Day 6
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only."
(以上黑体字部分为规定背诵段落)
逐句理解赏析:
1)dignity, 尊严,自尊;
2)discipline, 纪律,自制力;
3)the high plane,( 指高度)高层次的;
4)conduct the struggle on, carry out the struggle on;
5) creative protest, 这里指非暴力不合作方式的保护;
6)majestic height, (神圣意味的)比如天堂...的高度;
7)meet physical force with soul force, 精神力量对抗物质力量
8)marvelous, 呼应前文的creative;
9)engulf,好词(形象、准确、声音美),吞没,裹挟,充满;
10)come to realize, get to know, 强调最后达成认知的中间渐进的过程;
11)be tied up with=be bound to;
12) inextricably, 难解难分,注意读音,联想之前遇见的unalienable;
13)make the pledge that, 作出承诺;
14)turn back, There is no turning back.;
15)"When will you be satisfied?"提问是演讲惯常用到的手法,以吸引听众的注意;
16)public brutality, 公开的暴行,这里指警察的暴行;
17)heavy with, filled with, 比较文学的用法,heavy on/light on;
18) basic mobility, mobility, 本意就移动,不只是位置的,还可以是工作的移动,阶级等级的移动,寒门是否能出贵子的问题,这里指就是阶级等级的移动。要求的从社会秩序public brutality, 到居住情况lodging, 到阶级等级,层层递进,接近根本,到后文中的对下一代的要求,直指未来,击中听者软肋,引起强烈共鸣;
19)ghetto, /e/, slum, 平民窟;
20)selfhood, 自我、人格,可以理解为通过接受教育,才能成为拥有更多可能性的自我;