动物农场 Animal Farm 第1章(3)

When Major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable and were waitingattentively, he cleared his throat and began:

看到他们都坐稳了，并聚精会神地等待着，麦哲清了清喉咙，开口说道：

"Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later.

同志们，我昨晚做了一个奇怪的梦，这个你们都已经听说了，但我想等一会再提它。

I have something else to say first.

我想先说点别的事。

I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired.

同志们，我想我和你们在一起呆不了多久了。在我临死之前，我觉得有责任把我已经获得的智慧传授给你们。

I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall,

我活了一辈子，当我独自躺在圈中时，我总在思索，

and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living.

我想我敢说，如同任何一个健在的动物一样，我悟出了一个道理，那就是活在世上是怎么回事。

It is about this that I wish to speak to you.“

这就是我要给你们讲的问题。

"Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours?

那么，同志们，我们又是怎么生活的呢?

Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short.

让我们来看一看吧：我们的一生是短暂的，却是凄惨而艰辛。

We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies,

一生下来，我们得到的食物不过仅仅使我们苟延残喘而已，

and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength;

但是，只要我们还能动一下，我们便会被驱赶着去干活，直到用尽最后一丝力气，

and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered withhideous cruelty.

一旦我们的油水被榨干，我们就会在难以置信的残忍下被宰杀。

No animal in England knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is a year old. No animal in England is free.

在英格兰的动物中，没有一个动物在一岁之后懂得什么是幸福或空闲的涵意。没有一个是自由的。

The life of an animal is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.“

显而易见，动物的一生是痛苦的、备受奴役的一生。

"But is this simply part of the order of nature?

“但是，这真的是命中注定的吗?

Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it?

那些生长在这里的动物之所以不能过上舒适的生活，难道是因为我们这块土地太贫瘠了吗?

No, comrades, a thousand times no!

不!同志们!一千个不!

The soil of England is fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of animals than now inhabit it.

英格兰土地肥沃，气候适宜，它可以提供丰富的食物，可以养活为数比现在多得多的动物。

This single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep

拿我们这一个庄园来说，就足以养活十二匹马、二十头牛和数百只羊，

and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining.

而且我们甚至无法想象，他们会过得多么舒适，活得多么体面。

Why then do we continue in this miserable condition?

那么，为什么我们的悲惨境况没有得到改变呢?

Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings.

这是因为，几乎我们的全部劳动所得都被人类窃取走了。

There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word--Man.

同志们，有一个答案可以解答我们的所有问题。我可以把它总结为一个字——人。

Man is the only real enemy we have. Remove Man from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished for ever.

人就是我们唯一真正的仇敌。把人从我们的生活中消除掉，饥饿与过度劳累的根子就会永远拔掉。