精美英文欣赏:关于自由(詹姆斯.B.凯里)

作为个人，我必须诚实地面对未来，并相信使我们强大的美好事物。我必须对自己、他人和任何地方有着善良意愿的人充满信心，因为自由是真理和信心的孩子。

Flotsam, Jetsam, and Liberty

By James Carey

Perhaps more than anything else in the world, I believe in liberty: liberty for myself, liberty for my fellow men. I cannot forget the legend engraved¹ on the base of the Statue of Liberty on Bedlows Island in New York Harbor: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled² masses yearning³ to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming⁴ shore. Send these, the homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. That is the voice of America.

As one small part of it, one tiny decibel⁵ in its sound, I, as a free individual of America, believe in it. It makes no boast of noble ancestry⁶. On the contrary, it admits honestly that each of us in this country, with a possible and qualified⁷ exception of our native Indians, is a displaced person. In a particular kind of way, the Indian was our first displaced person. If you and I did not come from abroad ourselves, our forefathers⁸ did. The scores that drove them was economic, political, or religious oppression.

Oppression has always strewn the shores of life with wretched human refuse. We who today are the proud people of a proud country are what might be called the reclaimed⁹ refuse of other lands. The fact that the flotsam and the jetsam, the persecuted¹⁰ and the pursued of all these other lands, the fact that they came here and, for the most part, successfully started life anew, this renews my faith in the resilience of a human individual and the dignity of man.

There are those who say we should be content with the material benefits we have accrued¹¹ among ourselves. I cannot accept that for myself. A laboring¹² man needs bread and butter, and cash to pay the rent. But he would be a poor individual, indeed, if he were not able to furnish the vestibule of his mind and his soul with spiritual embellishments beyond the price of a union contract.

I mean by this that I believe it is important for a man to discover, whether he is an electrical worker or an executive, that he is an individual with his own resources and a sense of the dignity of his own person and that of other men. We are separate. We are collective. Man can be strong alone but not indomitable, in isolation¹³. He has to belong to something, to realize he is not created separately or apart from the rest of mankind, whether he is an American or a Mohammedan.

I am stirred by the abundance of the fields, the forest, the streams, and the natural resources they hold. But do these things make me important? Have we wrought¹⁴ the miracle of America because of these riches we hold? I say, no. Our strength—and I can say my strength, too, because I am a part of this whole—lies in a fundamental belief in the validity of human rights. And I believe that a man who holds these rights in proper esteem¹⁵ is greater, whether he is recognized or not.

As an individual, I must face the future with honesty and faith, in the goods things that have made us mighty¹⁶. I must have confidence in myself, in others, and all men of goodwill¹⁷ everywhere, for freedom is the child of truth and confidence.
也许在世界上我最信奉的是自由：自己的自由，同胞的自由。我无法忘记纽约港自由岛上自由女神像底座上的文字：

“给我你那疲惫、贫穷、

 蜷曲、渴望自由呼吸的身躯，

 可怜的被遗忘在你们海岸的人群。

 交给我吧，那些无家可归、颠簸流离的人们；

 我在金色之门高举火炬。”

 那是美国的声音。作为它的一小部分，它声音中的一个分贝，我，美国的一个自由人，相信这声音。它没有炫耀高贵的祖先，反而坦率承认在这个国家，我们每个人都是被迫流落此处的难民，只有土著印第安人才可能有资格成为例外。（从某种意义上讲，印第安人使我们的首批难民。）如果你我本身不是移民，我们的祖先便是。经济、政治或宗教迫害的皮鞭将可怜的被遗弃的难民逼到生活的边缘。

而今，我们充满自豪，因为我们是这个值得骄傲的国家的公民，我们这些在异国遭到遗弃的人在这里获得了新生。

所有这些难民、遭受迫害和追捕的人从异国来到这里，大多数顺利地开始了新的生活。这一事实使我对人这一个体的活力和人类尊严的信念有了新的认识。

有人说，我们应满足于自然增长的物质利益，我个人无法接受这一说法。劳动者需要面包和黄油，也要钱付房租，但如果他无法用联盟合约规定的价格之外的精神饰物装点心智和灵魂的门廊，他将是个真正的可怜虫。

我的意思是我相信，对一个人来说，无论是个电工还是执行官，重要的是要认识到自己是一个拥有精神财富和尊严的人，是一个尊重他人尊严的人。

我们既是分离的个体，又是集体的一员。人们单枪匹马时可以坚强有力，孤军作战时却容易击败。他必须有归属感，即认识到不管他是美国人还是穆斯林，他并非孤立存在或远离人类其他成员。

我们那广袤的土地、大片的森林、众多的溪流和它们丰富的自然资源让我激动，然而，是那些资源才使我重要吗？我们是凭借那些财富在美国创造的奇迹吗？我要说：“不是。”

我们的力量--也可以说我的力量，因为我是这个整体的一份子--存在于一种最根本的信念，相信人权的有效性。我认为一个人如果恰当地尊重这些权力，不管他获得认可与否，都是伟大的。

作为个人，我必须诚实地面对未来，并相信使我们强大的美好事物。我必须对自己、他人和任何地方有着善良意愿的人充满信心，因为自由是真理和信心的孩子。
 

1 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

3 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

4 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

5 decibel   

n.分贝(音量的单位)

参考例句：

• The noise pollution reached a high decibel level.噪音污染达到了很高分贝。
• In sound we use the decibel scale.在声学中我们采用分贝标度。

6 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

7 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

8 forefathers   

n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left. 它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 reclaimed   

adj.再生的；翻造的；收复的；回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 )；要求收回；从废料中回收（有用的材料）；挽救

参考例句：

• Many sufferers have been reclaimed from a dependence on alcohol. 许多嗜酒成癖的受害者已经被挽救过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They reclaimed him from his evil ways. 他们把他从邪恶中挽救出来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

11 accrued   

adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累

参考例句：

• The company had accrued debts of over 1000 yuan. 该公司已积欠了1000多万元的债务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have accrued a set of commemoration stamps. 我已收集一套纪念邮票。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 laboring   

n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱，做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而，这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘（部分）

13 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

14 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

15 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。

16 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

17 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。