The Story of the Statue

The Story of the Statue written by Heather Lynn Banks

《雕像的故事》 作者：希瑟·林恩·班克斯

Introduction. The Statue of Liberty is the tallest statue in the United States. People around the world know this big green woman. Where did this work of art come from?

简介：自由女神像是美国最高的雕像。 全世界的人都认识这个高大的绿色女士。这件艺术品是从哪来的呢？

A Gift from France. Mr. Laboulaye, an important man in France, wanted to help the United States celebrate 100 years of independence. In 1865, he said France should give a gift to the United States. The gift was the Statue of Liberty.

来自法国的礼物。 法国的重要人物拉博拉耶先生想帮美国庆祝独立100周年。 1865年，他提出法国应该送美国一份礼物。 这份礼物就是自由女神像。

First, a place needed to be found for the statue. A French artist, Mr. Bartholdi, said they should put it on an island near New York. The Americans thought about it and agreed. Then, Mr. Bartholdi made a small clay model of the statue. The French engineer, Mr. Eiffel, made sure the statue would be strong enough to last a long time.

首先，得给雕像找个安放的地方。 法国艺术家巴托尔迪先生说，应该把它放在纽约附近的一座小岛上。 美国人考虑之后同意了这个提议。 接着，巴托尔迪先生制作了一个雕像的小型黏土模型。 法国工程师埃菲尔先生负责确保雕像足够坚固，可以长久屹立。

The statue comes to life. Workers in France made the statue in pieces and then put it together. American workers built its base on the island. All of this work cost a lot of money. People from both countries gave money to help pay for it. In 1876, France sent the arm and torch of the statue to the United States. They were set up for everyone to see. When Americans saw the arm and torch, they got excited. They wanted to give even more money.

雕像慢慢成型啦。 法国的工人们把雕像分成一块一块来制作之后再把它们组装到一起。 美国的工人们在小岛上修建了雕像的基座。 所有这些工程花了好多钱。 两个国家的民众都捐款帮忙承担费用。 1876年，法国把雕像的手臂和火炬部分送到了美国。 它们被展示出来供所有人参观。 美国人看到手臂和火炬的时候，都特别兴奋。 他们愿意捐出更多的钱。

The arm and torch were sent back to France in 1882. The statue was put together in 1884. The inside was made of iron. The outside was made of over 300 sheets of copper. Then the statue was taken apart again. The pieces were sent to the United States on a ship.

1882年，手臂和火炬被送回了法国。 1884年，整座雕像组装完成。 雕像的内部是铁做的。 外部是用300多块铜片制成的。 之后雕像又被拆成了小块。 这些碎块被装在船上运往美国。