第二册第14篇：乔治·华盛顿对部队的演说

14 Address To His Troops 乔治·华盛顿对部队的演说
George Washington 乔治·华盛顿

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged¹ and destroyed, and themselves consigned² to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject³ submission⁴. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die.
美国人能否成为自由人，还是沦为奴隶，能否享有可以称之为自己所有的财产，能否使自己的住宅和农庄免遭洗劫和毁坏；能否使自己免于陷人入非人力所能拯救的悲惨境地--决定这一切的时刻已迫在眉睫。苍天之下，千百万尚未出生的人的别无他路，要么奋起反击，要么屈膝投降。因此，我们必须下定决心，若不克敌制胜，就是捐躯疆场。

Our own, our country's honour, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly⁵ exertion⁶; and if we now shamefully⁷ fail, we shall become infamous⁸ to the whole world. Let us then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme⁹ Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate¹⁰ and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings¹¹ and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated¹² against them. Let us animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a free man contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.
我们的尊严，祖国的尊严，都要求我们进行英勇顽强的奋斗：如果我们做不到这一点，我们将感到羞愧，并将为全世界所不齿。所以，让我们凭借我们事业的正义性和上帝的恩助--胜利掌握在他手中--鼓励和鞭策我们去创造伟大而崇高的业绩。全国同胞都注视着我们，如果我们有幸为他们效劳，将他们从企图强加于他们的暴政中解救出来，我们将受到他们的祝福和赞颂。让我们互相激励，互相鞭策，并向全世界昭示：在自己国土上为自由而斗争的自由民胜过世上任何受人驱使的雇佣兵。

Liberty, property, life, and honour are all at stake, upon your courage and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country; our wives, children, and parents expect safety from us, only; and they have every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a cause(2).
自由、财产、生命和荣誉都在危急存亡之中。我们正在流血受辱的祖国寄希望于你们的勇敢和战斗。我们的妻儿父老只指望我们去保护。他们有充分的理由相信，上苍一定会保佑如此正义的事业获得胜利。

The enemy will endeavour to intimidate¹³ by show and appearance(3); but, remember, they have been repulsed¹⁴ on various occasions by a few brave Americans. Their cause is bad--their men are conscious of it; and if op- posed with firmness and coolness on their first onset¹⁵, with our advantage of works, and knowledge of tile ground(4), the victory is most assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive- wait for orders, and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution(5).
敌人将炫耀武力，竭力恫吓；但是，别忘了，在许多场合，他们已经被为数刁；多的勇敢的美国人所击败。他们的事业是邪恶的--他们的士兵也意识到这--点。如果我们在他们开始进攻时，就沉着坚定地予以反击，凭着我们有利的工事和熟悉地形，胜利必将属于我们。每一位优秀的士兵都将枕戈待旦--整装待命，一旦出击，必歼强敌。

英文注释：
(1)本文为乔治．华盛顿在独立战争中对部队的演说。乔治·华盛顿(1732-1799)为美国的奠基人，第一任总统(1789-1797)，出身大种植园主家庭，早年在英国殖民军中服务，后任第一届和第二届大陆会议代表。1775年北美独立战争爆发，被推选为十三州起义部队总司令。
(2) will crown with success so just a cause：将以胜利酬报如此正义之事业。crown是"酬报"的意思，cause是它的宾语。
(3)by show and appearance：炫耀卖弄，这里指炫耀武力。
(4) with our．．ground：凭着我们有利的工事和熟悉地形。
(5)reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution；保存其火力，直到有把握打中敌人才开枪。doing execution原意为"(发挥)武器的效力"。

1 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句

2 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

4 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

5 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。

6 exertion   

n.尽力，努力

参考例句：

• We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
• She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡，她浑身发热。

7 shamefully   

可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地

参考例句：

• He misused his dog shamefully. 他可耻地虐待自己的狗。
• They have served me shamefully for a long time. 长期以来，他们待我很坏。

8 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 animate   

v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的

参考例句：

• We are animate beings,living creatures.我们是有生命的存在，有生命的动物。
• The girls watched,little teasing smiles animating their faces.女孩们注视着，脸上挂着调皮的微笑，显得愈加活泼。

11 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 meditated   

深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑

参考例句：

• He meditated for two days before giving his answer. 他在作出答复之前考虑了两天。
• She meditated for 2 days before giving her answer. 她考虑了两天才答复。

13 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

14 repulsed   

v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝

参考例句：

• I was repulsed by the horrible smell. 这种可怕的气味让我恶心。
• At the first brush,the enemy was repulsed. 敌人在第一次交火时就被击退了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。