門前。當一個體態(tài)發(fā)福的老紳士從馬車上下來時，宮殿的衛(wèi)兵肅然而立。72歲的他行動非常小心。衛(wèi)兵立刻認出了他，請他進入了宮殿。他被帶領(lǐng)著穿過了一個好像看不到盡頭的走廊來到了接待室。    在那里，宮廷的官員們正聚集在一起，等待著國王的到來。他們身著華服，頭戴白色假發(fā)。紳士們身穿用大量花邊和金邊修飾的外套。女士們做工考究的絲制裙裝拖曳在地面上。而那個體態(tài)發(fā)福的老紳士卻衣著樸素，穿著一件無刺繡的棕色天鵝絨外套。為了出席這個場合，他曾特地買了一個假發(fā)。但他還是決定不戴它，因為那不適合他的頭型。于是他便戴了一個浣熊皮的帽子，那是他在所居住的北美英殖民地購買的。他的臉圓圓的，額頭高高的。眼鏡后是警覺而冷靜的雙眼。    隨后路易十六出現(xiàn)了。他的衣飾在眾人中顯得最為華麗，十分符合他國王的身份。他的配劍閃閃發(fā)光，就像他的白色裘毛禮袍上無價的寶石那樣耀眼。每個人都深深地鞠了一躬。那個老紳士也鞠了一躬，同時彬彬有禮地脫去了他那寒磣的帽子。    雖然本杰明·富蘭克林在這些法國貴族中間顯得毫不起眼，但實際上他已經(jīng)給他們留下了深刻的印象。他們都知道他就是“富蘭克林博士”，以他在自然哲學(科學的舊稱)方面的淵博知識而聞名遐邇。富蘭克林的電學實驗，尤其是他就閃電所進行的實驗舉世聞名。然而富蘭克林并不是以一個科學家的身份出現(xiàn)在宮殿之中的。他是一位大使，受那些開始反叛英國殖民統(tǒng)治的美洲領(lǐng)導人的派遣而來。    富蘭克林一直住在凡爾賽宮與法國首都巴黎之間的一所房子中。他竭盡可能會見了許多重要人物，鼓勵他們出錢、武器和物資來援助美州的獨立戰(zhàn)爭。他還一直在為兩個條約進行磋商，這兩個條約將使法國成為殖民地人民的官方同盟。長期以來法國一直是英國的對手。兩個國家均在北美筑起了要塞并建立了殖民地。兩國之間進行了幾十年的戰(zhàn)爭，結(jié)果英國人控制了北美大陸的大部分。    富蘭克林在穿著上頗費了一番心思，想借此來提醒法國人他是一名來自“新大陸”的使者。他們異想天開地認為“新大陸”是一個野蠻的原始大陸。一個法國貴族這樣形容他，“他衣著簡樸，舉止樸素但威嚴，說話直截了當，頭發(fā)沒有涂脂抹粉?！薄?他)就好像是通過魔術(shù)來到了我們這個柔弱的、盲從的時代?！?   這個貴族還提到法國是一個“對自由充滿熱愛”的國家。富蘭克林似乎就是這一理想的化身。外交官約翰·亞當斯在巴黎的時候評論道“幾乎沒有一個農(nóng)民或市民不認為(本杰明·富蘭克林)是人類的朋友?！备惶m克林自己也寫道“這已形成了共識，我們的事業(yè)是全人類的事業(yè)。在捍衛(wèi)自身自由的同時，我們也在為全人類的自由而奮斗?！?   如果美洲人民贏得了這場戰(zhàn)爭，他們將建立一個民主國家，而不再受國王喬治三世的統(tǒng)治。路易十六可能會想，如果美洲人民勝利了，其他君主是否會受到威脅。他理所當然地會質(zhì)疑法國能否負擔得起在美洲的這場危險戰(zhàn)爭的投資。然而，不管怎樣，路易十六在1778年2月6日簽署了條約。富蘭克林為殖民地贏得了一個重大的勝利。    一個法國人談到富蘭克林時說道，“他從天空抓到了閃電，從暴君手中奪回了權(quán)力。”但是，富蘭克林曾經(jīng)是英國國王忠誠的擁護者。事實上，他早期的生活經(jīng)歷中沒有任何征兆顯示他會奪得任何事物。他出生在一個貧寒的工人家庭——英格蘭?？祟D的富蘭克林家。    ONE,FEBRUARY DAY IN 1778, A HORSE-DRAWN COACH drew up to the immense iron gates of Versailles, the grand palaceof Louis XVI, king of France. The palace guards stood smartly at atten-tion as a portlyt old gentleman climbed down from the coach. At sev-enty-two, he moved gingerly. The guards recognized him immediatelyand admitted him to the palace, where he was taken down a seeminglyendless hall to the reception room.    There members of the court were waiting together for the arrival ofthe king. They dressed in high style in large, white-powdered wigs andcolorful finery. The men wore coats richly embellished with lace andgold trim. The women's elaborate silk dresses swept across the floor.The portly old gentleman was simply clad, however, in an unembroideredbrown velvet coat. He had bought a wig for this occasion, but he'd de-cided not to wear it. It didn't sit well on his head. Instead he had donneda coonskin cap he had acquired in the British colonies in North America,where he lived. His face was rounded, his forehead high. Behind hisspectacles, his eyes were alert and cool.    Then Louis appeared. He looked most magnificent of all, as befit-ted a king. His sword glittered, as did the priceless gems on his white furrobe. Everyone took a deep bow. The old gentleman took his bow as well and politely removed his humble cap. Although Benjamin Franklin looked unimpressive among these French aristocrats, he had in fact already deeply impressed them. They knew him as "Doctor Franklin," a man renowned for his knowledge of natural philosophy (as science was called). Franklin's experiments with electricityand especially with lightning -- were known around the world. But itwas not as a scientist that Franklin stood before the court. He was anambassador, sent by American leaders who had begun a revolt againstthe rule of Great Britain.    Franklin had been living in a house between Versailles and Paris,the French capital. He had met as many important people as possible,encouraging them to send money, arms, and supplies to aid the Ameri-can Revolution. He had also been negotiating two treaties that wouldmake France an official ally of the colonists. France was a longtimerival of Great Britain. Both nations had built forts and established colo-nies in North America. Decades of war between the two had left theBritish in control of much of that continent.    Franklin's attire may have been calculated to remind the Frenchthat he was an emissary from the "New World," a place they romanti-cized as wild and pure. "His clothing was rustic, his bearing simple butdignified, his language direct, his hair unpowdered," wrote one Frenchnobleman. "It was as though [he] had been brought by magic into oureffeminate and slavish age."    France was astir, wrote the same Frenchman, wi h "a universallove of liberty." Franklin seemed to embody this ideal. When diplomatJohn Adams stayed in Pads, he observed, "There was scarcely a peasantor a citizen ... who did not consider [Benjamin Franklin] a friend to human kind." Franklin himself wrote, "' Tis a common observation here, that our Cause is the Cause of all Mankind, and that we are fighting for their Liberty in defending our own."    If the Americans won their war, they would begin a democracy and no longer be ruled by King George Ⅲ. It is possible thatLouis XVI wondered whether other monarchs might be threatened if theAmericans succeeded. Certainly he questioned whether France couldafford to invest in America's risky war. Regardless, Louis did sign thetreaties on February 6, 1778. Franklin had won a major victory for thecolonists.    "He seized the lightning from the sky, and the scepter from thetyrants," one Frenchman said of Franklin. But Franklin had once been afiercely loyal subject of the British king. His earlier life held no sign thathe would seize anything, in fact. He came from a humble working fam-ily -- the Franklins of Ecton, England. P6-11

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《外教社人物傳記系列:本杰明?富蘭克林(英漢對照)》系列是上海外語教育出版社從美國樂勒出版集團引進的一套奉獻給廣大青少年朋友的優(yōu)秀傳記叢書，適合高中生和大學一二年級學生閱讀，其語言原汁原味，采用英漢對照的形式，注釋詳盡，便于閱讀和學習。全套叢書共分13冊，人物包括美國開國元勛本杰明·富蘭克林，著名黑人民權(quán)運動領(lǐng)袖馬丁·路德·金，文豪莎士比亞，意大利文藝復興巨匠達·芬奇，極具個人魅力的體育明星泰格·伍茲、穆罕默德·阿里、魔術(shù)師約翰遜，影視音樂界的巨星卓別林、史蒂文·斯皮爾伯格、瑪麗蓮·夢露、甲殼蟲樂隊，商界奇才比爾·蓋茨，以及深受世人愛戴的戴安娜王妃等。閱讀這些著名人物的傳奇人生，可以幫助青少年朋友們了解西方不同時代的社會歷史背景，更能夠激勵他們樹立遠大理想，以積極的態(tài)度直面人生的風雨。本冊為《外教社人物傳記叢書》之《本杰明·富蘭克林》。

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