經(jīng)典英語文章：為了自由，冒險(xiǎn)又何妨

　　Freedom is Worth the Risk

　　為了自由，冒險(xiǎn)又何妨 埃爾默·戴維斯

　　The philosopher George Santayana, at the age of eighty-eight, admitted that things no longer seemed so simple to him as they did fifty years ago.

　　Even those of us who have not reached Mr. Santayana’s age must share that feeling; but we must act by the best light we have, hoping that the light will grow brighter- and we have reason to hope it will, so long as men remain free to think. The most important thing in the world, I believe, is the freedom of the mind. All progress, and all other freedoms, spring from that.

　　哲學(xué)家喬治·桑塔亞那在八十八歲高齡時(shí)坦言在他眼里事物不再像五十年前那么簡(jiǎn)單。

　　我們當(dāng)中那些即使未到桑塔亞那先生那個(gè)年紀(jì)的人一定也有同感，但我們必須在最充足的光線下活動(dòng)，并且希望光線會(huì)更明亮——只要人類仍然有思想的自由，我們有理由希望它會(huì)更明亮。我相信世上最重要的事情是思想的自由，所有的進(jìn)步及其他一切自由皆源于此。

　　It is a dangerous freedom, but this is a dangerous world. You cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong; but for any evils that may come from thinking, the cure is more thinking. Over much of the world, at present, the freedom of the mind is suppressed.

　　We have got to preserve it here, despite the efforts of very earnest men to suppress it—men who say, and perhaps believe, that they are actuated by patriotism, but who are doing their best to destroy the liberties which above all are what the United States of America has meant, to its people and to humanity.

　　這種自由是危險(xiǎn)的，但這個(gè)世界本身就危險(xiǎn)。不冒犯錯(cuò)誤的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)就無法正確地思考，但是對(duì)于任何思想可能帶來的邪惡，治療的藥方是進(jìn)一步思考。目前世界上許多地方思想的自由受到壓制。

　　我們必須在這里保留思想的自由，即使有些一本正經(jīng)的人竭力遏制它——這些人口口聲聲說他們這樣做是基于愛國(guó)，也許他們真這樣想，但他們卻在竭盡所能摧毀自由，而擁有自由正是美利堅(jiān)合眾國(guó)對(duì)它的民眾和整個(gè)人類的首要意義之所在。

　　This is perhaps a less personal statement than most of those in “ This I believe”. If so, it is because a man of my age, in his relation to himself, runs mostly on momentum; and it is a little difficult to look back and figure out what give him the push, or the various pushes.

　　What he has to consider now is what he can contribute to the present, or the future, as a member of a very peculiar species—possibly even a unique species—which has immense capacities for both good and evil, as it has amply demonstrated during its recorded history.

　　這種觀點(diǎn)也許不像這個(gè)節(jié)目大多數(shù)觀點(diǎn)那樣帶個(gè)人感情色彩，如果真是如此，則是因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)人到我這個(gè)年紀(jì)大多靠沖動(dòng)處理與自己的關(guān)系，讓他回過頭來想清楚是什么激勵(lì)了他是有點(diǎn)困難的。

　　現(xiàn)在他要考慮的是作為一個(gè)非常特殊的種群(也許甚至是獨(dú)一無二的種群)的一員，能為現(xiàn)在或?qū)碜龀鍪裁簇暙I(xiàn)。歷史記載已充分證明這一種群無論行善還是作惡，能力都很強(qiáng)。

　　That history to date is ---barring some unpredictable cosmic disaster---the barest beginning of what may lie ahead of us. But we happen to live in one of the turning points of history—by no means the first, as it will not be the last; and the future of mankind will be more than usually affected by what we do in this generation.

　　What should we do? Well, first of all and above all, preserve freedom, and extend it if we can. Beyond that I don’t know how better to define our business than to say we should try to promote an increase of decency. Decency in the sense of respect for other people; of taking no advantage; of never saying,”

　　那需要標(biāo)注日期的歷史阻止了一些不可預(yù)知的宇宙災(zāi)難，也許是擺在我們眼前的最原初的開端，而我們碰巧身處歷史轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)之一——絕不是第一個(gè)也不會(huì)是最后一個(gè);我們這一代的所作所為將對(duì)人類的未來造成較大的影響。

　　我們?cè)撛趺崔k?嗯，首先也是最重要的是保留自由，盡我們所能拓展自由。除此之外，除了說我們應(yīng)該努力促使人們不斷端正行為之外，我不知道該如何更好地說明我們的這一事業(yè)。行為端正意味著尊重他人、不利用人、永遠(yuǎn)不說：“得讓這個(gè)人吃些苦頭我心里才舒服。”

　　This man must be miserable in order that I may be comfortable.” This is not as easy as it looks; it’s impossible to exist without hurting somebody, however unintentionally. But there are limits. I do not believe that human life is accurately represented by Viggeland’s famous sculptured column in Oslo, of people climbing over one another and trampling one anther down. The Nazis, when they occupied Norway, greatly admired that sculpture.

　　They would. But the rest of us can do better than that; many men and women in every age have done better, and are doing it still.

　　這看起來容易，做起來難，因?yàn)槲覀儾豢赡茉谏钪胁粋λ?，無論這種傷害多么無心，但是傷害是有限度的。我不相信挪威奧斯陸市維格蘭雕塑公園著名的“生命之柱”上人們從別人身上爬過去再把人往下踩的情景準(zhǔn)確地表現(xiàn)了人類的生活。納粹在占領(lǐng)挪威時(shí)對(duì)那根石柱頂禮膜拜。

　　他們會(huì)照此行事，可我們其他人的行為可以比他們有人性，每個(gè)時(shí)代的眾多男男女女都是如此，現(xiàn)在仍然如此。

　　The Scottish scientist J.B.S.Haldane once said that the people who can make a positive contribution to human progress are few; that most of us have to be satisfied with merely staving off the inroads of chaos.

　　That is a hard enough job—especially in these times, when those inroads are more threatening that they have been for a long time past. But if we can stave them off, and keep the field clear for the creative intelligence, we can feel that we have done our part toward helping the human race get ahead.

　　蘇格蘭科學(xué)家約翰·伯登·桑德斯·霍爾丹曾說能為人類發(fā)展做出積極貢獻(xiàn)的人寥寥無幾，大多數(shù)人只能滿足于避開亂世的侵?jǐn)_。能那樣已經(jīng)夠難了，尤其是當(dāng)今這個(gè)動(dòng)蕩不安的時(shí)代

　　人們的生存在過去很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間都不曾像現(xiàn)在這樣遭到威脅。但如果我們能夠避開這些混亂的侵?jǐn)_，為人類創(chuàng)造性的智慧創(chuàng)造空間，我們就能感到自己已經(jīng)為推動(dòng)人類前進(jìn)的步伐盡了綿薄之力。