评论
打印
The civil wars were not just an unfortunate accident or an occasion to dress up as Cavaliers and Roundheads.
内战不仅仅是 所谓保皇党和议会派之间 一场不幸的意外或是巧合
They were that most un-British event,
这不是典型的英国战争
a war of ideas,ideas that mattered deeply to contemporaries
因为这是场理念之战 是人们根深蒂固的理念 引发的争端
because at the heart of them was an argument about liberty and obedience.
因为在人民内心深处 盘踞着民主与服从的争论
That argument became lethal at Edgehill,
这一争论最终导致了边山的大战
and it would echo for generations down through British history,
并将在大不列颠历史中一代代回响
and as a matter of fact,that argument has never really gone away.
事实上 这一争论再也没有销声匿迹
To the survivors, looking back, the issue was simple.
幸存者回首过往 会发现内战原因很简单
Whether the king should govern as a god by his will and the people governed by force as beasts,
是君权神授 国王至上 将人民当野兽奴役
or whether the people should be governed by their own consent.
还是由人民民主自治
Yes, that's the voice of a republican in exile,Edmund Ludlow,
没错 这是一位流亡中的共和党人的呐喊 他就是艾蒙德·勒德洛
but that same voice, that same memory,
相同的声音 相同的记忆
would be heard through the centuries and in revolutions far beyond our shores in America in 1776, in France in 1789.
还会在几个世纪以后 在远离不列颠的革命中听到 在1776年的美国和1789年的法国
It goes against the grain, doesn't it?A bit embarrassing, not to say painful,
世事往往背道而驰 不是吗 不列颠被认为是革命的源泉
to be thought of as the fountainhead of revolutions.
虽说不上痛苦 多少有些尴尬
It's not very British.All that shouting, all that Bible waving, all that killing.
这可不是不列颠的风格 所有的呐喊 挥舞圣经与杀戮
So was it all an aberration, then?Well, no, actually.
这算不算一场错误呢 事实上 并非如此
