第36章 论公民的不服从 1（第1页）

第36章论公民的不服从（1）

CivilDisobedience

亨利·大卫·梭罗HenryDavidThoreau

亨利·大卫·梭罗（1817—1862），杂文家、诗人、自然主义者、改革家和哲学家。生于马萨诸塞州的康科德，毕业于哈佛大学，曾担任中学校长。1846年7月，梭罗居住在瓦尔登湖边时，当地的警官找到他，让他支付投票税，尽管数年来他已经行使了这项权利，但是梭罗拒绝支付税款。当夜，警官把他关在康科德的监狱里。第二天，梭罗的姨母帮他缴清税款，他便获释了。不过，他表明了他的观点：他不能向一个容许奴隶制存在并且侵略他国（墨西哥）的政府交税。他于1849年发表了下面这篇演说稿，为自己的行为进行辩护。当时，这篇文章没有引起什么反响。但是到了19世纪末，这篇文章却成为公认的经典之作，并赢得国际性的声誉。列夫·托尔斯泰、圣雄甘地、马丁·路德·金等人都对它推崇备至。

&heHole

&hesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle。

1。systematicallyadv。有组织地；有计划地；有条不紊地

2。iadj。不妥当的；不适当的；不明智的

3。san。批准，认可

4。monar。君主统治，君主制度；君主国

&ilyacceptthemotto，“Thatgoverisbestwhisleast”，andIshouldliketoseeitaorerapidlyaically。Carriedout，itfinallyamountstothis，whichalsoIbelieve，“Thatgoverisbestwhisnotatall”，andaredforit，thatwillbethekiwhichthewillhave。Goverbestbutamostgoversareusually，andallgoverimes，iheobjeswhichhavebeenbroughtagainstastandingarmy，andtheyaremay，aoprevail，mayalsoatlastbebroughtagainstastahestandingarmyisonlyanarmofthestahegoverself，whiodewhichthepeoplehavetoexecutetheirwill，isequallyliabletobeabusedaedbeforethepeopleactthroughit。WitMexiwar，theworkofparativelyafewindividualsusiaastheirtool；fori，thepeoplewouldedtothismeasure。

ThisAmerient—whatisitbutatradition，thougharee，eotransmititselfuerity，buteatlosisihasyandforceofasinglelivingman；flemaohiswill。Itisasortofwoodenguhemselves。Butitisnotthelessnecessaryforthis；forthepeoplemusthavesomeplicatedmaeryorother，asdin，tosatisfythatideaofgoverwhichtheyhave。Goversshowthushowsuccessfullymenbeimposedupon，evehemselves，fortheirownadvaisext，wemustallallow。Yetthisgoverselffurtheredaerprise，butbythealacritywithwhichitgotoutofitsway。Itdoeshetryfree。Itdoes。ItdoeshecharaherentintheAmeripeoplehasdohasbeenaplished；anditwouldhavedomore，ifthegoverhadinitsway。Foverisa，bywhiwouldfaiiheralone；and，ashasbeensaid，whenitismostexpedient，thegoveraloradeaheywerenotmadeofIndianRubber，wetobouacleswhichlegislatorsareuallyputtingintheirway；aojudgethesemenwhollybytheeffectsoftheiradnotpartlybytheiriheywoulddeservetobedpuhosemischieviouspersonswhoputobstrutherailroads。

But，tospeakpractidasa，uhosewhocallthemselvesmen，Iaskfor，notato，butatoergovereverymanmakeknownwhatkiwoulda，andthatwillbeoowardobtainingit。

&hepractiwhy，whenthepowerisohehandsofthepeople，amajorityarepermitted，andfperiodue，toruleisheyaremostlikelytobei，hisseemsfairesttotheminority，butbecausetheyarephysicallythestroagoverinwhichthemajorityruleibebasedonjustiasfarasme。therenotbeagoverinwhichthemajoritiesdonotvirtuallydeciderightandwrong，butwhichmajoritiesdelythosequestionstowhichtheruleofexpediencyisapplicable？Musttheeverforamoment，oridegree，resignhiscetothelegislator？Whyhaseverymana？Ithinkthatweshouldbemenfirst，aerward。Itisocultivatearespectforthelaw，somuchasfht。TheonlyobligationwhichIhavearighttoassumeistodoatahinkright。