每天读一点英文 那些激励我前行的身影 33 英国人对美国的友情-查尔斯.狄更斯
Charles Dickens/查尔斯·狄更斯
Gentlemen，
I cannot do better than take my cue from your distinguished President，and refer in my first remarks to his remarks in connection with the old，natural，association between you and me.
先生们，我最好是像你们杰出的主席那样，首先谈谈他提到的关于我们之间为时已久的自然交往。
When I received an invitation from a private association of working members of the press of New York to dine with them today，I accepted that compliment in grateful remembrance of a calling that was once my own，and in loyal sympathy towards a brotherhood which，in the spirit，I have never quitted.
当我接到纽约新闻界人士邀我今天与他们共进晚餐的邀请时，我怀着对我曾从事过的职业的愉快回忆，和我在内心从未抛弃过的对报界同仁的真诚关心，接受了这一好意。
To the wholesome training of severe newspaper work，when I was a very young man，I constantly refer my first successes;and my sons will hereafter testify to theifather that he was always steadily proud of that ladder by which he rose.
我经常把早年的成功归因于，我年轻时曾在严格的新闻工作中受到的有益的锻炼，今后我的儿子们会证实，他们的父亲始终以他借以登上成功的梯子而感到骄傲。
If it were otherwise，I should have but a very poor opinion of their father，which，perhaps，upon the whole，I have not. Hence，gentlemen，under any circumstances，this company would have been exceptionally interesting and gratifying to me.
如果情况并非如此，我就会得到他们很差的评价，但基本上我是不会得到那种评价的。所以，诸位，不管怎样，这样的聚会都会令我感到分外有趣和愉快。
But whereas I supposed that like the fairies’ pavilion in the“Arabian Nights，”it would be but a mere handful，and I find it turn out like the same elastic pavilion，capable of comprehending a multitude，so much the more proud am I of the honor of being your guest;for you will readily believe that the more widely representative of the press in America my entertainers are，the more I must feel the good-will and the kindly sentiments towards me of that vast institution.
不过，我原以为这次聚会会像《天方夜谭》里仙女们的帐篷一样，只有巴掌那么大，但我发现它就像那顶会伸缩的帐篷，容纳了一大群人，我为有幸成为你们的客人而倍感高兴。因为你们很快就会相信：我的款待者在美国新闻界的代表性越广，我所感受到的他们对我的友情和感情就越深。
Gentlemen，I henceforth charge myself，not only here but on every suitable occasion whatsoever and wheresoever，to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America，and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Also，to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes that I have seen around me on every side.
先生们，从今以后，我要给自己规定这样一项责任：不仅在这里，而且在任何一个适宜的场合，我都要表达我对第二次访美时所受到的款待的分外感激之情，并提供我对这个国家的慷慨、高尚行为的诚实见证，同时也要告诉大家，我是如何为我所看到的各方面惊人变化而震惊。
Nor am I believe me so arrogant as to suppose that in twenty five years there have been no changes in me，and that I had nothing to learn and no extreme impressions to correct when I was here first.
请相信我，我决不会自负到认为自己在25年里没有变化，并且觉得没有什么可以学习的东西，没有什么足以纠正我首次访美时观感的强烈印象。
Gentlemen，the transition from my own feelings towards and interest in America to those of the mass of my countrymen seems to be a natural one;but，whether or not，I make it with an express object.
先生们，我自己对美国的感情和兴趣，看来可以很自然地转变为我对同胞们的感情和兴趣。但是，无论如何，我是出于一种公开的目的来进行这方面的工作的。
I was asked in this very city，about last Christmas time，whether an American was not at some disadvantage in England as a foreigner.
好像是去年圣诞节，就在纽约，有人问我：美国人，作为一个在英国的外国人，会不会处于某种不利地位。
The notion of an American being regarded in England as a foreigner at all，of his ever being thought of or spoken of in that character，was so uncommonly incongruous and absurd to me，that my gravity was，for the moment，quite overpowered.
把在英国的美国人视为外国人，并以这种眼光去看待他、谈论他，在我看来是非常不恰当和荒谬的。因此在那次谈话中，我表现得过于严肃。
As soon as I was restored，I said that for years and years past I hoped I had had as many American friends and had received as many American visitors as almost any Englishman living，and that my unvarying experience，fortified by theirs，was that it was enough in England to be an American to be received with the readiest respect and recognition anywhere.
在恢复了平常后说，多年来我一直希望像任何一个活着的英国人一样，拥有众多的美国朋友，接待那么多的美国来访者，并且希望他们的经验会使我更加相信：美国人在英国处处都会充分地感受到英国人发自内心的尊重和关怀。
Hereupon，out of half-a-dozed people，suddenly spoke out two，one an American gentleman，with a cultivated taste for art，who，finding himself on a certain Sunday outside the walls of a certain historical English castle，famous for its pictures，was refused admission there.
对于这一点，我可以立即举出两个人的例子。其中之一是一位很有艺术修养的美国绅士。某个星期日，他来到一座以收藏名画而著名的英国古城堡的城墙外。
According to the strict rules of the establishment on that day，but who，on merely representing that he was an American gentleman，on his travels，had，not to say the picture gallery，but the whole castle，placed at his immediate disposal.
根据英国对于星期日的严格规定，那天是不允许进入城堡的。但是在他说明自己是一个正在旅行的美国绅士以后，不要说画廊，就连整个城堡都让他参观了。
The other was a lady，who，being in London，and having a great desire to see the famous reading-room of the British Museum，was assured by the English family with whom she stayed that it was unfortunately impossible，because the place was closed for a week，and she had only three days there.
另一个例子讲的是一位美国女土，她在伦敦非常想看一看著名的不列颠博物馆的阅览室。她借住的那家人告诉她，很遗憾这事办不到，因为博物馆停止开放一星期，而她在伦敦只能逗留3日。
Upon that lady’s going to the Museum，as she assured me，alone to the gate，self-introduced as an American lady，the gate flew open，as it were，magically. I am unwillingly bound to add that she certainly was young and exceedingly pretty.
这位女士后来告诉我，她独自走到博物馆门前，自我介绍来自美国，大门就神奇般地敞开了。我不情愿但又不得不补充一句，她当时很年轻，而且特别漂亮。
Still，the porter of that institution is of an obese habit，and，according to the best of my observation of him，not very impressible.
不过，博物馆看门人是个大胖子，而且据我认真观察，他还是一个不易被打动的人。
Now，gentlemen，I refer to these trifles as a collateral assurance to you that the Englishmen who shall humbly strive，as I hope to do，to be in England as faithful to America as to England herself，have no previous conceptions to contend against.
先生们，我在这里顺便提到这些小事是为了向你们肯定：正如我所希望的那样，英国人对美国人就像对英国本国人一样的诚恳，他们本来就没有什么敌对的观念。
Points of difference there have been，points of difference there are，points of difference there probably always will be between the two great peoples.
在这两个伟大的民族之间，尽管过去、现在和将来都会有不一致的地方
But broadcast in England shown the sentiment that those two peoples are essentially one，and that it rests with them jointly to uphold the great Anglo-Saxon race，to which our president has referred，and all its great achievements before the world.
然而在英国广泛地传播着、洋溢着这样一种感情：这两个伟大的民族实质上是一家人，他们共同肩负着高举盎格鲁一撒克逊旗帜的责任(这一点我们的主席已经谈到了)，还要把她的一切成就展现在世人面前。
And if I know anything of my countrymen and they give me credit for knowing something—if I know anything of my countrymen，gentlemen，the English heart is stirred by the fluttering of those Stars and Stripes，as it is stirred by no other flag that flies except its own.
如果我对我的同胞们还是有所了解的话——他们相信我是了解一些情况的——如果我对我的同胞们有所了解，先生们，尽管除了我们自己国家的旗帜外，我们的心不为其他任何飘动的旗帜而激动，但英国人的心已经为星条旗的飘扬而激动了。
If I know my countrymen，in any and every relation towards America，they begin，not as Sir Anthony Absolute recommended that lovers should begin，with“a little aversion.”but with a great liking and a profound respect;and whatever the little sensitiveness of the moment，or the little official passion，or the little official policy now，or then，or here，or there，may be，take my word for it，that the first enduring，great，popular consideration in England is a generous construction of justice.
如果我了解我的同胞，我知道他们并不像安东尼·艾布索列特爵士所说到的恋人们的惯常表现那样，起初是“略带厌恶”、却又满怀好感与尊敬来对待他们同美国的一切关系;不论曾经有过什么样的小情绪，也不论现在、将来、这里、那里会有什么样的小小的官僚脾气和官僚政策，请相信我的话，构建一种宽容的公正态度才是全体英国人一直以来的首要想法。
Finally，gentlemen，and I say this subject to your correction，I do believe that from the great majority of honest minds on both sides，there cannot be absent the conviction that it would be better for this globe to be riven by an earthquake，fired by a comet，overrun by an iceberg，and abandoned to the Arctic fox and bear，than that it should present the spectacle of these two great nations，each of which has，in its own way and hour，striven so hard and so successfully for freedom，ever again being arrayed the one against the other. Gentlemen，I cannot thank your President enough or you enough for your kind reception of my health，and of my poor remarks，but，believe me，I do thank you with the utmost fervor of which my soul is capable.
先生们，我最后讲一个问题并请大家予以指正。我完全相信，在大西洋两岸众多的、诚实的、有思想的人中，可能会有这样一种看法：让地球被地震震碎，被彗星烧毁，被冰山撞翻，把它扔给北极的狐狸和熊，也比这两个通过各自的方式和时机而成功地争取到自由的、伟大的民族对立起来的景象好。先生们，对于主席和你们大家如此友好、亲切的对待我的健康问题和我的拙劣言辞，我感激不尽。请相信，我的确是以我最大的热情来感谢你们的。
【人物简介】
查尔斯·约翰·赫芬姆·狄更斯，英国作家。1812年2月7日生于朴次茅斯市郊，1870年6月9日卒于罗切斯特附近的盖茨山庄。19世纪英国批判现实主义小说家。狄更斯特别注意描写生活在英国社会底层的“小人物”的生活遭遇，深刻地反映了当时英国复杂的社会现实，为英国批判现实主义文学的开拓和发展做出了卓越的贡献。他的作品至今依然盛行，对英国文学发展起到了深远的影响。主要作品《匹克威克外传》、《雾都孤儿》 、《老古玩店》、《艰难时世》、《我们共同的朋友》。
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