美国语文第六册 第189期:新英格兰清教徒先辈的品格(1)（在线收听）

One of the most prominent features which distinguished our forefathers, was their determined resistance to oppression.

我们的先辈最突出的特征之一，就是他们坚定地反抗压迫。

They seemed born and brought up for the high and special purpose of showing to the world that the civil and religious rights of man,

他们似乎天生就是为了向世界表明崇高和特别的目标，即人的公民和宗教权利，

the rights of self-government, of conscience, and independent thought — are not merely things to be talked of and woven into theories,

自制、良知和独立思想的权利——不只是挂在嘴上和理论上的事情，

but to be adopted with the whole strength and ardor of the mind, and felt in the profoundest recesses of the heart,

而是凭着全部力量和内心的激情付诸实施，感知内心最深切的隐秘情感，

and carried out into the general life, and made the foundation of practical usefulness, and visible beauty, and true nobility.

并在普通生活中加以运用，为进行有益的实践，有形的美和真正的崇高奠定了基础。

Liberty, with them, was an object of too serious desire and stern resolve to be personified, allegorized, and enshrined.

自由之于他们，是一个非常真诚地渴望的目标，并坚定地决心使之成为人格化、寓言化和奉为圭臬的东西。

They made no goddess of it, as the ancients did; they had no time nor inclination for such trifling;

他们并没有像古人那样将其神化；他们没有将时间浪费在无聊的事情上；

they felt that liberty was the simple birthright of every human creature; they called it so; they claimed it as such;

他们觉得自由是每个人类生命朴素的生命之光；他们也是这么呼唤自由的。他们也是这样主张的。

they reverenced and held it fast as the unalienable gift of the Creator, which was not to be surrendered to power, nor sold for wages.

他们对自由表示应有的尊敬，并坚信它是造物主不能让与和不可剥夺的礼物，既不会向权力低头，也不会为了既得利益而出卖。

It was theirs, as men; without it, they did not esteem themselves men;

同其他人一样，自由也是他们固有的权利。没有自由，他们不会得到尊重。

more than any other privilege or possession, it was essential to their happiness, for it was essential to their original nature;

与任何其他权益或所有权相比，自由才是幸福的根本，因为对于他们的本性而言自由是最基本的要素。