I'm Shirley Griffith. And I'm Ray Freeman with the Special English program PEOPLE IN AMERICA. Every week we tell the story of someone important in the history of the United States. Today we tell about Harriet Tubman, an African American woman who fought slavery and oppression.

我是雪莉·格里菲斯，我是雷·弗里曼。这里是VOA慢速英语栏目《美国人物志》。每周，我们都会讲述一位美国历史上重要的人物的故事。今天我们讲述反对奴隶制和压迫的非裔美国女性哈丽特·塔布曼的故事。

Historians say Harriet Tubman was born in the year Eighteen-Twenty. Nobody really knows. In the United States in the Nineteenth Century the birth of slaves was not recorded.

历史学家认为哈丽特·塔布曼出生于1820年。但是没有人真正知道。在19世纪的美国，奴隶们没有出生记录。

We do know that Harriet Tubman was one of the bravest women ever born in the United States. She helped hundreds of people escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad. This was a system that helped slaves escape from the South to states where slavery was banned.

我们知道哈丽特·塔布曼是美国有史以来最勇敢的女性之一。她帮助数百计的人从地下铁路逃离奴役。这是一个帮助奴隶从南方逃到奴隶制被禁止的州的系统。

Because of her work on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman was called Moses. In the Bible, Moses was the leader of the Jewish people enslaved in Egypt. He brought his people out of slavery to the promised land. Harriet Tubman died in Nineteen-Thirteen. All her life, she always tried to improve life for African Americans.

出于哈丽特·塔布曼在地下铁路的贡献，人们称她为摩西。在《圣经中》，摩西是在埃及的犹太人奴隶的领袖。摩西把人们从奴役中拯救出来，把它们带到应许之地。哈丽特·塔布曼于1913年去世。她一生都在努力改善非裔美国人的生活。

From a very early age, Harriet knew how slaves suffered. Her parents were slaves. They belonged to Edward Brodas, a farmer in the middle Atlantic state of Maryland. Harriet's parents tried to protect her and their ten other children as much as they could. There was little they could do, however. Slaves were treated like animals. They could be sold at any time. Families often were separated. Slave children were not permitted to act like children. By the time Harriet was three years old, Mister Brodas ordered her to carry notes from him to other farmers. Some of these farmers lived as far as fifteen kilometers away. Harriet was punished if she stopped to rest or play.

从很小的时候，哈丽特就知道奴隶们的痛苦。她的父母就是奴隶。它们属于爱德华布罗达斯，他是大西洋中部马里兰州的一名农民。哈丽特的父母尽力保护哈丽特和他们的另外十个孩子。然而，他们几乎无能为力。奴隶被当作动物对待。它们可以在任何时候出售。家庭经常被分开。奴隶的孩子不允许像孩子一样行事。在哈丽特三岁的时候，布罗达斯先生命令她给其他农民传信。其中有些农民住在远至15公里的地方。哈丽特如果在半途停下来或玩耍的话，就会受到惩罚。

When Harriet was six years old, the Brodas family sent her to work for another family who lived near their farm. While there, Harriet was infected with the disease measles. Even though she was sick, she was forced to place and remove animal traps in an icy river. She was sent home when she became dangerously ill. Harriet's mother took very good care of her. The child survived. Then she was sent to work in the Brodas's house. Her owners never gave her enough to eat. One day she was working in the kitchen. She was looking at a piece of sugar in a silver container when Missus Brodas saw her. Harriet ran away in fear. She was caught and beaten very severely. Her owners decided that Harriet never would make a good worker in the house. She was sent to the fields.

哈丽特六岁的时候，布罗达斯家人把她送到附近的另外一个家庭工作。在那里的时候，哈丽特感染上了麻疹。尽管她病了，她还是被迫在结冰的河里放置和转移动物行李。她病得很重时被送回了家。哈丽特的母亲把她照顾得很好。孩子活了下来。然后她被送到布罗达斯家工作。她的主人从来没有给过她足够的食物。一天，她在厨房里工作。当布罗达斯太太看见她时，她正在看一个银盒子里的一块糖。哈丽特害怕地跑开了。她被抓住并被重重地打了一顿。她的主人认为哈丽特永远也成不了家里的好工人。于是她被送到田里去了。

Harriet's parents were sad. They worked in the fields and they knew how difficult it was to survive the hard work. But working outside made Harriet's body strong. And she began to learn things from the other slaves. These things one day would help her lead her people to freedom. Harriet heard about Nat Turner. He had led an unsuccessful rebellion of slaves. She heard about other slaves who had run away from their cruel owners. She was told that they had traveled by the Underground Railroad. They did not escape by using a special train. Instead of a real train, the Underground Railroad was a series of hiding places, usually in houses of people who opposed slavery. These were secret places that African Americans could stop at as they escaped from the South to the North. As Harriet heard stories of rebellion, she became more of a rebel.

哈丽特的父母很伤心。他们在地里干活，他们知道在艰苦的劳动中生存是多么困难。但是在田地里工作使哈丽特的变得强壮起来。而且她开始向其他的奴隶学习东西。正是学的这些东西帮组她在未来领导人们走向自由。哈丽特听说了奈特·特纳这个人。他领导了一次失败的奴隶起义。她听说其他的奴隶从他们残忍的主人那里逃跑了。她得知那些人是通过地下铁路逃跑的，而不是通过专车逃跑的。地下铁路不是真正的火车，而是一系列的藏身之处，通常是在反对奴隶制的人们的房子里。这些是非洲裔美国人从南方逃到北方时可以停留的秘密地点。当哈丽特听到反叛的故事时，她变得更加反叛了。

One day when Harriet was fifteen she was at a local store. A slave owner entered and threatened a young boy who was his slave. At first, the slave refused to move. Then he ran for the door. Harriet moved in front of the young man. The slave owner reached for a heavy weight. He threw it at his slave. He missed. Instead, the heavy metal object hit Harriet in the head. Harriet almost died. Months passed before she could get out of bed. For the rest of her life, she carried the mark of a deep wound on her head. And she suffered from blackouts. She would suddenly lose consciousness as though she had fallen asleep.

哈丽特15岁的时候，有一天她在当地的一家商店里。一个奴隶主进来威胁他的奴隶小男孩。起初，奴隶不想走。然后他跑向门口。哈丽特挡到这个年轻人的前面。这个奴隶主拿了一个重物把它丢向小男孩，他失手了，然而，这个金属重物砸在了哈利特的头上，哈丽特差点死掉。几个月后她才能走下床，余生中，她头上都带着一个深深的伤口的疤痕。哈利特也深受黑朦的折磨，她有时会突然失去意识，就像睡着一样。

Mister Brodas felt he would never get any good work out of Harriet. So he decided to sell her. Harriet thought of a way to prevent this. Each time she was shown to someone who might buy her, she acted as if she were falling asleep. After a while, Mister Brodas gave up hope of selling Harriet. He sent her back to the fields. She dreamed of freedom while picking vegetables and digging in the fields. In Eighteen Forty-Four, at about age twenty-four, she married a free black man named John Tubman. By now, Harriet was sure she wanted to try to escape. It would be very dangerous. Slaves who were caught often were killed or almost beaten to death. Harriet knew she must wait for just the right time.

布罗达斯先生感觉他永远也指望不了哈丽特能好好工作了，所以他决定把她卖了，哈丽特想出了一个办法来防止自己被卖。每次她被介绍给可能买她的人看时，她都表现得好像睡着了一样。后来，布罗达斯先生放弃了卖掉哈利特的想法，他又把她送到田地里干活去了。哈丽特一边摘蔬菜，在地里挖洞，一边梦想着自由。1844年，大约24岁时，哈丽特嫁给了一个名叫约翰·塔布曼的自由黑人。现在，哈丽特确信她想要逃走。这将是非常危险的。被抓住的奴隶经常被杀死或几乎被打死。哈丽特知道她必须等待适当的时机。

Suddenly, in Eighteen-Forty-Nine, the time came. Mister Brodas died. His slaves probably would be sold to cotton farmers further South. The situation there would be even worse. John Tubman tried to make Harriet forget about running away. He was free. Why should he make a dangerous trip with a woman breaking the law? Harriet decided that her marriage to John must end. Harriet heard that she was to be sold immediately. She knew she needed to tell her family that she was leaving. She began to sing, softly at first, then louder. She sang the words, "I'm sorry to leave you...I'm going to the promised land." Her family understood.

突然，在1849年，时间到了。布罗达斯先生死了。他的奴隶可能会被卖给更加靠南的棉农。那里的情况会更加糟糕。约翰·塔布曼试图让哈丽特忘记逃跑的事。他是自由的。为什么他要和一个犯法的女人一路逃跑呢?哈丽特决心要结束她和约翰的婚姻。哈丽特听说她马上就要被卖掉了。她知道她需要告诉家人她要离开了。她开始唱歌，起初声音很轻，后来声音越来越大。她唱道：“我很遗憾离开你们……我要去应许之地。”她的家人理解了她。

Harriet ran to the home of a white woman who had promised to help. This woman belonged to the Quakers, a religious group which hated slavery. The Quaker woman told her how to reach another home where she could hide. Harriet went from house to house that way on the Underground Railroad. Each place was a little closer to the eastern state of Pennsylvania. Slavery was banned there. Once she was hidden under hay that had been cut from the fields. Another time, she wore men's clothing. Finally, she crossed the border into Pennsylvania. Later, she told a friend, "I felt like I was in heaven."

哈丽特跑到一位答应帮助她的白人妇女家里。这个女人是贵格会信徒，这个宗教教派憎恨奴隶制。这个贵格会女人告诉哈丽特如何跑到另外一个她可以藏身的地方。哈丽特在地下铁路里沿着那条路一家一家的走。每走一个地方就离宾夕法尼亚州的东部更近一步。那里奴隶制是禁止的。有一次，她躲在从地里割下来的干草下面。还有一次，她穿上男人的衣服。最后，她越过边境进入宾夕法尼亚州。后来，她告诉一个朋友，“当时我感觉自己就像在天堂。”

Now that Harriet was free, she did not forget the hundreds of other slaves back in Maryland. During the next ten years, she led a much expanded Underground Railroad. She freed her parents, her sister, brothers and other family members. She found a home for her parents in Auburn, New York.

现在哈丽特自由了，她没有忘记马里兰州的数百名其他奴隶。在接下来的十年里，她领导建立了一条规模大得多的地下铁路。她解救了她的父母、妹妹、兄弟和其他家庭成员。她在纽约奥本为父母找到了一个家。

Harriet traveled back and forth eighteen times, helping about three-hundred slaves escape into free territory. She became an expert at hiding from slave hunters. At one time, anyone finding Harriet was promised forty-thousand dollars for catching her -- dead or alive. The people she helped called her Moses. She had rescued them from slavery just as the biblical Moses rescued the Jews.

哈丽特来回游行了18次，帮助大约300名奴隶逃到自由的地域。她成了躲避奴隶主的专家。曾经有一段时间，只要有人找到哈丽特，不论她是死是活，只要能抓到她，就可以得到四万美元的赏金。哈丽特帮助的人叫她摩西。她把他们从奴役中解救出来，就像圣经中的摩西拯救犹太人一样。

Harriet found another way to fight slavery after the Civil War began in Eighteen-Sixty-One. Seven southern states decided to separate from the United States, mainly over the issue of slavery. The northern states refused to let the United States of America break apart.

1861年美国内战开始时，哈丽特找到了另外一种反抗奴隶制的方法。主要由于奴隶制的问题，七个美国南部的州决定从美国脱离出来。北部的州则拒绝让美国分裂。

After fighting began, Harriet Tubman went into enemy territory to spy for the North. She also served as a nurse. After four years of bloody fighting, the North won the war.

内战开始时，哈丽特·塔布曼进入敌占区为北方刺探情报。她还当过护士。经过四年的浴血奋战，北方赢得了战争。

President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves in Eighteen-Sixty-Three. There was no longer any need for Harriet to be Moses.

亚伯拉罕·林肯总统在1863年解放了奴隶。哈丽特不再需要做摩西了。

After the fighting ended, Harriet Tubman returned to Auburn, New York. She married a man named Nelson Davis. This could have been the beginning of a few quiet years of family life for her. But she kept working. She traveled and gave speeches to raise money for better education for black children. She also worked for women's rights and housing. And she sought help for old men and women who had been slaves. Harriet Tubman died in Nineteen-Thirteen. She was about ninety-three years old. By that time, she was recognized as an American hero. The United States government gave a funeral with military honors for the woman known as Moses.

战斗结束后，哈丽特·塔布曼返回纽约奥本。哈丽特嫁给了一个叫尼尔森·戴维斯的男人。这可能是她平静的家庭生活的开始。但哈丽特继续工作。她四处旅行并发表演讲，为黑人儿童接受更好的教育筹集资金。她还帮助解决妇女权利和住房的问题。她为那些曾经做过奴隶的老人和妇女寻求帮助。哈丽特·塔布曼于1913年逝世。享年大约93岁。那时，哈丽特被公认为美国的英雄。美国政府为这位被誉为摩西的女人举行了一场带有军事荣誉的葬礼。