美語咖啡屋第30課聲音
美語咖啡屋第30課聲音
Y：各位聽眾好，歡迎您到美語咖啡屋。我是楊晨。
J: And I'm Jody! Welcome to American Cafe! Thanks for dropping in.
Y: Jody 我今天好高興！
J: Why are you so excited?
Y: 因為我剛認識了一位在喬治城大學教紅樓夢的教授。
J: Oh, well no wonder you are so happy! I know how much you love Hongloumeng.
Y: 沒錯，因為《紅樓夢》是人類歷史上最偉大的小說。
J: Yes, well, to you...it is.
Y: 你那是什麼表情啊。你想想世界那裏還有一部小說象《紅樓夢》那樣描寫了那麼多生動的人物。
J: Really? 那我象紅樓夢裏的那個人物？
Y: 這個我等會兒再告訴你。我們先來讓大家認識一下 Millward 教授，他還有個中文名字，叫米華健。他其實是歷史教授。
J: A history professor? Then why he is teaching Hongloumeng?
Y: 我們就讓米華健教授親自來解釋一下他為什麼在歷史課上教《紅樓夢》：
實錄1: James Millward: Well, I've always taught Chinese history and I thought, well it would be nice to teach something that stresses the cultural side of Chinese history as well. And so I thought why not teach Hongloumeng and I wonder if we could use Hongloumeng as a historical source to understand 18th century China.
Y: 你覺不覺米華健教授很有創意？讓學生通過《紅樓夢》來了解當時中國的社會。
J: That is much more creative because, you know, history can be pretty boring. yawn!
Y: 沒錯。如果你一邊讀《紅樓夢》，一邊學歷史就不會覺得枯燥了。
J: But I wonder what can they learn from Hongloumeng. Isn't it just a love story?
Y: 那我們聽聽米華健教授是怎麼說的：
實錄2: James Millward: We read about Qing Dynasty government and Qing Dynasty society, and the legal system. There are a lot of court cases talked about in the book, Xue Pan. And we read about gender, history of gender and gender relations and women. We read about poetry and the role of poetry and, in particular, about women writing poetry; we read about art and art history.
J: Wow. So it's not just a boy-meets-girl love story.
Y: 當然不是！ 《紅樓夢》可不是一部簡單愛情小說.它其實是一部社會小說。
J: Well, did the students like the book?
Y:那我們來問問米華健教授：
實錄3: James Millward: They liked the book. They did find it long. They were glad when they were done. You know, if you sit down in the summer and read the whole thing from beginning to end, it doesn't feel long; but if you are reading it every week, it's like homework, and so it's not as much fun.
Y: 你聽到了嗎， 米華健教授也說了，夏天讀《紅樓夢》是一種真正的享受。
J: Yeah, but how long is it, Yang Chen?
Y: 不太長，只有一百二十回。
J: 不太長? What do you mean!?!? One hundred twenty chapters? Hey, is there a comic book version of Hongloumeng?
Y: 有啊， 我就有一套。不過我建議你先看原著。 也許是因為文化差異，美國學生和中國學生看《紅樓夢》會有不同的感受， 我問米華健教授他的學生最喜歡哪個人物.他是這麼說的：
實錄4: James Millward: I know in China as well there is always a big debate about who would you rather have as your wife, Lin Daiyu or Xue Baochai. Generally American students found Lin Daiyu to be kind of whiny, and to be lying there all the time and complaining all the time and they didn't really like her character very much. Some of them liked Xue Baochai, although of them found her a little bit calculating. Many of them actually liked Wang Xifeng because they saw her as a very capable woman.
Y: 非常有意思。這些美國學生覺得林黛玉喜歡抱怨，whiny。
J: Whiny. That's not a good trait for a woman.
Y: 有些人喜歡薛寶釵，可是又覺得她太很有心計，calculating。
J: Calculating? That's another bad quality. Are there any good women to like in Hongloumeng.
Y: 你看他們都喜歡王熙鳳。哎，你一開始不是問我你象《紅樓夢》裏的哪個人物馬？我看啊，你就象王熙鳳。
J: Why? What's wrong with her?
Y: She's perfect!
J: Oh, okay. I'll have to read the book to find out because, Yang Chen, maybe I don't believe you.
Y: 你最好相信我。
J: Now what about you? Hongloumeng is your favorite book. I know you've read many many times, which character would you like to play?
Y: 賈寶玉！
J: Jia Baoyu. Who's that?
Y: 男主角啊！
J: A man! Well, we're going to have to talk about that later. Thanks for joining us on today's American Cafe.
Y: 好今天的美語咖啡屋就到這裡。我們下次節目再見！
J: A man? What do you mean a man?
