美語情景對話 第844期:The Nature of Myths 神話性質

Shirley: So you said Paul Bunyan is famous. How do people know about him. Is he in children's story books or do you learn about him at school?

雪莉：你說過保羅·班揚非常有名。人們是怎麼知道他的？他是出現在兒童故事書中還是孩子們會在學校聽到他的故事？

Jake: Yes, both. At school I remember having maybe a Paul Bunyan day. It's not an actual national holiday but at school I think we had maybe one day when I was in preschool or kindergarten where we would just talk about Paul Bunyan. They would show us picture books of Paul Bunyan and we would make art based on Paul Bunyan. Things like that.

傑克：兩者都有。我記得學校有保羅·班揚日。那天並不是國家假日，不過我記得我在上幼兒園時，那一天會講保羅·班揚的故事。老師會給我們看有關保羅·班揚的圖畫書，我們要以保羅·班揚爲基礎做手工。

Shirley: That's pretty amazing that he's so famous and just for making the Mississippi river. Is there something special about the river that makes it important in America?

雪莉：他這麼有名而且還創造了密西西比河，真是太驚人了。有沒有什麼特殊的原因使那條河成爲美國的重要河流？

Jake: Well it's definitely the most important river in America, I would say. It's large and it crosses the entire United States down the middle and, yes, the Mississippi river is very important to the United States and especially where I'm from because I live near the Mississippi river in the United States.

傑克：我認爲那是美國最重要的河流。那條河流很寬闊，穿越整個美國，延伸至中部地區，密西西比河對美國非常重要，而且我的家鄉就臨近密西西比河。

Shirley: Are there any Native American stories to explain why the Mississippi river is such a big river and why it's there?

雪莉：美國有沒有什麼故事解釋爲什麼密西西比河這麼大？爲什麼會在那個位置？

Jake: I'm sure there are but unfortunately we choose to talk about the Paul Bunyan story more for one reason or another. I'm not sure why it's the most famous, but I'm sure the Native Americans have much older stories to explain the Mississippi river.

傑克：肯定有，不過因爲一些原因，我們選擇以保羅·班揚的故事來解釋。我不知道這個故事爲什麼最著名，不過我確定美國肯定有一些更古老的故事來解釋密西西比河的形成。

Shirley: So Jake, is he famous for anything else other than making that big river?

雪莉：傑克，除了創造了一條重要的河流，保羅·班揚還因爲什麼出名？

Jake: Well, I think it's maybe just a story about hard work for children and things like that, because they would say he had a huge ax and he could cut down ten trees with one swing and things like that.

傑克：我認爲那是個鼓勵兒童努力學習的故事，因爲故事裏說他有一把巨大的斧子，他一揮斧子就能砍掉10棵樹。

Shirley: So, not really an environmentalist.

雪莉：所以，與環境學家無關。

Jake: Not really. I think the story was invented before the environment (movement) was invented, so it's a bit of an old story...

傑克：無關。我想那個故事產生於環境運動開始之前，是一個有些古老的故事。

Shirley: So do they want children to go cut down trees or what's the purpose of the story now?

雪莉：他們希望孩子們去砍樹嗎？這個故事的目的是什麼？

Jake: Well I think it just means work hard and prosper, like many stories in the United States.

傑克：我認爲是努力工作和成功，就像美國許多其他的故事一樣。

Shirley: I see.

雪莉：我明白了。

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重點講解：
1. know about 瞭解，掌握；
例句：I'd love to know about the plan.
我想知道這個計劃。
2. be famous for 有名的；
例句：The villa is famous for its old style.
這所別墅以古舊的風格而著名。
3. other than 除了…之外；
例句：There may be alternative methods of substantiation other than written records.
除書面記錄外，可能還有其他方法可以證實。
4. cut down 砍倒(樹木)；
例句：Do not cut down the tree that gives you shade.
[諺]遮蔭之樹不可砍。