英语名篇诵读 《独立宣言》(节选)

The Declaration of Independence (abridged)

《独立宣言》(节选)

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the

political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the

earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle

them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes

which impel¹ them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed

 by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the

pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving²

their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government

becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to

institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in

such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence³, indeed,

will dictate⁴ that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient

causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer,

while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are

accustomed . But when a long train of abuses and usurpations , pursuing invariably the same

object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism , it is their right, it is their

duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has

been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains⁵

them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain

is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an

absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid⁶ world.

美利坚合众国十三个州一致通过的宣言。

在有关人类事务的发展过程中，当一个民族必须解除其和另一个民族之间的政治联

系，并在世界各国之间依照自然法则和自然神明取得独立和平等的地位时，出于对人类公

意的尊重，必须宣布他们不得不独立的原因。

我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物主赋予他们某些不可剥夺的权

利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。为了保障这些权利，人们才在他们之间

建立了政府，而政府之正当权力，则来自被统治者的同意。任何形式的政府，只要破坏上

述目的，人民就有权利改变或废除它，并建立新政府；新政府赖以奠基的原则，得以组织

权力的方式，都要最大可能地增进民众的安全和幸福。的确，为慎重起见，不应当由于轻

微和短暂的原因而改变成立多年的政府。过去的一切经验也都说明，任何苦难，只要尚能

忍受，人类都宁愿容忍，而无意废除他们久已习惯了的政府来恢复自身的权益。但是当滥

用职权和巧取豪夺的行为连绵不断、层出不穷，证明政府追求的目标是企图把人民置于专

制主义统治之下时，人民就有权利，也有责任推翻这个政府，并为他们未来的安全建立新

的保障。这就是这些殖民地民众过去逆来顺受的情况，也是他们现在不得不改变以前政府

制度的原因。当今大不列颠王国的历史，就是屡屡伤害和掠夺这些殖民地的历史，其直接

目标就是要在各州之上建立一个独裁暴政。为了证明所言属实，现把下列事实向公正的世

界宣布。

1 impel   

v.推动；激励，迫使

参考例句：

• Financial pressures impel the firm to cut back on spending.财政压力迫使公司减少开支。
• The progress in science and technical will powerfully impel the education's development.科学和技术的进步将有力地推动教育的发展。

2 deriving   

v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• I anticipate deriving much instruction from the lecture. 我期望从这演讲中获得很多教益。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He anticipated his deriving much instruction from the lecture. 他期望从这次演讲中得到很多教益。 来自辞典例句

3 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

4 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

5 constrains   

强迫( constrain的第三人称单数 )； 强使； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• We'll ignore the continuity constrains. 我们往往忽略连续约束条件。
• It imposes constrains, restricting nature's freedom. 它具有限制自然界自由度的强制性。

6 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。