美国语文第五册 第166期:约翰-亚当斯的假设演讲(2)

 　　Do we intend to violate that most solemn obligation ever entered into by men, that plighting¹, before God, of our sacred honor to Washington,  难道我们准备亵渎人类始终遵从的庄严法则，面对上帝，亵渎我们面对华盛顿总统发出自己神圣荣誉的誓言？

　　when, putting him forth² to incur³ the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of the times,  从而使他蒙受战争危险以及深陷当下的政治困局，

　　we promised to adhere to him in every extremity⁴ with our fortunes and our lives?  我们难道不是曾经许诺，不管任何危难当头，我们将倾尽所有财富甚至身家性命去追随拥戴他？

　　I know there is not a man here, who would not rather see a general conflagration⁵ sweep over the land,  我清楚，在场任何人哪怕宁愿看到战争急遽爆发，战火迅速席卷北美大地，

　　or an earthquake sink it, than one jot⁶ or tittle of that plighted⁷ faith fall to the ground.  或突如其来的地震使美国坍陷，亦不愿意抛弃曾经的誓约，哪怕微小的背离反叛。

　　For myself, having twelve months ago, in this place, 对我来说，一年前假设同样在这样的场合，

　　moved you that George Washington be appointed commander of the forces raised, or to be raised, for the defense⁸ of American liberty;  假设我力劝你们，为保护美国自由，乔治.华盛顿应该被任命为崛起的或有待崛起的美国抵抗力量的统帅；

　　may my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave⁹ to the roof of my mouth,  但愿我的右手受到诅咒，但愿我从此闭嘴不再说话！

　　if I hesitate or waver in the support I give him.  万一现在，我对是否支持他仍然踌躇不定，

　　The war, then, must go on.  因此，战争必须继续。

　　We must fight it through.  我们必须打下去。

　　And if the war must go on, why put off the Declaration of Independence?  如果战争必须打下去，我们为什么拖延宣布《独立宣言》？

　　That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad.  昭示天下只会使我们强大，同时赋予我们面向外界的能力。

　　Nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects in arms against our sovereign.  如果我们本身认可屈从侵犯我们主权的武力，怎能指望其他国家与我们正常交往？

　　Nay¹⁰, I maintain that England herself will sooner treat for peace with us on the footing of independence,  不仅如此，我认为，在承认独立的前提下，与其说英国本身愿意与我们协商和平会谈，

　　than consent, by repealing¹¹ her acts, to acknowledge that her whole conduct toward us has been a course of injustice¹² and oppression.  不如说它更为赞同废除其法案，承认它对我们施加的所有行为始终缺乏公平正义且残忍暴虐。

1 plighting   

vt.保证，约定（plight的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• She has no intention of plighting her troth at the moment. 目前她尚无意于婚嫁。 来自辞典例句
• I'm single, and has no intention of plighting his troth yet. 他似乎没有能力养活自己的能力，但他也从来不认为自己有责任这么做。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

4 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？

5 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

6 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。

7 plighted   

vt.保证，约定（plight的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They plighted their troth for the rest of their days. 他们俩盟誓结为终身伴侣。 来自辞典例句
• Here and there a raw young lady does think of the friends of her plighted man. 这是阅历不深的的年轻姑娘对她未婚夫的朋友往往会持有的看法。 来自辞典例句

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 cleave   

v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋

参考例句：

• It examines how the decision to quit gold or to cleave to it affected trade policies.论文分析了放弃或坚持金本位是如何影响贸易政策的。
• Those who cleave to the latter view include many conservative American politicians.坚持后一种观点的大多是美国的保守派政客。

10 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

11 repealing   

撤销，废除( repeal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• In addition, repealing the alternative minimum tax would also help. 此外，废除替代性最低税也会有所帮助。
• Repealing the investment tax credit. 取消投资税款扣除。

12 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。