公众人物毕业演讲 第449期:科里布克2013年耶鲁大学(17)

 　　It was a pact¹ funeral home and I didn't want to talk to anybody.

　　殡仪馆人很多我不想和任何人讲话

　　All I could do was stand at the back and look and I started to feel mocked.

　　我只能静静地站在后面 呆呆地看着一切我开始感觉到可笑

　　Not inspired, but mocked by the words of our common ancestry² I felt they were haunting me. I would hear things in my head like.

　　前人的那些话 似乎不是在鼓舞我 而是在嘲笑我这些话缠绕在我大脑中 久久不能散去 我能听到

　　Martin Luther King who said so correctly that we will have to repent³ today.

　　马丁.路德.金的谆谆教诲我们今天要忏悔的

　　Not for the vitriolic⁴ words and violent actions of the bad people.

　　不是坏人的刻薄言辞和暴力行为

　　But the appalling⁵ silence and inaction of the good people I was the good person.

　　而是好人那可怕的沉默和不作为我是好人

　　I had to repent I stood there as people came over to me and I could barely talk.

　　我需要忏悔我呆站在那里 人们从我面前走过 我一句话都说不出

　　Finally, I had enough. I had to get out of there I walked out of the funeral home.

　　最后 我受不了了 我离开了那里我走出殡仪馆

　　Drove to city hall climbed the steps in this historic building.

　　开车到市政厅登上这幢历史建筑的台阶

　　Stormed into my office, closed the door behind me, locked the door and here I stood in this palatial⁶ office of importance.

　　冲进办公室 猛关上门 并反锁起来我站在这个代表重要性的宫殿般的办公室

　　Where legendary⁷ names had sat before me and suddenly all I did was feel like a little kid again.

　　传奇前任们的名字就在我眼前突然间我感到 我似乎又变回了一个小孩

　　I found a corner with a chair and I sat down and wept How could we all be there for his death?.

　　我找了一个角落 坐在椅子上独自哭泣为什么要等到他死后我们才在他身旁

　　How could we all crowd funeral home for his death? Where were we for his life?.

　　为什么要等到他死后 我们才蜂拥到殡仪馆他活着的时候我们都干什么去了

　　God had put him right in front of my face but I was charging off to do important things.

　　上帝让他活生生地出现在我面前但我却只顾所谓的重要事情

　　That I could not see what was right in front of me I tell you, class of 2013.

　　我看不到就在我眼前的东西我告诉你们 2013届毕业生

　　You will have days just like this or worse where you'll feel an unconquerable sadness.

　　你们也会碰到这样的情况 甚至更糟你们会感到无法克服的悲伤

1 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

2 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。

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 vitriolic   

adj.硫酸的，尖刻的

参考例句：

• The newspaper launched a vitriolic attack on the president.这家报纸对总统发起了一场恶意的攻击。
• Vitriolic impurity is contained normally in the sewage that vitriolic factory discharges.硫酸厂排放的污水中通常含有硫酸杂质。

5 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

6 palatial   

adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的

参考例句：

• Palatial office buildings are being constructed in the city.那个城市正在兴建一些宫殿式办公大楼。
• He bought a palatial house.他买了套富丽堂皇的大房子。

7 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。