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Martin Luther King Jr: Leading the Way to Equality 金恩博士:平等权的漫漫长路

 

課文朗讀

 

課文中英文講解

 

繁體中文譯本

 

Slavery was outlawed in the U.S. in 1863. Yet former slaves and their descendants have long struggled to gain full equality in the eyes of the law and among their fellow Americans. In the South, beginning around 1890, so called Jim Crow laws made segregation and discrimination normal policy. Some states, for example, required black Americans to take a literacy test before being allowed to vote. But the test items required them to recite the entire Constitution, making it nearly impossible to pass and thus effectively eliminating the black vote.

 

1863年美国脱离了奴隶制度。但从前的黑奴及其后代长期以来仍继续为了在法律层面与美国同胞面前争取完全平等而奋斗。在美国南方大约自1890年开始，所谓的金克鲁法(种族隔离法)使得种族隔离与歧视成了正规的政策。比方说，某些州要求美国黑人在被准许投票之前要先参加一项读写测验，但是测验项目要求应试者背诵整部宪法，这让黑人几乎不可能通过考试，也因此有效排除了黑人的投票权。

 

Many people disagree with these racist laws; protest were common, but too little avail. Then in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, Rosa Parks defied the law which required black Americans to give up bus seats to white people. Her rebellious act led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a young black minister, led the boycott for 381 days. King suffered arrest and the bombing of his house, but he lived to see the law finally changed.

 

许多人反对这些种族主义的法令，抗议行动屡见不鲜，但几乎都徒劳无功。后来在1955年，亚拉巴马州蒙哥马利镇的一位罗莎帕克女士违反了黑人公民在公交车上要让位给白人的规定。她的反抗演变成蒙哥马利公交车罢乘运动。当时年轻的黑人牧师金恩博士率领这项罢乘运动长达381天。金恩博士遭到逮捕，其住处被焚毁，但最后他得以活了下来，并见证这项法律被改写。

 

After the boycott, King helped found SCLC, an influential Civil Rights group. The Civil Rights Movement now went into high gear. King and the SCLC fought against discrimination for over a decade, working towards fair hiring practices, the right to vote, and other basic civil rights.

 

在罢乘事件之后，金恩协助成立深具影响力的民权组织—南方基督教领袖会议，而人权运动也在此时火力全开。金恩和南方基督教领袖会议对抗种族歧视超过十年，他们要争取工作、投票权及其他基本人权的平等。

 

King’s common decency won him widespread respect. His gifts both as a speaker and leader educated ordinary Americans on the injustices so many black people faced every day.

 

金恩博士有礼的公众形象为他赢得广泛的敬重。他的演说及领导天赋也使他得以向美国大众揭示多黑人族群每天会面临的不公平待遇。

 

Vocabulary

outlaw [ˋaʊt͵lɔ] v. 宣布……为不合法

descendant [dɪˋsɛndənt] n. 子孙，后裔

protest [ˋprotɛst]n. 抗议，反对

defy [dɪˋfaɪ] v. 公然反抗，蔑视

rebellious [rɪˋbɛljəs] adj. 叛逆的; 反抗的

 

More Information

in the eyes of: 在...心目中; 从...来看 in another person's opinion

segregation [͵sɛgrɪˋgeʃən] n. 种族隔离

literacy [ˋlɪtərəsɪ] n. 识字；读写能力

recite [riˋsaɪt] v. 背诵；朗诵

Constitution [͵kɑnstəˋtjuʃən] n. 宪法

eliminate [ɪˋlɪmə͵net] v. 排除，消除

avail [əˋvel] n. 效用；利益；帮助

boycott [ˋbɔɪ͵kɑt] n. 联合抵制；拒绝参加

go into high gear: 加快速度,热火朝天地展开  InformalA state of maximum activity, energy, or force.

decency [ˋdisnsɪ] n. 正派；高雅；端庄

injustice [ɪnˋdʒʌstɪs] n. 非正义；不公正

 

 

 

課文中英文講解

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in 1963, King expressed his hope for racial harmony and equality.

 

金恩博士是人权运动中最具影响力的领袖之一。在1963年发表的著名演说「我有一个梦想」中，金恩表达了他对种族和谐与平等的期待。

 

But king did more than give speeches: he worked to achieve the ideals expressed in those speeches. Significantly, he did so not by force, as some black leaders wanted, but by organized, peaceful protest. King followed the example of Gandhi’s successful nonviolent civil disobedience tactics in India. At the March on Washington in 1965, for example, over 250,000 people gathered and protested peacefully against racial discrimination. This demonstration, and others like it, drew media attention and, more importantly, sympathy to the cause.

 

不过金恩所做的不仅是发表演说而已，他为达成演讲中所表达的理想而努力着。值得注意的是，他不像一些黑人领袖希望藉由暴力的方式抗争，而是透过组织化且和平的抗议活动来发生，金恩遵循甘地在印度极为成功的非暴力公民策略。譬如1965年在华盛顿的一场游行，超过二十五万人和平地集结抗议种族歧视。这场示威抗议和其他类似的集会游行都吸引了媒体的注意；更重要的是，它激发起对该运动的同情。

 

For his work towards ending racial discrimination in the United States, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Four years later, the man of peace was dead, assassinated as he was preparing to lead yet another protest march.

 

金恩博士因为终止美国种族歧视而在1964年获颁诺贝尔和平奖。四年后，这位和平斗士却在准备率领另一场抗争活动时遇刺身亡。

 

Since his death, King has been widely honored as one of the most important figures in American history. In 1986, the third Monday of January was named Martin Luther King Day. It wasn’t until 1993, however, that the holiday was observed in all fifty states. To some, this is a sign of how slowly things change. And most agree that there is still much more to be done to fully achieve King’s dream.

 

金恩博士死后被推崇为美国史上最重要的人物之一。1986年开始，每年一月的第三个星期一被定为金恩节。然而，这个节日一直到1993年才在全美五十州被广泛庆祝。对某些人来说，这象征着事物变迁的脚步有多缓慢；不过大部份人都同意的是，要完全实现金恩博士的梦想，要做的事还多着呢!

 

−By Amy Lovestrand

 

 

Vocabulary

deliver [dɪˋlɪvɚ] v. 发表；讲

harmony [ˋhɑrmənɪ] n. 和睦；融洽

significantly [sɪgˋnɪfəkəntlɪ] adv. 值得注目地; 重大地

award [əˋwɔrd] v. 授予，给予

assassinate [əˋsæsɪn͵et] v. 暗杀

 

More Information

nonviolent [͵nɑnˋvaɪələnt] adj. 非暴力的

disobedience [͵dɪsəˋbidɪəns] n. 不服从，违抗

tactic [ˋtæktɪk] n. 战术；策略

march [mɑrtʃ] n. 游行抗议，游行示威

demonstration [͵dɛmənˋstreʃən] n. 示威，示威运动

observe [əbˋzɝv] v. 庆祝

 

 

Reading Questions

 

1. What does “eliminate” in the first paragraph of the Day One article mean?

A. Holding on to.

B. Getting rid of.

C. Changing into.

D. Pulling out of.

 

2. What did King hope for in his “I Have a Dream” speech?

A. For more people to be influential in the Civil Rights Movement.

B. For more people to join him fighting against racial equality.

C. That all people should try to get what they want by any means.

D. That different races would get along with each other.

 

3. What was special about Gandhi’s tactics?

A. They were very dangerous because so many people got together.

B. They were helpful because they were organized by black leaders.

C. They were peaceful protests where people did not use force.

D. They were proven effective by many former black protesters.

 

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. The literacy test was designed to be difficult on purpose to shut out the black vote.

B. Rosa Parks refused to surrender her bus seat to a white person as required by law.

C. Martin Luther King Day has been widely celebrated since it was first announced in 1986.

D. The Civil Right Movement became more active after the foundation of the SCLC.

 

 

"I Have a Dream"-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.今天，我高兴的同大家一起参加这次将成为我国历史上为争取自由而举行的最伟大的示威集会。

 

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.100年前，一位伟大的美国人--今天我们就站在他象征性的身影下--签署了《解放黑奴宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布，对于千百万灼烤于非正义残焰中的黑奴，犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔，恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。

 

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.  然而100年后的今天，我们必须正视黑人还没有得到自由这一悲惨的事实。100年后的今天，在种族隔离的镣铐和种族歧视的枷锁下，黑人的生活备受压榨。100年后的今天，黑人仍生活在物质充裕的海洋中一个穷困的孤岛上。100年后的今天，黑人仍然蜷缩在美国社会的角落里，并且意识到自己是故土家园中的流亡者。今天我们在这里集会，就是要把这种骇人听闻的情况公诸于世。

 

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." 就某种意义而言，今天我们是为了要求兑现诺言而汇集到我们国家的首都来的。我们共和国的缔造者草拟宪法和独立宣言的气壮山河的词句时，曾向每一个美国人许下了诺言，他们承诺所有人--不论白人还是黑人--都享有不可让渡的生存权、自由权和追求幸福权。

 

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."  But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.  就有色公民而论，美国显然没有实践她的诺言。美国没有履行这项神圣的义务，只是给黑人开了一张空头支票，支票上盖着“资金不足”的戳子后便退了回来。但是我们不相信正义的银行已经破产，我们不相信，在这个国家巨大的机会之库里已没有足够的储备。因此今天我们要求将支票兑现——这张支票将给予我们宝贵的自由和正义保障。

 

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.  我们来到这个圣地也是为了提醒美国，现在是非常急迫的时刻。现在决非侈谈冷静下来或服用渐进主义的镇静剂的时候。现在是实现民主的诺言时候。现在是从种族隔离的荒凉阴暗的深谷攀登种族平等的光明大道的时候，现在是向上帝所有的儿女开放机会之门的时候，现在是把我们的国家从种族不平等的流沙中拯救出来，置于兄弟情谊的磐石上的时候。

 

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.  如果美国忽视时间的迫切性和低估黑人的决心，那么，这对美国来说，将是致命伤。自由和平等的爽朗秋天如不到来，黑人义愤填膺的酷暑就不会过去。1963年并不意味着斗争的结束，而是开始。有人希望，黑人只要撒撒气就会满足；如果国家安之若素，毫无反应，这些人必会大失所望的。黑人得不到公民的基本权利，美国就不可能有安宁或平静，正义的光明的一天不到来，叛乱的旋风就将继续动摇这个国家的基础。

 

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.  但是对于等候在正义之宫门口的心急如焚的人们，有些话我是必须说的。在争取合法地位的过程中，我们不要采取错误的做法。我们不要为了满足对自由的渴望而抱着敌对和仇恨之杯痛饮。我们斗争时必须永远举止得体，纪律严明。我们不能容许我们的具有崭新内容的抗议蜕变为暴力行动。我们要不断地升华到以精神力量对付物质力量的崇高境界中去。

 

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.  现在黑人社会充满着了不起的新的战斗精神，但是不能因此而不信任所有的白人。因为我们的许多白人兄弟已经认识到，他们的命运与我们的命运是紧密相连的，他们今天参加游行集会就是明证。他们的自由与我们的自由是息息相关的。

 

We cannot walk alone.  我们不能单独行动。

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.当我们行动时，我们必须保证向前进。

We cannot turn back.我们不能倒退。

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" 现在有人问热心民权运动的人，“你们什么时候才能满足？”

 

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. 只要黑人仍然遭受警察难以形容的野蛮迫害，我们就绝不会满足。

 

We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. 只要我们在外奔波而疲乏的身躯不能在公路旁的汽车旅馆和城里的旅馆找到住宿之所，我们就绝不会满足。

 

We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. 只要黑人的基本活动范围只是从少数民族聚居的小贫民区转移到大贫民区，我们就绝不会满足。

 

We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." 只要我们的孩子被“仅限白人”的标语剥夺自我和尊严，我们就绝不会满足。

 

We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. 只要密西西比州仍然有一个黑人不能参加选举，只要纽约有一个黑人认为他投票无济于事，我们就绝不会满足。

 

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹不！我们现在并不满足，我们将来也不满足，除非正义和公正犹如江海之波涛，汹涌澎湃，滚滚而来。

 

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. 我并非没有注意到，参加今天集会的人中，有些受尽苦难和折磨，有些刚刚走出窄小的牢房，有些由于寻求自由，曾在居住地惨遭疯狂迫害的打击，并在警察暴行的旋风中摇摇欲坠。你们是人为痛苦的长期受难者。坚持下去吧，要坚决相信，忍受不应得的痛苦是一种赎罪。

 

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.让我们回到密西西比去，回到亚拉巴马去，回到南卡罗来纳去，回到佐治亚去，回到路易斯安那去，回到我们北方城市中的贫民区和少数民族居住区去，要心中有数，这种状况是能够也必将改变的。

 

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.我们不要陷入绝望而不可自拔。

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.朋友们，今天我对你们说，在此时此刻，我们虽然遭受种种困难和挫折，我仍然有一个梦想，这个梦想深深扎根于美国的梦想之中。

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."我梦想有一天，这个国家会站立起来，真正实现其信条的真谛：“我们认为真理是不言而喻，人人生而平等。”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 我梦想有一天，在佐治亚的红山上，昔日奴隶的儿子将能够和昔日奴隶主的儿子坐在一起，共叙兄弟情谊。

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.  我梦想有一天，甚至连密西西比州这个正义匿迹，压迫成风，如同沙漠般的地方，也将变成自由和正义的绿洲。

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.我梦想有一天，我的四个孩子将在一个不是以他们的肤色，而是以他们的品格优劣来评价他们的国度里生活。

I have a dream today! 今天，我有一个梦想。

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.  我梦想有一天，亚拉巴马州能够有所转变，尽管该州州长现在仍然满口异议，反对联邦法令，但有朝一日，那里的黑人男孩和女孩将能与白人男孩和女孩情同骨肉，携手并进。

I have a dream today! 今天，我有一个梦想。

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."²  我梦想有一天，幽谷上升，高山下降；坎坷曲折之路成坦途，圣光披露，满照人间。

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.这就是我们的希望。我怀着这种信念回到南方。

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. 有了这个信念，我们将能从绝望之岭劈出一块希望之石。有了这个信念，我们将能把这个国家刺耳的争吵声，改变成为一支洋溢手足之情的优美交响曲。

 

With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.  有了这个信念，我们将能一起工作，一起祈祷，一起斗争，一起坐牢，一起维护自由；因为我们知道，终有一天，我们是会自由的。

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:在自由到来的那一天，上帝的所有儿女们将以新的含义高唱这支歌

My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.我的祖国，美丽的自由之乡，我为您歌唱。

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,您是父辈逝去的地方，您是最初移民的骄傲

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!让自由之声响彻每个山岗。”

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.如果美国要成为一个伟大的国家，这个梦想必须实现！

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.让自由之声从新罕布什尔州的巍峨的崇山峻岭响起来！

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.让自由之声从纽约州的崇山峻岭响起来！

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.让自由之声从宾夕法尼亚州的阿勒格尼山响起来！

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.让自由之声从科罗拉多州冰雪覆盖的落基山响起来！

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.让自由之声从加利福尼亚州蜿蜒的群峰响起来！

But not only that:不仅如此，

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.还要让自由之声从佐治亚州的石岭响起来！

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.让自由之声从田纳西州的了望山响起来！

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.让自由之声从密西西比的每一座丘陵响起来！

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.让自由之声从每一片山坡响起来！

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:当我们让自由之声响起，让自由之声从每一个大小村庄、每一个州和每一个城市响起来时，我们将能够加速这一天的到来，那时，上帝的所有儿女，黑人和白人，犹太教徒和非犹太教徒，耶稣教徒和天主教徒，都将手携手，合唱一首古老的黑人灵歌：

                Free at last! Free at last!“自由啦！自由啦！

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!³感谢全能上帝，我们终于自由啦！”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answer

1. ( B )

2. ( D )

3. ( C )

4. ( C )