由AVATAR想起的---Chief Logan’s Lament

写在前面

这几天大家在热议电影AVATAR。我忍不住就由剧情想到了这篇小小的演说。电影中掌握现代科技，自信自己所做的一切都是正确的，代表最先进文明的人类对潘多拉星球族人的方式，让我想到美国历史的起源，印第安人的故事。也许这是卡麦隆故事灵感的一个开端。

这是美国历史上的一件小事。新大陆的开拓者攻克了印地安部落，他们的酋长拒绝投降求和，他发表了这篇演说。

这是一篇很小的演说。但是在美国历史的所有读本上，你不可忽视这篇演说。因为它记录了这个国家的起源，不可否认的事实。自由，民主， 富强，光荣与梦想并不是这个国家彻头彻尾的全部。庆幸现代美国价值的奠基者不曾掩盖他们父辈的所为, 而且让我们知道, 让我们记得永远不要再对任何族群犯下相同的错误。

为什么感恩节成为美国最重要的节日？请你用心去体味这篇由印地安人写下的不朽之篇。Logan's Lament.


I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if he ever came cold and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. 

Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as I passed, and said, "Logan is a friend of the white man." I have even thought to live with you but for the injuries of one man, Colonel Cresap, who last spring in cold blood and unprovoked murdered the relatives of Logan, not even sparing his wife and children.

There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This has called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice in the beams of peace.

But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.