美国语文第六册 第51期:一场政治暂停

 　　"But we must pause," says the honorable gentleman. “我们必须暂停，”那位尊敬的绅士说。

　　What! must the bowels¹ of Great Britain be torn out, her best blood spilt, her treasures wasted, that you may make an experiment? 何其乃尔！难道大不列颠的国体必定是，鲜血淋淋，宝藏殆尽，这就是你们的一场实验吗？

　　Put yourselves—Oh! that you would put yourselves on the field of battle, and learn to judge of the sort of horrors you excite. 还是让你们自己亲身进行实验吧！你们都亲身上战场，学会对激起你们荣誉感的事情做出判断。

　　In former wars, a man might at least have some feeling, some interest, 在之前的战争中，一个人至少还有某种情感，还有某种利益纠葛，

　　that served to balance in his mind the impressions which a scene of carnage and death must inflict². 在他心里抵消了这种印象，就是必须承受大屠杀和死亡场面带来的痛苦。

　　But if a man were present now at the field of slaughter³, 可是如果一个人现在置身于大屠杀的战场，

　　and were to inquire for what they were fighting—"Fighting!", would be the answer; "they are not fighting; they are pausing." 被问到为什么而战的话——“就是战斗而已！”会得到这样的回答。“他们不是在战斗；他们只是在暂停。”

　　"Why is that man expiring? Why is that other writhing⁴ with agony? What means this implacable fury?" “为什么那人要断气了？为什么其他人因极度痛苦满地翻滚？这种无法平息的狂怒意味着什么？”

　　The answer must be, "You are quite wrong, sir, you deceive yourself,—they are not fighting,—do not disturb them,—they are merely pausing! 答案必定是，“你大错特错了，先生，你在欺骗自己。——他们没在战斗——不要打扰他们——他们只是暂停！

　　This man is not expiring with agony,—that man is not dead,—he is only pausing! 这个人并没有因为嫉妒痛苦而奄奄一息——那个人也没有死——他只是暂停而已！

　　Bless you, sir, they are not angry with one another; they have now no cause of quarrel; 愿上帝赐福与你，先生，他们不会生别人气的，现在他们不会因为什么事情而争吵了；

　　but their country thinks that there should be a pause. 可是，他们的国家认为这就是暂停。

　　All that you see is nothing like fighting,—there is no harm, nor cruelty, nor bloodshed in it; it is nothing more than a political pause. 你看到的一切一点也不像在战斗——没有伤害，没有残酷，也没有流血；毋宁说这是政治上的暂停。

　　It is merely to try an experiment—to see whether Bonaparte will not behave himself better than heretofore; 这只是尝试做一场试验——看看波拿巴是否会比以前表现得更好，

　　and, in the meantime, we have agreed to a pause, in pure friendship!" 与此同时，我们是否会同意暂停，纯粹出于友谊！”

　　And is this the way that you are to show yourselves the advocates of order? 这是你们向现有秩序的拥护者指明的道路吗？

　　You take up a system calculated to uncivilize the world, to destroy order, to trample⁵ on religion, 你们提出了一种旨在使这个世界退回到野蛮状态的制度，来摧毁现有的秩序，践踏宗教，

　　to stifle⁶ in the heart not merely the generosity⁷ of noble sentiment, but the affections of social nature; 不只是扼杀慷慨这种高贵的情感，而且还有对社会本质的爱。

　　and in the prosecution⁸ of this system, you spread terror and devastation⁹ all around you. 在对这个制度进行控诉的过程中，你在自己周围传播的都是恐怖和破坏。

1 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

3 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

4 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

5 trample   

vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯

参考例句：

• Don't trample on the grass. 勿踏草地。
• Don't trample on the flowers when you play in the garden. 在花园里玩耍时,不要踩坏花。

6 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

7 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

8 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

9 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》