美国语文第六册 第84期:怀念先辈(3)

 　　And truly, it was a fault of no ordinary magnitude, that sometimes they did persecute¹. 真实的情形是，这是一个重大错误，他们有时确实在迫害。

　　But let him whose ancestors were not ten times more guilty, cast the first stone, and the ashes of our fathers will no more be disturbed. 但是，让那个祖先的罪恶并不比他多十倍的人向他的祖先投掷第一块石头，我们先辈的灵魂就不再感到不安了。

　　Theirs was the fault of the age, and it will be easy to show that no class of men had, at that time,  他们的过错是所处的时代造成的，很容易举出实例说明当时没有这类人，

　　approximated so nearly to just apprehensions² of religious liberty; 只是近乎对宗教自由的担心；

　　and that it is to them that the world is now indebted for the more just and definite views which now prevail. 对他们而言，这个世界现在享受先辈的恩惠越多，这种普遍的观点就越确定。

　　The superstition³ and bigotry⁴ of our fathers are themes on which some of their descendants,   我们先辈的迷信和偏执是他们某些后辈讨论的主题，

　　themselves far enough from superstition, if not from bigotry, have delighted to dwell. 这些后辈本身就足够迷信，如果不是偏执的话，他们对此心安理得。

　　But when we look abroad, and behold⁵ the condition of the world, compared with the condition of New England, we may justly exclaim, 但是，当我们把眼界放宽，审视当时世界的情形，并与新英格兰的处境进行比较，我们也许会公平地高声喊出，

　　"Would to God that the ancestors of all the nations had been not only almost, but altogether such bigots as our fathers were." “既然上帝保佑所有民族的祖先，那么对我们的先辈抱如此偏见的人也会得到原谅的。”

1 persecute   

vt.迫害，虐待；纠缠，骚扰

参考例句：

• They persecute those who do not conform to their ideas.他们迫害那些不信奉他们思想的人。
• Hitler's undisguised effort to persecute the Jews met with worldwide condemnation.希特勒对犹太人的露骨迫害行为遭到世界人民的谴责。

2 apprehensions   

疑惧

参考例句：

• He stood in a mixture of desire and apprehensions. 他怀着渴望和恐惧交加的心情伫立着。
• But subsequent cases have removed many of these apprehensions. 然而，随后的案例又消除了许多类似的忧虑。

3 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

4 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

5 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。