第二冊第14篇：喬治·華盛頓對部隊的演說

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George Washington 喬治·華盛頓

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die.

美國人能否成為自由人，還是淪為奴隸，能否享有可以稱之為自己所有的財產(chǎn)，能否使自己的住宅和農(nóng)莊免遭洗劫和毀壞;能否使自己免于陷人入非人力所能拯救的悲慘境地--決定這一切的時刻已迫在眉睫。蒼天之下，千百萬尚未出生的人的別無他路，要么奮起反擊，要么屈膝投降。因此，我們必須下定決心，若不克敵制勝，就是捐軀疆場。

Our own, our country's honour, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world that a free man contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.

我們的尊嚴，祖國的尊嚴，都要求我們進行英勇頑強的奮斗：如果我們做不到這一點，我們將感到羞愧，并將為全世界所不齒。所以，讓我們憑借我們事業(yè)的正義性和上帝的恩助--勝利掌握在他手中--鼓勵和鞭策我們?nèi)?chuàng)造偉大而崇高的業(yè)績。全國同胞都注視著我們，如果我們有幸為他們效勞，將他們從企圖強加于他們的暴政中解救出來，我們將受到他們的祝福和贊頌。讓我們互相激勵，互相鞭策，并向全世界昭示：在自己國土上為自由而斗爭的自由民勝過世上任何受人驅(qū)使的雇傭兵。

Liberty, property, life, and honour are all at stake, upon your courage and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country; our wives, children, and parents expect safety from us, only; and they have every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a cause(2).

自由、財產(chǎn)、生命和榮譽都在危急存亡之中。我們正在流血受辱的祖國寄希望于你們的勇敢和戰(zhàn)斗。我們的妻兒父老只指望我們?nèi)ケＷo。他們有充分的理由相信，上蒼一定會保佑如此正義的事業(yè)獲得勝利。

The enemy will endeavour to intimidate by show and appearance(3); but, remember, they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few brave Americans. Their cause is bad--their men are conscious of it; and if op- posed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with our advantage of works, and knowledge of tile ground(4), the victory is most assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive- wait for orders, and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution(5).

敵人將炫耀武力，竭力恫嚇;但是，別忘了，在許多場合，他們已經(jīng)被為數(shù)刁;多的勇敢的美國人所擊敗。他們的事業(yè)是邪惡的--他們的士兵也意識到這--點。如果我們在他們開始進攻時，就沉著堅定地予以反擊，憑著我們有利的工事和熟悉地形，勝利必將屬于我們。每一位優(yōu)秀的士兵都將枕戈待旦--整裝待命，一旦出擊，必殲強敵。

英文注釋：

(1)本文為喬治.華盛頓在獨立戰(zhàn)爭中對部隊的演說。喬治·華盛頓(1732-1799)為美國的奠基人，第一任總統(tǒng)(1789-1797)，出身大種植園主家庭，早年在英國殖民軍中服務，后任第一屆和第二屆大陸會議代表。1775年北美獨立戰(zhàn)爭爆發(fā)，被推選為十三州起義部隊總司令。

(2) will crown with success so just a cause：將以勝利酬報如此正義之事業(yè)。crown是"酬報"的意思，cause是它的賓語。

(3)by show and appearance：炫耀賣弄，這里指炫耀武力。

(4) with our..ground：憑著我們有利的工事和熟悉地形。

(5)reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution;保存其火力，直到有把握打中敵人才開槍。doing execution原意為"(發(fā)揮)武器的效力"。