英语名篇诵读 葛底斯堡演说的故事

The Story of the Gettysburg Address

葛底斯堡演说的故事

Leslie W. Leavitt(莱斯利·W. 莱维特)

One of the great and bloody¹ battles of the war was the battle of Gettysburg. Here the Southern armies were beaten and driven back into the South, but not until many thousands of brave men on both sides had lost their lives. They were buried where they fell. Later a great meeting was held on the battlefield² of Gettysburg to honour the brave dead. Thousands of people came from miles around to the meeting, and to hear the two speakers, Mr. Everett and President Lincoln. Mr. Everett was a man of wide experience, the president of a college, one who had travelled much, a fine speaker. He spoke³ for two hours. Lincoln rose to speak. He had given but little thought and time to what he was to say, and had only just finished writing the end of his speech before riding out to the field. He stood before the great crowd, tall and thin, his sad face showing the sorrow⁴ of the war. He was silent⁵ for a moment, and then, as though he did not see the crowd, he spoke slowly, in a high voice, for three minutes. Its simple and beautiful English, its noble⁶ meaning and forgiving spirit, make it one of the greatest speeches of the world. Its famous ending is well known⁷: “...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish⁸ from the earth.”

战争中最伟大最血腥的战役之一就是葛底斯堡战役。在这里南方军被打败，赶回了南方，但这一切是在双方成千上万的勇士们牺牲之后。他们倒下后，就地埋葬了。后来在葛底斯堡战地举行了盛大的悼念仪式，向勇敢的死者致敬。成千上万的人从周围数英里外赶来听埃弗雷特先生和林肯总统的演说。埃弗雷特先生是一所大学的校长，经验丰富，游历很广，是一位优秀的演说家。他讲了两个小时。接着林肯起身讲话。事先他考虑得很少，也没有多少时间考虑自己要讲什么，刚刚写完演说稿的结尾，就骑马赶来了。他站在众人面前，高大而瘦削，面带悲伤，分明是战争带来的痛苦。他沉默了片刻，仿佛没有看到面前的人群，然后缓缓演讲，声音洪亮，历时仅三分钟。演讲用词简单而优美，意蕴崇高，态度宽容，使之成为人类最伟大的演说之一。演说中那段著名的结尾已成为经典：“在上帝保佑之下，这个国家的自由将获得新生；民有、民治、民享的政体不会从地球上消亡。”

1 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

2 battlefield   

n.战场；争论点

参考例句：

• Her son died on the battlefield.她儿子死在了战场上。
• The battlefield flowed with rivers of blood.战场上血流成河。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 sorrow   

n.悲哀；悲痛

参考例句：

• It helps to share your sorrow with someone else.向他人诉说你的痛苦对你是有益的。
• I think she did it more in sorrow than in anger.我觉得她这样做更多是出于悲哀而不是愤恨。

5 silent   

adj.安静的，不吵闹的，沉默的，无言的；n.(复数)默剧

参考例句：

• Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话，大家顿时安静下来。
• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。

6 noble   

n.贵族；adj.高贵的，高尚的，贵族的，辉煌的

参考例句：

• He is a noble man,we all admire him.他是一个道德高尚的人，我们都敬佩他。
• Niagara falls is a noble sight.尼亚加拉瀑布是一壮观的景色。

7 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

8 perish   

vi.丧生，毁灭，消亡，失去弹性，老化

参考例句：

• Crowns and thrones may perish.王权不会永存。
• Steam will fill the atmosphere and all life will perish.水蒸汽将充满大气层，所有的生命都将毁灭。