8 A Rising Sun

Chapter 8 A Rising Sun Ben returned home a hero. He landed at the spot where he had entered Philadelphia as a teenaged runaway. This time, cannons saluted him. Bells were rung. Speeches were made honoring the man who had done so much to win America's

本英雄归来。 他降落在他十几岁时离家出走进入费城的地方。 这一次，大炮向他致敬。 钟响了。人们发表演讲，向这位为赢得美国的胜利做出巨大贡献的人致敬

freedom. A few weeks later, he was elected governor of Pennsylvania. The new nation was in trouble. The government was weak. There was no national currency. The army was tiny. If something wasn't done, the country might not last for long. Something was done. A convention was held to make the government stronger. States chose leading men to attend. Ben Franklin of Pennsylvania was one of the delegates. The convention opened in Philadelphia in May 1787. Its members hammered out a new framework of government: the U.S. Constitution.

自由。几周后，他当选为宾夕法尼亚州州长。 这个新生的国家陷入了困境。 政府很软弱。没有国家货币。 军队规模很小。如果不做点什么，这个国家可能撑不了多久。 有些事情发生了。为了加强政府的力量，召开了一次会议。 各州挑选了主要人物出席。 宾夕法尼亚州的本·富兰克林是与会代表之一。 大会于1787年5月在费城开幕。 其成员敲定了一个新的政府框架：美国 宪法。

At eighty-one, Franklin was the oldest delegate. When there were arguments, Ben told funny stories to calm things down. He also helped solve a big problem. The large states wanted to have the most say in the government. The small states feared that they wouldn't have much power. Franklin helped work out a solution. In the House of Representatives, large states would have more members than small states. But in the Senate, each state, regardless of size, would have two members. Ben Franklin and the other Founding Fathers signed the Constitution on September 17, 1787.

81岁的富兰克林是最年长的代表。 当发生争执时，本就讲一些有趣的故事来使大家平静下来。 他还帮助解决了一个大问题。 大州希望在政府中拥有最大的发言权。 小州担心他们不会有太多的权力。 富兰克林帮忙想出了一个解决办法。 在众议院，大州比小州拥有更多的议员。 但在参议院，每个州，无论大小，都有两名议员。 本·富兰克林和其他开国元勋于1787年9月17日签署了宪法。

As they did so, Ben pointed to the chair in which George Washington had sat. On the chair was a picture of the sun. During the convention, Ben had wondered whether it was supposed to be rising or setting. He was now so hopeful about the country that he knew. "It is a rising sun!" he exclaimed. During his last years, Ben lived with his daughter Sally and her seven children. He served as the governor of Pennsylvania until 1788. That year, he was eighty-two years old. But by his own special way of counting he was only fifty- eight. After age seventy, Ben had decided not to

当他们这样做的时候，本指着乔治·华盛顿坐过的椅子。 椅子上有一幅太阳的画。 在大会期间，本一直不知道它应该是上升还是下降。 他现在对他所熟悉的这个国家充满了希望。 “这是一个冉冉升起的太阳！” 在他生命的最后几年里，本与他的女儿莎莉和她的七个孩子住在一起。 他担任宾夕法尼亚州州长直到1788年。 那一年，他82岁了。 但按照他自己独特的计算方法，他只有五十八岁。 70岁以后，本决定不结婚了

get any older. So, from then on, with each birthday he counted a year backwards! One of Ben's final projects was to try to end slavery. He served as president of an anti-slavery society. His very last public act was to sign a paper that was sent to Congress. The paper asked that slavery be stopped. Poor health made Ben spend much of his last two years in bed. He passed the time by listening

再老一点。所以，从那时起，每到他的生日，他就向后数一年！本最后的项目之一是试图结束奴隶制。 他担任过一个反奴隶制协会的主席。 他最后一次公开行动是签署了一份提交给国会的文件。 报纸要求废除奴隶制。 由于身体不好，本最后两年大部分时间都在床上度过。 他以倾听来消磨时间

to his grandchildren reciting their lessons. In the spring of 1790, he became very ill. Sally told him that he would live many more years. "I hope not," answered her father. He died a few hours later on April 17, 1790, at the age of eighty-four. Tributes came in from around the world. Statues of him were built. Poems, articles, and books were written about him. A saying from France became popular: "He snatched the lightning from the sky and the scepter from tyrants." Ben Franklin deserved all the praise. He did so

他的孙子们背诵功课。 1790年春天，他病得很重。 莎莉告诉他，他还能多活几年。 “我希望不会，”她父亲回答。 几小时后，他于1790年4月17日去世，享年84岁。 世界各地的人们纷纷向他致敬。 人们为他立了雕像。 关于他的诗歌、文章和书籍层出不穷。 法国流传着这样一句话：“他从天上夺去闪电，从暴君手中夺去权杖。” 本·富兰克林值得所有的赞扬。 他照做了