The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born.  当美国从英国手里赢得独立的22年后，爱默生出生了。

But it had yet to win its cultural independence.  但是当时的美国还需要赢得文化上的独立。

It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from western Europe.  它的传统仍然来自其他国家，主要是来自西欧。

What the American Revolution did for the nation's politics, Emerson did for its culture. 美国革命在政治上为美国赢得独立，而爱默生在文化上为美国独立做出了贡献。

When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives saw him as radical - wild and dangerous.  19世纪30年代，当爱默生开始写作和演讲时，保守派认为他太激进，野蛮而且危险。

But to the young, he spoke words of self-dependence 一 a new language of freedom.  但是对于年轻人来说，爱默生宣扬自立--自由的新形式。

He was the first to bring them a truly American spirit.  他是为他们带来真正美国精神的第一人。

He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works.  他号召美国人民要有自己的法律、教堂和着作。

It is through his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson. 正是通过他自己的作品，我们才了解了爱默生。

Ralph Waldo Emerson's life was not as exciting as the lives of some other American writers - Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway.  爱默生的一生波澜不惊，并不像赫尔曼·梅尔维尔、马克·吐温和海明威等其他作家。

Emerson traveled to Europe several times.  爱默生曾几次到欧洲旅行，

And he made speeches at a number of places in the United States.  他还在美国数个地方演讲。

But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in the small town of Concord, Massachusetts.  但是除了以上这些旅行外，他一生都住在马萨诸塞州的小镇康科德。

Emerson's father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a Christian church.  他的父亲，像家族中的许多男人一样，是基督教的牧师。

When Emerson was eight years old, his father died.  爱默生8岁时，父亲去世了，

His mother was left with very little money to raise her five sons. 给母亲留下了少得可怜的钱养育五个儿子。

After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of Concord.  在波士顿住了几年之后，爱默生一家搬到了附近的康科德镇，

There they joined Emerson's aunt, Mary Moody Emerson.  和爱默生的姑姑玛丽·穆迪·爱默生住在一起。

Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him.  爱默生似乎接受了他母亲和姑姑为他安排的生活。

As a boy, he attended Boston Latin School. Then he studied at Harvard University. 他在波士顿拉丁语学校就读，然后进入哈佛大学。

For a few years, he taught in a girls' school started by one of his brothers.  有几年，他在他兄弟开办的一家女子学校任职，

But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching.  但是他并不喜欢那样教书。

For a time, he wondered what he should do with his life.  他曾一度思考一生应该做什么。

Finally, like his father, he became a religious minister.  最后，他像父亲一样成了一名牧师。

But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life. 但是他仍对其信仰以及生活的目的抱有疑问。

Later, his speech, "The American Scholar," created great excitement among the students in Harvard.  后来，他的演讲"论美国学者"在哈佛大学中引起了轰动。

They heard his words as a new declaration of independence - a declaration of the independence of the mind.  学子们把他的演讲看作是一种新的独立宣言--思想的独立宣言。

Young people agreed with Emerson that a person had the power within himself to succeed at whatever he tried.  年轻人拥护爱默生，因为爱默生认为一个人只要努力就可以实现梦想。

The important truth seemed to be not what had been done, but what might be done. 事实不在于已经做了多少，而在于还能够做多少。