VOA慢速英语:尼日利亚移民的美国梦

Lookman Afolayan Mashood moved to the United States from Nigeria in 1996. For several years, he worked in a restaurant as a dish washer and cook. Later, he directed day-to-day operations at the eatery.

Lookman Afolayan Mashood在1996年从尼日利亚移居到美国。几年时间里他一直在一家餐馆里做厨师和洗碗工。之后他每天指挥运营着餐厅。

About five years ago, he and his girlfriend, Natalie Goldberg, opened their own restaurant in Brooklyn -- one of New York City's five boroughs. The restaurant sells Nigerian food. It is called "Buka." That is a word in the Hausa language for a simple eating place on the side of a road that sells good food.

大约五年前，他和他的女朋友Natalie Goldberg，在纽约五个行政区之一的布鲁克林开了他们自己的餐馆。这家餐馆卖的是尼日利亚食物。这种食物叫做“Buka”。“Buka”是豪萨语中一种表达街边小摊的单词。

Mr. Mashood thinks his business, called Buka New York, is the most popular African restaurant in the city.

Mashood认为他的Buka New York餐馆是布鲁克林最受欢迎的非洲餐馆。

"There's no food compared to Nigerian food. Anybody can cook goat, anybody can cook beef. But when a Nigerian man cook(s) beef for you, you will see the difference. We always bring the flavor out of anything we cook, whether its fish, whether its beef, whether its chicken, whatever we cook -- it's very distinctive -- that colonialism has not been able to change! So, I'm very proud to say I present Nigerian food as it should be, in New York."

这里没有食物能和尼日利亚食物相媲美。谁都会做羊肉，谁都会做牛肉。但是尼日利亚人为你做的牛肉会与众不同。我们通常会把烹饪的任何食物的味道发挥的淋漓尽致。无论是鱼也好，牛肉也好，或者鸡肉，无论我们做什么，做出来的食物味道都会是非常独特的。是一种殖民主义从来没有尝试过的味道!我能够非常自豪的说在纽约，我就代表着尼日利亚食物的味道。

Mr. Mashood says it was not easy to operate a restaurant.

Mashood 说经营一家餐馆也并不容易。

"Nobody give you money to start a restaurant -- there's no angel fund for restaurants, so you have to struggle very extra hard, you will never have enough money. So if you want to have a restaurant, you need a heart -- I think heart is the most important thing, the conviction I'm going to have a restaurant."

刚开始开餐馆的时候没有人会资助你，也没有天使基金。所以你必须努力奋斗，竭尽所能，不然资金永远不够。如果你想要开一家餐馆的话，你需要一颗坚定的心，这是非常重要的。这颗心在后面推着你去开一家餐馆。

People eating at the restaurant like the choice of foods.

人们在餐厅吃饭就像是食物的选择。

"So, it has okra, smoked fish, goat meat, and you eat it with pounded yam."

我们的食物有秋葵，烟熏鱼，羊肉，伴着搅碎的山药吃。

"When I dine here, it's like I'm home. And that's the truth."

当我在这里吃饭的时候这种感觉就像在家里一样。然而事实就是这样。

Mr. Mashood says that when he lived in Nigeria, he was just one of many people around the world who wanted to live in the US.

Mashood说当他还在尼日利亚的时候他只是众多想要在美国居住人的其中一个。

"You cannot stop immigration -- the best of America is immigration, because it is only the bright mind(s), in all the corners of the globe that want to come to USA. It's only the people that want to advance, those are the people who apply for (a) visa, and want to come here. The dream is still very available, still alive, and especially for Nigerians, because if you want to come to America and work very hard, you will survive. You will gain the reward of what you've done."

你不能阻止移民，美国最大的有点就是移民，因为移民群众都是汇集了世界上所有希望去美国的人，还有他们的思想。这里仅是想要前进的人，这些人申请签证想要来这里。这里的梦想依然是存在的，依然是生动的，尤其是对尼日利亚人来讲。因为如果你想要来美国，并且努力工作的话，你会生存下去。你会得到你应有的回报。

I'm Bob Doughty.

VOA's Carolyn Weaver reported on this story from New York. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

borough – n. one of the five main areas of New York City

distinctive – adj. having a quality or characteristic that makes a person or thing different from others; different in a way that is easy to notice

colonialism – n. control by one country over another area and its people

angel fund – n. money offered by governments or other organizations to help people starting a business

conviction – n. a strong belief or opinion

okra – n. a tall plant whose pods are eaten as a vegetable and are used in soups and stews

advance – v. to go forward; to make progress