英文演讲录 憨豆先生：言论自由(1)（在线收听）

My starting point when it comes to the consideration of any issue relating to free speech is my passionate belief that the second most precious thing in life is the right to express yourself freely.

说到任何有关言论自由的问题时，我的一贯立场和坚定信念是：生命中第二珍贵的事，就是充分表达自我的权利。

The most precious thing in life I think is food in your mouth and the third most precious is a roof over your head but a fixture in the Number 2 slot for me is free expression, just below the need to sustain life itself.

当然最重要的首先是吃得饱，第三重要的是住得暖，我认为言论自由就介于两者之间，重要性仅次于温饱生存。

That is because I have enjoyed free expression in this country all my professional life and expect to continue to do so,

因为我在整个职业生涯中都享受着言论自由，并相信未来也能继续下去。

Personally I suspect highly unlikely to be arrested for whatever laws exist to contain free expression, because of the undoubtedly privileged position that is afforded to those of a high public profile.

我很自信我不大可能被逮捕，无论有什么样的法律限制着言论自由，因为我享有一定的特权，这是公众人物这一身份带给我的。

So, my concerns are less for myself and more for those more vulnerable because of their lower profile.

所以我不担心自己，我更担心那些更容易受到影响和伤害的人，因为他们只是普通大众：

Like the man arrested in Oxford for calling a police horse, gay.

就像那个在牛津被捕的人，他说警马是同性恋；

Or the teenager arrested for calling the Church of Scientology a cult.

又或是那名被捕的少年，他说山达基教会是邪教。

Or the café owner arrested for displaying passages from the bible on a TV screen.

还有个咖啡馆老板，他被捕只是因为在电视屏幕上放了几个圣经片段。

When I heard of some of these more ludicrous offences and charges, I remembered that I had been here before in a fictional context.

每当我听到这些荒谬的罪行，就会想起之前一个剧本。

I once did a show called Not the Nine O'Clock News, some years ago, and we did a sketch where Griff Rhys-Jones played Constable Savage, a manifestly racist police officer to whom I,

早些年录恶搞整九新闻的时候，格里夫·林斯·琼斯扮演“野蛮警官”，一个彻头彻尾的种族主义者。

as his station commander, is giving a dressing down for arresting a black man on a whole string of ridiculous, trumped up and ludicrous charges.

我演他的站长，当时我正在骂他，因为他逮捕了一个黑人，理由滑稽可笑、荒唐无稽。

The charges for which Constable Savage arrested Mr. Winston Kodogo of 55 Mercer Road were these: 'Walking on the cracks in the pavement.'

野蛮警官对默瑟街55号的温斯顿·科多戈先生指控如下：‘走在人行道的缝上。’

'Walking in a loud shirt in a built-up area during the hours of darkness' and one of my favourites 'Walking around all over the place.'

“夜晚穿着花哨的衬衣在建筑区走路”；还有这个我最喜欢的“到处走来走去”。

He was also arrested for 'Urinating in a public convenience' and 'Looking at me in a funny way'.

他的罪行还包括“在公厕小便”，以及“用滑稽的眼神看我”。

Who would have thought that we would end up with a law that would allow life to imitate art so exactly.

谁能想到，我们制定出的法律，能使生活如此精确地重现艺术呢？

I read somewhere, a defender of the status quo claiming that the fact that the gay horse case was dropped after the arrested man refused to pay the fine

我之前读到，有人为这样的现状辩解，声称同性恋警马的案子不久便撤了，因为被捕男子拒付罚款；

and that the Scientology case was also dropped at some point during the court process was proof that the law working well,

山达基教会的案子也在法庭程序中撤了，证明我们的法律体系运作正常。

ignoring the fact that the only reason these cases were dropped was because of the publicity that they had attracted.

这个人完全忽视了事实：这些案子之所以能被撤诉，仅仅是因为它们引起了公众的关注。