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There are a handful of writers throughout history whose mere name somehow conjures up everything they were about.
历史上只提名字就能让人联想起他们的作品的作家屈指可数。
If someone says Stephen King, you think of a master of horror.
如果有人说史蒂芬·金，大家会想到恐怖大师。
Agatha Christie makes one think about detective mysteries.
说起阿加莎·克里斯蒂，会让人想起侦探悬疑小说。
Mark Twain has a similar effect, and we connect him with a smarmy, witty, affectionately curmudgeonly type of writing.
马克·吐温(Mark Twain)的名声也不例外，我们常把这位作家与谄媚、诙谐、亲切、乖戾的写作风格联系在一起。
He's widely considered to be one of the most important humorists in American history, responsible for creating several world famous novels.
众所周知，他是美国历史上最伟大的幽默作家之一，创作了几部世界著名的小说。
If an author worked all of their lives and only created The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, that would be considered a successful career.
如果一个作家一生都在工作，只写了《汤姆·索亚历险记》，那就算是一种成功的职业了。
Mark Twain produced that timeless classic, and many more.
马克·吐温创作了这部永恒的经典作品，以及许多其他作品。
Today, we dive deeper into the complicated, hilarious, sometimes radical life of Mr. Twain.
今天，我们将深挖一下吐温先生复杂、滑稽、偶尔激进的生活。
Mark Twain was actually born Samuel Clemens on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri.
1835年11月30日，马克·吐温在密苏里州的佛罗里达出生，他的本名叫塞缪尔·克莱门斯。
As one of seven children, he quickly watched many of his siblings succumb and die during childhood.
作为七个孩子中的一员，他很快就目睹了许多兄弟姐妹在童年时期死去。
Only three Clemens children reached adulthood.
这个克莱门斯家族存活到成年的孩子只有三个。
At the age of four, Samuel moved with his family to the town of Hannibal, situated on the Mississippi River.
在塞缪尔四岁时，他和家人搬到了密西西比河边的汉尼拔镇。
His father, John Marshall Clemens worked as a sometimes attorney, and sometimes judge.
他的父亲约翰·马歇尔·克莱门斯在律师和法官之间不断变换身份。
Samuel's mother was named Jane, who hailed from Kentucky.
塞缪尔的母亲名叫简，来自肯塔基州。
During his childhood, Samuel would often play around the port of Hannibal, swimming and fishing,
在他童年时期，塞缪尔经常在汉尼拔港口附近玩耍，游泳和钓鱼，
and creating memories that would inform his future works.
这时制造的回忆成为他未来的作品的灵感来源。
John Clemens took ill with pneumonia when Samuel was eleven and passed away.
塞缪尔11岁时，约翰·克莱门斯患肺炎去世了。
They hadn't much to speak for financially, even before he died, but they were especially bad off afterwards.
即便在他死前，这一家人在经济上也没什么发言权，但在他死后，这个家庭的光景每况愈下。
Even at his young age, Samuel had to find work to help around the house, all while still continuing his education at school.
在萨缪尔年幼时，他就得打零工贴补家用，同时还得继续学业。
Still, money was a pressing enough need that he eventually had to quit classes altogether after the fifth grade.
尽管如此，家里的收入仍然捉襟见肘，他最终不得不在五年级之后退学。
Interestingly enough, some of the first jobs he had were with local newspapers.
有趣的是，他起初打工的场所是在当地报社。
He operated presses for one, and wrote short stories for another.
他为一家出版社工作，同时还为另一家出版社写短篇小说。
By the time he reached the age of eighteen, he struck out of his small Missouri town
在他18岁的时候，他离开了密苏里州的小镇，
and headed for the brighter working environs of the big city, moving from New York City to Philadelphia to St. Louis.
从纽约搬到费城，再到圣路易斯，前往大城市里比较明亮的工作环境。
Samuel even joined a printers trade union,
塞缪尔甚至加入了一个印刷工人工会，
while continuing his education on his own by visiting the vast libraries at the cities in which he dwelled.
同时遍访所居住城市的大型图书馆继续自己的教育。
The water seemed to still call to him.
记忆里的河流似乎还在呼唤他。
The river and docks where he grew up had a hold of him, and he wanted to learn how to best traverse them.
他成长时期的河流和码头对他影响颇深，他想学习如何以最完美的方式横穿这些河流。
The idea of becoming a boat pilot entranced him,
他沉浸在成为领航员的念头里无法自拔，
and he took on an apprenticeship with a licensed steamboat pilot to learn how to navigate the mighty Mississippi.
于是他跟着一名有执照的汽船领航员当学徒，学习如何在浩瀚的密西西比河上航行。
And navigate he did, reading the currents and learning how to avoid the dangers that any pilot could encounter on such a huge body of water,
他学会了导航，观察分析洋流，学习如何避免让领航员在这么辽阔的水域可能遇到的危险，
and in two years he earned his license.
两年后，他拿到了航行执照。
He also encountered a term that would stick with him.
他还遇到了一个与他密切相关的专业术语。
It was a standard depth of water that was safe for a steamboat to travel in, equal to 12 feet, or two fathoms,
这是一艘蒸汽船安全航行的标准水深，等于12英尺，也就是两英寻，
known to boatsmen as “mark twain".
船夫们把这个水深称为“马克·吐温”。
He would soon to adopt it as his pen name.
他很快就会用它作为他的笔名。
As the Civil War began to brew up in 1861, Clemens, now aged 26, decided to strike out in the American West.
1861年内战开始酝酿时，现年26岁的克莱门斯决定进军美国西部。
He had served on the Mississippi for a few years, even offering his brother Henry a job on the steamboat.
他在密西西比河上服役过几年，甚至给他弟弟亨利提供了一份在汽船上的工作。
That partnership ended in tragedy, as Henry was killed when the boat's boiler went up in flames.
然而，这段合作关系以悲剧收场，亨利死于船上的锅炉火灾。
Samuel was beside himself with grief.
塞缪尔悲伤得发狂。
And then seeing the brother-against-brother conflict of the Civil War rearing its ugly head,
然后，看到内战期间兄弟之间的矛盾愈演愈烈，
he finally decided to take a new opportunity working in Nevada with another sibling, Orion.
他最终决定寻找一个新的机会，在内华达州与另一个兄弟奥利翁一起工作。
Orion Clemens became the secretary of the Nevada territory in 1861, working under Governor James Nye.
奥里翁·克莱门斯(Orion Clemens)于1861年成为内华达地区的部长，在州长詹姆斯·奈(James Nye)手下工作。
Samuel joined Orion and the two headed west on a two week stagecoach trip.
而塞缪尔跟奥利翁一起出发，两人搭上车程两周的公共马车向西旅行。
He decided to leave the voyage and set foot in Virginia City, Nevada, where he tried his luck at mining.
他决定告别航海，前往内华达州的维吉尼亚市，在那里他尝试了采矿的运气。
It didn't last long, and he soon took a more familiar position at the local paper.
这段时间没过多久，他很快在当地一家报纸上找到了一个更熟悉的职位。
This is notable because it was the first time he officially used his pen name, “Mark Twain", in an 1863 humor piece.
值得注意的是，这是他第一次在1863年的一篇幽默文章中正式使用他的笔名“马克·吐温”。
So this is where we shall refer to him as such.
这就是我们这样介绍他的原因。
Mark Twain would tuck away all sorts of experiences and stories he gained
马克·吐温会把他各种经历和故事都储备起来，
while spending time in the West, traveling to San Francisco and enjoying the weather and fruits that California had to offer.
其中包括在西部旅行、到旧金山旅行、享受加州的天气和水果等等。
