名人励志英语演讲 第115期:人类的精神(1)

 　　I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work--a life's work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before. So this award is only mine in trust. It will not be difficult to find a dedication¹ for the money part of it commensurate with the purpose and significace of its origin. But I would like to do the same with the acclaim² too, by using this moment as a pinnacle³ from which I might be listened to by the yound men and women already dedicated⁴ to the same anguish⁵ and travail⁶, among whom is already that one who will some day stand where I am standing⁷.

　　我觉得这份奖赏不是授予我个人的。而是授予我的工作的——授予我一生从事关于人类精神的呕心沥血的工作。我从事这项工作，不是为名，更不是为利，而是为了从人的精神原料中创造出一些从前不曾有过的东西。所以，这份奖金只不过是托我保管而已。做出符合这份奖赏的原意与目的，与其奖金部分有相等价值的献词并不难，但我还愿意利用这个时刻，利用这个举世瞩目的讲坛，向那些可能听到我说话并已献身于同一艰苦劳动的男、女青年致敬。他们中肯定有人有一天也会站在我现在站着的地方。

　　Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only the question: When will I be blown up? Because of this, the young man or woman writing today has forgotten the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.

　　我们今天的悲剧是人们普遍存在一种生理上的恐惧，这种恐惧存在已久，以致我们已经习惯了。现在不存在精神上的问题，唯一的问题是：我什么时候会被炸得粉身碎骨？正因为如此，今天从事写作的男女青年已经忘记了人类内心的冲突。然而，只有接触到这种内心冲突才能产生出好作品，因为这是唯一值得写、值得呕心沥血去写的题材。

　　He must learn them again. He must teach himself that the basest of all things is to be afraid; and, teaching himself that, forget it forever, leaving no room in his workshop for anything but the old verities⁸ and truths of the heart, the universal truths lacking which any story is ephemeral and doomed--love and honor and pity and pride and compassion⁹ and sacrifice.

　　他一定要重新认识这些问题。他必须使自己明白世间最可鄙的事情莫过于恐惧。他必须使自己永远忘却恐惧，在他的工作室里除了心底古老的真理之外，不允许任何别的东西有容身之地。没有这古老的普遍真理，任何小说都只能昙花一现，不会成功——这些真理就是爱、荣誉、怜悯、自尊、同情和牺牲等感情。

　　重点讲解：

　　1. least of all

　　（用于否定句后）（多者之中）尤其，尤数；

　　eg. No one ever reads these articles, least of all me.

　　从没有人读这些文章，我就更不用说了。

　　eg. Such a speech should never have been made, least of all by a so-called responsible politician.

　　这种话本来就不应该说，尤其是不应出自一个所谓负责任的政客之口。

　　2. in trust

　　受托管；被托管；

　　eg. The British Library holds its collection in trust for the nation.

　　大不列颠图书馆为国家保存被托管藏书。

　　eg. Works of art are in trust to us during our lifetime.

　　艺术品交由我们托管一生。

　　3. blow up

　　引爆；（使）炸毁；（使）爆炸；爆发；

　　eg. He was jailed for 45 years for trying to blow up a plane.

　　他因为企图炸毁一架飞机而被判入狱 45年。

　　eg. Their boat blew up as they slept.

　　他们睡觉的时候船爆炸了。

　　4. be worth doing sth.

　　值得；

　　eg. He's decided¹⁰ to get a look at the house and see if it might be worth buying.

　　他决定去瞧瞧那座房子，看是否值得买下。

　　eg. Most things worth having never come easy.

　　大部分值得拥有的东西都来之不易。

1 dedication   

n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞

参考例句：

• We admire her courage,compassion and dedication.我们钦佩她的勇气、爱心和奉献精神。
• Her dedication to her work was admirable.她对工作的奉献精神可钦可佩。

2 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

3 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

4 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

5 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

6 travail   

n.阵痛；努力

参考例句：

• Mothers know the travail of giving birth to a child.母亲们了解分娩时的痛苦。
• He gained the medal through his painful travail.他通过艰辛的努力获得了奖牌。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 verities   

n.真实( verity的名词复数 )；事实；真理；真实的陈述

参考例句：

• the eternal verities of life 生命永恒的真理

9 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。