2021年经济学人 美国内战--时代姐妹花(2)

But the civil war scattered¹ them. Tubman went to South Carolina to establish a settlement for freed slaves and serve as a Union scout² and spy. Seward spent time in Washington as the discontented wife of a cabinet member. Her household and Wright’s sent off?spring to fi?ght; both mothers anxiously awaited news of their fates. Yet in a quiet testament³ to her convictions, Wright told her son that he should die before helping⁴ return a slave to the South. So that Tubman could continue her indispensable work, Seward became a godmother of sorts to her ten-year-old niece.

但是美国内战把她们分散了。塔布曼去南卡罗来纳州为自由奴隶建立定居点，并担任联邦侦察员和间谍。苏厄德作为一名内阁成员的妻子在华盛顿度过了一段抑郁不满的时间。苏厄德和赖特的家人将她们的后代送到了战场；两位母亲都焦急地等待着有关孩子命运的消息。然而，赖特在遗嘱中默默地向自己的儿子传达自己的信念，宁死也不能把一名黑奴遣送回南方。就这样，塔布曼继续着她至关重要的工作，苏厄德成了她十岁侄女的教母。

Somewhat miraculously⁵, the war claimed just one life in this network of families. The Seward and Wright boys completed their service safely; Tubman would live until 1913. But on the night of Lincoln’s assassination⁶, a co-conspirator came for his secretary of state as well, grievously injuring William Seward and other members of the household. Yet it was not William but Frances who perished. Physically⁷ unscathed, she never recovered from the shock of the event and died two months later. “Our calamities⁸ do not make us unmindful of the great loss our country has sustained in the death of our good president,” she wrote before the end.

有点不可思议的是，内战只夺走了这三家人中的一条生命。苏厄德和赖特的儿子们安全地完成了服役；塔布曼活到1913年。但在林肯遇刺当晚，一名同谋者找到当时的国务卿，重伤威廉·苏厄德和其他家庭成员。然而，因此去世的不是威廉，而是弗朗西斯。虽然弗朗西斯的身体毫发无损，但她一直未能从这次震惊的事件中恢复过来，两个月后就去世了。她在临终前写道：“纵使我们身处灾难，但这不会使我们忽视伟大总统的去世给国家造成的巨大损失。”

By devoting ample space to family life, Ms Wickenden shows how domestic concerns both defined and constrained⁹ 19th-century women. Her subjects loved and wanted the best for their children, but were expected to range no further. Wright chafed¹⁰ at these limitations, as did Seward, whose activism created marital¹¹ tension (particularly when her husband positioned himself as a moderate in the pre-war years). Yet neither Seward nor Wright went as far as their sometime collaborators Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, whose single-mindedness in pursuit of women’s equality eclipsed all else.

通过对家庭生活的充分描写，威肯登女士展示了家庭问题是如何定义和约束19世纪的女性的。她笔下的主人公疼爱孩子，并希望自己的孩子得到最好的东西，但家人却希望束缚住她们。赖特对这些限制感到恼火，苏厄德也是如此，苏厄德的行动激进甚至造成了婚姻关系的紧张（尤其是当她丈夫在内战前站队温和派时）。然而，苏厄德和赖特都没有像他们曾经的合作者苏珊B·安东尼和伊丽莎白·凯迪·斯坦顿那样成功，苏珊和伊丽莎白一心一意追求女性平等，无出其右。

The book’s weakness is conceptual. Including Tubman in the circle of friends will no doubt broaden this volume’s readership, but in every way she stands apart from her allies. Her risks and achievements so outweigh¹² those of Seward and Wright as to place her on a different plane entirely¹³. She belongs in the pantheon of the greatest Americans, not among genteel letter-writers sleeping warmly in their beds. Still, as Ms Wickenden observes, even Moses needed an entourage.

这本书的缺点在于其概念性。把塔布曼置于很多好友中无疑会扩大这本书的读者群，但她又处处比盟友出众。塔布曼面临的风险和成就都超越了苏沃德和赖特，以至于塔布曼的境界与其他二人也完全不同。她属于美国伟人之流，而不能和那些白天矫揉造作写信、晚上暖暖和和睡觉的人士混为一谈。然而，正如威肯登女士所观察到的，即使摩西也需要随从。

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

3 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 miraculously   

ad.奇迹般地

参考例句：

• He had been miraculously saved from almost certain death. 他奇迹般地从死亡线上获救。
• A schoolboy miraculously survived a 25 000-volt electric shock. 一名男学生在遭受2.5 万伏的电击后奇迹般地活了下来。

6 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 calamities   

n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事

参考例句：

• They will only triumph by persevering in their struggle against natural calamities. 他们只有坚持与自然灾害搏斗，才能取得胜利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• One moment's false security can bring a century of calamities. 图一时之苟安，贻百年之大患。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

10 chafed   

v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒

参考例句：

• Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. 她的手腕上绳子勒过的地方都磨红了。
• She chafed her cold hands. 她揉搓冰冷的双手使之暖和。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

12 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。