英语专业晨读美文-人物篇 8 On His Seventieth Birthd

[00:01.61]On His Seventieth Birthday
[00:05.11]Of late years the public have been trying to tackle me
[00:09.85]in every way they possibly can,
[00:12.25]and failing to make anything of it they have turned to treating me as a great man.
[00:17.47] This is a dreadful fate to overtake anybody.
[00:20.97] There has been a distinct attempt to do it again now,
[00:24.69]and for that reason
[00:25.68]I absolutely decline to say anything about the celebration
[00:28.96]of my seventieth birthday. But when the Labor¹ Party,
[00:32.13] my old friends the Labor Party,
[00:34.43]invited me here I knew that l should be all right.
[00:38.36]A man who holds public property must hold it on the pub1ic condition on which,
[00:43.29]for instance, I carry my walking stick.
[00:45.91] I am not allowed to do what I like with it.
[00:48.54]I must not knock you on the head with it.
[00:50.94]We say that if distribution goes wrong,
[00:53.46]everything else goes wrong—religion, morals, government.
[00:58.82] And we say, therefore,
[01:00.46]we must begin with distribution and take all the necessary steps.
[01:04.94]I think we are keeping it in our minds
[01:07.48] because our business is to take care of the distribution of wealth in the worId
[01:11.75]and I tell you, as I have told you before,
[01:14.81]that I don't think there are two men, or perhaps one man,
[01:18.62] in our 47 000 000 who approves of the existing distribution of wealth.
[01:24.53]I will go even further and say that
[01:27.48] you will not find a single person in the whole of the civilized² world
[01:31.97]who agrees with the existing system of the distribution of wealth.
[01:36.23]It has been reduced to a blank absurdity³.
[01:39.73]I think the day will come
[01:41.37]when we will be able to make the distinction between us and the capitalists.
[01:45.75] We must get certain leading ideas before the people.
[01:49.47] We should announce that
[01:50.68] we are not going in for what was the old-fashioned idea of redistribution,
[01:54.51]but the redistribution of income. Let it always be a question of income.
[02:00.95]I have been very happy here tonight.
[02:03.36]I entirely⁴ understand the distinction made by our Chairman tonight
[02:07.85]when he said you hold me in social esteem⁵
[02:10.81]and a certain amount of personal affection.
[02:13.33]I am not a sentimental⁶ man, but l am not sensible to all that.
[02:18.47] I know the value of all that, and it gives me,
[02:21.53]now that I have come to the age of seventy
[02:23.72](it will not occur again and I am saying it for the first time),
[02:27.55]a great feeling of pleasure that l can say what a good many people can't say.
 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

3 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

6 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。