名人演讲:这场美国总统的就职演说,堪称20世纪之最
2018-04-13 15:36
来源:沪江
作者:
赏析:
这段乐观从容的演讲曾激烈无数美国人民走出阴暗,拥抱暖阳。
第一段中的“firm belief”表示“坚定的信念”,“firm”一词是“坚定的”,表示罗斯福总统满满的信心。
他认为:“the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”这句话的意思是:“我们唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身。”这种“莫须有”的恐惧,他连用了三个形容词“nameless”本意为“无名的”,这里可以译为“莫名其妙的”,“unreasoning”可意译为“丧失理智的”, unjustified ”可意译为“毫无根据的”,这些词都表明真正的恐惧,其实不是外界的压力带给我们的,而是我们自己内心莫名的“恐惧”在支配着我们。
让人们看清恐惧的实质不来自困难,而来自内心。因此只要克服内心的敌人,一切都会柳暗花明。
第二段中的“dark hour”意为“黑暗时刻”,这里指的是金融危机带来的大萧条。“which is essential to victory”,这里是一个“which”引导的定语从句,它在句中代指前面的“美国人民给予的支持和理解”,“be essential to”则意为:“对...是必不可少的”。
这里指美国人民的支持和理解,对于重建美国国民信心是必不可少的。“critical days”意为:“至关重要的时刻”。
第三段中的“lie not in....,it lies in...,in...”意为:“不在于...而在于...在于...”先否定前者,再双重肯定后者,更加突出强调了真正的幸福在于努力时的激情和获得成功时的喜悦。
后面“no longer must be forgotten”中的“no longer”加强了语气,表示再也不能一心追逐眼前的利益,而抛弃劳动带给我们的快乐。
在这里,其实罗斯福总统呼吁人们理智地面对生活,要吸取经济危机的教训,不可贪图眼前小利,要以长远的目光,以从容乐观的心态来工作和生活。
第四段中的“will…if…”这是一个由“if”引导的条件状语从句,主句用了将来时态,从句则是一般现在时态。这句表明,如果我们能意识到困境带给我们的启发和机遇,痛苦就是有价值的。
这让我们有逆向思维的空间,理性地看到经济萧条的积极的一面,可以认清它带给我们的启示和价值。
第五段中“go hand in hand with”的意思是“密切相关”,这里是指人民的错误观念才造就了错误的评判标准,两者密切相关,因此,只有改变“把物质财富当作成功的标准”的错误想法,才能重建美国信心。
第六段中“small wonder”的意思是“难怪”。“thrive…on…”的意思是“依靠…而繁盛”,这里指强大的自信心来源于真诚,踏实,勇敢的责任心。
只有拥有了这样的品质,我们的自信心才会重建,并且像春天的花草一样枝繁叶茂,遍布全国。
整段演讲娓娓道来,给人带来了巨大的精神安慰:
从理性方面,它分析了经济萧条带来的启示,认清急功近利以及唯利是图的错误观念;从感性方面,也让人们认清恐惧的实质是源于自己的内心。
我们唯一要恐惧的,只有恐惧本身。
附演讲全文:
The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself
胡佛总统,首席法官先生,朋友们:
President Hoover, Mr.Chief Justice, my friends:
This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.
我能肯定地说,在进行授职仪式的这一天,我的同胞门都期待我在就职之际,能像我国目前形势所要求的那样,坦率而果敢的发表讲话。现在正是坦诚、勇敢地说出实话、讲出全部实情的最佳时候。我们也不必躲闪,不敢面对我们国家今天的实情。这个伟大的国家会一如既往地坚持下去,它会复兴而繁荣起来。
So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.
因此,让我首先表明我的坚定信念:我们唯一畏惧的就是畏惧本身——一种不可名状的、丧失理智的、毫无来由的恐惧,这会麻痹我们转退为进的意志。一个坦率而有活力的领导,总能在吾国生活阴云密布的时刻得到人民应有理解和支持,从而为胜利准备了不可或缺的条件。我相信,值此危难关头,各位会再度给予这种支持。
In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.
面对共同的困难,我和你们都需要这种精神。谢天谢地!人们的忧虑只是物质方面的。物价已难以置信的贬值;税收上涨了;我们的支付能力下降了;各级政府的收入严重缩水;交换方式在贸易过程中遭受冻结;败叶飘零于工业企业中的各个角落;农产品找不到销路;千家万户数年的积蓄付之东流。
More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.
更重要的是,大批失业公民正面临严峻的生存问题,大部分人艰苦劳动却所得甚微。除了愚蠢的乐天派,谁会否认当前这惨暗的现实?
And yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for.
但是,目前我们的苦恼的不仅仅是物质匮乏。我们的祖先信奉上帝,无所畏惧,因而所向披靡。我们并未遭到蝗虫灾害,比起他们的艰险,我们仍大可欣慰。
Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.
大自然仍在给予我们恩惠,人类的努力已使之倍增。富足就在眼前,但就在我们庆幸的时刻,宽裕却悄然离去。这主要是因为主宰人类物质交换的统治者们失策了,他们固执己见而又无能为力,一旦认定失败,就开始退缩了。寡廉鲜耻的货币兑换商的种种行径,将会在公众舆论的法庭上受到谴责,并将受到人类心灵的唾弃。