美国语文第六册 第191期:新英格兰清教徒先辈的品格(3)

So long as its inhabitants were unmolested by the mother country in the exercise of their important rights,

只要这块土地上的居民在行使他们重要权利的过程中没有被宗主国干扰，

they submitted to the form of English government; but when those rights were invaded, they spurned¹ even the form away.

他们会屈从英国政府的体制。但是，当这些权利被侵犯时，他们甚至会将这种体制一脚踢开。

This act was the Revolution, which came of course and spontaneously, and had nothing in it of the wonderful or unforeseen.

这种行动就是革命，自发而起，没有一点奇妙或不可预见性。

The wonder would have been if it had not occurred.

倘若没发生的话，那倒奇怪了。

It was, indeed, a happy and glorious event, but by no means unnatural²;

的确，这场革命是一个愉快和辉煌的事件，再自然不过了。

and I intend no slight to the revered³ actors in the Revolution when I assert that their fathers before them were as free as they — every whit⁴ as free.

当我断定他们的先辈像他们一样渴望自由——事实上一点也不自由时，我不打算对这场大革命令人崇敬的演员轻描淡写了。

The principles of the Revolution were not the suddenly acquired property of a few bosoms⁵: they were abroad in the land in the ages before;

革命的原则并非突然之间变成少数几个人内心的既得财产，以前很多年就在这块土地上广泛存在了。

they had always been taught, like the truths of the Bible; they had descended⁶ from father to son, down from those primitive⁷ days,

就像圣经中的真理一样，人们从小就对这些原则耳闻目染，从原始时代开始就父子相传。

when the Pilgrim, established in his simple dwelling⁸, and seated at his blazing fire, piled high from the forest which shaded his door,

当时朝圣者在自己简陋的住所里，坐在熊熊燃烧的篝火旁边，而树木则是从在自己门上投下树荫的森林里砍伐来的，堆得很高，

repeated to his listening children the story of his wrongs and his resistance, and bade them rejoice,

向专心倾听的孩子们重复着关于自己做错事情和反抗的故事，孩子们听后欣喜若狂，

though the wild winds and the wild beasts were howling without, that they had nothing to fear from great men's oppression.

尽管外面没刮大风，也没有野兽的嚎叫，但他们从大人的郁闷听不出任何害怕。

Here are the beginnings of the Revolution.

这就是革命的开端。

Every settler's hearth⁹ was a school of independence; the scholars were apt, and the lessons sunk deeply;

每位定居者的炉边都是一所呼唤独立的学堂。学者们循循善诱，讲的课程令学生深深地陶醉在其中；

and thus it came that our country was always free; it could not be other than free.

因此，得出的结论是我们国家永远是自由的，舍此无他。

1 spurned   

v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Eve spurned Mark's invitation. 伊夫一口回绝了马克的邀请。
• With Mrs. Reed, I remember my best was always spurned with scorn. 对里德太太呢，我记得我的最大努力总是遭到唾弃。 来自辞典例句

2 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

3 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

4 whit   

n.一点，丝毫

参考例句：

• There's not a whit of truth in the statement.这声明里没有丝毫的真实性。
• He did not seem a whit concerned.他看来毫不在乎。

5 bosoms   

胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形

参考例句：

• How beautifully gold brooches glitter on the bosoms of our patriotic women! 金光闪闪的别针佩在我国爱国妇女的胸前，多美呀！
• Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there weep our sad bosoms empty. 我们寻个僻静的地方，去痛哭一场吧。

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

7 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

8 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

9 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。