Yes, David, Daniel and Xavier. I am Henry David Thoreau.
Sí, David, Daniel y Javier. Soy Henry David Thoreau.
No. My name is Louisa, but my family name isn´t Addams. And Christmas won´t be Christmas without me. I´ll give you a new clue. My father was a friend of Thoreau´s and he also opposed slavery and the Mexican-American War.
No. Mi nombre es Louisa pero mi apellido no es Addams. La Navidad no será igual sin mi. Os daré otra pista. Mi padre era amigo de Thoreau y tambien se opuso a la esclavitud y a la guerra entre Mexico y America.
I - Why do we remember Mr. Thoreau? / ¿Por qué recordamos al Sr. Thoreau?
For at least two good reasons. / Por lo menos por dos buenas razones.
The first is that he wrote an essay called "On Civil Disobedience." It inspired many people, including Ghandi and Martin Luther King.
La primera es que escribió un ensayo titulado "De la Desobediencia Civil." Inspiró a muchas personas, incluyendo a Ghandi y a Martin Luther King.
Thoreau lived in 19th century America at a time when slavery was legal in many states of that nation. Thoreau was an abolitionist. That means he wanted to abolish slavery, to put an end to it.
Thoreau vivió en el siglo XIX en los Estados Unidos de Nortéamerica cuando la esclavitud era legal en muchos estados de esa nación. Thoreau era abolicionista. Eso quiere decir que quería abolir la esclavitud, poner fin a la misma.
His country got into a war with Mexico known as the Mexican-American War. Many people believed that as a result of this war, slavery would be extended to more parts of the territory of the United States.
Su país se metió en una guerra con Mexico conocida como la Guerra mejicano-americana. Mucha gente creía que como resultado de esta guerra la esclavitud se extendería a más partes del territorio de Norteamerica.
Thoreau didn´t want that to happen, but there didn´t seem to be much he could do about it. What he did was stop paying taxes as a way of protesting.
Thoreau no quería que eso occurriese, pero no parecía haber mucho que pudiese hacer para evitarlo. Lo que hizo fue dejar de pagar impuestos como forma de protesta.
He was put in jail for doing this but one of his aunts paid the taxes in his name and he was released in a few days.
Le metieron en la carcel por hacer esto, pero una de sus tías pagó los impuestos en su nombre y le soltaron en unos cuantos días.
Thoreau was angry about being released in this way and he began to write his famous essay to tell the world that when a government was bad, people had to face up to it and demand change. Jail was the place for a just person to be in if a government was unjust.
Thoreau estaba muy enfadado por haber sido puesto en libertad de esta manera y escribió su famoso ensayo para decirle al mundo que cuando un gobierno era injusto la gente buena tenía que enfrentarse a él y exigir cambios. La cárcel era el lugar en el que debían estar las personas justas cuando un gobierno era injusto.
The other reason why Thoreau is remembered is because he was one of the first ecologists.
La otra razón por la que Thoreau es recordado es por ser uno de los primeros ecologistas.
For two years Thoreau left "civilization" behind and went to live by himself in a tiny cabin on the banks of Walden Pond.
Durante dos años dejó atrás la "civilización" y se fue a vivir por sí mismo a una pequeña cabaña a orillas del lago Walden.
"Me fui al bosque porque quería vivir deliberadamente, enfrentándome únicamente a los hechos esenciales de la vida, para ver si podía aprender algo de ello y de esta forma no llegar a descubrir a la hora de morir que nunca había vivido."
In the Walden woods he experimented a simple way of life that he believed to be much healthier and saner than life in crowded cities. He wrote a book about this called "Walden."
En los bosques de Walden experimentó una forma de vida sencilla que él creía que era mucho mas sana que la vida en las abarrotadas ciudades. Escribió un libro sobre su estancia en los bosques titulado "Walden."
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/index.htm
While he was at Walden Pond he documented everything that happened there during the four seasons.
Mientras estuvo en el lago Walden documentó todo lo que occurría allí durante las cuatro estaciones del año.
He jotted down everything he observed and experienced in notebooks that are very valuable to students of natural history. He documented local fauna and flora. There are at least 1905 species of flora and fauna in this area.
Apuntó todo lo que fue observando y lo que experimentó en unos cuadernos que teienen gran valor para los estudiantes de historia natural. Documentó la fauna y la flora local. Hay por lo menos 1905 especies de flora y fauna en este área.
A lot of people think Thoreau was a sage and an example to be followed, but not everybody liked him.
Muchas personas creen que Thoreau fue un sabio y un ejemplo a seguir, pero no gusta a todo el mundo.
It isn´t only unjust governments that dislike Mr. Thoreau. Some people, like Robert Louis Stevenson, said his ideal way of living was very boring and didn´t contribute to progress.
No son sólo los gobiernos injustos los que desaprueban al Sr. Thoreau. Algunas personas, como Robert Louis Stevenson, decían que hacía mal en alejarse de la gente y que su ideal de vida era aburrido, propio de una mujer, y que no contribuía al progreso.
But it is possible to have progress and live ecologically too. And if putting a stop to slavery and living ecologically isn´t progress, we would like to know what is.
Pero es posible progresar y vivir ecológicamente a la vez, de eso va el desarrollo sostenible. Y si poner fin a la esclavitud y vivir ecológicamente no son formas de progresar, habría que ver cuáles lo son.
Exercises: Description of a place.
Use a dictionary or bug your teacher. Maybe he/ she will listen to you.
Utiliza un diccionario o da la tabarra a tu profesor/a. A lo mejor te hace caso.
If your level is at least intermediate, based on the photos, describe both the exterior and the interior of Thoreau´s cabin. Then describe the woods and the pond where it is located. Next, try to join both descriptions in one essay. Call it "Looking at Pictures of Walden Pond."
If your level is advanced, write an composition about how you would feel living by yourself at Walden Pond during the four seasons. It´s not just about feeling cold or hot or lonely. Would you learn anything from living in this way? Would you feel you had really lived?
If you are a beginner, you might want to do something more simple. Try these exercises:
1. Match these words with their Spanish equivalents. It´s ok to guess. That´s a way of learning. If you make a mistake, you learn from your mistake.
___1. owl
___2 mushroom
___3. blue chickory
___4, duck
___5. lady´s slipper
___6. toad
___7. primrose
___8. pond
a. sapo
b. pato
c. seta
d. lago
e. zapatilla de dama
f. achicoria azul
g. buho
h. prímula
2. Use "there is" or "there are" to write sentences about the plants and animals in Walden Pond and its woods. Example: 1. There are fishes in the pond.
3. Write negative sentences about animals you don´t think there could possibly be in Walden Pond and its woods. Example: 1. There aren´t any lions in Walden Woods. 2. There isn´t a whale in Walden Pond.
4.. Match these words with their Spanish equivalents:
___1. table
___2. bed
___3. chair
___4. pitcher
___5. firewood
___6. trunk
___7. fireplace
___8. sheet
___9. blanket
a. cama
b. baul
c. chimenea
d. silla
e. manta
f. mesa
g. jarra
h. sabana
i. leña
5. Use "Is there...?" and "Are there...?" to write questions about things that there are or aren´t in Mr. Thoreau´s cabin. Example: 1. Is there a bed? 2. Is there a telephone?
6. With one of your classmates, practice speaking by asking and answering the questions you wrote in exercise 4.
7. What are the names of the four seasons?
Prize Question: What is the name of the two little animals in one of the photos?We got the pictures we used to illustrate this post from the Internet. We learned that some are by a photographer called Scott Miller who did an exhibit on Thoreau at Harvard. Thoreau studied there. No, he wasn´t rich. He was clever.
Sacamos las fotos que hemos utilizado para ilustrar esta entrada de Internet. Aprendimos que algunas son de un fotógrafo llamado Scott Miller que hizo una exposición sobre Thoreau en Harvard. Thoreau estudió allí. No, no era rico. Era listo.
II - This space reserved to write about the other person from Concord. Hurry up and identify her.
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