環(huán)球英語 1321 Mary’s Long Walk
Welcome to Spotlight, I'm Tony Ford.
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And I'm James Totton. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Is there something you really, really want? Perhaps a new cycle, a motorcycle, or even a car? Or new clothes, or a cell phone. What is it that really makes your eyes shine?
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How long would you be willing to save up your money to buy it? Could you wait one year, or two years? Do you want it so much that you would save your money for six years to have it?
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Today's Spotlight tells the true story of a girl who wanted ... a book - just a book. She was very poor and had no money to buy it. But the book was so special that she saved and saved what little money she could earn until she had enough coins to buy it.
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She saved for six years.
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Yes, it took her six years to save enough money for the book. But, when at last she had saved up enough coins she could not buy the special book in her own village.
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No. She had to walk 25 miles – 40 kilometres – to the nearest town. She had no shoes. She walked with bare feet over rocks and through streams to reach the man who was selling the special book.
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The girl's name was Mary Jones. She and her parents were very poor. They lived in a small village in the mountain region of Wales more than two hundred years ago.
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Wales is part of the United Kingdom, but in those days many of its people did not speak English. They spoke only the Welsh language. Many people in Wales still speak Welsh today.
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The special book that excited Mary was written in her Welsh language. She had to have it. So, at the age of nine she did whatever jobs she could to earn money. A few coins here. A few coins there.
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At last, when she was fifteen years old, she had enough money to buy the special book. So one day, in the year 1800, Mary started to walk to the distant town of Bala to buy the thing her heart desired. She went barefoot because she did not want to spend her money on shoes - or any new clothes. No. This book was more important to her.
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It was a long walk – 40 kilometres – alone through valleys and across streams to reach a man called Thomas Charles. He was the man who was selling the book that Mary wanted so much.
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But when Mary arrived at Bala, tired and hungry, there was no book for her. Most copies of the special book had already been sold. The others were waiting to be collected.
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Mary was very sad in her heart.
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But Thomas Charles was a kind man. He did not like to see Mary cry. He took one of the books waiting to be collected, and he sold it to Mary. What was this book that brought sunshine into Mary's heart?
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It was the Christian's holy book - the Bible. But Mary's Bible was also special because it was written in her own language, Welsh. All over the world today, people will walk many miles under the hot sun or through cold snow to buy a Bible in their own language.
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Yes. And Mary had an important part in that. You see, Thomas Charles was greatly affected by meeting Mary. He was amazed that someone would want a Bible so much. It made him ask himself if he could do anything to help other people like Mary get the Bible in their own language. He discussed his idea with the people he worked with. And together they started the Bible Society. The Bible Society has now grown into a large organisation. It tries to make sure that anyone, anywhere in the world, can get a Bible if they want one.
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The Christian Bible was written thousands of years ago. It was first written in ancient Hebrew and Greek languages. But Christians do not think of these as holy languages. That is, Christians do not have a special language, like Muslims have Arabic and Hindus have Sanskrit. Jesus commanded his followers to spread his teachings all over the world. And it is that command that made Thomas Charles want to translate the Bible into as many languages as possible.
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There are nearly 7000 different languages in the world. So far, the Bible has been written in nearly 3000 of these languages. It is the most popular book in the world. Today, you can also find the Bible in many languages on the Internet.
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What happened to Mary after this story?
She lived a long life. She married a cloth-maker named Thomas Lewis. They had children, but most of them died young. She went blind when she was old and could not see to read her Bible. She died in 1864, aged 80.
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But by then, Mary remembered much of what she had read. It was as if she carried the words in her head. When she died, her special book was on a table by her bed. It is now kept at one of England's most famous universities - Cambridge.
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Mary was poor all her life, but gave what money she could to help the Bible Society so that other people like her could have a Bible.
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After she died, people built a large stone memorial in her village to give her honour. And each year many people remember Mary Jones. They walk the forty kilometres she walked when she bought her special book.
They wear shoes or boots. But they imagine how hard this walk was for the young girl who was too poor to buy shoes. But she had a strong desire for something more important to her.
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The writer of today's programme was Alan Harris. The producers were Nick Mangeolles and Luke Haley. The voices you heard were from Wales and New Zealand. All quotations were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. Computer users can read our scripts, hear our programs and see our word list on our website: https://www.radio.english.net This .programme is called "Mary's Long Walk".
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You are welcome to write to us with questions and comments about Spotlight. Our email address is [email protected]. You can also leave comments on our website and you can find us on Facebook - just search for Spotlight Radio.
From all of us at Spotlight, goodbye.
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