Day3 老少校的演讲 （2）老少校的演讲（上）

    When Major saw that they had all made themselves comfortable and were waiting attentively, he cleared his throat and began:

    "Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired.

    "Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty.

    "But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No, comrades, a thousand times no! This single farm of ours would support a dozen horses, twenty cows, hundreds of sheep—and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining. Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by human beings. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word—Man.

    "Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings? Only get rid of Man, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free. What then must we do? Why, work night and day, body and soul, for the overthrow of the human race! That is my message to you, comrades: Rebellion!

All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.

内容解析

老少校向动物传道

影射马克思、恩格斯创立共产主义学说，并在各国宣传，在其影响下形成了最早的一批共产主义者。

rebellion

影射【世界革命】

世界革命指的是马克思主义中，以暴力革命推翻世界各国的资本主义的思想。马克思主义理论认为世界革命可以导致世界共产主义（world communism）及之后的无国籍共产主义（state less communism）。

“All men are enemies. All animals are comrades”

“Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend”

影射马克思、恩格斯的无产阶级国际主义思想、正义者同盟的“四海皆兄弟”这一口号。

【无产阶级国际主义】

英语：proletarian internationalism，也称国际共产主义运动（英语：international socialism），主张全世界无产阶级维护共同利益、反对共同敌人，实行国际团结，是处理民族之间、各国无产阶级政党和社会主义国家之间平等互助关系的基本准则。

单词注释

attentively [əˈtentɪvlɪ]  adv. 注意地，聚精会神地

laborious [ləˈbɔːrɪəs] adj. 勤劳的；艰苦的

keep the breath 留存一丝气息

instant [ˈɪnst(ə)nt] n. 瞬间，片刻 adj. 立即的，紧急的

slaughter [ˈslɔːtə] v. 屠宰，屠杀；杀戮

hideous [ˈhɪdɪəs] adj. 可怕的，丑恶的

decent [ˈdiːs(ə)nt] adj. 得体的，相当好的

dwell [dwel] v. 居住；存在于

dignity [ˈdɪgnɪtɪ] n. 尊严，高贵

sum up 总结，概述

overthrow [əʊvəˈθrəʊ] n. 推翻，倾覆，瓦解

rebellion [rɪˈbeljən] n. 叛乱，反抗

语法讲解

1. and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; and the very instant that our usefulness has come to an end we are slaughtered with hideous cruelty.

但是，只要我们还能动一下，我们便会被驱赶着去干活，直到用尽最后一丝力气，一旦我们被利用完，我们就会在难以置信的残忍下被宰杀。

句法：

1. 被动句型（those of us are forced to work; we are slaughtered）；

2. 物称（our usefulness has come to an end）而非人称做主语；

3. 静态化语言（we all show appreciation of the teacher’s class）

可使文字书面化，是英文表达的特色。

词汇：

atom/'ætəm/ n. 原子; 一点儿，微量

an atom of 一点儿〔用于强调〕

e.g. I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it.

我认为它里面一点意义都没有。

2. I do not think that I shall be with you for many months longer.

同志们，我想我和你们在一起呆不了多久了。

否定前置：主句中动词为think, believe, imagine, suppose, consider, expect, guess等和想法相关的词时，宾语从句中的否定词需要前置到主句中。

3. I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired.

我觉得有责任把我已经获得的智慧传授给你们。

宾语补足语：

可以直接用宾补的结构写成I feel it my duty，而不用宾语从句I feel it is my duty.

4. "Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of human beings?

“那么，同志们，我们这种生活的祸根来自暴虐的人类，这一点难道不是一清二楚的吗？

句法：

It is crystal clear that ... :极其明白、清楚如水晶。

词汇：

spring from: 从…而来，类似于stem from, result from。

tyranny /'tɪr(ə)nɪ/: n. 暴政，苛政

e.g. The people survived wars and escaped tyranny.

同义词: despotism, autocracy, dictatorship，totalitarianism

下文中出现的其他变体：

And, above all, no animal must ever tyrannise over his own kind.

而且，千万要注意，任何动物都不能欺压自己的同类。

Soon or late the day is coming, tyrant Man shall be o'er thrown.

那一天迟早要到来，暴虐的人类终将消灭。

George Orwell借由老少校之口说出了反极权主义的思想，且待后文如何讽刺。