2 Childhood

Chapter 2 Childhood Every day, George explored the fields and flowers and animals on the Carver farm. It was a big farm, about the size of 180 football fields! Moses and Susan grew corn, wheat, and potatoes. They raised cows, pigs, and horses.

乔治每天都在卡弗农场里探索田野、花草和动物。 那是一个大农场，大约有180个足球场那么大！摩西和苏珊种玉米、小麦和土豆。 他们养牛、猪和马。

There was always plenty of work to do on the farm. Jim and George were expected to help the other farmhands as much as they could. Jim was big and did some of the chores that took strength, such as plowing the fields. But George never seemed to be fully healthy after he recovered from whooping cough as a baby. He was often sick. "My body was very feeble, and it was a constant warfare between life and death to see who would gain the mastery," he once wrote.

农场里总是有很多工作要做。 吉姆和乔治被期望尽可能多地帮助其他农场工人。 吉姆身材高大，做一些需要体力的家务，比如犁地。 但乔治在婴儿时期从百日咳中康复后，似乎从未完全健康过。 他经常生病。他曾写道：“我的身体非常虚弱，为了看谁能获得控制权，我一直在与死神搏斗。”

Because he was often sick, and not very strong, George was excused from the heavy-duty work on the farm. But he still wanted to be helpful. So he did what he could, such as taking care of the plants and flowers and feeding the animals. George didn't go to school as a youngster, but he still had quite an education on the farm. From Moses, he learned to waste nothing. Moses believed that everything the family needed to live was available right there on the farm. From Susan, George learned how to sew, cook, and clean. Susan even made her own clothes with the help of a spinning wheel she kept in the house.

由于乔治经常生病，身体也不太强壮，他被允许不去干农场里的重活。 但他还是想帮忙。 所以他做了他能做的，比如照顾植物和花朵，喂养动物。 乔治年轻时没有上过学，但他在农场里还是受过很好的教育。 从摩西那里，他学会了不浪费。 摩西相信，家庭生活所需的一切都可以在农场里得到。 从苏珊那里，乔治学会了缝纫、做饭和打扫卫生。 苏珊甚至在家里的纺车的帮助下自己做衣服。

When George was eight years old, he was baptized a Christian. Because he loved nature so much, George always referred to God as "Creator." George went to church on Sundays, about a mile away from the farm. During the week, he played with the neighborhood kids. Most of them were white, and he learned to get along with people no matter what color they were.

乔治八岁时受洗成为基督徒。 因为他非常热爱大自然，乔治总是把上帝称为“创造者”。 乔治星期天去离农场大约一英里远的教堂做礼拜。 平日里，他和邻居的孩子们一起玩耍。 他们大多数是白人，他学会了与人相处，不管他们是什么肤色。

Mrs. Baynham was white. One day when George was helping her with her roses, she showed him the paintings in her house. George decided he wanted to paint pictures like that. He didn't have any brushes or paint or canvas or paper. But Moses had taught him to make good use of whatever was available. So George squeezed the juice out of some berries, took a small stick, and started painting on a flat rock. When George wasn't working or playing, he took long walks in the fields and the woods, talking to plants and flowers, and caring for them. He cleared a spot in the woods where he kept his own little nursery—a special place for plants. "Strange to say, all sorts of vegetation [plant life] seemed to thrive under my touch," he said.

拜纳姆太太是白人。一天，当乔治帮她修剪玫瑰时，她给他看了她家里的画。 乔治决定要画那样的画。 他没有任何画笔、颜料、画布或纸张。 但摩西教导他要善用一切可利用的。 于是，乔治榨出一些浆果的汁，拿起一根小棍子，开始在一块平坦的岩石上作画。 当乔治不工作或玩耍时，他会在田野和树林里散步，与植物和花朵交谈，并照顾它们。 他在树林里开辟了一块地方，作为他自己的小苗圃——一个专门用来种植物的地方。 “说来奇怪，在我的触摸下，各种各样的植物似乎都茁壮成长，”他说。

He collected rocks, too, and stashed them by the chimney in a corner of the house. Susan would make him clean out the corner, but the pile would soon grow again.

他还收集了一些石头，并把它们藏在房子角落里的烟囱旁。 苏珊会让他把墙角清理干净，但那堆东西很快又会长出来。