英国新闻听力 对查尔斯王子爱尔兰演讲的感想

Prince Charles's speeches in Ireland this week have been profoundly moving. It seems to me that he did three things.

Firstly, he identified with the suffering of Ireland over centuries and, particularly, more recently. He said simply that the island of Ireland “has had more than its fair share of turbulence¹ and troubles.” Secondly², he set his own personal suffering in the context of a complex mix of politics, economics, tribalism and nationalisms. And, thirdly, he recognised the reality of pain and grief – borne by so many – whilst opening up the possibility of what an American theologian calls “newness after loss”.

The murder of Lord Mountbatten in 1979 struck to the heart of the British establishment, but for those involved in the bereavement³, it was always more than a political matter. As Prince Charles put it: “It seemed as if the foundations of all that we held dear in life had been torn apart irreparably.” He had already spoken of the “anguish of such deep loss.”

This is the conundrum⁴, isn't it? The political and the global collide with the individual and the private. Which is how grief always works – often biting through the veneers⁵ of self-sufficiency we paint on to the scars of bereavement and helplessness, and awakening⁶ the pain of personal loss in the face of a community's need to move on.

I think what the events of this week suggest is that the only way to tackle grief and the rage of injustice⁷ is for us to face those who were a part of it. In the famous Yad Vashem memorial to the Warsaw Uprising during World War Two one of the bronze reliefs depicts⁸ the Nazi⁹ guards without faces – apparently¹⁰ because to have given them faces would have meant humanising them. But, I thought that was actually the point. It was human beings – with faces and stories and families and hopes and dreams and regrets – who caused unimaginable pain to people who could not defend themselves. It is what we are seeing in Syria and Iraq as IS target innocent people with extreme violence and inhumane brutality¹¹.

What Tuesday's meeting demonstrated – backing up words with handshakes – was that violence and death do not have to have the final word. Realistic forgiveness – however long it takes and however immense the personal or communal¹² cost – opens the door for all parties to be set free for a future that looked closed. Which is why, in the Lord's Prayer, any expectation of forgiveness by God is inextricably linked to my forgiving those who have grieved me.

Reconciliation¹³ is not easy and is never cost-free. The German martyr¹⁴ Dietrich Bonhoeffer cried against notions of what he called “cheap grace”. But, it is in the cost of looking a person in the eye that freedom is secured – freedom to live again.

查尔斯王子本周在爱尔兰的演讲非常感人，在我看来他做了三件事。

首先，他认可了过去几个世纪以来，尤其是最近爱尔兰所经历的痛苦。他说，爱尔兰岛“经历的动荡和患难太多了”。第二，他将自己个人的痛苦置于政治、经济、部落主义和国家主义这样复杂混合的背景之下。第三，他承认很多人承受的痛苦和悲伤这一现实，同时开启了一位美国神学家所谓的“损失后新生”的可能。

1979年蒙巴顿勋爵被谋杀案震撼了这位英国王子的心，但对于丧亲者来说，这不仅是个政治事件。正如查尔斯王子所说：“似乎我们生命中所珍爱的一切的根基已经被无可修复地摧毁了”，他还提到“这种巨大损失的痛苦”。

这就是个难题，不是吗？政治和全球事件与个人和私人问题相撞，悲伤总是这样：它总是咬破我们涂在丧亲和无助伤疤上的虚饰，在社会需要继续前进时唤醒个人的伤痛。

我想，本周的事件表明，解决悲伤和不公正的唯一办法，就是直面那些参与其中的人。在著名的纪念二战期间华沙起义的亚德瓦谢姆大屠杀纪念里，其中一个青铜浮雕上刻着没有脸的纳粹警卫，显然这是因为，给他们加上脸就是意味着赋予他们人性。但我想这就是关键，是人——有着面孔、故事、家庭、希望、梦想和遗憾的人——他们会给那些无法自卫的人造成难以想象的痛苦，在IS组织用极端暴力和非人道的暴行对付无辜民众时，我们在叙利亚和伊拉克都看到这一点。

周二的会议除了言辞还有握手，这表明暴力和死亡未必就是最后结论。现实主义的原谅——无论需要多久才实现，无论个人或社会损失有多大——都会为各方开启未来的大门，在看似封闭的未来中找到自由。这也是为何在上帝的祈祷中，要想得到上帝原谅，都需要我原谅那些曾为我悲伤的人。

和解不易，而且从来不是没有代价的。德国烈士迪特里希·邦赫费尔大声反对所谓的“廉价恩典”。但正是需要直面一个人我们才能得到自由，能够再生的自由。

1 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

2 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

3 bereavement   

n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛

参考例句：

• the pain of an emotional crisis such as divorce or bereavement 诸如离婚或痛失亲人等情感危机的痛苦
• I sympathize with you in your bereavement. 我对你痛失亲人表示同情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

5 veneers   

n.饰面薄板( veneer的名词复数 )；虚假的外表；虚饰；牙罩冠

参考例句：

• In plywood the wood has been cut into veneers. 在制胶合板时，把木材切成单板。 来自辞典例句
• Glues for veneers, plywood, interior woodwork such as panels and so on. 用来粘合美耐板、三夹板，或是壁板、门板等室内木制品的粘胶。 来自互联网

6 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

7 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

8 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

9 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

12 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

13 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

14 martyr   

n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲

参考例句：

• The martyr laid down his life for the cause of national independence.这位烈士是为了民族独立的事业而献身的。
• The newspaper carried the martyr's photo framed in black.报上登载了框有黑边的烈士遗像。