词汇提示

1.assassination 暗杀

2.polarization 两极分化

3.comprehend 领悟

4.stain 污渍

5.dedicate 奉献

6.tame 驯服

7.savageness 野蛮

原文

Robert F. Kennedy: 'Speech after Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.'

I have bad news for you, for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.

Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort.

In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in.

For those of you who are black-considering the evidence there evidently is that there were white people who were responsible you can be filled with bitterness,with hatred, and a desire for revenge.

We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another.

Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand and to comprehend,and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand with compassion and love.

For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act,against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling.

I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.

But we have to make an effort in the United States,we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.

My favorite poet was Aeschylus.

He wrote, "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will,comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."

What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred;what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another,So I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, that's true,but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country,which all of us love-a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.

We can do well in this country.

We will have difficult times in the future.

It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; it is not the end of disorder.

But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together,want to improve the quality of our life,and want justice for all human beings who abide in our land.

Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world.

Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.

翻译

罗伯特·f·肯尼迪:“马丁·路德·金遇刺后的演讲”

我有个坏消息要告诉你们，告诉我们所有的同胞，告诉全世界热爱和平的人们，那就是马丁·路德·金今晚被枪杀了。
马丁·路德·金把他的一生奉献给了爱和正义，为他的人类同胞，他也因此而死。
在这个困难的日子里，在美国的这个困难的时刻，也许我们应该问问自己，我们是一个什么样的国家，我们想朝哪个方向前进。
对于你们当中的黑人来说，考虑到有明显的证据表明白人对此事负有责任，你们可能会充满痛苦、仇恨和复仇的欲望。
作为一个国家，我们可以朝着这个方向前进，在巨大的两极分化中黑人和黑人，白人和白人，充满了对彼此的仇恨。
或者我们可以做出努力，就像马丁·路德·金所做的那样，去理解，去领悟，去取代那种暴力，那种在我们的土地上蔓延的流血的污点，努力用同情和爱去化解。
对于你们当中的黑人，对于这种不公正的行为，对所有白人充满了仇恨和不信任，我只能说，我自己心里也有同样的感觉。
我的一个家人被杀了，但他杀的是一个白人。
但是在美国，我们必须努力，我们必须努力去理解，去超越这些相当困难的时期。
我最喜欢的诗人是埃斯库罗斯。
他写道:“在我们的睡眠中，无法忘记的痛苦一滴一滴地落在我们的心上，直到在我们自己的绝望中，违背我们的意愿，上帝的可怕恩典带来智慧。”
我们美国需要的不是分裂;我们在美国需要的不是仇恨;在美国，我们需要的不是暴力和无法无天，而是爱、智慧和对彼此的同情。因此，今晚我要求你们回家，为马丁·路德·金的家人祈祷，这是真的，但更重要的是，为我们所有人所爱的国家祈祷——为我所说的理解和同情祈祷。
我们可以在这个国家做得很好。
我们将来会有困难的时候。
这不是暴力的终结;这不是无法无天的终结;这不是混乱的终结。
但是，这个国家的绝大多数白人和绝大多数黑人想要共同生活，想要提高我们的生活质量，想要为居住在这片土地上的所有人类伸张正义。
让我们献身于希腊人多年前所写的:驯服人类的野蛮，使这个世界的生活变得温和。
让我们为此献身，为我们的国家和人民祈祷。