1.6 A good knight's sleep 骑士的酣眠

There was a tavern¹①, located somewhere in the State of Apathy²②, where knights³ and damsels, wizards and monks⁴, could all eat and drink together and escape the evil outside, which was depressing and bewildering, to say the least. No one had the desire to do anything about anything in the State of Apathy, except escape the reality that they lived day after day and the only place to do that was the tavern.

　　The tavern was owned and operated by the government and the drinks were free. The government did not want the people to concern themselves with the unjust wars they were fighting, the innocent civilians⁵ that were being killed. With the townspeople so focused on their own lives, the government of the State of Apathy could do all of its evil works under the cloak of darkness, while the people made merry.

　　The townspeople were mesmerized③ by the steady flow of lies they were receiving from their dark government and the tedium⁷ of their own lives.

　　The knights, who could have uprooted④ the evil government, were living it up in the tavern, drinking, laughing and making merry and no one seemed to care, until the day.

　　The day came like any other day. The evil government, attacked one foreign land too many, which outraged⁹ the world, who gathered their forces and made war with the State of Apathy, invading their land, killing¹⁰ it’s people and treating them the way they had treated captives of other nations.

　　As the people of the State of Apathy cried out for a champion to rise up and defend them, there was only silence. Most of the townspeople were now captives themselves and now cared for the first time, in a long time about something other than their merriment. Now that they were awakened¹¹ from their slumber¹²⑤, they could begin planning how they were going to escape from their oppressors. But they had to plan at night, because during the day they were slaves.

　　① tavern n. 酒馆

　　② apathy n. 冷漠

　　③ mesmerize⁶ v. 施催眠术

　　④ uproot⁸ v. 根除

　　⑤ slumber n. 睡眠

　　在冷漠之国的某个地方，有一家酒馆。在那里，骑士和少女，术士和僧侣，都可以在一起尽情地大吃大喝，如此至少可以躲避外边那令人沮丧又令人困惑的罪恶世界。在冷漠之国，除了逃避日复一日的现实生活，人们不想做任何事情。而逃避现实的唯一去处就是这家酒馆。

　　这家酒馆归政府所有并且由政府经营，里面酒水全部免费。政府不希望人民关注他们正在参与的不道义的战争，关心那些被杀害的无辜平民。因为人们的注意力都集中在自己的生活上，所以当他们在尽情欢愉之时，冷漠之国的政府却在暗地里干尽了伤天害理之事。

　　黑暗政府连篇累牍的谎言和生活的枯燥无味迷惑了人们。

　　本来可以将邪恶的政府铲除的骑士们，却在酒馆里声色犬马——酗酒、嬉闹和玩乐。似乎没有人在意政府的所作所为，直到有一天……

　　这一天的到来就如往常的每天一样。邪恶的政府多次出兵攻打他国，激起了天下的公愤。大家联合兵力对付冷漠之国，攻城略地，屠杀人民，用他们对待别国俘虏的同样方式来对待他们。

　　当冷漠之国的人民呼吁一名英雄揭竿而起保护他们的时候，全国却是万马齐喑。如今大部分的国民都成了俘虏。此前很长一段时间里，除了享乐，他们从来不在意任何事情，现在却不得不去关心了。既然从逃避的沉睡中苏醒过来了，他们便开始筹划如何从他们的压迫者手里逃出去。但是，他们不得不在晚上暗中谋划，因为在白天，他们是奴隶。

　　反思：面前是残酷的现实，也不要逃避去沉睡，勇敢地面对，创造和守护属于你的自由。

1 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

2 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

3 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

4 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 mesmerize   

vt.施催眠术；使入迷，迷住

参考例句：

• He could mesmerize an audience by the sheer force of his presence.他只要一出场，观众就为之倾倒。
• He was absolutely mesmerised by Pavarotti on television.他完全被电视上的帕瓦罗蒂迷住了。

7 tedium   

n.单调；烦闷

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• In myself I could observe the following sources of tedium. 从我自己身上，我所观察到的烦闷的根源有下列一些。

8 uproot   

v.连根拔起，拔除；根除，灭绝；赶出家园，被迫移开

参考例句：

• The family decided to uproot themselves and emigrate to Australia.他们全家决定离开故土，移居澳大利亚。
• The trunk of an elephant is powerful enough to uproot trees.大象的长鼻强壮得足以将树木连根拔起。

9 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。