美国语文第五册 第165期:约翰-亚当斯的假设演讲(1)

 　　Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote.  沉沦抑或求生，活着抑或死亡，幸免抑或毁灭？我完全支持这一投票表决。

　　It is true, indeed, that, in the beginning, we aimed not at independence.  诚然，最初我们并非旨在谋取独立，

　　But "There's a divinity that shapes our ends."  然而，“神灵预设了我们的终局”。

　　The injustice¹ of England has driven us to arms;  英国非道义行为驱使我们拿起武器，

　　and blinded to her own interest, she has obstinately² persisted, till independence is now within our grasp.  英国盲目失去了对自身利益的判断，然而它仍在执拗坚持，直到我们最终将独立掌控在自己手中。

　　We have but to reach forth³ to it, and it is ours.  我们只不过向前伸出手，独立就在那里，它属于我们。

　　Why then should we defer⁴ the declaration?  那么，我们为什么拖延自己宣言？

　　Is any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation⁵ with England,  目前，难道还有人如此软弱地希望与英国和解？

　　which shall leave either safety to the country and its liberties, or security to his own life and his own honor!  难道和解可给这一国家带来安全或自由，抑或给他个人生活带来保障甚至个人荣誉？

　　Are not you, sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable colleague, near you,  先生，不会是现在坐在椅子上的你，亦不是紧挨你而坐的他，我们受人尊敬的同僚，

　　are you not both already the proscribed⁶ and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance⁷?  我们难道不都是已被剥夺公权，命中注定沦为惩罚与复仇的对象？

　　Cut off from all hope of royal clemency⁸, what are you, what can you be, while the power of England remains⁹, but outlaws¹⁰?  摒弃那些高尚以及仁厚宽容的所有希望！一旦英国统治权威得以保留，法律之外，你是什么？你又可能是什么？

　　If we postpone¹¹ independence, do we mean to carry on, or to give up, the war?  如果我们推迟独立，那么我们打算继续还是放弃这场战争，

　　Do we mean to submit, and consent that we shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust?  开始和解且恢复我们与英国的友谊？我们将要服从甚至完全臣服于武力，目睹我们国家以及它的权利将被践踏成灰？

　　I know we do not mean to submit. We NEVER shall submit!  我知道，我们不会屈服，我们永远不会屈服！

1 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

2 obstinately   

ad.固执地，顽固地

参考例句：

• He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
• Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。

3 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

4 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

5 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

6 proscribed   

v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. 根据联邦法律的规定，他们不准拥有枪支。 来自辞典例句
• In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. 从前，教会禁止跳舞和玩牌。 来自辞典例句

7 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

8 clemency   

n.温和，仁慈，宽厚

参考例句：

• The question of clemency would rest with the King.宽大处理问题，将由国王决定。
• They addressed to the governor a plea for clemency.他们向州长提交了宽刑的申辨书。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

11 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。