肯尼迪就職演說(shuō)

2024年2月15日發(fā)(作者：武當(dāng)山風(fēng)景區(qū))

Inaugural Address

(January 20,1961)

By John F. Kennedy

We obrve today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing

an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn

before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly

a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish

all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary

belief for which our forebears fought is still at issue around the globe, the belief

that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand

of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the

word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has

been pasd to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war,

disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling

to witness or permit the slow undoing of the human rights to which this nation

has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around

the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,

bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppo any foe to assure

the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge—and more.

To tho old allies who cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the

loyalty of faithful friends. United, there is little we cannot do in a host of

co-operative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do, for we dare not meet a

powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.

To tho new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word

that one form of colonial control shall not have pasd away merely to be replaced

by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our

view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom,

and to remember that, in the past, tho who foolishly sought power by riding the

back of the tiger ended up inside.

T

o tho peoples in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the

bonds of mass miry, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themlves, for

whatever period is required, not becau the Communists may be doing it, not becau

we ek their votes, but becau it is right. If a free society cannot help the many

who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.

To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge: to convert

our good words into good deeds, in a new alliance for progress, to assist free men

and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful

revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers. Let all our neighbors

know that we shall join with them to oppo aggression or subversion anywhere in

the Americas. And let every other power know that this hemisphere intends to remain

the master of its own hou.

To that world asmbly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope

in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace,

we renew our pledge of support to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for

invective, to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak, and to enlarge the area

in which its writ may run.

Finally, to tho nations who would make themlves our adversary, we offer not a

pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the

dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or

accidental lf-destruction.

講評(píng)“肯尼迪總統(tǒng)就職演說(shuō)詞”

■北京外國(guó)語(yǔ)大學(xué) 李品偉 選評(píng)

美國(guó)總統(tǒng)就職演說(shuō)詞獨(dú)具一格，而肯尼迪的講演更是其中一篇為人們注目的代表作，字字句句經(jīng)過(guò)刻意雕琢，有許多值得品味推敲之處。

它講的是美國(guó)人為之驕傲的美國(guó)歷史傳統(tǒng)，講的是美國(guó)的外交政策。

半個(gè)世紀(jì)以前的國(guó)際形勢(shì)與今天大不相同：勢(shì)不兩立的兩大陣營(yíng)、激烈的軍備競(jìng)賽、持續(xù)的冷戰(zhàn)局面。這些在文章中可見(jiàn)端倪。

可是，在肯尼迪的全篇演說(shuō)中，沒(méi)有直截了當(dāng)?shù)貙?duì)國(guó)際形勢(shì)進(jìn)行分析，更沒(méi)有一處提到一個(gè)國(guó)家的名字或具體事例，一切都隱晦、委婉、模糊不清，用的只是to friend and foe alike,

to tho 等，沒(méi)有經(jīng)歷或不熟悉那一段時(shí)期歷史的人也許會(huì)摸不著頭腦。不奇怪，這些在一定程度上代表了西方政治家的風(fēng)格。

21世紀(jì)的今天，全球化(globali-zation)成了全世界所關(guān)注的問(wèn)題，也成了人們天天在重復(fù)的一個(gè)詞語(yǔ)，從形勢(shì)上與此篇講演的背景很有可比較之處，但這里我們主要是就此篇講演中如何沿襲古希臘、羅馬的修辭、文風(fēng)，如何精心選用圣經(jīng)語(yǔ)言句式，講演稿如何注意音韻效果等問(wèn)題分別舉例討論而已。因篇幅有限，只選用了前11段，未選全文。inaugural address

指就職演說(shuō)詞。一般來(lái)說(shuō)，演說(shuō)詞在英語(yǔ)里是speech,用address這個(gè)詞是比較少的。如果要說(shuō)兩者有什么差別的話，無(wú)非是風(fēng)格上及使用場(chǎng)合上的區(qū)別。前者是一個(gè)普通的詞，而address從風(fēng)格上來(lái)說(shuō)更為莊重，指正式的致辭，除了總統(tǒng)演說(shuō)詞之外，也用于學(xué)校畢業(yè)典禮上校長(zhǎng)的演說(shuō)詞等。

第一段第一個(gè)動(dòng)詞obrve一般作“觀察”解，但這里“觀察”一看就說(shuō)不通，說(shuō)不通就可以試著通過(guò)上下文來(lái)推斷或查一下詞典。如果你的詞典里obrve有三個(gè)釋義，那么你就要注意第二或第三個(gè)釋義了，你的推斷如果是“慶?！?，那就對(duì)了，此時(shí)它的英語(yǔ)等同語(yǔ)應(yīng)該是celebrate,其賓語(yǔ)可以是這篇文章中的victory, (a celebration of) freedom。其他常見(jiàn)的搭配還有什么呢？有節(jié)日（festivals），有生日（birthdays），有周年紀(jì)念（anniversaries）等。這幾個(gè)賓語(yǔ)中的birthday因?yàn)樘胀?，可能用得少些。用得多的?yīng)該是anniversaries，因?yàn)樗^之其他兩個(gè)更為莊重。

從選詞風(fēng)格的角度來(lái)說(shuō)，我們會(huì)注意到文章一開(kāi)始有某些不太常用的詞，如：forebears,

prescribes等，可以說(shuō)forbears這個(gè)詞在中、小型詞典中往往是查不到的，你必須查較大的詞典。 它的意思是祖先、祖宗，也就是我們一般熟悉的ancestor。兩者用法上有所不同，那就是ancestor的單數(shù)很常見(jiàn)，而forebear則總是以復(fù)數(shù)形式forebears出現(xiàn)，從風(fēng)格上，更具古風(fēng)。Collins Co Build的Esntial English Dictionary關(guān)于這個(gè)字的旁注是：N

count（可數(shù)名詞）/ usu. plural（一般復(fù)數(shù)）/ Formal（正式）；而ancestor的旁注則沒(méi)有后面兩點(diǎn)，由此可見(jiàn)兩者的細(xì)微差別。

prescribe這個(gè)動(dòng)詞你不一定見(jiàn)得多，如見(jiàn)到，也多半是它的名詞形式prescription（處方）。prescription是常用詞，而動(dòng)詞prescribe則較常用于正式場(chǎng)合。關(guān)于這個(gè)動(dòng)詞同一詞典有這樣的第2條釋義：If someone prescribes an action or duty, they state formally

that it must be carried out. 它所指的動(dòng)作與開(kāi)醫(yī)藥處方是兩回事，意思不是別的而是“命令”，必須執(zhí)行。

第二段以一個(gè)短句開(kāi)始，與第一段的長(zhǎng)句正好相反。唱歌讀詩(shī)有節(jié)奏，句子與句子、段與段的關(guān)聯(lián)也有節(jié)奏，如果一篇文章自始至終是緩慢而沉重的長(zhǎng)句，讀起來(lái)就沉重、缺乏起伏。所以第二段的一個(gè)短句不單起著承上啟下的作用，而且還有速度上適當(dāng)調(diào)節(jié)的作用，賦予了段落一種節(jié)奏感。

另外在用詞方面，你會(huì)注意到這里又一次出現(xiàn)了forebears，而且還有一個(gè)在層次和風(fēng)格上可與之稱兄道弟的mortal hands與它做伴，在一般情況下我們見(jiàn)到的也許會(huì)是...holds in

his hands the ，這里卻多了mortal這一個(gè)大家不一定熟悉的詞。mortal屬非常用詞，詞義可以是：不能不死的，不共戴天的，性命攸關(guān)的。在這里應(yīng)作“凡人的”，“人類的”解。回過(guò)頭來(lái)想一下：非要這個(gè)詞嗎？沒(méi)有它不行嗎？當(dāng)然是人的手，又會(huì)是誰(shuí)的手呢？解答這個(gè)問(wèn)題可以從兩方面來(lái)說(shuō)，一是這是自古以來(lái)常用的搭配，無(wú)須刨根問(wèn)底，二是在這里有了mortal這個(gè)詞，節(jié)奏鮮明，讀起來(lái)感覺(jué)更好些，...holds in his mortal

hands首先有頭韻[h]，接著有2uldz, m0:tl, h*ndz，其中包含的元音（包括一般作為短元音的*）都有一定長(zhǎng)度，它們所含濁輔音及旁流音構(gòu)成的輔音連綴結(jié)尾賦予句子濃厚的韻味效果。

講演除了論點(diǎn)清楚，有說(shuō)服力外，還要考慮如何在公眾場(chǎng)合中取得預(yù)期的最佳效果及如何調(diào)動(dòng)人們的情緒，此外還需要掌握很多的技巧。它是一種學(xué)問(wèn)，這種學(xué)問(wèn)西方政治家們都要鉆研，他們往往把它作為一個(gè)課程來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)。如果你看過(guò)西方政治家的傳記一定已經(jīng)注意到了這個(gè)問(wèn)題。這實(shí)際上是一個(gè)始于希臘羅馬時(shí)期的西方傳統(tǒng)。對(duì)于“瘋狂英語(yǔ)”的倡導(dǎo)人李揚(yáng)人們多有評(píng)論，但有一點(diǎn)是應(yīng)該肯定的，那就是革“啞巴英語(yǔ)”的命，初學(xué)者應(yīng)如此，達(dá)到一定程度后，仍然應(yīng)該如此。 講到這里，我們?cè)賮?lái)默默讀一下本篇第4段，這里包含的幾組頭韻與尾韻，使句子富有一種鮮明的節(jié)奏感、音樂(lè)感，如：pay any price, bear any burden,

wishes us well or ill, oppo any foe（第４段）這類現(xiàn)象你可以在文章中找到很多，多朗讀一遍就會(huì)多發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)，在此不一一舉例。當(dāng)然除了頭韻、尾韻還有許多其他隱而不現(xiàn)的手段。以下我們抽出幾個(gè)以let開(kāi)頭的句子作簡(jiǎn)略的討論。

所選的句子是：

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the

which we are committed today at home and around the world. （第3段）

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, ...the success of liberty.

(第4段)

在這樣一個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的講演中，也許有人會(huì)對(duì)出現(xiàn)let somebody do something這樣的結(jié)構(gòu)感到不可思議，因?yàn)樗麄円詾閘et somebody do something只是一個(gè)口語(yǔ)中的表達(dá)法，如Let me

do it. Let's sing the song together. 但他們不一定能意識(shí)到所提到的let結(jié)構(gòu)有時(shí)表達(dá)的意思、語(yǔ)氣正好與口語(yǔ)中的截然相反，它們含有的是一種號(hào)召、命令的口吻。上面所選的兩個(gè)句子譯成漢語(yǔ)當(dāng)然可以是：讓每個(gè)國(guó)家都知道，??； 從現(xiàn)在起，從這個(gè)地方開(kāi)始，讓這個(gè)信息傳遞到我們的朋友，也傳遞到我們的敵人那里??。再考慮一下，這樣的口氣是否太婉轉(zhuǎn)了一些而與文章的格調(diào)不相稱呢？

為解答這一問(wèn)題，我們不妨一起看一下當(dāng)代美國(guó)慣用法詞典A Dictionary of Contemporary

American Usage (Evans)的有關(guān)講解：let is also ud to form a peculiar imperative（祈使句）that includes the speaker along with the person addresd, as in Let us

be true to each other.這個(gè)句子有一種號(hào)召的口吻，us也指我們以外的某人或某些人。請(qǐng)?jiān)倏础妒ソ?jīng)》中“創(chuàng)世紀(jì)”第1章3，4，15段：

God said, let there be light; and there was light.（上帝說(shuō)要有光，就有了光。）

God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.（上帝看光是好的，就把明暗分開(kāi)了。）

let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the

earth and it was so.（上帝說(shuō)，天上要有光體，并要發(fā)光在天空、普照在大地上，事就這樣成了。）

最后，你一定也已經(jīng)注意到此文中有不少運(yùn)用了排比與對(duì)偶手段的句子。

如第6段中的United, there is little Divided, there is little we can

do,...

第8段中的...not becau the Communists may be doing it, not becau we ek their

votes， but becau it is right.

及第3段中的 Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike,

that the torch has been pasd to a new generation of Americans, born in this century,

tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage,

and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of the human rights to which

this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home

and around the world.

這里that賓語(yǔ)從句內(nèi)所含的修飾語(yǔ)中有連續(xù)出現(xiàn)的過(guò)去分詞短語(yǔ)：, tempered

by..., , 也有連續(xù)出現(xiàn)的以形容詞開(kāi)始的短語(yǔ), unwilling

to ...，也有to which , and to which we are committed today at home

and around the world這樣的定語(yǔ)從句。

第4段中...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support

any friend, oppo 也是類似情況的排比。

當(dāng)然這些排比有時(shí)鏗鏘有力，但不當(dāng)則會(huì)顯得累贅、不自然，所以一定要注意恰當(dāng)運(yùn)用這種修辭手段。

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