# 41 Carver's Early Years

Who was George Washington Carver? Where did he come from? Let's start from the beginning. Carver was born of slave parents in 1859. Soon after his birth, night raiders stole the baby and his mother. The plantation owner, Moses Carver, was able to get the baby back. The mother could not be found. The plantation owners nursed the baby back to health. They treated him as if he were their own child. He was too frail to work in the fields, so he worked as the cook.

How did Carver become interested in education? As a child, he could not read, spell, or write. He was illiterate. But at the age of 10 he found an ancient speller. The plantation owners told him the words and their meanings. After that, he was on his own. He memorized each word.

It was now 1869. The slaves had been freed in 1865, so the boy was free to leave. He heard about a school in Missouri. It beckoned him. He bid a final good-bye. Then, barefooted, he tramped miles of dusty roads to the school. In town, as a cook, he earned food and shelter. He studied at night under a dim lantern. In only a year, he learned all that the school had to offer.

The next step was high school. But it was far away in Fort Scott, Kansas. Undaunted, he took to the road again. And again, as a cook, he found food and shelter. But school was not easy. He faced math and science and history. Everything was so new to him. Again, under the dim light of a barn lantern he studied. He worked and studied there for seven years. He was now 17. With diplomas under his arm, he returned home. He returned to the Moses Carver plantation. They welcomed him like a son. It was a restful summer. There he planned his next step.

# 41 卡弗的早年

喬治·華盛頓·卡弗是誰？他來自哪裡？讓我們從頭開始。卡弗於1859年出生，父母是奴隸。他出生後不久，夜間襲擊者偷走了嬰兒和他的母親。種植園主摩西·卡弗設法找回了嬰兒。母親卻找不到。種植園主們悉心照顧嬰兒恢復健康。他們待他如己出。他太虛弱，無法在田裡工作，所以他當了廚師。

卡弗是如何對教育產生興趣的？小時候，他不會讀、拼或寫。他是文盲。但在10歲時，他找到一本古老的拼字書。種植園主告訴他單字及其含義。之後，他就靠自己了。他記住了每個單字。

現在是1869年。奴隸們在1865年獲得自由，所以這個男孩可以自由離開。他聽說密蘇里州有一所學校。學校吸引著他。他做了最後的道別。然後，他赤腳跋涉了數英里塵土飛揚的道路去學校。在鎮上，他當廚師，賺取食物和住所。他在昏暗的燈光下夜讀。僅用一年時間，他就學會了學校所能教授的一切。

下一步是上高中。但高中在遙遠的堪薩斯州斯科特堡。他毫不氣餒，再次上路。再次，作為廚師，他找到了食物和住所。但學校並不容易。他面對數學、科學和歷史。一切對他來說都是如此新奇。再次，他在穀倉燈的昏暗光線下學習。他在那裡工作和學習了七年。他現在17歲了。他腋下夾著文憑回到家鄉。他回到摩西·卡弗的種植園。他們像歡迎兒子一樣歡迎他。那是一個休養生息的夏天。在那裡，他規劃了他的下一步。