英国新闻听力 宽恕未必意味着软弱

Good morning. I've been thinking about Eva Kor, who was recently interviewed on this programme.

早上好，我一直在想着最近接受过本节目采访的伊娃·侯尔，

Eva Kor is the 81 year old Auschwitz survivor¹ who gave evidence in the trial of 93 year old Oscar Groning –

她今年81岁，是奥斯威辛集中营的幸存者，在对93岁的奥斯卡·罗宁进行审判时她进行了举证，

he was the SS guard who took and recorded the money of Jewish prisoners as they arrived at the death camp.

罗宁曾是纳粹党卫军的看守，负责夺走并登记进入死亡集中营的犹太囚犯身上的钱。

When Eva had finished giving evidence against him she went over to where he was sitting and shook hands with him.

当伊娃对他举证完后，她走到他坐的地方与他握手，

He responded by pulling her towards him and kissing her.

罗宁将她拉过来并亲吻了她。

She said that she had spoken out at the trial to give voice to the victims and to help the world never to forget what had happened.

她说自己在审判上帮助受害者发声，让全世界永远不要忘记所发生的一切。

But she also said, and this was a surprise, that she had forgiven the Nazis².

但令人吃惊的是，她是自己已经宽恕了纳粹。

There's been much criticism of her for saying that, with people insisting that forgiveness can only be given where there is genuine repentance⁴.

她的言论招致很多批评的声音，人们坚称只有在真正悔改的情况下才能宽恕，

I can see why. Forgiveness can sound like weakness as though what has been done doesn't really matter.

我知道为什么，宽恕听起来就像是软弱，仿佛所做的一切已经不再重要。

But that isn't what Eva Kor was saying. Her most startling remark was that to her, forgiveness is the most formidable form of revenge.

但关键不在于伊娃·侯尔说了什么，她最令人吃惊的看法是，对她来说，宽恕是最强有力的报复形式。

Forgiving the perpetrators of Auschwitz meant that they lost the one thing they once had – their power over her life.

宽恕奥斯维辛集中营的作恶者意味着他们失去了曾经拥有的一样东西——能够控制她生命的权力，

The fact that she had forgiven Groning neither prevented her from testifying against him, nor stopped him from taking responsibility for his own actions.

她已经宽恕罗宁这样一件事，即没有阻止她作证指控他，也没有阻止他为自己的行为负责。

So repentance and justice are part of the picture, but as a response to forgiveness not as a condition of it.

所以悔改和正义也是这件事的一部分，但却是宽恕的结果，而不是导致宽恕的原因。

What she is insisting on here is that by enacting⁵ forgiveness victims can escape from being trapped in a cycle of helplessness.

这里她所坚持的是，通过宽恕，受害者可以得以解脱，免于陷入无助的循环之中。

She has found the strength to live freely, not defined by the horrors of her past.

她已找到自由生活的力量，不受可怕过去的束缚。

I find that astonishing, for not only did she lose the rest of her family to the gas chambers⁶, she also came near to death herself,

我发现这一点令人吃惊，因为在毒气室里她不仅失去了家人，她自己也非常接近过死亡，

she and her twin sister were subject to Joseph Menegele's medical experiments – and her sister never recovered from what had been done to her.

她和自己的双胞胎姐妹还是约瑟夫·门格勒医学实验的试验品，她的姐妹根本没有从试验中活过来。

I suppose the difficult question is whether this means that forgiveness is ultimately independent of justice? Most of us would find that hard to take.

我认为难题在于，这是否意味着宽恕最终是独立于正义的？我们大多数人发现很难做到宽恕，

Yet I am always struck when I read the Gospels how often Jesus forgives people before they show any sign of changing their ways.

但在读福音书时，看到耶稣总是在人们表现出悔改之前就宽恕了他们总会令我吃惊。

Of course they usually do repent³ in response to being forgiven but in theory they could have just shrugged⁷ it off.

当然因为被宽恕，这些人总是能做到悔改，但从理论上说他们完全可以对之不屑一顾。

The forgiveness declared by Eva Kor certainly invites repentance and Oscar Groning has already acknowledged his moral guilt⁸.

伊娃·侯尔表现出来的宽恕当然引发了悔改，奥斯卡·罗宁已经承认自己的道德罪责。

But perhaps the real significance of what she said was to announce the ultimate impotence of evil. Sin does not have the last word. We can choose to be free.

但或许伊娃·侯尔言论的真正意义在于宣布了罪恶最终是无力的，罪恶并没有决定权。我们可以选择自由，

We need that astonishing confidence in a world which would often tell us otherwise. It is the basis of all our faith and all our hope.

我们需要这种令人吃惊的信心，尽管这个世界总是告诉我们相反的情况，因为它是我们所有信念和希望的基础。

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 repent   

v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔

参考例句：

• He has nothing to repent of.他没有什么要懊悔的。
• Remission of sins is promised to those who repent.悔罪者可得到赦免。

4 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

5 enacting   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Generally these statutes apply only to wastes from reactors outside the enacting state. 总之，这些法令只适宜用在对付那些来自外州的核废料。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• In addition, the complexion of enacting standards for live working is described. 另外，介绍了带电作业标准的制订情况。

6 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

7 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。