第三冊(cè)第15篇：筆

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Small as it is, the pen has changed the course of history, shaped the destiny of nations, facilitated the commerce of peoples, imprisoned the elusive thoughts of man, recorded events, carried news, and done more work for mankind than all other tools or weapons. Progress without it would have been almost impossible. The invention of the wheel and screw, the introduction of steam-power, the use of electricity, all these have changed the lives of millions; but the pen has done more. It has removed mountains. It has prepared the way for all advancement. Whatever plans have been drawn up, whatever laws formulated, have come from the pen.

筆雖很小，卻已經(jīng)改變了歷史的進(jìn)程，決定了民族的興衰，推進(jìn)了民間的貿(mào)易,鉗制了難以捉摸的不良思想，記錄事件，傳播消息，為人類做了比任何其他工具或武器更多的工作。沒有它，進(jìn)步幾乎是不可能的。車輪和螺絲的發(fā)明，蒸汽機(jī)的問世，電力的使用，所有這些都曾改變了億萬人的生活;然而，筆卻做得更多。他創(chuàng)造了奇跡。他為所有的前進(jìn)鋪平了道路。任何計(jì)劃的擬訂，任何法律的制定，無一不出自于筆。

Today the pen is more highly esteemed than ever. The typewriters clicking in every continent are the drudges, the pen is the aristocrat, governing all and giving the final flourish. In the past the pen did all the work, for all writing intended to last for any length of time was valid only if written with pen and ink. The lawyers took up their pens and wrote the law of the land from the days when papyrus was first used to the day Magna Carta was compiled, and for 500 years after. The most famous letters in the world were written with a pen; and it was with a pen that the greatest thinkers of all time wrote down their thoughts.

今天,筆比以往任何時(shí)候都更加受到尊重。在世界各地嘀嗒作響的打字機(jī)只不過是奴仆而已,筆才是尊貴的主人，它統(tǒng)治著一切，給予最后的華麗修飾。在過去，筆干著所有的工作,因?yàn)樗行枰Ａ羧魏我欢螘r(shí)間的文字,只有用筆和墨水寫了才是有效的。從埃及人造的紙莎草紙開始使用時(shí)起，直到英國大憲章編成，以及在此后的五百多年中，法學(xué)家們拿起筆，寫下了國法。甘界上最著名的信件都是用筆寫的。歷代最偉大的思想家正是用筆才寫下了他們的思想。

The Law and the Prophets, the four Gospels, the letters of St Paul, how should we have had these today had they not been preserved for us by the pen? To the pen we owe The Pilgrims Progress, Paradise Lost, The Canterbury Tales; and it was with his pen that Shakespeare shook the world.

摩西五書》、先知預(yù)言、《四福音書》及圣保羅的書信，如果沒有用筆把它們保存下來，我們今天怎么能擁有這些呢?多虧了筆，我們才能看到《天路歷程》、《失樂園》和《坎特伯雷故事集》。莎士比亞也正是用他的筆來震撼世界的。

The servant of the greatest, the pen is the slave of the humblest. The serving maid and schoolboy may drive it as they will.

筆既是偉人們的仆役，也是地位低微的人們的奴隸，侍女和年幼學(xué)童都可以隨意地使用它。

Behind all we do today is the pen. We cannot sign a cheque or write a letter or buy a house or complete a business transaction without our pen. The editor stirs the world with it, the student would fail to pass his examination without it, a deed is worthless till our name is written with pen and ink, though the signature is there it becomes irrevocable. For the stroke of a pen is legally binding, and few things are more thrilling or mysterious.

我們今天所做的一切都有筆的功勞。簽署支票，寫信，購買住宅或完成一項(xiàng)商業(yè)上的交易，都得用筆簽字。編輯靠它鼓動(dòng)世界，學(xué)生沒有它就無法通過考試。在未用沾了墨水的筆簽字之前，一份契約是無效的，而一旦有了署名，它就成為不可改變的了。因?yàn)榇蠊P一揮是有法律約束力的，很少有比它更加能使人感到激動(dòng)或神秘的東西了。

With a stroke of the pen Bradshaw sent Charles Stuart to the block. Queen Elizabeth took up her pen and signed a document, which hurried Mary Queen of Scots to her tragic end.

Queen Victoria saved a life with her pen, for, when the Iron Duke gave her a death warrant to sign she wrote Pardoned, so giving a bad soldier a chance to make good. When the Declaration of American Independence was signed John Hancock was the first to write his name. “There, (said he) I guess King George will be able to read that.”

約翰?布拉德肖的筆一揮，查理?斯圖亞特便上了斷頭臺(tái)。英王伊麗莎白一世拿起筆簽署了一個(gè)文件，從而加快了蘇格蘭女王瑪麗以悲劇性的方式結(jié)束了自己的生命。維多利亞女王用筆赦免了一個(gè)人的命。當(dāng)威靈頓公爵呈給她一份死刑執(zhí)行書請(qǐng)她簽署時(shí)，她寫了“赦免”二字，于是給了一個(gè)不好的軍人改過自新的機(jī)會(huì)。當(dāng)簽署《獨(dú)立宣言》時(shí)，約翰?漢考克第一個(gè)署了名，并說到，“瞧吧!我想喬治國王會(huì)看到的。”

Our coming into the world is recorded with pen and ink. Before we have been at school a day our name is enrolled with a pen. We cannot be married till we have signed the register. A pen records our death.

我們降臨到這個(gè)世界上來，筆就加以記錄。在入學(xué)以前，筆把我們的名字登記在了學(xué)生名冊(cè)上。沒有筆在登記冊(cè)上簽名，我們就不能成婚。筆也記下了我們的死亡。

The next time we take up our pen to write, let us remember that we hold in our hand the most powerful instrument mankind possesses.

下次當(dāng)我們拿起筆準(zhǔn)備書寫的時(shí)候，我們應(yīng)該記著，我們手中握著的是人類所擁有的最強(qiáng)有力的工具。