Franklin and Franklin impersonator
Every nation has its heroes, of course, If a nation is lucky, it has one who was so able in everything he or she did that the person's legacy1 stretches in many directions. Michelangelo comes to mind. Well, America has been fortunate in this respect, too.
每一个国家自然都有我们的英雄。假如一个国家运势好，它就会有一个不论干什么事都有非人才干的英雄，他留下的遗产是多方面的。大家自然会想到米开朗琪罗 。在这方面，美国也非常幸运。
Ben Franklin was an inventor not only of things, but of ideas. First some of the things, Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod; he created the first wood stove with a pipe out the back that extended through the wall. You may say: So what in these days of forced air heating? But in his time, the Franklin Stove produced far more heat than a fireplace, cosplayt less to operate, was less smoky, and became popular all over the world. Franklin also published America's first magazine and organized its first postal2 service and its first lending library.
本富兰克林是一位创造家，不只创造东西，而且也创造思想。他创造的东西当中有避雷针；他还创造了第一个木制火炉，从背后通出一根烟囱管子插到墙劈里去。在目前用暖气的年代，你或许会说：那又有哪些?可是，在那个年代，富兰克林炉比壁炉发出的热量大得多，成本少，烟也少，因此而时尚于全世界。富兰克林还出版了美国第一份杂志，组建了美国第一家邮政局和第一座出借书本的图书馆。
Ben Franklin was also famous-- still is, 200 some years after his death-- for his witty3 observations, like, Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half--shut afterwards. Or, There never was a good war or a bad peace. Another one: In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.
本富兰克林讲话谈谐风趣，他的一些言论在他死后200多年的今天依旧十分出名。比如，他说过：结结婚以前应该把双眼睁得大大的；结结婚以后应该半睁半闭。从来没好战争，也没坏和平。还有一句：在这个世界上，只有死亡和缴税是不可回避的。
But he was much more than just a clever tinker with things and words. This moon faced, simply dressed, somewhat obese4 man- he sometimes called himself Mr. Fatsides --was one of those who created the U. S. Declaration of Independence. It was he who put the self-evident in its most famous line- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. And when it appeared that the new United States may not be able to win its war against Britain, it was old Ben then in his 70s, who was dispatched to Paris and talked the French into sending soldiers and ships to help the Americans--help without which America today might well be a member of the British Common wealth. All the while he was in France, it must also be noted5, he was pursuing, apparently6 with considerable luck, the ladies of King Louis XIV court.
但，他远不只只不过一个擅长摆弄东西和词藻的能工巧匠。这个圆脸、衣着简朴、略肥胖的人有时他自称是胖子先生是美国独立宣言的作者之一。就是他在宣言中最著名的一句话里加上了不言而喻这几个字。这句话就是：大家觉得下述真理乃是不言而喻的：每人生而平等。当新诞生的美国看着可能打不赢这场同英国人的战争时，又是当时已届70高龄的本杰明被派往巴黎。是他说服法国人派来士兵和舶只以援助美国人假如没这一援助，今天的美国非常可能还是英联邦的一个成员。还应提到，在他出使法国期间，他一直在向路易十四世宫廷里的贵妇们求爱，显然他的运势还很好呢。
Ben's most enduring legacy, though, is the U. S, Constitution he helped write in Philadelphia in 1787. When the delegates got into wrangles7 with one another on how this new kind of government should work, it was Benjamin Franklin who was always there to arrange a compromise.
然而，本杰明富兰克林所留下来的最持久的遗产是在他帮助下于1787年在费城写成的美国宪法。当代表们就这一新型的政府到底应该如何工作而互相争论不休时，他总能安排一个折衷的解决方法。
He died at 84 in his beloved Philadelphia.
在他84岁那年，他在所热爱的费城过世。
A couple of centuries ago, no American was better known in Europe than a portly old man who wore his spectacles on the end of this nose. His name was Benjamin Franklin. The story is about a man who has dedicated8 his life to keeping Franklin's memory fresh.
200年前，在欧洲最负盛名的美国人莫过于一个眼镜架在鼻尖上的、胖胖的老人了。他的名字叫本杰明富兰克林。本故事讲的是一个人为使大家对富兰克林的记忆常新而奉献一生的故事。
Ralph Archbold lives in a self-imposed time warp9. Sort of. Fifteen years ago, he became fascinated with one of America's founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin, and decided10 that he' would make his living impersonating him. And he does. The other day I knocked on the door of Mr. Archbold's townhouse in Philadelphia. not far from where Mr. Franklin lived a couple of hundred years ago.
拉尔夫阿奇博尔德生活在他给自己硬性规定的时间经线里，多少是如此的。15年前，他迷上了美国的开创者之一本杰明富兰克林，并且决定要以饰演富兰克林为生。目前他就是如此干的。阿奇博尔德先生住在费城一所城市住宅里，离两个世纪前富兰克林先生住的地方不远。
Benjamin Franklin, a scientist of world fame, one of the authors of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution, was quite a ladies' man, even when he was in his 80s and that's when he was representing this country in Europe. Ralph Archbold knows every nook and cranny of Franklin's life knowledge he further authenticates11 by looking like the old gentleman and dressing12 like him.
本杰明富兰克林，世界闻名的科学家，美国独立宣言和宪法的作者之一，的确是一个喜欢在女性中混的男性。甚至当他已届80高龄时，也就是在他代表美国出使欧洲期间，也是这样。拉尔夫阿奇博尔德知道富兰克林一生的每个细节他通过使我们的面貌和衣着都同富兰克林一样，以进一步证实他对富兰克林的一生了如指掌。
I will do 600 performances. Just in schools I will do 400 performances, each one about an hour long. And then with conventions and meetings I am very busy. This is a full-time13 career, and it has been for the 15 years.
我演出600次以上。仅仅在每个学校里我就要演 出400次，每次1小时。那样还有年会、会议，我非常忙。这是个专职工作，15年来一直这样。
He makes a good living impersonating Franklin But, there's more to it than that:
他靠饰演富兰克林过着优裕的生活。但，还不只这样而已：
When I can be photographed with someone who will take the photo back and say, 'look, here I am with Ben Franklin, and you know what I found out about him that I didn't know?' that's an exciting outreach. It's exciting for me to realize that from all over the world people come here. they touch the 'Liberty' Bell, and then they might have a chance to meet Ben Franklin. And they have all heard about Ben, and they all love Ben. And that is really exciting. People . . . people really like to talk to Ben Franklin.
当我和某人照了一张相，他把相片带回去并对人说：'瞧!这是我和本富兰克林一块照的。你知不知道，我获悉什么过去不了解的有关他的事?'如此往外一传是非常让人开心的。我非常激动地发现大家从世界各地到这里来，为的是用手摸一摸自由之钟，然后还有机会同本富兰克林见面。他们都听说过本，都热爱本。这的确叫人感到激动。大家大家确实非常想同本富兰克林谈话。
