VOA慢速英语: 200年后，托马斯•杰斐逊的藏品仍让人震撼

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，托马斯·杰斐逊的藏品仍然让人震撼
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.
美国国会图书馆是世界上最大的一个图书馆。馆中藏有大量的图书和其它资料信息，包括文件、地图和照片。国会图书馆是方便美国国会研究用的。但是华盛顿图书馆的三个馆是向公众开放的。人们可以参观、使用阅览室、观看展品。
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，美国国会图书馆正式对外开放。国会图书馆首先是在美国的国会大厦。1812年，美国跟英国打仗期间，英国放火烧掉国会大厦，毁坏了图书馆中大约3000本书。
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.
美国第三任总统托马斯·杰斐逊提供他的个人图书馆作为国会图书馆。那时，杰斐逊拥有全国最大的个人藏书。那时，书籍非常昂贵。很多书籍都是在欧洲出版印刷，然后用船运到美国。杰斐逊带回很多他在法国担任大使时的一些书籍。
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.
杰斐逊出生在一个富裕的家庭，因此他能够购买一些他想要的书籍。两百年前，1815年1月30号，国会用23,950美元购买了杰斐逊6487本藏书。买进这一批书后，国会图书馆拥有的书籍数量是英国烧毁前图书馆书籍数量的两倍。今天，很多杰斐逊的书永久性地陈列在图书馆。
Thomas Jefferson loved books and learning. He collected books on almost any subject.
托马斯·杰斐逊喜欢读书、学习。他收集的几乎包含各个学科。
Mark Dimunation is Chief of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Library of Congress.
马克·戴缪内森是国会图书馆珍贵书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."
“他喜欢有关发明创造的书籍，他有很多法律方面的书籍，然后是他的最爱：建筑方面的书籍。”
He says the original library was very different from Jefferson's collection.
他说最初的图书馆跟杰斐逊的收藏完全不同。
"It was a working library that members of Congress would need -- law, trade, dictionaries, some classical history."
“国会成员需要的图书馆是关于法律、贸易、词典和一些古典史学。”
Mark Dimunation says Jefferson's many interests changed the Library of Congress' approach to collecting.
戴缪内森说杰斐逊的很多兴趣改变了国会图书馆的收藏。
"It completely altered the notion of what was appropriate for that collection -- from needlepoint designs to architecture."
杰斐逊完全改变了图书馆的收藏种类，小到针的设计，大到建筑设计都受其影响。
Marcelo Alvez is an engineer and college professor from Brazil. He closely studied some of Jefferson's books.
马赛罗·阿维斯是名来自巴西的工程师兼大学教授。他仔细地研究了一些杰斐逊的书籍。
"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."
“一位领导人、总统对哲学、数学、物理和农业感兴趣很让人惊讶。当今再也找不到一个像他那样知识那么渊博的人物了。”
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.
杰斐逊起草了《美国独立宣言》，他阅读了一些重要且颇具影响力的哲学书籍和政治书籍。他还拥有伊斯兰教圣书——《古兰经》的英语复制本。他在学习法律期间得到的这本书。
"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."
“我们认为杰斐逊获得这本书是因为《古兰经》是阿拉伯国家的法律，这样就有助于他了解穆斯林国家的法律制度。”
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，国会大厦的一场大火毁掉了很多书籍——差不多是杰斐逊收藏的三分之二。大火后，国会大厦和国会图书馆之间有很多高大、漂亮的大厦拔地而起。
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.
戴姆内森称图书馆寻求一些替代品，代替大火中烧掉的杰斐逊的书籍。经过不断的努力，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本书籍需要替换，重建被大火烧掉钱的杰斐逊图书馆，还有不到250本书就可以完成了。”
After Jefferson sold his beloved books, he never saw them again.
杰斐逊卖掉他钟爱的书籍之后，就再没看到过那些书。
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，他就又建立起另一个图书收藏。这个收藏馆建成后，他拥有好几千本书籍。1829年他去世之后，这些书籍被变卖用来偿还他的债务。
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.
前任总统热爱书籍，但是他还想与人分享这些书籍。因此，即使在今天，国会图书馆仍然允许研究者使用他的书籍。自他去世大约二百年，杰斐逊仍然为国家的创造发明做贡献。
I'm Christopher Cruise.
我是克里斯托弗·格鲁斯。
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.