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The Bench
长凳
Richard Rive
理查德·里夫
We form an integral part of a complex society, a society complex in that a vast proportion of the population are denied the very basic privileges of existence, a society that condemns a man to an inferior position because he has the misfortune to be born black, a society that can only retain its precarious social and economic position at the expense of an enormous oppressed proletariat!
“我们是这个复杂社会必不可少的一部分，这个社会复杂是因为很大一部分人被剥夺了生存这项最基本的权利；这个社会让一个人处于劣势只因为他生来是个黑人；这个社会以压迫许许多多无产阶级为代价来保住它岌岌可危的社会和经济地位！”
Karlie's eyes shone as he watched the speaker. Those were great words, he thought, great words and true. The speaker paused for a moment and sipped some water from a glass. Karlie sweated. The hot October sun beat down mercilessly on the gathering. The trees on the Grand Parade afforded very little shelter and his handkerchief was already soaked where he had placed it between his neck and shirt collar. Karlie stared round him at the sea of faces. Every shade of colour was represented, from shiny ebony to the one or two whites in the crowd. He stared at the two detectives who were busily making shorthand notes of the speeches, and then turned to stare back at the speaker.
卡里注视着演讲者，眼睛里闪着光。他觉得演讲者的话很在理，深刻而现实。演讲者停顿了片刻，喝了口杯子里的水。卡里汗流浃背。十月火辣辣的太阳无情地照在集会者的身上。大广场上的树只能提供一点点的阴凉，他放在脖子和衬衫衣领之间的手絹已经湿透了。卡里注视着演讲者，周围有无数张面孔。在人群中各色人种都能看到，从黝黑发亮的有色人种到为数不多的白人。他盯着两个正在快速记录演讲者的话的警探看了一会儿，然后将目光转回到演讲者身上。
It is up to us to challenge the rights of any groups who wilfully and deliberately condemn a fellow group to a servile position. We must challenge the rights of any people who see fit to segregate human beings solely on grounds of pigmentation. Your children are denied the rights which are theirs by birth. They are segregated socially, economically...
“任何种族肆意强迫某个同胞种族处于受奴役的地位，我们都应该向他们发起挑战了。我们必须挑战那些人的权利，他们认为应该将人们隔离开来，仅仅是因为肤色的不同。你们的孩子被剥夺了生来就属于他们的权利。他们在社会上、经济上都被隔离开来了……”
