美文欣賞：Chief Seattle\\\\\\\'s Thoughts 西雅圖宣言

• 2026考研英語全程班 6班
• 26考研全科上岸規劃營「擇校▪規劃▪備考」
• 2026考研專業課復習資料「真題▪筆記▪講義▪題庫」

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

你怎能把天空、大地的溫馨買賣?我們不懂。若空氣失去了新鮮，流水失去了晶瑩，你還能把它買下?

Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

地球上的每一方土地對我們紅人來說都是圣潔的。在我們的記憶里，我們的生命里，每一根晶亮的松針，每一片沙灘，每一撮森林里的氣息，每一種引人自省、鳴叫的昆蟲都是神圣的。樹液的芳香在林中穿越，也滲透了紅人自亙古以來的記憶。

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful Earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the Earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and the man, all belong to the same family.

白人死后漫游星際之時，早忘了生他的大地。紅人死后永不忘我們美麗的出生地。因為，大地是我們的母親，母子連心，為一體。芬芳的花朵是我們的姊妹，鹿、馬、雄鷹都我們的兄弟，山巖峭壁、草原上的露水、人和馬身上所散發出的體熱，都屬于同一個家園。

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great White Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

因此當華盛頓的大統領傳話來說要買我們的地時，也詢問了很多關于我們的事情。大統領說，會留下一塊保護地，留給我們過安逸的日子。這么一來，大統領成了我們的父親，我們成了他的子女。因此，我們會考慮你想要買地的提議，但這買賣不是那么容易，因為這塊土地對我們來說是圣潔的。

This shining water that moves in streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events in the life of my people. The waters murmur is the voice of my father's father.

小溪和河流里的晶晶流水不僅僅是流水，是我們世代祖先的鮮血。如若賣地給你，務請牢記，這塊土地流淌著我們時代祖先圣潔的血。如若賣地給你，務請牢記，這地是圣潔的，務請教導你的子子孫孫，這地是圣潔的。湖中清水里的每一種映像，都代表一種靈，訴說著我們的生活事跡。流水的低語聲是我們祖先的聲音。

The rivers of our brothers they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember to teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness that you would give my brother. We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The Earth is not his brother, but his enemy and when he has conquered it, he moves on.

河流是我們的兄弟，它解我們的渴，運送我們的獨木舟，養育我們的子女。若要賣地給你，務請記得，教導你的子女，河流是我們的兄弟，也是你們的兄弟。自此以后，你們要仁慈地對待它，就像對待我的兄弟一樣。我們知道，白人不能體會我們的想法。在白人眼里，哪一塊地都一樣，因為他是趁夜打劫的陌生人，他從這塊土地上索取他所需要的一切。對白人來說，大地不是他的兄弟，而是他的仇敵，他要一一征服。

He leaves his father's graves behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the Earth from his children, and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birthright are forgotten. He treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert.

白人棄父親的墓地于不顧，從子子孫孫那里攫取土地，也一點不在乎。父親的安息之地，兒女的出生之地，他可以不放在心上。在他看來，他的大地母親以及他的兄弟都像物品一樣可以隨意買下、掠奪，或像羊群或串珠一樣賣出，他貪得無厭，大口大口呑食土地之后，任由大地成為片片荒漠。

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

我不懂。你我的生活方式完全不同。紅人的眼睛只要一看見你們的城市就覺得疼痛。或許是因為紅人還尚未開化，不能理解吧。

There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. Theclatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of awhippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night.

白人的城市里沒有安靜，沒有地方可以傾聽春天里樹葉臨風招展的聲音，也聽不見昆蟲振翅作樂的聲音。或許是因為我還尚未開化，不能理解吧。城市的噪音羞辱我們的雙耳。如果一個人在夜間聽不到池塘邊青蛙在爭論，也聽不見北美夜鷹的孤獨的鳴叫，這種生活，算是活著?

I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of the pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed by a midday rain, or scented with thepinon pine.

我是紅人，我不懂。清風的聲音輕輕掃過池塘的水面，清風的芳香，是經午后雨露洗滌或浸過松香的，這才是紅人所愿聽愿聞的。

The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath--the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench. But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

紅人珍愛大氣，所有一切都共享一種氣息——野獸、樹木還有人類都分享著同一種氣息。白人似乎不會注意他要靠空氣才能存活，像一個死去多日的人，已不能辨別惡臭。但若賣地給你，務請牢記，我們珍愛大氣，空氣養育著所有的生命，它的靈力，人人有份。

The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

風，迎著我祖父出生時的第一口氣，也送走它最后一聲的嘆息。如若賣地給你，務請將它劃為圣地，使白人也能隨風聞到牧草地上的花香。

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept, I will make one condition--the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers.

因此，我們將考慮你們要購買我們的土地的提議。如果我們決定接受，我會有一個條件一白人必須像對待兄弟一樣對待這塊土地上的野獸。

I am a savage and do not understand any other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on theprairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be made more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

我是個尚未開化的人，不明白任何其他的方式。我看到白人因資格訓練而射殺的數千頭野牛在大草原上腐爛。我是個尚未開化的人，我無法理解那冒煙的“鐵皮大馬”怎么就會比我們用來維持生存才宰殺的野牛更重要。

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

人在沒有了野獸之后會變得怎樣呢?如果所有的野獸都消失了，那么人類也會在靈魂深處的巨大寂寞中死去。因為任何發生在野獸身上的事也會發生在人身上。萬事萬物都是息息相關的。

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of our grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the Earth is rich with the lives of our kin. Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

務請教導你們的子女，他們腳下的土地埋著我們祖先的骨骸;告訴你們的子女，大地因我們親族的生命而滋潤，以便他們能夠尊崇大地：請教給你們的子女我們所教給子女的：大地是我們的母親。大地的命運，就是人類的命運，人若唾棄大地，就是在唾棄自己。

This we know--the Earth does not belong to man--man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

我們確知一事——大地并不屬于人類——人類，屬于大地。這是我們所知道的。世界萬物皆相連，如血緣團結一家親。萬事萬物都是息息相關的。

Whatever befalls the Earth--befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life--he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

大地的命運，就是人類的命運。人類并不是編織生命之網的主宰，他只不過是其中一根絲線而已。無論人類對這個網做了什么，都會回應到自己身上。

Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all. We shall see. One thing we know, which the white man may one day discover--Our God is the same God. You may think now that you own Him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for red man and the white. The Earth is precious to Him, and to harm the Earth is to heap contempt on its creator. The whites too shall pass, perhaps sooner than all other tribes.

雖然白人的上帝與他并肩齊步，和他交談一如兩位朋友，但白人也無法豁免于相同的命運。也許，你我都是兄弟。等著看，我們知道，也許有一天白人會發現：他們所信的上帝，與我們所信的神，是同一位神。或許，你以為可以擁有上帝，像你想要擁有我們的土地一樣。其實你辦不到，上帝，是全人類的神，上帝對人類憐恤平等，不分紅人與白人。上帝視大地為至寶，傷害大地就是褻瀆大地的創造者。白人也終將消失，說不定比其他種族消失得更快。

But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are slaughtered, the wild horses tamed, the secret comers of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.

但即使你們死了，也會靠著上帝給你的力量在世上燦爛發光，是上帝引領你活在大地上，是上帝莫名的旨意容你操縱紅人和這塊土地。這種命運讓我們費解，因為我們不懂，為什么野牛會被殺戮。野馬會被馴服，森林的秘密角落里布滿了人群的異味，優美的山景，全被電話線玷污。

Where is the thicket? Gone.

叢林在哪里?沒了!

Where is the Eagle? Gone.

雄鷹在哪里?不見了!

The end of living and the beginning of survival.

生命已到了盡頭，是偷生的開始。