1 Difficult Beginnings

CHAPTER 1 Difficult Beginnings Music had always been a big part of Stevie Wonder's life. He was still a baby when he began pounding on bongo drums in his crib. When he was a little boy, he grabbed whatever spoons he could find in the kitchen and played on the pots

音乐一直是史提夫·汪达生活中很重要的一部分。 他还是个婴儿的时候就开始在婴儿床上敲手鼓了。 当他还是个小男孩的时候，他抓起厨房里能找到的任何勺子，在锅上玩

and pans. When he was about five years old, a barber on his street gave him a harmonica, and Stevie learned to play it. Stevie never had any formal lessons, but he always seemed to know how to make music with any instrument that was available. Stevie was born as Steveland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. His mother's name was Lula Hardaway, and his father's name was Calvin Judkins. Stevie had two older brothers, Milton and Calvin Jr. Two more brothers, Larry and Timmy, and a sister, Renee, were born in later years.

碗瓢盆。当他大约五岁的时候，街上的一个理发师给了他一把口琴，史蒂夫学会了吹口琴。 史蒂夫从未上过任何正式的课程，但他似乎总是知道如何用任何可用的乐器制作音乐。 史蒂夫于1950年5月13日出生在密歇根州萨吉诺，原名史蒂夫兰·哈达威·贾金斯。 他的母亲名叫卢拉·哈达威，他的父亲名叫卡尔文·贾金斯。 史蒂夫有两个哥哥，米尔顿和小加尔文。 后来，他又生了两个兄弟，拉里和蒂米，还有一个妹妹蕾妮。

Stevie was born about six weeks earlier than expected. He probably was not blind when he was born. But when babies are born too early, they usually remain in the hospital until they are strong enough to go home. The hospital puts them in an incubator, which is supposed to keep conditions just right for them to be healthy. Stevie was in an incubator for more than a month. He seemed healthy in every way, except that doctors noticed his eyes didn't seem to respond to movement or light. They had not developed properly.

史蒂夫比预期早出生了六周。 他可能出生时并没有失明。 但如果婴儿出生过早，他们通常会留在医院，直到他们足够强壮才能回家。 医院把它们放在保温箱里，这是为了让它们保持健康。 史蒂夫在孵化器里待了一个多月。 他在各方面看起来都很健康，除了医生注意到他的眼睛似乎对运动或光线没有反应。 他们还没有发育好。

Naturally, Lula was upset at the news. She begged the doctors to do something to restore Stevie's sight, but there was nothing they could do. He was permanently blind. Stevie couldn't see, but his hearing was incredible. When he was growing up, his siblings would drop a coin on a table. "What is it, Stevie?" they would ask. "A dime," Stevie would

当然，卢拉听到这个消息很不高兴。 她恳求医生做点什么来恢复史蒂夫的视力，但他们无能为力。 他永久失明了。史蒂维看不见，但他的听力很好。 当他长大的时候，他的兄弟姐妹会把一枚硬币扔在桌子上。 “怎么了，史蒂夫？”他们会问。 “一毛钱，”史蒂夫说

reply, correctly. They would drop another coin. "How about that one?" they would ask. "A quarter," Stevie would say. Right again. Stevie's hearing was so good that he could identify the coin simply by the sound it made. Stevie was so tuned in to sounds that naturally he was drawn to music. It started with the bongo drums in his crib. Stevie's father gave those to him. Calvin Sr. had been a pretty good musician

正确回答,。他们会再扔一枚硬币。 “那个怎么样？”他们会问。 “四分之一，”史蒂夫说。 正确的了。史提夫的听力很好，他只凭声音就能认出那枚硬币。 史蒂夫对声音如此敏感，所以他很自然地被音乐所吸引。 一切都是从他婴儿床里的手鼓开始的。 史蒂夫的父亲给他的。 老卡尔文是个很好的音乐家

himself, and he taught Stevie songs and encouraged his son's love for music. However, Calvin didn't have a regular job. He would sometimes leave the family for long periods of time. No one knew where he was or what he was doing. When Calvin was around, he wasn't very nice to Stevie's mother. Lula thought that maybe in a bigger city Calvin could find a job and things would be better. So, when Stevie was four years old, the family moved about one hundred miles away to Detroit, on the eastern edge of Michigan.

他亲自教史蒂夫唱歌，并鼓励儿子热爱音乐。 然而，卡尔文没有固定的工作。 他有时会离开家很长一段时间。 没人知道他在哪里，在做什么。 卡尔文在的时候，他对史蒂维的妈妈不太好。 卢拉想，也许加尔文能在一个更大的城市找到一份工作，事情就会好起来。 所以，当史蒂夫四岁的时候，全家搬到了100英里外的底特律，在密歇根州的东部边缘。