为你读英语美文 · 第342期 《杀死一只知更鸟》

主播：娇娇
坐标：芝加哥

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Great Depression in 1930’s and is narrated by the main character, a little girl named Jean Louise Finch, who is referred to as “Scout”. Throughout the story. Through her neighborhood meanderings and the influence of her father, she grows to understand that the world isn't always fair and that prejudice is a very real aspect of the small town where she lives, no matter how subtle it appears to be on the surface.

 “杀死一只知更鸟“的故事是在1930 年大萧条时期，在阿拉巴马州的Maycomb镇发生，并由故事主角，一个名叫Scout Finch的小女孩讲述，通过她的邻居和她父亲的影响，她逐渐明白世界并不总是公平的，偏见真实的存在于她所居住的小镇，无论它在表面上看起来多么微妙。

As the story begins, Scout, Jem, and Dill are intrigued by the reclusive Boo. He lives close to the Finch’s house and local legend has it that he once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. They imagine him as a kind of monster.

故事是从这里开始的，Scout，Jem和Dill对隐居的Boo很感兴趣。Boo住在靠近Finch家的地方。当地传说，他曾用一把剪刀刺伤了他父亲的腿。于是大家把Boo想象成一种怪物。

The children enact little dramas about Boo’s life. They start to venture closer to the Radley house, which is said to be haunted. Then they try leaving notes for Boo on his windowsill with a fishing pole but are caught by Atticus. He firmly reprimands them for making fun of a sad man's life. 

孩子们喜欢上演关于Boo的生活小戏剧。。他们开始冒险离Radley房子越来越近，据说这个房子闹鬼。他们用钓鱼竿在他的窗台下挂纸条给Boo，但被Atticus抓住了，并谴责这些孩子不应该取笑悲伤人的生活。
 
The children continue to sneak around the Radley house at night. Boo's brother thinks he hears a prowler and fires his gun. The children run away, but Jem loses his pants in a fence. When he returns in the middle of the night to get them back, they have been neatly folded and the tear from the fence roughly sewn up. 

孩子们晚上继续潜入Radley家。 Boo的兄弟认为他听到了小偷的声音并开枪。孩子们逃跑了，但是Jem在围栏里拉下了他的裤子。当他在半夜去拿回他的裤子时，发现裤子被整齐地叠起来了，而围栏的撕裂也粗粗的修补好了。

Other mysterious things begin to happen to the Finch children. A tree near the Radley house has a knot-hole in which someone leaves little presents for them. The children find pennies, chewing gum, and soap-carved figures that bear a striking resemblance to Scout and Jem. When the children try to leave a note for the mystery giver, they find that Boo's brother has plugged up the hole with cement. 

其他神秘的事情开始发生在Finch的孩子身上。Radley家附近的一棵树上有一个洞，有人为孩子们留下了小礼物。孩子们找到便士，口香糖以及肥皂雕刻的人物，与Scout和Jem有着惊人的相似之处。当孩子们试图给神秘者留下一张纸条时，他们发现Boo的兄弟用水泥堵住了这个洞。
 
One day, Jem invites one of his poorest classmates, Walter Cunningham, over for lunch. At the Finch house, Scout notes that Atticus and Walter discuss farming “like two men.” Walter asks for some molasses and proceeds to pour it all over his meat and vegetables. When Scout rudely asks what in the ‘sam hill’ he is doing, Calpurnia gives her a lecture in the kitchen about how to treat guests—no matter what their background. 

有一天，Jem邀请他最贫穷的同学Walter Cunningham来吃午饭。在Finch的房子里，Scout注意到Atticus和Walter讨论农业“就像两个男人一样。" Walter要求一些糖蜜并将其全部倒在他的肉和蔬菜上。当Scout粗鲁地问他正在做什么“山姆山”时，Calpurnia Finch家的管家）在厨房里为她讲述了无论客人的背景如何，都应该尊重对待客人的道理。 

Meanwhile, Atticus decides to take on a case involving a black man named Tom Robinson who has been falsely accused of raping a very poor white girl named Mayella Ewell. The Finch family faces harsh criticism in the heavily racist Maycomb because of Atticus's decision to defend Tom. Atticus believes both that Tom is innocent and that he has almost no chance at an acquittal; the white jury will never believe a black man over a white woman. Despite this, Atticus seeks to reveal the truth to his fellow townspeople. 

与此同时，Atticus决定接受一名名叫Tom Robinson的黑人男子的案件，该男子被诬告强奸一名叫Mayella Ewell的非常贫穷的白人女孩。由于Atticus决定为Tom辩护，Finch家族在严重种族主义下受到严厉的批评。虽然Atticus认为Tom是无辜的，但Atticus 知道Tom几乎没有机会获得无罪释放; 白人陪审团永远不会相信一个黑人是对的。尽管如此，Atticus仍试图向他的同乡们揭露真相。
 
Because Atticus is defending a black man, Scout and Jem are the object of the townspeople’s whispers and ridicule. At a family Christmas gathering, Scout beats up her cloying relative Francis when he accuses Atticus of ruining the family with a very ill name.  
因为Atticus正在捍卫一个黑人，所以Sout和Jem 成为了市民议论和嘲笑的对象。在一次家庭圣诞节聚会上，当亲戚Francis指责Atticus因为成为一名“黑鬼爱好者”而破坏家族名誉的时候，Scout用言语击败了她的亲戚。

主播介绍
娇娇 Nina Zhan 11 岁
娇娇的节目通过微信公众号“娇点英语” 播出