[ti:The True Story of Pocahontas] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.56]Pocahontas is one of the most famous figures in American history. [00:08.40]Many books and films portray her as a beautiful American Indian "princess" [00:15.76]who made sacrifices to serve British colonial interests. [00:22.16]These stories also suggest that she saved England's [00:26.96]first Virginia settlers from death and starvation. [00:32.74]Most likely none of that is true. [00:37.84]Pocahontas was the daughter of Pamunkey Chief Wahunsenaca. [00:43.24]He was leader of an alliance of about thirty Algonquian tribes [00:49.28]and bands in Virginia when the British arrived in 1607. [00:55.60]This did not make her a "princess" however. [00:59.16]Royalty was a European idea. [01:03.24]Her family called her Matoaka, "flower between two streams." [01:09.92]This likely referred to their home between Virginia's Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers. [01:18.48]Tradition has said that her father also called her "Pocahontas." [01:24.52]This has several possible meanings, including "wanton" to "mischievous." [01:31.92]The name suggests she had a lively personality. [01:37.36]Little is known of Pocahontas' childhood. [01:41.24]Linwood "Little Bear" Custalow was a member of the Mattaponi tribe, [01:47.12]an ally of Wahunsenaca's. [01:50.53]Dr. Linwood's book, The True Story of Pocahontas, [01:55.04]the Other Side of History reports about Mattaponi oral history. [02:00.52]It says Matoakoa married a young Potowomac fighter [02:05.44]named Kocoum when she was about 14. [02:09.88]They had a child called Little Kocoum, [02:13.33]who was raised among the Mattaponi. [02:17.28]The book also says that the English murdered the older Kocoum. [02:22.76]In 1613, the English took Pocahontas and imprisoned her [02:28.52]because they thought it would help influence negotiations with her father. [02:34.44]They kept her for a year at the settlement of Jamestown. [02:39.64]At some point during her imprisonment, [02:42.36]Pocahontas was declared a Christian [02:45.40]and her British captors gave her a new name: Rebecca. [02:49.76]The Mattaponi say at one point the English settlers permitted her sister to visit her. [02:56.58]During that visit Pocahontas told her sister that she had been raped. [03:03.16]During her time at Jamestown, a British farmer named John Rolfe took an interest in her. [03:10.96]The details of their relationship are not clear. [03:14.40]In his writings, Rolfe said that he loved Pocahontas but also recognized [03:22.11]that a marriage alliance between Britain and Virginia tribes would be helpful. [03:28.88]Rolfe married Pocahontas in 1614, [03:33.16]and she gave birth to a son, Thomas. [03:37.08]The Mattaponi say her father did not attend the wedding. [03:42.16]However he gave her a necklace made of pearls [03:46.28]harvested from Virginia's coastal waters as a gift. [03:51.64]Pocahontas later traveled to England with Rolfe and Thomas [03:56.20]to help bring attention to the new Virginia colony. [04:00.52]She was presented to the Queen as Virginia's first Christian. [04:05.80]Historical records say she was well-received. [04:10.44]However, Pocahontas became sick, [04:13.52]and later died before she and Rolfe could return to Virginia. [04:18.80]She was buried at St. George's Church [04:21.55]in the Kent town of Gravesend on March 21, 1617. [04:28.56]A memorial statue for Pocahontas stands there today. [04:33.80]Pocahontas is most famous for an event that likely never happened: [04:38.92]Saving British explorer Captain John Smith [04:42.52]from death by Chief Wahunsenaca in 1607. [04:47.88]Smith claimed that he had been taken prisoner by a group of fighters, [04:52.76]who brought him before Chief Wahunsenaca. [04:56.64]Smith said they were ready to kill him with a club. [05:00.72]But, he wrote, Pocahontas threw herself down [05:05.04]on top of the prisoner, which saved his life. [05:09.64]Today, the Mattaponi say it could not have happened. [05:14.16]They say such behavior would not have been consistent [05:18.28]with Virginia Native culture or custom. [05:22.32]Non-Native researchers also suspect the truth of this story, [05:28.12]taking note that even in his own time, [05:31.40]people saw Smith as a liar [05:33.92]who had an inflated sense of his own importance. [05:38.68]I'm Phil Dierking. [05:41.56]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM