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Ah, thought Karlie, that man knows what he is speaking about. He says I am as good as any other man, even a white man. That needs much thinking. I wonder if he thinks I have the right to go into any bioscope or eat in any restaurant, or that my children can go to any school? These are dangerous ideas and need much thinking; I wonder what Ou Klaas would say to this. Ou Klaas said God made the white man and the black man separately and the one must always be "baas" and the other "jong." But this man says different things and somehow they seem true.
啊，卡里在想，那人知道他在说些什么吧。他说我与其他所有人一样，甚至和白人也一样。这有点琢磨不透。不知道他是否认为我有权利去任何一家影院看电影，去任何一家餐馆用餐，我的孩子有权利去任何一所学校上学？这是些危险的想法，需要好好考虑；不知道欧·克拉斯对此会怎么看。欧·克拉斯说上帝分别造了白人和黑人，一个必须永远是“主人”，而另一个永远是“下人”。但这个人所说的不同，不知怎的，他说的倒像是真话。
Karlie's brow was knitted as he thought. On the platform were many speakers, both white and black, and they were behaving as if there were no difference of colour between them. There was a white woman in a blue dress offering a cigarette to Nxeli. That could never happen at Bietjiesvlei. Old Lategan at the store would have fainted if his Annatjie had offered Witbooi a cigarette. And Annatjie had no such pretty dress. These were new things, and he, Karlie, had to be careful before he accepted them. But why shouldn't he accept them? He was not coloured any more, he was a human being. The speaker had said so. He remembered seeing pictures in the newspaper of people who defied laws which relegated them to a particular class, and those people were smiling as they went to prison. This was a strange world.
卡里这么想着，眉头紧锁。讲台上有许多演讲者，白人和黑人都有，他们的举止行为就好像他们之间不存在肤色上的差别一样。有位身着蓝色连衣裙的白人妇女递给恩克塞里一支烟。在别吉斯乌雷，这种事情绝对不会发生。如果他的安娜特杰递给韦特布依一支烟的话，商店里的老雷特甘会气得昏过去。另外，安娜特杰也没有这么漂亮的连衣裙。这些都是新鲜事，他——卡里——在接受这些之前要小心谨慎。但他有什么理由不该接受它们呢？他不再是有色人种了，他是一个人。演讲者是这样说的。他记得在报纸上看到过一些人的照片，他们公开反对将他们划归为某一特定阶级的法律条文，那些人在走进监狱时脸上仍带着微笑。这真是一个奇怪的世界。
The speaker continued and Karlie listened intently. His speech was obviously carefully prepared and he spoke slowly, choosing his words. This is a great man, Karlie thought.
演讲者继续着他的发言，卡里认真地听着。显然，他的演讲是经过精心准备的，他讲话速度很慢，斟酌着用词。这是一个了不起的人物，卡里心想。
