Ben's most enduring legacy, though, is the U. S, Constitution he helped write in Philadelphia in 1787. When the delegates got into wrangles with one another on how this new kind of government should work, it was Benjamin Franklin who was always there to arrange a compromise.

然而，本杰明·富兰克林所留下来的最持久的遗产是在他协助下于1787年在费城写成的美国宪法。当代表们就这一新型的政府究竟应该怎样工作而互相争论不休时，他总能安排一个折衷的解决方案。

He died at 84 in his beloved Philadelphia.

在他84岁那年，他在所热爱的费城去世。

A couple of centuries ago, no American was better known in Europe than a portly old man who wore his spectacles on the end of this nose. His name was Benjamin Franklin. The story is about a man who has dedicated his life to keeping Franklin's memory fresh.

200年前，在欧洲最负盛名的美国人莫过于一个眼镜架在鼻尖上的、胖胖的老人了。他的名字叫本杰明·富兰克林。本故事讲的是一个人为使人们对富兰克林的记忆常新而奉献一生的故事。

Ralph Archbold lives in a self-imposed time warp. Sort of. Fifteen years ago, he became fascinated with one of America's founding fathers. Benjamin Franklin, and decided that he' would make his living impersonating him. And he does. The other day I knocked on the door of Mr. Archbold's townhouse in Philadelphia. not far from where Mr. Franklin lived a couple of hundred years ago.

拉尔夫·阿奇博尔德生活在他给自己硬性规定的时间经线里，或多或少是这样的。15年前，他迷上了美国的创始人之一——本杰明·富兰克林，并且决定要以扮演富兰克林为生。现在他就是这样干的。阿奇博尔德先生住在费城一所城市住宅里，离两个世纪前富兰克林先生住的地方不远。

Benjamin Franklin, a scientist of world fame, one of the authors of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution, was quite a ladies' man, even when he was in his 80s and that's when he was representing this country in Europe. Ralph Archbold knows every nook and cranny of Franklin's life" knowledge he further authenticates by looking like the old gentleman and dressing like him.

本杰明·富兰克林，世界闻名的科学家，美国独立宣言和宪法的作者之一，的确是一个喜欢在女人中混的男人。甚至当他已届80高龄时，也就是在他代表美国出使欧洲期间，也是如此。拉尔夫·阿奇博尔德了解富兰克林一生的每一个细节——他通过使自己的相貌和衣着都同富兰克林一样，以进一步证实他对富兰克林的一生了如指掌。

"I will do 600 performances. Just in schools I will do 400 performances, each one about an hour long. And then with conventions and meetings I am very busy. This is a full-time career, and it has been for the 15 years. "

“我演出600次以上。仅仅在各个学校里我就要演 出400次，每次1小时。那么还有年会、会议，我很忙。这是个专职工作，15年来一直如此。”

He makes a good living impersonating Franklin" But, there's more to it than that:

他靠扮演富兰克林过着优裕的生活。但是，还不仅如此而已：

"When I can be photographed with someone who will take the photo back and say, 'look, here I am with Ben Franklin, and you know what I found out about him that I didn't know?' that's an exciting outreach. It's exciting for me to realize that from all over the world people come here. they touch the 'Liberty' Bell, and then they might have a chance to meet Ben Franklin. And they have all heard about Ben, and they all love Ben. And that is really exciting. People . . . people really like to talk to Ben Franklin. "liuxuepaper.com