畅销书登上大银幕(2)【沪江标准VOA080317】

作者：VOA | 沪江听说VOA美国之音时间：1年前 | 阅读：1922次 | [划词　　　]

畅销的儿童小说书《Horton Hears A Who!》登上了大银幕。故事发生在平凡的一天，当时大象霍顿正在开心地玩水，享受丛林带来的巨大欢乐……

【生词摘录】
inferiority n.下位，下部；下级；次级，低级，劣等。
metaphors n.【修辞学】隐喻，暗喻。
tenet n.教义，教条，信条；原则。

Popular Children's Book 'Horton Hears A Who!' Hits Silver Screen(2/3)

"He was 'light as a feather', as he puts it. He was like a dancer. In his head he is not bigger than anybody else. That's where I wanted to come with that character. Maybe it is an inferiority complex, I don't know, but he doesn't feel like he's bigger. He could do a lot of damage if he wanted to; but he doesn't feel like he has that power. He feels equal to everybody."

So Horton treats the microscopic residents of Who-ville as equals because, as he proclaims, "a person's a person no matter how small."

Steve Carell, the voice of Who-ville's mayor, says children have had no problem getting the message since the book was first published more than 50 years ago.

"This is a book that, I think, resonates with kids. They don't understand the metaphors and a sort of richness to it, but at the same time, it resonates. There is something very specific about the theme that I think even a little kid can understand: and that is that everyone deserves an equal footing in life. I think that's just a very basic tenet of being a creature of the world."

参考译文：

"正如他所说的，他‘轻如鸿毛’，他象一个舞者。在他的头脑中，他从来不认为自己比其他人个头大。这正是我想让这个角色表现的。也许这是自卑感，但是，他从不觉得他是更大的。如果他想，他可以做很多破坏；但是他不认为他有那样的能力。他觉得每个人都是平等的。”

因此霍顿平等地对待无名镇的袖珍居民，因为他认为“无论多小，人就是人。”

无名镇镇长配音史蒂芬•卡罗尔说，这本书在50多年前出版，但孩子们不难理解（影片的）含义。

“我认为，这是一本可以引起孩子共鸣的书。他们不理解书中的比喻和其丰富的内涵，但同时它是可以引起共鸣的。主题中有某些很具体的东西我想即使是小孩子也能领会:那就是生活中所有的人都值得公平地对待。我认为这是世界上作为一个人的基本原则。”