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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Bastille Day is a National holiday in France. It is very much like Independence Day in the United States because it is a celebration of the beginning of a new form of government.
At one time in France, kings and queens ruled. Many people were very angry with the decisions made by the kings and queens.
The Bastille was a prison in France that the kings and queens often used to lock up the people that did not agree with their decisions. To many, it was a symbol of all the bad things done by the kings and queens. So, on July 14, 1789, a large number of French citizens gathered together and stormed the Bastille.
Just as the people in the United States celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence as the beginning of the American Revolution, so the people in France celebrate the storming of the Bastille as the beginning of the French Revolution. Both Revolutions brought great changes. Kings and queens no longer rule. The people rule themselves and make their own decisions.
The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities1 and of the corruption2 of governments, have determined3 to set forth4 in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative5 power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances6 of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound7 to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices8 of the Supreme9 Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:
1 Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
2 The aim of all political association is the preservation10 of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.
3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially11 in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authoritywhich does not proceed directly from the nation.
4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment12 of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.
5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society.Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.
6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible13 to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues15 and talents.
7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned16 except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting17, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue14 of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense18.
8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly19 and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted20 in virtue of a law passed and promulgated21 before the commission of the offense.
9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely22 repressed by law.
10. No one shall be disquieted23 on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation24 does not disturb the public order established by law.
11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.
12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.
13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably25 distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.
14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment26 and of collection and the duration of the taxes.
15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.
16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.
17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously27 and equitably indemnified.
The above document was written by The Marquis de Lafayette, with help from his friend and neighbor, American envoy28 to France, Thomas Jefferson. Lafayette, you may recall, had come to the Colonies at age 19, been commissioned a Major General, and was instrumental in the defeat of the British during the American Revolutionary War. He considered one special man his 'father':George Washington.
French King Louis XVI signed this document, under duress29, but never intended to support it. Indeed, the Revolution in France soon followed, leading to the tyrannical rule of Napolean Bonaparte.
1 calamities | |
n.灾祸,灾难( calamity的名词复数 );不幸之事 | |
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2 corruption | |
n.腐败,堕落,贪污 | |
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3 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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4 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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5 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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6 grievances | |
n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 );苦衷;不满;牢骚 | |
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7 redound | |
v.有助于;提;报应 | |
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8 auspices | |
n.资助,赞助 | |
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9 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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10 preservation | |
n.保护,维护,保存,保留,保持 | |
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11 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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12 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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13 eligible | |
adj.有条件被选中的;(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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14 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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15 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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16 imprisoned | |
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 soliciting | |
v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 );(指娼妇)拉客;索求;征求 | |
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18 offense | |
n.犯规,违法行为;冒犯,得罪 | |
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19 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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20 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 promulgated | |
v.宣扬(某事物)( promulgate的过去式和过去分词 );传播;公布;颁布(法令、新法律等) | |
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22 severely | |
adv.严格地;严厉地;非常恶劣地 | |
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23 disquieted | |
v.使不安,使忧虑,使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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25 equitably | |
公平地 | |
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26 assessment | |
n.评价;评估;对财产的估价,被估定的金额 | |
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27 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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28 envoy | |
n.使节,使者,代表,公使 | |
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29 duress | |
n.胁迫 | |
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