本·富蘭克林

Every nation has its heroes， of course， If a nation is lucky， it has one who was so able in everything he or she did that the person’s legacy stretches in many directions. Michelangelo comes to mind. Well， America has been fortunate in this respect， too.

Ben Franklin was an inventor not only of things， but of ideas. First some of the things， Ben Franklin invented the lightning rod; he created the first wood stove with a pipe out the back that extended through the wall. You may say: “So what in these days of forced air heating?” But in his time， the Franklin Stove produced far more heat than a fireplace， cost less to operate， was less smoky， and became popular all over the world. Franklin also published America’s first magazine and organized its first postal service and its first lending library.

Ben Franklin was also famous—still is， 200 some years after his death—for his witty observations， like，“Keep your eyes wide open before marriage， half—shut afterwards.” Or， “There never was a good war or a bad peace. ” Another one: “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. ”

But he was much more than just a clever tinker with things and words. This moon’ faced， simply dressed， somewhat obese man-he sometimes called himself“Mr. Fatsides”—was one of those who created the U. S. Declaration of Independence. It was he who put the“self-evident” in its most famous line-“We hold these truths to be self-evident， that all men are created equal.” And when it appeared that the new United States may not be able to win its war against Britain， it was old Ben then in his 70s， who was dispatched to Paris and talked the French into sending soldiers and ships to help the Americans—help without which America today might well be a member of the British Common wealth. All the while he was in France， it must also be noted， he was pursuing， apparently with considerable luck， the ladies of King Louis XIV court.

Ben’s most enduring legacy， though， is the U. S， Constitution he helped write in Philadelphia in 1787. When the delegates got into wrangles with one another on how this new kind of government should work， it was Benjamin Franklin who was always there to arrange a compromise.

He died at 84 in his beloved Philadelphia.

A couple of centuries ago， no American was better known in Europe than a portly old man who wore his spectacles on the end of this nose. His name was Benjamin Franklin. The story is about a man who has dedicated his life to keeping Franklin’s memory fresh.

Ralph Archbold lives in a self-imposed time warp. Sort of. Fifteen years ago， he became fascinated with one of America’s founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin， and decided that he would make his living impersonating him. And he does. The other day I knocked on the door of Mr. Archbold’s townhouse in Philadelphia. not far from where Mr. Franklin lived a couple of hundred years ago.

Benjamin Franklin， a scientist of world fame， one of the authors of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution， was quite a ladies’man， even when he was in his 80s and that’s when he was representing this country in Europe. Ralph Archbold knows every nook and cranny of Franklin’s life’ knowledge he further authenticates by looking like the old gentleman and dressing like him.

“I will do 600 performances. Just in schools I will do 400 performances， each one about an hour long. And then with conventions and meetings I am very busy. This is a full-time career， and it has been for the 15 years. ”

He makes a good living impersonating Franklin. But， there’s more to it than that:

“When I can be photographed with someone who will take the photo back and say，‘look， here I am with Ben Franklin， and you know what I found out about him that I didn’t know? ’ that’s an exciting outreach. It’s exciting for me to realize that from all over the world people come here. they touch the‘Liberty’Bell， and then they might have a chance to meet Ben Franklin. And they have all heard about Ben， and they all love Ben. And that is really exciting. People…people really like to talk to Ben Franklin. ”

每個國家自然都有自己的英雄。如果一個國家運氣好，它就會有一個不論做什么事都有非人才干的英雄，他留下的遺產是多方面的。我們自然會想到米開朗琪羅。在這方面，美國也很幸運。

本·富蘭克林是一位發明家，不僅發明東西，而且也發明思想。他發明的東西當中有避雷針；他還創造了第一個木制火爐，從背后通出一根煙囪管子插到墻劈里去。在現在使用暖氣的時代，你可能會說：“那又有什么?”可是，在那個時代，富蘭克林爐比壁爐發出的熱量大得多，費用少，煙也少，因此而流行于全世界。富蘭克林還出版了美國第一份雜志，組建了美國第一家郵政局和第一座出借書籍的圖書館。

本·富蘭克林講話詼諧風趣，他的一些言論在他死后200多年的今天依然十分出名。例如，他說過：“結婚前應該把眼睛睜得大大的；結婚后應該半睜半閉。”“從來沒有好戰爭，也沒有壞和平。”還有一句：“在這個世界上，只有死亡和交稅是無法避免的。”

但是，他遠不僅只是一個善于擺弄東西和詞藻的能工巧匠。這個圓臉、衣著簡樸、略肥胖的人——有時候他自稱是“胖子先生”——是美國獨立宣言的作者之一。就是他在宣言中最著名的一句話里加上了“不言而喻”這幾個字。這句話就是：“我們認為下述真理乃是不言而喻的：人人生而平等。”當新誕生的美國看起來可能打不贏這場同英國人的戰爭時，又是當時已屆70高齡的本杰明被派往巴黎。是他說服法國人派來士兵和舶只以援助美國人——如果沒有這一援助，今天的美國很可能還是英聯邦的一個成員。還應提到，在他出使法國期間，他一直在向路易十四世宮廷里的貴婦們求愛，顯然他的運氣還很不錯呢。

然而，本杰明·富蘭克林所留下來的最持久的遺產是在他協助下于1787年在費城寫成的美國憲法。當代表們就這一新型的政府究竟應該怎樣工作而互相爭論不休時，他總能安排一個折衷的解決方案。

在他84歲那年，他在所熱愛的費城去世。

200年前，在歐洲最負盛名的美國人莫過于一個眼鏡架在鼻尖上的、胖胖的老人了。他的名字叫本杰明·富蘭克林。本故事講的是一個人為使人們對富蘭克林的記憶常新而奉獻一生的故事。

拉爾夫·阿奇博爾德生活在他給自己硬性規定的時間經線里，或多或少是這樣的。15年前，他迷上了美國的創始人之一——本杰明·富蘭克林，并且決定要以扮演富蘭克林為生。現在他就是這樣干的。阿奇博爾德先生住在費城一所城市住宅里，離兩個世紀前富蘭克林先生住的地方不遠。

本杰明·富蘭克林，世界聞名的科學家，美國獨立宣言和憲法的作者之一，的確是一個喜歡在女人中混的男人。甚至當他已屆80高齡時，也就是在他代表美國出使歐洲期間，也是如此。拉爾夫·阿奇博爾德了解富蘭克林一生的每一個細節——他通過使自己的相貌和衣著都同富蘭克林一樣，以進一步證實他對富蘭克林的一生了如指掌。

“我演出600次以上。僅僅在各個學校里我就要演出400次，每次1小時。那么還有年會、會議，我很忙。這是個專職工作，15年來一直如此。”

他靠扮演富蘭克林過著優裕的生活。但是，還不僅如此而已：

“當我和某人照了一張相，他把相片帶回去并對人說：‘瞧!這是我和本·富蘭克林一起照的。你知道嗎？我了解到過去不知道的有關他的事。’這樣往外一傳是很令人興奮的。我很激動地發現人們從世界各地到這里來，為的是用手摸一摸自由之鐘，然后還有機會同本·富蘭克林見面。他們都聽說過本，都熱愛本。這的確讓人感到激動。人們……人們確實很愿意同本·富蘭克林談話。”