英语名篇诵读 伏尔泰

Voltaire

伏尔泰

A hundred years' today a man died. He died immortal¹ . He departed laden² with years,

laden with works, laden with the most illustrious and the most fearful responsibilities, the

responsibility of the human conscience informed and rectified³ . He went cursed and blessed,

cursed by the past, blessed by the future, and these are the two superb forms of glory. On the

death-bed he had, on the one hand, the acclaim⁴ of contemporaries and of the posterity⁵ ; on

the other hand, that triumph of hooting⁶ and of hate which the implacable past bestows⁷

upon those who have combated it. He was more than a man; he was an age. He had exercised a

function and fulfilled a mission. He had been evidently chosen for the work which he had done by

the Supreme⁸ Will , which manifests itself as visibly in the laws of destiny as in the laws of

nature.

一百年前的今天，有一个人去世了。他是不朽的，必将万世流芳。他去世时年事已

高，著作甚丰，肩负着光荣而艰巨的职责，即培养良知、教化人类的职责。他遭人诅咒，

也为人赞扬，过去遭人诅咒，未来为人赞扬，而诅咒和赞扬正是荣耀的两种最高形式。临

终时，他赢得了同时代人和子孙后代的交口称赞，另一方面，他则听到无情的过去对与它

抗争之人的呵斥和憎恨的呼喊声。他不仅仅代表他个人，而是代表整整一个时代。他发挥

了自己的作用，完成了一项使命。他显然完成了上帝选他去做的事情，上帝的意志体现在

自然法则中，也同样体现在命运法则中。

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

4 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。

5 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

6 hooting   

（使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩

参考例句：

• He had the audience hooting with laughter . 他令观众哄堂大笑。
• The owl was hooting. 猫头鹰在叫。

7 bestows   

赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Second, Xie Lingyun bestows on basic subject and emotion connotation. 谢灵运赋的基本主题及情感内涵。
• And the frigid climate bestows Heilongjiang rich resources of ice and snow. 寒冷的气候赋予了其得天独厚的冰雪资源。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。