读者文摘:改变历史的意外时刻(5)（在线收听）

A clerical oversight makes It’s a Wonderful Life a classic.

一个文书的疏忽使《生活多美好》成为一个经典。

Despite its reputation as one of the most cherished works in American cinema, Frank Capra’s 1946 film was a financial disaster.

尽管弗兰克·卡普拉1946年的电影被誉为美国电影史上最受珍视的作品之一，但它却是一场票房灾难。

It failed to earn back its $2.3 million budget at the box office, and its losses helped drive its production company, Liberty Films, out of business.

该片在票房上未能收回230万美元的预算，导致其制片公司自由影业破产。

Capra later said that Liberty’s financial woes proved “fatal to my professional career.”

卡普拉后来表示，事实证明，自由影业的经济困境“对我的职业生涯造成了致命打击”。

And yet today It’s a Wonderful Life is a classic. How is that possible? Carelessness.

但是今天《生活多美好》已经成为了经典之作。这怎么可能呢？粗心大意。

After Liberty Films went broke, no one involved thought to monitor the movie’s copyright, which lapsed in 1974.

在自由影业破产后，没有人想到要监督电影的版权，该版权已于1974年失效。

That meant television stations were free to broadcast it without paying any royalties.

这意味着电视台可以免费播放它，而无需支付任何版税。

And for many years, they took that no-lose deal.

多年来，他们都做着这稳赚不赔的事情。

It wasn’t until a 1990 Supreme Court ruling on the ownership of Rear Window, another Jimmy Stewart movie, that the rights were effectively locked up again.

直到1990年，最高法院对吉米·斯图尔特的另一部电影《后窗》的所有权做出裁决，版权才再次被有效地锁定。

But by then, Americans couldn’t face Christmas without George Bailey, Clarence, and the town of Bedford Falls.

但到那时，没有乔治·贝利、克拉伦斯和贝德福德瀑布镇，美国人就无法面对圣诞节。

A note from Mom secures women’s right to vote. The road to women’s suffrage in the United States was long and difficult.

母亲的一封信确保了妇女获得投票权。在美国，妇女获得选举权的道路漫长而艰难。

After the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1919, the measure needed to be ratified by 36 states to become law.

1919年第19条修正案通过后，这项措施需要得到36个州的批准才能成为法律。

By the summer of 1920, the amendment’s advocates were one state from victory.

到1920年夏天，该修正案的拥护者差一个州就能获得胜利。

Unfortunately, almost all the southern states opposed the amendment, and Tennessee was poised to join them because of a 48–48 tie in its state legislature.

不幸的是，几乎所有南方的州都反对这个修正案，田纳西州也准备加入他们的行列，因为该州议会的票数是48比48。

A 24-year-old man named Harry Burn, the youngest representative in the state,

24岁的哈里·伯恩是该州最年轻的众议员，

was expected to be among those to vote “nay”—he was even wearing a red rose in his lapel, the symbol of the antisuffragists.

他甚至在翻领上佩戴了一支红玫瑰，这是反妇女参政论者的象征。

However, on the morning of the Tennessee roll call, Burn received a letter from his mother, Phoebe “Miss Febb” Burn.

然而，在田纳西州计票的那天早上，伯恩收到了他母亲“菲比·伯恩小姐”的一封信。

She implored him to “be a good boy” and support the measure.

她恳求他做个好孩子，支持这个举措。

When Burn’s name was called, he voted “aye” in a voice that was barely audible and yet shocking.

当人们叫到伯恩斯的名字时，他用一种几乎听不见却令人震惊的声音投了“赞成”票。

He later declared, “I believe we had a moral and legal right to ratify” the amendment.

后来他表示，“我相信我们在道义上和法律上都有权批准”这个修正案。

He quickly fessed up to his mother’s influence on his vote.

他很快承认了他母亲对他投票的影响。

“I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow,” he said, “and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”

我知道，对儿子来说，听从母亲的建议总是最安全的，”他说，“我母亲希望我投票赞成。”