英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

Superman’s 75th puts spotlight on Cleveland roots 超人75週年生日，克里夫蘭根源受矚目

◎俞智敏

The tough, blue-collar roots of Superman’s creators are getting a fresh look on the superhero’s 75th anniversary.

隨著超人75歲生日到來，超人創造者的堅韌藍領根源也獲得全新的關注。

Creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster lived just a few blocks apart in the Cleveland neighborhood that shaped their teenage lives, their dreams and the imagery of the Man of Steel.

超人漫畫原作者西格爾和舒斯特少時在克里夫蘭的住處只隔了幾條街，這個社區形塑了他們的青少年時光、夢想與鋼鐵英雄的意象。

In the city’s Glenville neighborhood, still in the throttling grip of the Great Depression, Siegel and Shuster labored on their creation for years before finally selling Superman to a publisher.

克里夫蘭市的格蘭維爾區當時仍受到經濟大蕭條的嚴重打擊，西格爾和舒斯特為他們的創作努力多年，最後才把超人賣給出版商。

The Man of Steel became a Depression-era bootstrap strategy for the Siegel/Shuster team, according to Brad Ricca, a professor at nearby Case Western Reserve University who uses Superman in his classes. "They really just saw it as a way out," he said.

根據鄰近克里夫蘭的凱斯西儲大學教授利卡表示，鋼鐵英雄成為西格爾和舒斯特在大蕭條時代的自力謀生策略，利卡會在課堂中講授超人作品。「他們真的把它視為一條出路，」他說。

But it wasn’t just hardscrabble circumstances that tempered the Man of Steel, Siegel’s daughter said. Laura Siegel Larson said Cleveland’s public library, comic pages and high school mentors all nurtured her father’s creativity.

但鋼鐵英雄並不只是受到貧困的環境所鍛鍊，西格爾的女兒表示。蘿拉．西格爾．拉森說，克里夫蘭的公共圖書館、漫畫及高中導師都滋養了她父親的創意。

"The encouragement that he received from his English teachers and the editors at the Glenville High School newspaper and the literary magazine gave my dad a real confidence in his talents," she said.（AP）

「受到來自他的英文老師，以及格蘭維爾高中報紙和文學雜誌編輯的鼓勵，讓我父親對他的天分擁有真正的信心，」她說。（美聯社）

新聞辭典

throttle：作名詞時指節流閥、油門，作動詞則指掐住某人的脖子、使窒息或扼殺、壓制，如International sanctions were then throttling the country’s economy.（國際制裁使得該國當時的經濟發展受阻。）

bootstrap：名詞，原指（長統靴的）拔靴帶，引申為指幾乎不靠他人協助，自立自強，常用於片語by one’s own bootstraps，如Despite many obstacles, she has pulled herself up by her own bootstraps.（儘管面臨重重險阻，她仍然靠自己闖出一片天。）

hardscrabble：形容詞，指農地或土壤很貧瘠，或指很貧困的，如He lived a hardscrabble life.（他一生困頓。）

文章出處：<a href="http://iservice.libertytimes.com.tw/Service/english/">自由時報電子報中英對照新聞