Unit 14 Roots

He had known that it was not safe to travel alone in the forest near the coast.

也聽說過獨自一人在海邊的森林里走是不安全的。

Unit 14 Roots

But why did white people want to catch Africans and put them in chains?

但是為什么白人要把非洲人抓起來，戴上鐐銬呢？

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Would they be killed or even eaten?

他們會被殺死，甚至會被吃掉嗎？

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The situation seemed hopeless and he knew his life was in danger.

這種情況看來是毫無希望了，他知道他有生命危險。

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Worse was to come.

更糟的事就要發生了。

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A few days later about 140 black people were taken and put on a tall sailing ship waiting off the coast.

幾天以后，大約140名黑人被帶到一艘停靠在海岸邊的大帆船上。

Unit 14 Roots

Once on the boat, they were taken bolow and their chains were fixed to two bars that ran the length of the ship.

一上船，他們就被帶進底艙，他們的鐐銬就被拴在兩根從船的一頭伸到另一頭的鐵桿上。

Unit 14 Roots

Their feet were fixed to one bar and their hands to another bar.

他們的腳拴在一根鐵杠上，他們的手拴在另外一根鐵桿上。

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Thus they lay on hard wooden boards, unable to stand up or move around.

這樣，他們就躺在硬木板上，既不能站立起來，也不能活動。

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The sea journey lasted over sixty days and nights.

海上航行持續了60多個晝夜。

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They had rough weather, and Kunta's back bled from rolling over on the hard wooden boards.

他們經歷了惡劣的天氣，孔塔的背部由于在硬木板上滾動而流了血。

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Many of the men fell sick with fever.

許多人因發燒而病倒。

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They sighed and cried out for more water, but food and water were only given out once a day.

他們嘆息著，嚷著要水喝，而水和食物每天只發放一次。

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Once in a while sailors came down, Kunta thought, to carry sick men upstairs for treatment.

偶爾水手下來，孔塔猜想是把生病的人抬上去進行治療。

Unit 14 Roots

When the ship finally arrived in a port, the wooden cover was opened wide and Kunta could see in daylight for the first time across the part of the ship where he had been chained.

當船終于到達一個港口時，木蓋打開了，孔塔這才第一次在日光下掃視了他被拴在那兒的那一部分船艙。

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About a third of the people who had been chained up below at the beginning of the journey were missing.

旅程開始時拴在下邊的人大約有三分之一已經不見了。

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There is a journalist and writer living in America whose name is Alex Haley.

有一位住在美國的記者兼作家，名叫亞歷克斯·哈利。

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In his youth, his father and grandfather often told him stories about their family history.

年輕時，他的父親和祖父常常同他說起他們的家史。

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A long time ago, one of his ancestors who lived in Africa went into the forest to cut down a tree to make a drum.

很久以前，他那生活在非洲的祖先中有一人走進森林去砍樹來做鼓。

Unit 14 Roots

He was caught, put in chains, and sent to America as a slave.

他被抓住了，帶上鐐銬，送到美國當奴隸。

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On his arrival he was sold to a farmer and worked in the fields.

一到美國，他就被賣給了一個農場主，到地里干活。

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He tried to escape but was followed and caught.

他曾經試圖逃跑，但是被人追上來抓住了。

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The farmer cut off part of his foot to make sure he could not run away again.

農場主把他的一只腳砍掉了一塊，以確保他不能再逃跑。

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I want to find out more about my 'roots,' he said.

“我想要更多地探尋我的‘根’。”

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He did a lot of research and travelled around the USA looking for information about his ancestors.

他做了大量的研究，在美國跑了許多地方，了解有關祖先的情況。

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In this way he was able to find out where they lived, how many chidren they had, and where they died and were buried.

就這樣，他了解到祖先的住處，有多少孩子，死在何處，葬在哪里。

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He collected tetters and made copies of people's diaries.

他收集到一些信件，復印了一些人的日記。

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But Haley was not satisfied.

但是哈利并不滿足于這些。

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He did not know from which part of Africa his ancestor had come.

他不知道祖先來自非洲的什么地方。

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All he knew was that his African ancestor taught his son and grandson the words in his own language for river and guitar.

他所知道的只是非洲祖先用自己的語言教給兒孫們的“江”和“吉他”這兩個詞。