VOA慢速英语2015 从出租车司机到著名的飞蝇钓制造商

Elpheus Ndlovu has come a long way from his village in the South African province of Mpumalanga. He once worked as a taxi driver. Now, he makes fishing flies – artificial, man-made flies that are used to catch fish. The flies he now ties are used all over the world by fishers to make record-breaking catches.

Elpheus Ndlovu来自南非Mpumalanga省的一个小村庄，曾经是一名出租车司机的他，在经历长期奋斗之后终于成功。现在，他发明的捕鱼飞行器——全自动、人工制造的捕鱼飞行器。他所发明的捕鱼器如今在全世界的渔民中广泛使用，不断刷新捕鱼新记录。

A man tests a fishing reel in the Fly-Fishers Unlimited 2 store in Johannesburg. Next to him is a quiet man in his 40s. Elpheus Ndlovu is affectionately known as ‘Alphons' in the fly-fishing community. He is seated at a table. Right now, all of his attention seems to be on a fastener that holds a fishing fly. He wants the fly to look like a grasshopper 3.

曾经有人在约翰尼斯堡的无线飞鱼商店测试过鱼线，站在他旁边的是一个看上去很安静的40岁男子。Elpheus Ndlovu在飞鱼协会被亲切得称作Alphons。他坐在桌上，现在，他全部的注意力都集中在了绑住飞鱼线的扣件。他希望飞行器能够快的和飞机一样。

"Some guys, they send you a picture, just a picture, and they say, ‘I want this fly. And if you check in the picture, you have to look at what exactly what material it is, and then you do it, hey. Some guys also, they like to change a fly and say, ‘I want something different on this fly,' so it can catch more fish. I can do that also."

“一些人，他们会寄给你一些图片，仅仅只是图片，然后他们说，‘我想要这架飞行器。如果你查看了这些图片，你来看看到底是用了什么材料。一些人，他们打算改造飞行器，则会说，我想让飞行器看上去有些不同，好让他能多抓点与，我也能为此提供服务。’”

Elpheus Ndlovu uses both natural materials, such as bird feathers, and artificial ones, like plastic and foam 4. His goal is to make flies look like real creatures -- insects, frogs, minnows and crabs 5 -- that fish feed on.

Elpheus Ndlovu全部都使用天然材料，比如鸟的羽毛，至于人造的部分，比如塑料和泡沫。他的目标是让飞行器看上去就像真的动物一样——昆虫、青蛙、鱼和螃蟹——都是鱼爱吃的东西。

He remembers the first fly he ever tied, more than 20 years ago. It was a clouser minnow. Made of pink and white buck-tail, it was used to catch saltwater gamefish.

他还记得他做的第一个飞行器，大约是在20年前。是一条克劳泽鲦鱼，有着粉色和白色的尾巴，专门用来捕咸水里的观赏鱼。

"It took me maybe like a half an hour because I didn't know what I'm doing! Now it can take me about five minutes to tie just a clouser."

“制作它大概花了我一个半小时的时间，因为我不知道我在做什么！现在，我大概只要花5分钟就能系好一天鲦鱼。”

Elpheus Ndlovu likes to remember the day back in 1994 when he saw the newspaper advertisement that changed his life. The ad was for an apprentice 6 fly fishing rod builder. At the time, he was still driving a taxi.

Elpheus Ndlovu喜欢回忆1994年的那一天，当他看见报纸上的一则广告，这则广告彻底改变了他的一生。广告是关于招收捕鱼杆制造学徒的。在那时，他还只是出租车司机。

While making fishing rods, he met the owner of Fly-Fishers Unlimited, Murray Pedder, who taught him to how tie flies.

在做钓鱼竿的时候，他遇见了无线飞鱼的店主Murray Pedder，是他教会了Elpheus如何绑飞行器。

Mr. Pedder says Mr. Ndlovu has developed into one of the best fly tiers on the planet.

Pedder说Ndlovu已经制造出了这个世界上最好的捕鱼器。

"He's better than me in certain flies, without a doubt, because he's just tied hundreds and hundreds of them, you know."

“在制作飞行器的方面比我要好出许多，毫无疑问，因为他已经制作了成千上百的飞行器了，你知道。”

Mr. Pedder jokes that Mr. Ndlovu is so good that he even has "groupies" – people who like what he does and who follow him around.

Pedder开玩笑说Ndlovu是如此优秀，以至于他还有“小团体”，都是一些喜欢他的作品并愿意跟着他学的人。

"Yeah, a lot of the guys, when they walk in the shop, they just say, ‘How is it, Murray?' and they go straight to Elpheus because they know he's tying the flies. ‘Alphons' is the man and he's brilliant at it. He's got a band of loyal clients who regularly come in and say, ‘Look, I'm going here, I'm going there.' These flies catch fish all over the world and it's nice to get feedback. It makes us feel great."

“是的，许多人，当他们走进商店是，他们立马就说‘谁是Murray’，然后，他们直接就去找Elpheus，因为他们知道他会系飞行器。Alphons指的是能工巧匠。他有一群忠实的顾客，经常光顾他的商店，然后对他说‘看，我又来了’。这些捕鱼器遍布全世界而且是一种很好的回馈。这使我们感到很值得。”

Mr. Ndlovu says there is nothing better than getting a telephone call from a happy fisherman, thanking him for tying a fly that resulted in a dream catch.

Ndlovu说：没有什么比接到一个快乐渔夫的电话更快乐的事了，渔夫在电话里一直在感谢他做的捕鱼器让他有了丰盛的收获。

"It makes me feel great. Hey, I've got guys! They can go fish with my flies, then they call me, they say, ‘Elpheus! Brilliant'! Some of them they even come and give me something like whisky, sometimes, or whatever!"

“这是我感到很棒。看，我帮到这些人了！他们钓鱼用的是我的产品，然后在打电话告诉我，兴奋得和我说‘Elpheus，太棒了’，他们其中一些人甚至亲自过来感谢我，送给我一些东西，比如威士忌，或者别的东西。”

Mr. Ndlovu says neither he nor anyone in his hometown of Soweto believes that he is a gifted fly tier.

Ndlovu说：在他的家乡，所有人包括他自己，都认为他有做捕鱼器的天赋。

"I'm known all over the world because of what I'm doing -- tying flies. But I never thought I would be like this. Because I just came here in Joburg (Johannesburg) to look for a job..."

“我知道现在全世界的人都知道我是做捕鱼器的好手。但是此前，我从未想过我会如此出名。因为我只是到约翰尼斯堡寻找工作机会的一个人。”

Instead of a job, Elpheus ‘Alphons' Ndlovu has found a job that has enabled him to buy a house and to educate his four children.

但是，Elpheus ‘Alphons' Ndlovu不仅仅获得了一个工作，他的工作已经可以使他买一座房子并使他四个孩子受到教育。

Sitting behind his fastener, he shakes his head and says, "Life is strange." And then he proceeds to tie another perfect fly.

坐在他的沟扣面前，他摇着他的头说道“生活是一件很奇妙的事”。然后，又埋头去做下一件作品了。