The teacher who did the most to encourage me was, as it happened, my aunt. She was Myrtle C. Manigault, the wife of my mother’s brother Bill. She taught in second grade at all-black Summer School in Camden, New Jersey.
事实上，鼓励我最多的老师是我的舅妈。她是我母亲弟弟比尔的妻子默特尔·C·马尼高特。她在新泽西州卡姆登的全黑人暑期学校教二年级。
During my childhood and youth, Aunt Myrtle encouraged me to develop every aspect of my potential, without regard for what was considered practical or possible for black females. I liked to sing; she listened to my voice and pronounced it good. I couldn't dance; she taught me the basic dancing steps. She took me to the theatre - not just children’s theatre but adult comedies and dramas - and her faith that I could appreciate adult plays was not disappointed.
在我的青少年时期，默特尔舅妈鼓励我开发各方面的潜力，而不考虑对黑人女性来说什么是实际的或可能的；我喜欢唱歌；她听了我的歌声，觉得很好。我不会跳舞；她教了我基本的舞步。她带我去了剧院——不止是儿童剧院，还有成人喜剧和戏剧——她相信我能欣赏成人戏剧，不会令人失望。
My aunt also took down books from her extensive library and shared them with me. I had books at home, but they were all serious classics. Even as a child I had a strong liking for humor, and I’ll never forget the joy of discovering Don Marquis’s Archy & Mehitabel through her.
我的舅妈还从她庞大的图书馆里取下书，与我分享。我把书带回家里，但都是严肃的经典书籍。即使在小时候，我也很喜欢幽默，我永远不会忘记通过她发现唐·马奎斯的《Archy & Mehitabel》的喜悦。
Most important, perhaps, Aunt Myrtle provided my first opportunity to write for publication. A writer herself for one of the black newspapers, she suggested my name to the editor as a “youth columnist”. My column, begun when I was fourteen, was supposed to cover teenage social activities - and it did - but it also gave me the freedom to write on many other subjects as well as the habit of gathering material, the discipline of meeting deadlines, and, after graduation from college six years later, a solid collection of published material that carried my name and was my passport to a series of writing jobs.
也许最重要的是，默特尔舅妈为我提供了第一次写作出版的机会。她本人是一家黑人报纸的撰稿人，她向编辑推荐了我，称我为“青年专栏作家”。我的专栏开始于十四岁，本来是要报道青少年的社交活动的，但它确实给了我写很多其他主题的自由，也给了我收集材料的习惯，遵守最后期限的纪律，六年后大学毕业后，一本以我的名字命名的出版材料集，是我从事一系列写作工作的通行证。
Today Aunt Myrtle is still an enthusiastic supporter of her “favourite niece”. Like a diamond, she has reflected a bright, multifaceted image of possibilities to every pupil who has crossed her path.
如今，默特尔舅妈仍然是她“最喜欢的侄女”的热心支持者。默特尔舅妈就像一颗钻石，她给每一个与她相遇的学生呈现了一个光明、多面的可能形象。
网友评论