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本单元完
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Unit 2
He was born in a poor area of South London.
他出生在伦敦南部的一个贫困地区。
He wore his mother's old red stockings cut down for ankle socks.
他穿的短袜是从妈妈的红色长袜上剪下来的。
His mother was temporarily declared mad.
他的妈妈一度被诊断为精神失常。
Dickens might have created Charlie Chaplin's childhood.
狄更斯或许能创作出查理·卓别林的童年故事， But only Charlie Chaplin could have created the great comic character of \Tramp\the little man in rags who gave his creator permanent fame.
但只有查理·卓别林才能塑造出了不起的喜剧角色“流浪汉”，这个使其创作者声名永驻的
衣衫褴褛的小人物。
Other countries—France, Italy, Spain, even Japan—have provided more applause (and profit) where Chaplin is concerned than the land of his birth.
就卓别林而言，其他国家，如法国、意大利、西班牙，甚至日本，都比他的出生地给予了他更多的掌声（和更多的收益）。
Chaplin quit Britain for good in 1913 when he journeyed to America with a group of performers to do his comedy act on the stage, where talent <6>scouts recruited him to work for Mack Sennett, the king of Hollywood comedy films.
在1913年，卓别林永久地离开了英国，与一些演员一起启程到美国进行舞台喜剧表演。在那里，他被星探招募到好莱坞喜剧片之王麦克·塞纳特的旗下工作。
Sad to say, many English people in the 1920s and 1930s thought Chaplin's Tramp a bit, well, \
令人遗憾的是，20世纪二、三十年代的很多英国人认为卓别林的“流浪汉”多少有点“粗俗”。
Certainly middle-class audiences did; the working-class audiences were more likely to clap for a character who revolted against authority, using his wicked little cane to trip it up, or aiming the heel of his boot for a well-placed kick at its broad rear.
中产阶级当然这样认为。劳动阶层反倒更有可能为这样一个反抗权势的角色拍手喝彩：他以顽皮的小拐杖使绊子，或用皮靴后跟对准权势者肥大的臀部踢一下。
All the same, Chaplin's comic beggar didn't seem all that English or even working-class.
尽管如此，卓别林的滑稽乞丐形象并不那么像英国人，甚至也不像劳动阶级的人。
English tramps didn't sport tiny moustaches, huge pants or tail coats: European leaders and Italian waiters wore things like that.
英国流浪者并不留小胡子，也不穿肥大的裤子或燕尾服：欧洲的领导人和意大利的侍者才那样穿戴。
Then again, the Tramp's quick eye for a pretty girl had a coarse way about it that was considered, well, not quite nice by English audiences—that's how foreigners behaved, wasn't it
另外，“流浪汉”瞟着漂亮女孩的眼神也有些粗俗，被英国观众认为不太正派──只有外国人才那样，不是吗
But for over half of his screen career, Chaplin had no screen voice to confirm his British nationality.
而在卓别林大半的银幕生涯中，银幕上的他是不出声的，也就无从证明他是英国人。
Indeed, it was a headache for Chaplin when he could no longer resist the talking movies and had to find \
事实上，当卓别林再也无法抵制有声电影，不得不为他的“流浪汉”寻找“合适的声音”时，他确实很头疼。
He postponed that day as long as possible: In Modern Times in 1936, the first film in which he was heard as a singing waiter, he made up a nonsense language which sounded like no known nationality.
他尽可能地推迟那一天的到来：在 1936 的《摩登时代》里，他第一次在影片里发声唱歌。在片中，他扮演一名侍者，满口胡言乱语，听起来不像任何国家的语言。
He later said he imagined the Tramp to be a college-educated gentleman who'd come down in the world.
后来他说，他想象中的“流浪汉”是一位受过大学教育，但已经没落的绅士。
But if he'd been able to speak with an educated accent in those early short comedies, it's doubtful if he would have achieved world fame.
但假如他在早期那些短小的喜剧电影中能操一口受教育人的口音，那么他是否会闻名世界就难说了，
And the English would have been sure to find it \Chaplin did it on purpose but this helped to bring about his huge success.
而英国人也肯定会觉得这很“古怪”。没有人知道卓别林这么干是不是有意的，但这促使他获得了巨大的成功。
He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars.
他是一个才能非凡的人，他的决心之大甚至在好莱坞明星中也十分少见。
His huge fame gave him the freedom—and, more importantly, the money—to be his own master.
他的巨大名声为他带来了自由，更重要的是带来了财富，他因此得以成为自己的主人。
He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as he went along.
在事业发展之初，他就感到一种冲动要去发掘并扩展自己身上所显露的天才。