4. We the People

4 We the People Stanley spotted a pair of police officers strolling toward him. He looked around for a place to hide before he was spotted. Then he saw it: a big framed poster, taller than he was, hung on a side of the building. It showed a crowd of smiling people of every possible shape and shade, wearing traditional garb from all over the world. At the top were the words WE THE PEOPLE. Stanley leaped up and balanced inside the frame, plastering his face into a smile. He silently apologized to the white-bearded rabbi he was covering. The police officers were right in front of him! Their walkie-talkies crackled. "Calling all forces! National hero misplaced. Description: eleven years old, less than one inch

斯坦利看见两个警察向他走来。 在被发现之前，他四处寻找藏身之处。 然后他看到了:一个大框的海报，比他还高，挂在大楼的一侧。 它展示了一群微笑的人，他们的形状和肤色各不相同，穿着来自世界各地的传统服装。 顶部是“我们人民”几个字。 斯坦利跳了起来，在画框里保持平衡，脸上挂着微笑。 他默默地向他掩护的白胡子拉比道歉。 警察就在他面前!他们的对讲机噼啪作响。 “召集所有力量!”民族英雄放错地方了。 描述:11岁，不足一寸

thick, brown hair. Possible kidnapping." "Let's go!" said one of the officers, and they raced away. Stanley allowed himself a sigh of relief… until he noticed two men on the other side of the boulevard. They were both wearing dark suits and sunglasses, and they were staring right at him. They started crossing the street, weaving between cars, their pace quickening. A chill went down Stanley's body. Kidnappers! he thought.

浓密的棕色头发。可能绑架。” “我们走吧!”一个军官说，他们就跑开了。 斯坦利松了一口气……直到他注意到林荫大道的另一边站着两个人。 他们都穿着深色西装，戴着墨镜，直直地盯着他。 他们开始穿过街道，在汽车之间穿梭，步伐加快了。 斯坦利浑身一阵寒意。 绑匪!他想。

At that moment, a crowd of people came marching down the sidewalk, chanting, "Change the law! Do what's right! Truth and justice must unite!" The two men were pushing their way through the crowd. A placard held high by a marcher, reading AND JUSTICE FOR ALL, slid before Stanley's eyes. He jumped for it. Hanging off the back of the sign, Stanley glanced back. The two men were spinning in circles in front of the WE THE PEOPLE poster, wondering where he had gone. I need a disguise, Stanley thought. A block later, Stanley dived into a recycling bin full of newspapers. He started shoving crumpled-up handfuls of newsprint under his shirt and into the legs of his pants. He'd learned in school how to fold boat-shaped hats out of newspaper, and now he made one and put it on his head. A tour group was gathered on the giant steps of a building nearby. Stanley rustled up to the back of the group, trying to blend in. "Many of the most important buildings in Washington were burned during the War of

就在这时，一群人沿着人行道走来，高喊着:“修改法律!”做正确的事!真理和正义必须团结起来!”那两个人正从人群中挤过去。 一个游行者高举的标语牌滑过斯坦利的眼前，上面写着“人人享有正义”。 他跳了起来。斯坦利挂在招牌后面，回头看了一眼。 两个人在WE The PEOPLE的海报前转圈，想知道他去了哪里。 我需要一个伪装，斯坦利想。 过了一个街区，斯坦利钻进了一个装满报纸的回收箱。 他开始把一把把揉成一团的新闻纸塞进衬衫和裤腿里。 他在学校里学过如何用报纸折船形帽子，现在他自己做了一顶戴在头上。 一个旅游团聚集在附近一座建筑的巨大台阶上。 斯坦利蹑手蹑脚地走到人群的后面，试图混入人群中。 华盛顿许多最重要的建筑在南北战争期间被烧毁

Eighteen-twelve," the tour guide was saying. "The Library of Congress was mostly destroyed, as was the Capitol. It is said that the smoke could be seen as far away as Baltimore. Even the White House was ruined—but not before a life-size portrait of George Washington was cut out of its frame and sneaked to safety. "We are all very lucky that the most important documents in our nation's history weren't lost during the burning of Washington. Let's go inside the National Archives and see them."

1812年，”导游说。 国会图书馆和国会大厦几乎全部被毁。 据说远在巴尔的摩都能看到烟雾。 甚至白宫也被毁了——但在此之前，乔治·华盛顿的一幅真人大小的肖像被从镜框上剪下来，偷偷运到了安全的地方。 “我们都很幸运，我们国家历史上最重要的文件没有在华盛顿大火中丢失。 我们去国家档案馆看看吧。”

In a grand room with very high ceilings, Stanley bent over a large piece of yellow parchment, crowded with script. It was the Declaration of Independence, dated July 4, 1776. The tour guide said it was written by Thomas Jefferson. John Hancock's very fancy signature stood out among the names of all the people who had signed at the bottom. The tour guide said that when people first came to America, many of them just wanted to be themselves without getting into trouble. They wanted the right to be different, and that was the first thing that the Declaration of Independence declared: that all people are equal and entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the same room, Stanley saw the Constitution, which set up how the government worked: The president ran things, Congress made laws, and a Supreme Court made tough decisions. The building also had the Bill of Rights, which were the first laws to get passed and are still the most important ones. Right at the beginning, in the First Amendment, there was freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the freedom to protest.

在一间天花板很高的大房间里，斯坦利俯身看着一张黄色的大羊皮纸，上面写满了字迹。 这就是1776年7月4日发表的《独立宣言》。 导游说这是托马斯·杰斐逊写的。 约翰·汉考克的奇特的签名在所有在下面签名的人的名字中很显眼。 导游说，当人们第一次来到美国时，他们中的许多人只是想做自己，不想惹麻烦。 他们想要与众不同的权利，这是《独立宣言》宣布的第一件事:所有人都是平等的，都有生命、自由和追求幸福的权利。 在同一个房间里，斯坦利看到了宪法，它规定了政府的运作方式:总统管理事务，国会制定法律，最高法院做出艰难的决定。 这座大楼里还有《权利法案》，这是最早通过的法律，至今仍是最重要的法律。 从一开始，在第一修正案中，就有言论自由、宗教自由和抗议自由。

"Excuse me," a small voice said. Stanley turned to see two girls staring at him, holding big, colorful guidebooks. "My name is Sook-ying and this is my sister, Cho. We are from South Korea. Are you Flat Stanley?" "No," Stanley lied. The girl frowned. "Your head is flat," she said. "Please, we are big fans. May I take a picture with you?" At least it's okay to be different in America, Stanley thought. He put a crinkly, newspaper-filled arm around the girl and smiled. Just as the camera flashed, Stanley saw two men in black suits and sunglasses appear in the doorway to the giant room: the kidnappers! Stanley turned his back and bent his head close to the girls. "I need your help," he whispered. A moment later, Stanley spied the men in black as they kicked a mound of scrunched-up newspaper on the floor next to the Bill of Rights. He watched them as he escaped, sticking out of Sook-ying's backpack, folded up to look like a guidebook.

“对不起，”一个微弱的声音说。 斯坦利转过身来，看见两个女孩正盯着他看，手里拿着五颜六色的大旅游指南。 “我叫淑英，这是我妹妹赵某。 我们来自韩国。你是Flat Stanley吗?”“不，”斯坦利撒了个谎。 女孩皱起眉头。“你的头是平的，”她说。 “拜托，我们是超级粉丝。我可以和你合个影吗?”至少在美国，与众不同是可以接受的，斯坦利想。 他用满是报纸、皱巴巴的手臂搂住女孩，笑了。 就在摄像机闪烁的时候，斯坦利看到两个穿着黑色西装、戴着墨镜的人出现在巨大房间的门口:绑匪!斯坦利转过身去，低下头靠近姑娘们。 “我需要你的帮助，”他低声说。 过了一会儿，斯坦利发现那些黑衣人正在《人权法案》旁边的地板上踢一堆揉成一团的报纸。 他一边看着他们，一边从淑英的背包里伸出来，背包折叠起来，看起来像一本旅游指南。