陶傑教英語: ''The Gettysburg Address'' -- 林肯

The Gettysburg Address 

Abraham Lincoln 

19 November 1863 

  Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fit and proper that we should do this. 

  

  But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth. 

林肯演講 -- 「The Gettysburg Address」 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2a-S3rjDBw


  想學好英文，不外乎幾個途徑--多聽、多講和多寫。香港以英語為母語的人不多，要聽好的英語，最好是聽百多二百年來英語世界的名人演講，不單學習他們的腔調，也學習他們遣詞造句的精髓，以及人生的智慧。


  演講在西方有悠久的傳統，希臘的學者和政治家在三千前，已經在廣場向群眾宣揚自己的學說和政治理念。從政者必須是一個出色的演說家，前美國總統林肯，就是最偉大的英語演說家之一，他的文辭淺白，從不在演語中亂丟書包、或故意賣弄，而且句子簡潔、鏗鏘有力。發表於1863年的「蓋提斯堡演說」（The Gettysburg Address）可說是其中的表表者。 

  演講首重煽動性，林肯在演說中，要說服全美國的國民，跟他一起打贏一場南北戰爭。任誰都害怕戰爭，但在美國總統眼中，這是對國家利益的全民奉獻，因此他很技巧地捉住Dedicated這個字。 

  第一段已畫龍點睛，傾注美國憲法中的立國精神︰Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

  Dedicated或Dedication即奉獻，正如孫中山先生所說的「革命尚未成功，同志仍需努力」，也是奉獻的意思，不過孫中山用了一句口號來包裝，而林肯則在演說中不斷重覆這個字。例如︰ Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 

又如︰It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work. 

  一個演講要令群眾聽後有崇拜之情、也要有感情起伏，就要捉緊一個字眼，而dedicated是一個非常顯淺的字，每一個美國人都會明白，林肯於是執著這個字，不斷變戲法、翻筋斗和表演雜技。 

  林肯演講中每一個字都精挑細選，他為了令民眾留下更深刻印像，有時會用一些像吟詩一樣的句子，例如︰But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow this ground. Dedicate和consecrate既押韻、同為三音節、也都是奉獻的意思，可見林肯用字的心思。

  林肯這篇演講最為人津津樂道的是最後一句︰that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth. 孫中山先生將of the people, by the people, for the people轉化成三民主義，即民族、民權、民生。這些英文翻譯成中文不容易，但英文本身卻是如此淺白，以致美國人一聽即難以忘懷。 

  聽完林肯的演講，如果我們在寫求職信的時候，也用上dedicated這個字眼，在信末加一句Should I have the honour of becoming an employee of this Company, I shall remain dedicated to my career and to the Company. 相信你的未來僱主也會另眼相看！