美國語文第六冊 第189期:新英格蘭清教徒先輩的品格(1)

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我們的先輩最突出的特征之一，就是他們堅定地反抗壓迫。

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,

他們似乎天生就是為了向世界表明崇高和特別的目標，即人的公民和宗教權(quán)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、良知和獨立思想的權(quán)利——不只是掛在嘴上和理論上的事情，

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

而是憑著全部力量和內(nèi)心的激情付諸實施，感知內(nèi)心最深切的隱秘情感，

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運用，為進行有益的實踐，有形的美和真正的崇高奠定了基礎(chǔ)。

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

自由之于他們，是一個非常真誠地渴望的目標，并堅定地決心使之成為人格化、寓言化和奉為圭臬的東西。

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

他們并沒有像古人那樣將其神化;他們沒有將時間浪費在無聊的事情上;

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

他們覺得自由是每個人類生命樸素的生命之光;他們也是這么呼喚自由的。他們也是這樣主張的。

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.

他們對自由表示應有的尊敬，并堅信它是造物主不能讓與和不可剝奪的禮物，既不會向權(quán)力低頭，也不會為了既得利益而出賣。

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

同其他人一樣，自由也是他們固有的權(quán)利。沒有自由，他們不會得到尊重。

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

與任何其他權(quán)益或所有權(quán)相比，自由才是幸福的根本，因為對于他們的本性而言自由是最基本的要素。