Unit 10A - The World House
The World House
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Some years ago a famous novelist died. Among his papers was found a list of suggested plots for future stories, the most prominently underscored being this one: "A widely separated family inherits a house in which they have to live together." This is the great new problem of mankind. We have inherited a large house, a great "world house" in which we have to live together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner, Gentile and Jew, Catholic and Protestant, Moslem and Hindu—a family unduly separated in ideas, culture and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.
However deeply American Negroes are caught in the struggle to be at last at home in our homeland of the United States, we cannot ignore the larger world house in which we are also dwellers. Equality with whites will not solve the problems of either whites or Negroes if it means equality in a world society stricken by poverty and in a universe doomed to extinction by war.
All inhabitants of the globe are now neighbors. This worldwide neighborhood has been brought into being largely as a result of the modern scientific and technological revolutions. The world of today is vastly different from the world of just one hundred years ago. A century ago Thomas Edison had not yet invented the incandescent lamp to bring light to many dark places of the earth. The Wright brothers had not yet invented that fascinating mechanical bird that would spread its gigantic wings across the skies and soon dwarf distance and place time in the service of man. Einstein had not yet challenged an axiom and the theory of relativity had not yet been posited.
Human beings, searching a century ago as now for better understanding, had no television, no radios, no telephones and no motion pictures through which to communicate. Medical science had not yet discovered the wonder drugs to end many dread plagues and diseases. One hundred years ago military men had not yet developed the terrifying weapons of warfare that we know today—not the bomber, an airborne fortress raining down death; nor napalm, that burner of all things and flesh in its path. A century ago there were no skyscraping buildings to kiss the stars and no gargantuan bridges to span the waters. Science had not yet peered into the unfathomable ranges of interstellar space, nor had it penetrated oceanic depths. All these new inventions, these new ideas, these sometimes fascinating and sometimes frightening developments came later. Most of them have come within the past sixty years, sometimes with agonizing slowness, more characteristically with bewildering speed, but always with enormous significance for our future.
The years ahead will see a continuation of the same dramatic developments. Physical science will carve new highways through stratosphere. In a few years astronauts and cosmonauts will probably walk comfortably across the uncertain pathways of the moon. In two or three years it will be possible, because of the new supersonic jets, to fly from New York to London in two and one-half hours. In the years ahead medical science will greatly prolong the lives of men by finding a cure for cancer and deadly heart ailments. Automation and cybernation will make it possible for working people to have undreamed-of amounts of leisure time. All this is a dazzling picture of the furniture, the workshop, the spacious rooms, the new decorations and the architectural pattern of the large world house in which we are living.
Along with the scientific and technological revolution, we have also witnessed a worldwide freedom revolution over the last few decades. The present upsurge of the Negro people of the United States grows out of a deep and passionate determination to make freedom and equality a reality "here" and "now." In one sense the Civil Rights Movement in the United States is a special American phenomenon which must be understood in the light of American history and dealt with in terms of the American situation. But on another and more important level, what is happening in the United States today is a significant part of a world development.
We live in a day, said the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, "when civilization is shifting its basic outlook; a major turning point in history where the presuppositions on which society is structured are being analyzed, sharply challenged, and profoundly changed." What we are seeing now is a freedom explosion, the realization of "an idea whose time has come," to use Victor Hugo's phrase. The deep rumbling of discontent that we hear today is the thunder of disinherited masses, rising from dungeons of oppression to the bright hills of freedom. In one majestic chorus the rising masses are singing, in the words of our freedom song, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn us round." All over the world like a fever, freedom is spreading in the widest liberation movement in history. The great masses of people are determined to end the exploitation of other races and lands. They are awake and moving toward their goal like a tidal wave. You can hear them rumbling in every village street, on the docks, in the houses, among the students, in the churches and at political meetings. For several centuries the direction of history flowed from the nations and societies of Western Europe out into the rest of the world in "conquests" of various sorts. That period, the era of colonialism, is at an end. East is moving West. The earth is being redistributed. Yes, we are "shifting our basic outlooks."
These developments should not surprise any student of history. Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself. The Bible tells the thrilling story of how Moses stood in Pharaoh's court centuries ago and cried, "Let my people go." This was an opening chapter in a continuing story. The present struggle in the United States is a later chapter in the same story. Something within has reminded the Negro of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the spirit of the times, and with his black brothers of Africa and brown and yellow brothers in Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice.
Nothing could be more tragic than for men to live in these revolutionary times and fail to achieve the new attitudes and the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands. In Washington Irving's familiar story of Rip Van Winkle, the one thing that we usually remember is that Rip slept twenty years. There is another important point, however, that is almost always overlooked. It was the sign on the inn in the little town on the Hudson from which Rip departed and scaled the mountain for his long sleep. When he went up, the sign had a picture of King George III of England. When he came down, twenty years later, the sign had a picture of George Washington. As he looked at the picture of the first President of the United States, Rip was confused, flustered and lost. He knew not who Washington was. The most striking thing about this story is not that Rip slept twenty years, but that he slept through a revolution that would alter the course of human history.
One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. The large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a world-wide brotherhood. Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools.
We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.
Western civilization is particularly vulnerable at this moment, for our material abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of spirit. An Asian writer has portrayed our dilemma in candid terms:
You call your thousand material devices "labor-saving machinery," yet you are forever "busy." With the multiplying of your machinery you grow increasingly fatigued, anxious, nervous, dissatisfied. Whatever you have, you want more; and wherever you are, you want to go somewhere else... your devices are neither time-saving nor soul-saving machinery. They are so many sharp spurs which urge you on to invent more machinery and to do more business.
This tells us something about our civilization that cannot be cast aside as a prejudiced charge by an Eastern thinker who is jealous of Western prosperity. We cannot escape the indictment.
This does not mean that we must turn back the clock of scientific progress. No one can overlook the wonders that science has wrought for our lives. The automobile will not abdicate in favor of the horse and buggy, or the train in favor of the stagecoach, or the tractor in favor of the hand plow, or the scientific method in favor of ignorance and superstition. But our moral and spiritual "lag" must be redeemed. When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When we foolishly minimize the internal of our lives and maximize the external, we sign the warrant for our own day of doom.
Our hope for creative living in this world house that we have inherited lies in our ability to reestablish the moral ends of our lives in personal character and social justice. Without this spiritual and moral reawakening we shall destroy ourselves in the misuse of our own instruments.
参考译文——地球村
地球村
马丁 •路德•金
几年前，一位著名的小说家去世了。人们在他留下的文件中发现了一个单子，上面列有建议将来写小说可以考虑的情节，其中最突出强调的是这样一句：“一个散居各地的家庭继承了一栋他们不得不一起居住的房子。”这是人类面临的一大新问题。我们已经继承了一栋大房子，一个大型“地球村”，我们不得不一起居住在里面——黑人和白人，东方人和西方人，非犹太人和犹太人，天主教徒和新教徒，穆斯林和印度教徒——一个被观念、文化和利益不必要地分开的家庭。因为我们永远不能再分开，所以必须设法学会和睦相处。
我们美国黑人一直在进行艰苦的斗争，只为了最终能在自己的家园——美国——安顿下来。但是不管我们卷入这个斗争有多深，我们都不能无视地球村这个更大的家庭，因为我们也是这儿的居民。如果黑人和白人的平等指的是在陷于贫困的世界上和在因战争而注定灭亡宇宙中的平等，那么它既不能解决白人的问题，也不能解决黑人的问题。
这个星球的所有居民现今已是邻居。这一世界范围内的邻里关系多半是现代科学和技术革命的产物。今天的世界已与一百年前的世界大不相同了。一个世纪以前，托马斯·爱迪生还没有发明给地球上很多黑暗的地方带来光明的白炽灯。莱特兄弟还没有发明那只为人类缩短距离、节省时间的展翅翱翔的神奇的机械鸟。爱因斯坦还没有对一条公理提出挑战，相对论的观点还没有提出。
一个世纪以前，人类也和今天一样，在努力更好地了解这个世界，但那时他们还没有用来沟通的电视机、收音机、电话和电影。医学界还没有发现神奇的药物来结束可怕的瘟疫和疾病。一百年前，军队尚未开发出我们今天知道的那些可怕的战争武器——既没有轰炸机，这种雨点般倾泻死亡的空中堡垒；也没有凝固汽油弹，那种扔到哪里就把那里的一切都烧成灰烬的武器。一个世纪以前，还没有可以直入云霄与星星接吻的摩天大楼，也没有横跨江河湖海的大桥。科学还没有探索到难以测量的广袤的星际空间，也没有深入到海洋的最深处。所有的这些新发明、新思想和这些有时使人着迷、有时使人害怕的新研发成果都是后来才出现的。它们绝大多数都出现在过去的六十年内，有时来得很慢，人们要苦苦等待，更多的时候来得非常快，令人眼花缭乱，但总是极大地影响着我们的未来。
同样巨大的发展在今后的岁月中将继续呈现在世人面前。自然科学将会开辟穿越平流层的新航道。再过几年，宇航员很可能将在今天还无法确定的月球道路上漫步。再过两三年，由于新的超音速喷气式飞机的发明，从纽约飞到伦敦有可能只用两个半小时。未来，医学家们将会发现治疗癌症和致命的心脏病的方法，从而大大延长人的寿命。自动化和电脑控制将可能让工作者享受到做梦都想不到的大量的空闲时间。所有这一切都是一幅光彩夺目的图画一一我们将一起生活的大地球村里的家具、工作室、宽敞的房间、新的摆设和建筑模式的图画。
在过去的几十年里，伴随着科学和技术革命的进行，我们也目睹了一场世界范围内的自由革命。当今美国黑人运动势头高涨，这源于要使自由和平等成为“此时”、“此地”的现实的深刻信念和强烈决心。从某种意义上讲，美国的民权运动是一个美国式的特殊现象, 要理解它必须从美国历史的角度出发，并考虑美国的国情。但是从另一个更加重要的层面上讲，今天在美国发生的事情乃是世界形势发展的一个重要部分。
我们生活在这样一个年代，正如哲学家艾尔弗雷德·诺思·怀特海所说:“文明正在改变它的基本观点；历史正处于一个重大的转折点，过去建立社会所依据的那些被认为是绝对正确的假设正在受到分析，遭到尖锐的挑战，并发生深刻的改变。”我们现在所看到的是自由的爆炸，用维克多·雨果的话说，是“一个时间已到的观念”的实现。我们今天听到的不满的怒吼正是被剥夺了一切的百姓从被压迫的黑暗地牢里奋起奔向光明的自由之巅所发出的风雷声。那些奋起的人们，正在用雄壮威严的声音，齐唱我们的自由之歌：“任何人都休想让我们走回头路！”在整个世界，自由就像一把火，在这历史上最为广阔的解放运动中蔓延。人民大众决心要结束其他种族和国家的剥削。他们已经觉醒，并如海啸般奔向他们的目标。你到处可以听到他们雷鸣般的声音：在村子里的每一条街上，在码头上，在人们的家里，在学生当中，在教堂里和在政治集会上。几个世纪以来，历史的方向都是从西欧国家和社会通过形形色色的“征服”传到世界各地的，那个阶段，即殖民主义时代，已经结束了。现在落后的东方已奋起直追西方的繁荣。地球在进行重新分配。是的，我们正在“改变我们基本的世界观。”
学历史的人不会惊诧于这些发展。被压迫者不可能永远被压迫。对自由的渴望最终必然会表现出来。《圣经》里讲到过一个激动人心的故事，很多世纪以前，摩西站在法老的宫殿里，大声说道:“让我的人民走。”这是一个连续性故事的开篇第一章。今天在美国的斗争是这同一故事的后续篇章。黑人内心的某种东西提醒他自由是与生俱来的权利，而外面世界发生的事情提醒他这种自由是可以得到的。不管他是否意识到，他已经深受时代精神的影响。美国黑人和他非洲的黑人兄弟们，和亚洲、南美洲和加勒比海的棕色和黄色兄弟们一起，迫切地奔向种族平等的人间乐土。
对于生活在这样的革命时代的人来说，如果不能具有新形势所要求的新态度和新观念的话，那就是最大的悲剧了。在华盛顿·欧文著名的小说《瑞普·凡·温克尔》里，我们一般都记得瑞普一睡就睡了二十年。但还有一个几乎总是被忽略掉的关键点，那就是哈得孙河边小镇上小酒馆挂的招牌，瑞普当初就是从这里出发去爬山，结果昏睡了那么久的。当他上山的时候，那个招牌上挂着英国国王乔治三世的照片，而当他二十年后从山上下来时，上面已是乔治·华盛顿的照片了。望着这位美国第一任总统的照片，瑞普感到困惑、迷茫、不知所措。他不知道华盛顿是何方神圣。这个故事里令人惊奇的不是瑞普昏睡了二十年，而是他这一睡，睡过去一场会改变人类历史进程的革命。
人类历史的一个重大问题是，在发生重大社会变革的时期，太多的人都无法保持清醒。每个社会里都存在极力维护现状的人和对社会漠不关心的群体，他们都会臭名昭著地“睡过”这些革命。但是今天，我们的生死存亡就要看我们是否能够保持清醒，适应新的思想，是否能够保持替惕，面对变革的挑战。我们共同居住的地球村要求我们把这世界范围的邻里之情变成四海之内的兄弟情谊。我们必须学会像兄弟般一起生活，否则我们面临的只有像愚钝之人一般被迫灭亡。
我们必须充满激情、不屈不挠地工作来弥合科学进步和道德进步之间的鸿沟。人类当前面临的一个重大问题是，我们精神上的极度贫乏，这与科学和技术方面的累累硕果形成鲜明对比。我们物质上越富有，道德上和精神上就变得越贫穷。
目前的西方文明尤为脆弱，因为我们物质上的富裕既没有给我们带来心灵上的平和，也没有给我们带来精神上的安宁。—位亚洲作家用十分坦率的语言这样描写我们的困境：
你们把自己成千上万的器具叫做“省力的机械”，但是你们永远那么“忙碌”。随着你们机器的不断增加，你们变得越来越疲劳、焦虑、紧张、不满。不管你们有什么，你们都还想再要更多；不管你们在哪里，你们仍想到别的什么地方去……你们的各种器具既不省时，也拯救不了你们的灵魂。它们就像很多尖尖的马刺，迫使你们发明更多的机器，经营更多的业务。
这段话向我们指出了我们文明的问题所在。我们不能对其置之不理，将其看成某个东方思想家由于嫉妒西方的繁荣而做出的带有偏见的指责。我们无法逃脱这样的谴责。
这并不意味着我们必须倒拨科学进步的时钟。没有人能忽视科学给我们生活创造的奇迹。汽车不会让位给马拉四轮小车，火车不会让位给驿站马车，拖拉机不会让位给手扶铁犁，科学方法也不会让位给无知和迷信，但是我们道德和精神的“滞后”必须予以弥补。当科学的力量超过道德的力量时，我们最终的结果是得到导弹和被误导的民众。当我们愚蠢地轻视我们生命的内在而夸大我们的外部世界时，我们就会自取灭亡。
我们希望创造性地生活在这个祖传的地球村里，这需要我们在个人品德和社会公平方面重建生活的道德目标。没有这种精神上和道德上的重新觉醒，我们必将在滥用自我研发的器具中毁灭自己。
Key Words:
doomed [dumd]
adj. 命中注定的
prominently
adv. 显著地
gargantuan [gɑ:'gæntjuən]
adj. 巨大的，庞大的
bewildering [bi'wildəriŋ]
adj. 使人困惑的；令人产生混乱的
warfare ['wɔ:fɛə]
n. 战争，冲突
stratosphere ['strætəu,sfiə, 'strei-]
n. [气]同温层；最上层；最高阶段
phenomenon [fi'nɔminən]
n. 现象，迹象，(稀有)事件
chorus ['kɔ:rəs]
n. 合唱队，歌舞队，齐声说道，副歌部分
flustered ['flʌstəd]
adj. 慌张的；激动不安的
vigilant ['vidʒilənt]
adj. 警醒的，警戒著的，警惕的
candid ['kændid]
adj. 忠实的，率直的，坦诚的
prejudiced ['predʒudist]
adj. 有偏见的
plow [plau]
n. 犁，耕地
参考资料：
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(1)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(2)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(3)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(4)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(5)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(6)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(7)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
- 现代大学英语精读(第2版)第四册:U10A The World House(8)_大学教材听力 - 可可英语
5156
被折叠的 条评论
为什么被折叠?
到【灌水乐园】发言
