Benjamin Franklin House

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Dan: He was an inventor and writer.

Li: A musician and a philosopher.

Dan: A businessman and a diplomat.

Li: 发明家，作家，音乐家，商人，哲学家和外交家。这究竟是谁呢？

Dan: It's Benjamin Franklin!

Li: 他的名字就是本杰明·福兰克林。现在我们听到的就是他发明的一种玻璃乐器 the glass armonica. He was a famous American, everyone knows that!

Dan: But not everyone knows that he has a special connection to London! Well join us for a visit to The Benjamin Franklin House in London. Hi I'm Dan.

Li: 大家好我是杨莉。我们的导游是福兰克林博物馆的创建人和馆长。

I'm Dr Márcia Balisciano and I'm the founding director of Benjamin Franklin House. And it's my job to make sure that as many people as possible come to visit us and learn about the history of Franklin in London.

Dan: Of all the places Franklin lived across the continent, this is the only surviving home left.

Benjamin Franklin House was opened to the public in 2006. ©Benjamin Franklin House

Li: 唯一保留下来的住所 the only surviving home.

Well, by some strange twist of fate this is the only house still standing where Benjamin Franklin lived and worked. So it's not in Boston where he was born, not in his adopted city of Philadelphia, not in Paris where he spent eight years as, sort of, First Ambassador – if you will – of the colonies, but here in London. He spent the better part of 16 years here at 36 Craven Street.

Dan: The only house standing. This is another way of saying the only surviving house where Benjamin lived and worked.

And it is a Grade 1 listed 1730s Georgian townhouse.

Li: Grade 1 listed Georgian townhouse. 这是一座乔治亚建筑风格的国家一级保护建筑。福兰克林出生在波士顿。

Dan: His birthplace is in Boston.

Li: His adopted city was Philadelphia.

Dan: So what's his UK connection then?

Franklin actually was Anglo-American because his father came from Ecton in Northamptonshire, here in the United Kingdom and his mother was born on the island of Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts. But he came to London initially in a political role, on behalf of the Pennsylvanians.

Li: 他的父亲是英国人，母亲是美国人所以他是一个有英国血统的美国人 Anglo-American.

Dan: Although he came to London initially as a politician we all know that Franklin was also famous for lots of other achievements. Now let's listen to Dr Balisciano again and see if you can figure out the meaning of the word polymath.

Benjamin Franklin House is a Grade I listed Georgian townhouse. ©Benjamin Franklin House

Benjamin Franklin was almost every description you could think of. He was a writer and an inventor and a scientist and a philosopher and a politician and a diplomat. And Benjamin Franklin was someone who was a real polymath – he did a little bit of everything. He was born in Boston in 1706 and he ran away as a teenager to his adopted city of Philadelphia, where eventually he became a printer and a publisher.

Dan: A real polymath, someone who knows a bit of everything, a genius, a know-it-all.

Li: 一个精通万物的人，天才，a polymath. 他还是一个哲学家，他的名言警句很多比如：

Dan: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

© Benjamin Franklin House

Li: 每天吃一个苹果，身体健康不求医。

Dan: A penny saved is a penny earned.

Li: 省一分钱就是赚一分钱。

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away". "A penny saved is a penny earned". He also said that "house guests and fish are similar because they both start to stink after three days" but here, at Craven Street, he actually had his niece come and live three years in the house.

Dan: Oh dear! I'm not sure about the last one: House guests and fish are the same because they both start to stink after three days.

Li: 福兰克林还曾说过这样的话，住在家里的客人和鱼都一样，三天一过就开始发腥了。不过他的侄女在他家住了三年。

Dan: Judging by what he said, the whole house must have stunk.

Li: But he may have been too busy with his great inventions to notice the smell! 他最著名的发明之一就是避雷针 the lightening rod.

Dan: Also, the Franklin stove.

Both Beethoven and Mozart composed for the glass armonica. ©Benjamin Franklin House

Li: 福兰克林火炉。

Dan: And theodometer.

Li: 里程表。

Dan: And of course the glass armonica. He once said this: "Of all my inventions, the glass armonica has given me the greatest personal satisfaction."

Li: On that note we'll leave you to enjoy the sound of the glass armonica from the Benjamin Franklin House. Bye for now.

Dan: Bye.