坐牛(Sitting Bull)

名人档案

坐牛（Sitting Bull, 1831—1890），美国印第安人苏人部落的著名头领，1831年生于今美国南达科他州北部，幼时即以善思考闻名。坐牛致力于维护印第安人的土地和利益，联合印第安部落对白人的入侵进行了长期的斗争，后在与白人的作战中战死。

简介与鉴赏

本文为1877年坐牛在波德河会议（Powder River Council）上发表的演讲。

本文虽短，却富文采，有力道。读此文，思其人，主人公的形象和音容笑貌似乎就在我们的眼前。这就是语言的力量。主人公表达了对土地的深情，对入侵者的愤怒、声讨和抗击，以及用生命捍卫家园的决心。

原文中的the spring is come，按照现代英语语法来讲并不规范，但在19世纪的英语中，尤其在印第安人的使用中，较为常见。

英文正文

Behold ^[1] , my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces ^[2] of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Every seed is awakened ^[3] , and all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to ^[4] our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves to inhabit ^[5] this vast land.

Yet hear me, friends! We have now to deal with another people, small and feeble ^[6] when our forefathers first met with them, but now great and overbearing ^[7] . Strangely enough,they have a mind to till the soil, and the love of possessions is a disease in them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break, but the poor may not! They have a religion in which the poor worship, but the rich will not! They even take tithes of the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface ^[8] her with their buildings and their refuse ^[9] . They compel ^[10] her to produce out of season, and when sterile ^[11] she is made to take medicine in order to produce again. All this is sacrilege ^[12] .

This nation is like a spring freshet ^[13] ; it overruns its banks and destroys all who are in its path. We cannot dwell side by side. Only seven yeas ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the Buffalo country should be left to us forever.Now they threaten to take that from us also. My brothers, shall we submit ^[14] ? Or shall we say to them: “First kill me, before you can take possession of my fatherland!”

单词/词组

[1] behold ⁸ : v. 把……视为，看

[2] embrace ⁴ : n. 拥抱

[3] awaken ⁶ : v. 唤醒

[4] yield to ⁴ : phr. 屈服于……

[5] inhabit ⁴ : v. 居住，栖息

[6] feeble ⁴ : adj. 虚弱的，无力的

[7] overbearing ⁸ : adj. 傲慢的，专横的

[8] deface ⁸ : v. 丑化，损伤外观

[9] refuse ⁴ : n. 废物，垃圾

[10] compel ⁴ : v. 强迫，迫使

[11] sterile ⁸ : adj. 贫瘠的，不育的

[12] sacrilege ⁸ : n. 冒渎，伤天害理的行为

[13] freshet ⁸ : n. 河水猛涨，洪水

[14] submit ⁴ : v. （使）服从，顺从

中文译文

看，我的朋友们，春天已经来临；大地快乐地接受了阳光的拥抱，不久我们就会看到他们爱的果实！每一粒种子和所有的动物生命都已苏醒。正是通过这一神秘的力量我们也拥有了我们的生命和存在，因此我们会向我们的邻居们，甚至向我们的动物邻居们让步而与他们和谐相处。与我们自己一样，这些邻居们也拥有居住在这片广袤土地上的权利。

但是听我讲，朋友们! 我们现在不得不与另一类人打交道。当我们的先祖们第一次遭遇这些人时，他们还只是渺小脆弱的，但是现在他们变得强大和傲慢专横了。他们意图经营我们的土地，他们具有病态的占有欲。这些人制定了许多富人可以打破、穷人却必须遵守的条条框框！他们有一套穷人必须祷告、富人却可以不遵从的宗教！他们甚至连穷苦和脆弱的人都征收十一税，以供养那些富人和统治者。他们声称我们的母亲——大地——是他们的专属，把他们的邻居们与她隔离开来。他们的建筑和废弃物使她面目全非。他们强迫她违背自然地出产；当她变得贫瘠时，他们就强迫她服用各种药物以使她继续生产。所有这些都是伤天害理的行径。

这个国家正如春天的河流般汹涌澎湃，它正在冲破两岸的羁绊，摧毁所有阻挡它前进的一切。我们无法与他们和平相处。刚刚在七年前我们签署了一项协定。这项协定的条文载明，确保我们应当永远拥有布法罗的土地：但是现在他们在威胁我们，要把这片土地也从我们手里夺走。我的弟兄们，我们应当屈服吗？还是我们应当向他们说：“在你们能够占有我们先祖的土地之前，先杀了我们吧！” X9jD4BjLPA3Ztkv9btWmINC88XeDbx7olghWGh7DW3QgPo9g+xEyWa6Ql2je4sFC