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Thomas Edison may have found an unusual way to enjoy piano music.
托马斯·爱迪生可能找到了一种欣赏钢琴音乐的不同寻常的方式。
As someone played, the famous inventor, who had hearing problems, would move close to the instrument and bite it.
当有人弹钢琴时，这位听力有问题的著名发明家就会靠近乐器，咬它。
Pressing his teeth into the wood of phonographs and pianos helped Edison experience the music in his skull.
爱迪生通过把自己的牙齿咬进留声机和钢琴的木头里帮助自己体验头骨里的音乐。
Or in his own words, it allowed him to “hear through my teeth.”
或者用他自己的话说，这让他可以“通过我的牙齿听到”。
Robert Friedman recently showed off marks on a Steinway piano that was once owned by Edison.
罗伯特·弗里德曼最近展示了一架曾为爱迪生所有的施坦威钢琴上的印记。
The piano has groups of small marks above the keyboard.
这架钢琴的键盘上方有几组小印记。
Keys are what the piano player strikes to make sounds.
钢琴演奏者通过敲击琴键让钢琴发出声音。
Friedman, who buys and sells Steinways, purchased the piano last year, and said he was surprised by the tooth marks left by the inventor of the phonograph, a music playing device.
买卖施坦威钢琴的弗里德曼去年购买了这架钢琴，并表示他对这位留声机（一种音乐播放设备）的发明者留下的牙印感到惊讶。
Friedman is now looking for the right home for the instrument.
弗里德曼现在正在为这件乐器寻找合适的买家。
“I believe that it belongs somewhere where many, many, many people can see it,” Friedman said.
弗里德曼说：“我认为它属于一个很多很多人都能看到的地方。”
Edison bought the Model “B” Ebony from Steinway & Sons in 1890 for $725.
1890年，爱迪生以725美元的价格从施坦威购买了这架黑檀木钢琴。
Paperwork with the sale includes the words “office furniture,” suggesting it was sent to his laboratory in New Jersey.
这笔交易的文件上写着“办公家具”，表明它被送到了他在新泽西州的实验室。
The piano “for some reason unknown to me ... gives better results than any so far tried,” Edison wrote the company. “Please send bill with lowest price.”
爱迪生给该公司留言道，这架钢琴“不知出于什么原因……比目前为止试过的任何钢琴发出的声音都好。请寄最低价格的账单。”
Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.
爱迪生于1877年发明了留声机。
When he bought the piano 13 years later, he was experimenting with sound recording.
13年后，当他买下这架钢琴时，他正在尝试录音。
Edison owned the instrument for many years, so it is possible it was used in early recordings.
爱迪生拥有这件乐器多年，因此它有可能被用于早期录音。
There is no known photograph of Edison biting this piano.
没有已知的爱迪生咬这架钢琴的照片。
But he was known to bite into phonographs and pianos to help him experience music as his hearing worsened.
但众所周知，当他的听力恶化时，他会咬留声机和钢琴来帮助自己体验音乐。
His daughter once remembered that a guest cried at the sight of Edison biting on to a piano as someone played it.
他的女儿记得有一次，当某人在弹钢琴时，一位客人看到爱迪生咬着那架钢琴后哭了。
Edmund Morris wrote a 2019 biography of Edison’s life.
埃德蒙·莫里斯在2019年写了一本爱迪生生平传记。
In it, he wrote that Edison said: “I hear through my teeth, and through my skull.”
他在书中写道，爱迪生说：“我通过牙齿和头骨听到了声音。”
The inventor added: “I bite my teeth into the wood and then I get it good and strong.”
这位发明家还说：“我把牙齿咬进木头里，我就能让它变得又好又结实。”
Friedman said he has seen thousands of Steinway pianos over 50 years.
弗里德曼说，他在过去50年里见过数千架施坦威钢琴。
“I’ve never seen that anywhere,” he said about the possible tooth marks.
他在谈到那些可能的牙印时说：“我在任何地方都没见过这样的印记”。
Friedman bought the piano for about $45,000 in early January 2021.
弗里德曼在2021年1月初以约4.5万美元的价格买下了这架钢琴。
He did not notice the marks at first.
起初，他并没有注意到这些印记。
His friend Charles Frommer is a musician and recording history lover.
他的朋友查尔斯·弗罗默是一位音乐家，也是录音历史爱好者。
He came to Friedman’s house in New York’s Hudson Valley to tune the piano.
他来到弗里德曼位于纽约哈德逊谷的家中为这架钢琴调音。
Frommer noticed the marks and told him “those are Edison’s bite marks.”
弗罗默注意到了这些印记，并告诉他：“这些是爱迪生的咬痕。”
Friedman calls himself the Steinway hunter.
弗里德曼自称施坦威猎人。
He finds and buys the famous pianos from people and then sells them, usually to dealers or rebuilders.
他从人们那里找到并购买著名的钢琴，然后把它们卖给经销商或修理商。
But this piano is more complex.
但这架钢琴要复杂得多。
Friedman does not want it to go back into private hands because of its connection to Edison.
因为这架钢琴与爱迪生有关系，弗里德曼不希望它回到私人手中。
He has yet to find a historical group that would buy the piano, which he is offering to sell for what it cost him.
他还没有找到一个愿意购买这架钢琴的历史组织，他提出以他购得这架钢琴的价格出售它。
The Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange, New Jersey, passed up a chance to buy the piano from its earlier owner in 2020 for several reasons.
新泽西州西奥兰治的托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园因种种原因在2020年放弃了从其之前的主人那里购买这架钢琴的机会。
These included limited space, cost and the fact that some original parts were replaced since Edison owned it, museum curator Jerry Fabris said in an email.
该博物馆馆长杰里·法布里斯在一封电子邮件中表示，这些因素包括有限的空间、成本以及自爱迪生拥有它以来一些原始部件被更换的事实。
Friedman is still looking for a home for the piano.
弗里德曼仍在为这架钢琴寻找一个家。
A film also is possible, as is having the piano recorded for a special instrument recording library.
电影也是可能的，就像把这架钢琴录制到一个特殊的乐器录音库里一样。
Edison’s listening method has been tested on the piano.
爱迪生的听力方法已经在钢琴上进行了测试。
Not wanting to mark the instrument any further, Frommer said he and others tried biting the instrument when small wooden pieces were placed on the piano to protect it.
由于不想给这架钢琴留下更大的印记，弗罗默说，当有人把小木片放在钢琴上以保护它时，他和其他人试图咬这件乐器。
“We were able to replicate the effect,” Frommer said. “And yeah, you do hear it in your skull.”
“我们能够复制这种效果，”弗罗默说。“是的，你确实在你的头骨里听到琴声。”
I’m John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
