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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Your Majesties1, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Distinguished2 members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Dear Friends,
Long years ago, sometimes it seems many lives ago, I was at Oxford3 listening to the radio programme Desert Island Discs with my young son Alexander. It was a well-known programme (for all I know it still continues) on which famous people from all walks of life were invited to talk about the eight discs, the one book beside the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, and the one luxury item they would wish to have with them were they to be marooned4 on a desert island. At the end of the programme, which we had both enjoyed, Alexander asked me if I thought I might ever be invited to speak on Desert Island Discs. “Why not?” I responded lightly. Since he knew that in general only celebrities5 took part in the programme he proceeded to ask, with genuine interest, for what reason I thought I might be invited. I considered this for a moment and then answered: “Perhaps because I’d have won the Nobel Prize for literature,” and we both laughed. The prospect6 seemed pleasant but hardly probable.
(I cannot now remember why I gave that answer, perhaps because I had recently read a book by a Nobel Laureate or perhaps because the Desert Island celebrity7 of that day had been a famous writer.)
In 1989, when my late husband Michael Aris came to see me during my first term of house arrest, he told me that a friend, John Finnis, had nominated me for the Nobel Peace Prize. This time also I laughed. For an instant Michael looked amazed, then he realized why I was amused. The Nobel Peace Prize? A pleasant prospect, but quite improbable! So how did I feel when I was actually awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace? The question has been put to me many times and this is surely the most appropriate occasion on which to examine what the Nobel Prize means to me and what peace means to me.
As I have said repeatedly in many an interview, I heard the news that I had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on the radio one evening. It did not altogether come as a surprise because I had been mentioned as one of the frontrunners for the prize in a number of broadcasts during the previous week. While drafting this lecture, I have tried very hard to remember what my immediate8 reaction to the announcement of the award had been. I think, I can no longer be sure, it was something like: “Oh, so they’ve decided9 to give it to me.” It did not seem quite real because in a sense I did not feel myself to be quite real at that time.
Often during my days of house arrest it felt as though I were no longer a part of the real world. There was the house which was my world, there was the world of others who also were not free but who were together in prison as a community, and there was the world of the free; each was a different planet pursuing its own separate course in an indifferent universe. What the Nobel Peace Prize did was to draw me once again into the world of other human beings outside the isolated10 area in which I lived, to restore a sense of reality to me. This did not happen instantly, of course, but as the days and months went by and news of reactions to the award came over the airwaves, I began to understand the significance of the Nobel Prize. It had made me real once again; it had drawn11 me back into the wider human community. And what was more important, the Nobel Prize had drawn the attention of the world to the struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma. We were not going to be forgotten.
To be forgotten. The French say that to part is to die a little. To be forgotten too is to die a little. It is to lose some of the links that anchor us to the rest of humanity. When I met Burmese migrant workers and refugees during my recent visit to Thailand, many cried out: “Don’t forget us!” They meant: “don’t forget our plight12, don’t forget to do what you can to help us, don’t forget we also belong to your world.” When the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to me they were recognizing that the oppressed and the isolated in Burma were also a part of the world, they were recognizing the oneness of humanity. So for me receiving the Nobel Peace Prize means personally extending my concerns for democracy and human rights beyond national borders. The Nobel Peace Prize opened up a door in my heart.
The Burmese concept of peace can be explained as the happiness arising from the cessation of factors that militate against the harmonious13 and the wholesome14. The word nyein-chan translates literally15 as the beneficial coolness that comes when a fire is extinguished. Fires of suffering and strife16 are raging around the world. In my own country, hostilities17 have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal18 violence resulting in arson19 and murder were taking place just several days before I started out on the journey that has brought me here today. News of atrocities20 in other reaches of the earth abound21. Reports of hunger, disease, displacement22, joblessness, poverty, injustice23, discrimination, prejudice, bigotry24; these are our daily fare. Everywhere there are negative forces eating away at the foundations of peace. Everywhere can be found thoughtless dissipation of material and human resources that are necessary for the conservation of harmony and happiness in our world.
The First World War represented a terrifying waste of youth and potential, a cruel squandering25 of the positive forces of our planet. The poetry of that era has a special significance for me because I first read it at a time when I was the same age as many of those young men who had to face the prospect of withering26 before they had barely blossomed. A young American fighting with the French Foreign Legion wrote before he was killed in action in 1916 that he would meet his death: “at some disputed barricade;” “on some scarred slope of battered27 hill;” “at midnight in some flaming town.” Youth and love and life perishing forever in senseless attempts to capture nameless, unremembered places. And for what? Nearly a century on, we have yet to find a satisfactory answer.
Are we not still guilty, if to a less violent degree, of recklessness, of improvidence28 with regard to our future and our humanity? War is not the only arena29 where peace is done to death. Wherever suffering is ignored, there will be the seeds of conflict, for suffering degrades and embitters30 and enrages31.
A positive aspect of living in isolation32 was that I had ample time in which to ruminate33 over the meaning of words and precepts34 that I had known and accepted all my life. As a Buddhist35, I had heard about dukha, generally translated as suffering, since I was a small child. Almost on a daily basis elderly, and sometimes not so elderly, people around me would murmur36 “dukha, dukha” when they suffered from aches and pains or when they met with some small, annoying mishaps37. However, it was only during my years of house arrest that I got around to investigating the nature of the six great dukha. These are: to be conceived, to age, to sicken, to die, to be parted from those one loves, to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. I examined each of the six great sufferings, not in a religious context but in the context of our ordinary, everyday lives. If suffering were an unavoidable part of our existence, we should try to alleviate38 it as far as possible in practical, earthly ways. I mulled over the effectiveness of ante- and post-natal programmes and mother and childcare; of adequate facilities for the aging population; of comprehensive health services; of compassionate40 nursing and hospices. I was particularly intrigued41 by the last two kinds of suffering: to be parted from those one loves and to be forced to live in propinquity with those one does not love. What experiences might our Lord Buddha42 have undergone in his own life that he had included these two states among the great sufferings? I thought of prisoners and refugees, of migrant workers and victims of human trafficking, of that great mass of the uprooted43 of the earth who have been torn away from their homes, parted from families and friends, forced to live out their lives among strangers who are not always welcoming.
We are fortunate to be living in an age when social welfare and humanitarian44 assistance are recognized not only as desirable but necessary. I am fortunate to be living in an age when the fate of prisoners of conscience anywhere has become the concern of peoples everywhere, an age when democracy and human rights are widely, even if not universally, accepted as the birthright of all. How often during my years under house arrest have I drawn strength from my favourite passages in the preamble45 to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
……. disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged46 the conscience of mankind, and the advent47 of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspirations48 of the common people,
…… it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law . . .
If I am asked why I am fighting for human rights in Burma the above passages will provide the answer. If I am asked why I am fighting for democracy in Burma, it is because I believe that democratic institutions and practices are necessary for the guarantee of human rights.
Over the past year there have been signs that the endeavours of those who believe in democracy and human rights are beginning to bear fruit in Burma. There have been changes in a positive direction; steps towards democratization have been taken. If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith. Without faith in the future, without the conviction that democratic values and fundamental human rights are not only necessary but possible for our society, our movement could not have been sustained throughout the destroying years. Some of our warriors49 fell at their post, some deserted50 us, but a dedicated51 core remained strong and committed. At times when I think of the years that have passed, I am amazed that so many remained staunch under the most trying circumstances. Their faith in our cause is not blind; it is based on a clear-eyed assessment52 of their own powers of endurance and a profound respect for the aspirations of our people.
It is because of recent changes in my country that I am with you today; and these changes have come about because of you and other lovers of freedom and justice who contributed towards a global awareness53 of our situation. Before continuing to speak of my country, may I speak out for our prisoners of conscience. There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten. I am standing54 here because I was once a prisoner of conscience. As you look at me and listen to me, please remember the often repeated truth that one prisoner of conscience is one too many. Those who have not yet been freed, those who have not yet been given access to the benefits of justice in my country number much more than one. Please remember them and do whatever is possible to effect their earliest, unconditional55 release.
Burma is a country of many ethnic56 nationalities and faith in its future can be founded only on a true spirit of union. Since we achieved independence in 1948, there never has been a time when we could claim the whole country was at peace. We have not been able to develop the trust and understanding necessary to remove causes of conflict. Hopes were raised by ceasefires that were maintained from the early 1990s until 2010 when these broke down over the course of a few months. One unconsidered move can be enough to remove long-standing ceasefires. In recent months, negotiations57 between the government and ethnic nationality forces have been making progress. We hope that ceasefire agreements will lead to political settlements founded on the aspirations of the peoples, and the spirit of union.
My party, the National League for Democracy, and I stand ready and willing to play any role in the process of national reconciliation58. The reform measures that were put into motion by President U Thein Sein’s government can be sustained only with the intelligent cooperation of all internal forces: the military, our ethnic nationalities, political parties, the media, civil society organizations, the business community and, most important of all, the general public. We can say that reform is effective only if the lives of the people are improved and in this regard, the international community has a vital role to play. Development and humanitarian aid, bi-lateral agreements and investments should be coordinated60 and calibrated61 to ensure that these will promote social, political and economic growth that is balanced and sustainable. The potential of our country is enormous. This should be nurtured62 and developed to create not just a more prosperous but also a more harmonious, democratic society where our people can live in peace, security and freedom.
The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever be removed. The simple answer is: “No!” It is in human nature to contain both the positive and the negative. However, it is also within human capability63 to work to reinforce the positive and to minimize or neutralize64 the negative. Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal. But it is one towards which we must continue to journey, our eyes fixed66 on it as a traveller in a desert fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation67. Even if we do not achieve perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this earth, common endeavours to gain peace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human community safer and kinder.
I used the word ‘kinder’ after careful deliberation; I might say the careful deliberation of many years. Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness. Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people. Norway has shown exemplary kindness in providing a home for the displaced of the earth, offering sanctuary68 to those who have been cut loose from the moorings of security and freedom in their native lands.
There are refugees in all parts of the world. When I was at the Maela refugee camp in Thailand recently, I met dedicated people who were striving daily to make the lives of the inmates69 as free from hardship as possible. They spoke70 of their concern over ‘donor fatigue71,’ which could also translate as ‘compassion39 fatigue.’ ‘Donor fatigue’ expresses itself precisely72 in the reduction of funding. ‘Compassion fatigue’ expresses itself less obviously in the reduction of concern. One is the consequence of the other. Can we afford to indulge in compassion fatigue? Is the cost of meeting the needs of refugees greater than the cost that would be consequent on turning an indifferent, if not a blind, eye on their suffering? I appeal to donors73 the world over to fulfill74 the needs of these people who are in search, often it must seem to them a vain search, of refuge.
At Maela, I had valuable discussions with Thai officials responsible for the administration of Tak province where this and several other camps are situated75. They acquainted me with some of the more serious problems related to refugee camps: violation76 of forestry77 laws, illegal drug use, home brewed78 spirits, the problems of controlling malaria79, tuberculosis80, dengue fever and cholera81. The concerns of the administration are as legitimate82 as the concerns of the refugees. Host countries also deserve consideration and practical help in coping with the difficulties related to their responsibilities.
Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace. Every thought, every word, and every action that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.
The Nobel Committee concluded its statement of 14 October 1991 with the words: “In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize ... to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain65 democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation59 by peaceful means.” When I joined the democracy movement in Burma it never occurred to me that I might ever be the recipient83 of any prize or honour. The prize we were working for was a free, secure and just society where our people might be able to realize their full potential. The honour lay in our endeavour. History had given us the opportunity to give of our best for a cause in which we believed. When the Nobel Committee chose to honour me, the road I had chosen of my own free will became a less lonely path to follow. For this I thank the Committee, the people of Norway and peoples all over the world whose support has strengthened my faith in the common quest for peace. Thank you.
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majesties
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| n.雄伟( majesty的名词复数 )；庄严；陛下；王权 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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marooned
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| adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的 | |
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celebrities
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| n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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communal
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| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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arson
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| n.纵火，放火 | |
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atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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displacement
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| n.移置，取代，位移，排水量 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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squandering
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的现在分词 ) | |
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withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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improvidence
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| n.目光短浅 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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embitters
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| v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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enrages
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| 使暴怒( enrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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ruminate
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| v.反刍；沉思 | |
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precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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Buddhist
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| adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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alleviate
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| v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等) | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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intrigued
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| adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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preamble
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| n.前言；序文 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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assessment
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| n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额 | |
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awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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unconditional
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| adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的 | |
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ethnic
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| adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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conciliation
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| n.调解，调停 | |
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coordinated
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| adj.协调的 | |
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calibrated
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| v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径 | |
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nurtured
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| 养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长 | |
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capability
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| n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等 | |
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neutralize
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| v.使失效、抵消，使中和 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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69
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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70
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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71
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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72
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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73
donors
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| n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者 | |
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74
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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75
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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76
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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77
forestry
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| n.森林学；林业 | |
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78
brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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79
malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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80
tuberculosis
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| n.结核病，肺结核 | |
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81
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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82
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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83
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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