每天讀一點英文 那些激勵我前行的身影 22 艾滋病者私語-瑪麗.費雪

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by Mary Fisher

瑪麗·費雪

In the context of an election year, I ask you, here in this great hall, or listening in the quiet of your home, to recognize that AIDS virus is not a political creature. It does not care whether you are Democrat or Republican; it does not ask whether you are black or white, male or female, gay or straight, young or old.

借此大選年之機，我希望在座的所有人，以及安坐在家中的所有聽眾，都能夠認識到艾滋病病毒不是一種政治產(chǎn)物。它不在乎你是民主黨人還是共和黨人;也不管你是黑人還是白人，男性還是女性，同性戀者還是異性戀者，青年人還是老年人。

Tonight, I represent an AIDS community whose members have been reluctantly drafted from every segment of American society. Though I am white and a mother, I am one with a black infant struggling with tubes in a Philadelphia hospital.

今天晚上，我代表的是一個艾滋病者團體。那些無奈地成為這個團體成員的人們，來自美國社會的各個領域。我是一名白人母親，但同時也代表費城醫(yī)院里那些正與輸液管抗爭的黑人嬰兒。

Though I am female and contracted this disease in marriage and enjoy the warm support of my family, I am one with the lonely gay man sheltering a flickering candle from the cold wind of this family’s rejection.

我是一名在婚后感染了艾滋病毒的女性，家人的支持讓我倍感溫暖;但我同時也代表那些孤獨的同性戀男子，他們在家人排斥的冷風下，苦苦守護著自己那搖曳飄忽的生命之火。

This is not a distant threat. It is a present danger. The rate of infection is increasing fasted among women and children. Largely unknown a decade ago, AIDS is the third leading killer of young adult Americans today. But it won’t be for long. Because unlike other diseases, this one travels.

艾滋病不是遙遠的威脅，而是眼前的危險。而婦女和兒童的感染率上升得最快。十年前，大多數(shù)人還沒有聽說過艾滋病，現(xiàn)在，它已經(jīng)是美國年輕人群的第三大殺手了。而且它不會一直停留在第三的位置上，因為與其它疾病不同，艾滋病是具有傳染性的。

Adolescents don’t give each other cancer or heart disease because they believe they are in love, but HIV is different; and we helped it along. We have killed each other with our ignorance, our prejudice, and our silence.

年輕人不會因為相愛而互相傳染癌癥或者心臟病，但艾滋病毒不同，我們助長了它的傳播。我們因為自己的無知、偏見和緘默而相互傷害。

We may take refuge in our stereotypes, but we cannot hide there long, because HIV asks only one thing of those it attacks. Are you human? And this is the right question. Are you human? Because people with HIV have not entered some alien state of being. They are human. They have not earned cruelty, and they do not deserve meanness.

我們可以用老一套方法來逃避，但卻躲避不了多久。因為艾滋病毒在襲擊目標的時候只考慮一點：你是不是人類?艾滋病毒攜帶者并沒有并沒有變成什么奇異物種。他們?nèi)允侨祟悺?/p>

They don’t benefit from being isolated or treated as outcasts. Each of them is exactly what God made: a person; not evil, deserving of our judgment; not victims, longing for our pity—people, ready for support and worthy of compassion.

他們并沒有變的更兇殘，不應該因此而遭受刻薄的對待。孤立和鄙視對他們沒有任何的幫助。他們中的每一個也都是上帝創(chuàng)造的人，不是等候我們判決的魔鬼，也不是渴盼我們憐憫的受害者——他們都是人，希望得到大家的支持，也值得大家的同情。

My father has devoted much of his lifetime guarding against another holocaust. He is part of the generation who heard Pastor Nemoellor come out of the Nazi death camps to say,

“They came after the Jews, and I was not a Jew, so, I did not protest. They came after the trade unionists, and I was not a trade unionist, so, I did not protest.

我父親把生命的大部分時間貢獻給了另一場屠戮的抗爭。他們那一代人都聽說過內(nèi)莫洛神父的那段話。從納粹集中營中出來后，神父說：“他們追捕猶太人，我不是猶太人，所以，我沒有抗議。他們追捕工會主義者，我不是工會主義者，所以，我沒有抗議。

Then they came after the Roman Catholics, and I was not a Roman Catholic, so, I did not protest. Then they came after me, and there was no one left to protest.”

接著，他們追捕羅馬天主教徒，我不是羅馬天主教徒，所以，我沒有抗議。再接下來，他們追捕我，這時，已經(jīng)沒有刻意抗議的人了。”

The…The lesson history teaches is this: If you believe you are safe, you are at risk. If you do not see this killer stalking your children, look again. There is no family or community, no race or religion, no place left in America that is safe. Until we genuinely embrace this message, we are a nation at risk.

歷史的教訓告訴我們：如果你認為自己是安全的，那么你已身處險境。如果你沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)這個殺手正悄悄地走近你的孩子，那么請再仔細看一眼。在美國，沒有任何一個家庭或社區(qū)，沒有任何一個種族或宗教，沒有任何一個地方，是安全的了。在我們能夠真正確信這一點之前，我們的國家都出境危險。

Someday our children will be grown. My son Max, now four, will take the measure of his mother. My son Zachary, now two, will sort through his memories. I may not be here to hear their judgments, but I know already what I hope they are.

有一天，我們的孩子會長大成人。我四歲的兒子馬克斯，將會審視他的母親。我兩歲的兒子扎卡里，也會搜尋關于母親的記憶。我也許無法聽到他們的評價了，但我已經(jīng)知道我希望得到怎樣的評價。

I want my children to know that their mother was not a victim. She was a messenger. I do not want them to think, as I once did, that courage is the absence of fear. I want them to know that courage is the strength to act wisely when most we are afraid.

我希望孩子們明白，他們的母親并不是一個受害者，而是一個信使。我希望他們不會像我從前那樣，認為勇氣等于無所畏懼。我希望他們明白，真正的勇氣，是一種能在最害怕的時候采取明智行為的能力。

I ask no more of you than I ask of myself or of my children. To the millions of you who are grieving, who are frightened, who have suffered the ravages of AIDS firsthand: Have courage, and you will find support. To the millions who are strong, I issue the plea: Set aside prejudice and politics to make room for compassion and sound policy.

我對你們的期望與我對自己及我的孩子們的期望是一樣的。數(shù)以百萬計因直接受到艾滋病侵害而正傷心恐懼的人們：請拿出勇氣來吧，你們一定會得到支持的。而那些廣大的身體健康的人們，我請求你們：把偏見和政治成見凡在一旁吧，好為同情心和明智的政策預留出空間。

To all within the sound of my voice, I appeal: Learn with me the lessons of history and of grace, so my children will not be afraid to say the word “AIDS” when I am gone. Then, their children and yours may not need to whisper it at all.

我向所有能聽見我的聲音的人們呼吁：請和我一起吸取歷史的教訓，學會感恩。這樣，當我去世之后，我的孩子們就不會害怕提及“艾滋病”這一字眼。將來，他們的孩子，你們大家的孩子，都無需再低聲密語地說出這個字眼。

God bless the children, and God bless us all.

愿上帝保佑孩子們，愿上帝保佑我們每一個人。

Good night.

晚安。

【人物簡介】

這是一篇演講，感人至深，是著名藝術(shù)家和活動家Mary Fisher 1992年8月在休斯敦舉行的共和黨大會上發(fā)表的。作為一名HIV攜帶者，她的演講不僅在當時引發(fā)了萬千美國人對愛滋病的深層思考;更感染和鼓舞了此后人們對艾滋病人，以及其它弱勢群組的理解、關懷和支持。演講中，從全球日益嚴峻的艾滋病形勢，到人們相應的冷酷無知的處理態(tài)度;從縱向歷史的教訓警醒人們的關注，到橫向家庭的責任突顯勇氣的可嘉;Mary Fisher雄辯有力、充滿激情地表達了“關愛艾滋病人”這個主題。