下面是小编为大家整理的伯里克利葬礼演说词,英汉对照（全文）,供大家参考。
Pericles’
Funeral Oration
In the same winter the Athenians,
following their annual custom,
gave a public funeral for those who had been the first to die in the war.
These funerals are held in the following way: two days before the ceremony the bones of the fallen are brought and put in a tent which has been erected,
and people make whatever offerings they wish to their own dead.
Then there is a funeral procession in which coffins of cypress wood are carried on wagons.
There is one coffin for each tribe,
which contains the bones of members of that tribe.
One empty bier is decorated and carried in the procession:
this is for the missing,
whose bodies could not be recovered.
Everyone who wishes to,
both citizens and foreigners,
can join in the procession,
and the women who are related to the dead are there to make their laments at the tomb.
The bones are laid in the pubic burial-place,
which is in the most beautiful quarter outside the city walls.
Here the Athenians always bury those who have fallen in war.
The only exception is those who died at Marathon,
who,
because their achievement was considered absolutely outstanding,
were buried on the battlefield itself.
When the bones have been laid in the earth,
a man chosen by the city for his intellectual gifts and for his general reputation makes an appropriate speech in praise of the dead,
and after the speech all depart.
This is the procedure at these burials,
and all through the war,
when the time came to do so,
the Athenians followed this ancient custom.
Now,
at the burial of those who were the first to fall in the war Pericles,
the son of Xanthippus,
was chosen to make the speech.
When the moment arrived,
he came forward from the tomb and,
standing on a high platform,
so that he might be heard by as many people as possible in the crowd,
he spoke as follows: “Many of those who have spoken here in the past have praised the institution of this speech at the close of our ceremony.
It seemed to them a mark of honour to our soldiers who have fallen in war that a speech should be made over them.
I do not agree.
These men have shown themselves valiant in action,
and it would be enough,
I think,
for their glories to be proclaimed in action,
as you have just seen it done at this funeral organized by the state.
Our belief in the courage and manliness of so many should not be hazarded on the goodness or badness of one man’ s speech……However,
the fact is that this institution was set up and approved by forefathers,
and it is my duty to follow the tradition and do my best to meet the wishes and the expectations of every one of you.
“I shall begin by speaking about our ancestors,
since it is only right and proper on such an occasion to pay them the honour of recalling what they did.
In this land of ours there have always been the same people living from generation to generation up till now,
and they,
by their courage and their virtues,
have handed it on to us,
a free country.
They certainly de“I have no wish to make a long speech on subjects familiar to you all: so I shall say nothing about the warlike deeds by which we acquired our power or the battles in which we or our fathers gallantly resisted our enemies,
Greek or foreign.
What I want to do is,
in the first place,
to discuss the spirit in which we faced our trials and also our constitution and the way of life which has made us great.
After that I shall speak in praise of the dead,
believing that this
kind of speech is not inappropriate to the present occasion,
and that this whole assembly,
of citizens and foreigners,
may listen to it with advantage.
“Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours.
It is more the case of our being a model to others,
than of our imitating anyone else.
Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.
When it is a question of settling private disputes,
every one is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in positions of public responsibility,
what counts is not membership of a particular class,
but the actual ability which the man possesses.
No one,
so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state,
is kept in political obscurity because of poverty.
And,
just as our political life is free and open,
so is our day-to-day life in our relations with each other.
We do not get into a state with our next-door neighbour if he enjoys himself in his own way,
nor do we give him the kind of black looks which,
though they do no real harm,
still do hurt people’s feelings.
We are free and tolerant in our private lives; but in public affairs we keep to the law.
This is because it commands our deep respect.
“We give our obedience to those whom we put in positions of authority,
and we obey the laws themselves,
especially those which are for the protection of the oppressed,
and those unwritten laws which it is an acknowledged shame to break.
“And here is another point.
When our work is over,
we are in a position to enjoy all kinds of recreation for our spirits.
There are various kinds of contests and sacrifices regularly throughout the year; in our own homes we find a beauty and a good taste which delight us every day and which drive away our cares.
Then the greatness of our city brings it about that all the good things from all over the world flow in to us,
so that to us it seems just as natural to enjoy foreign good“Then there is a great difference between us and our opponents,
in our attitude towards military security.
Here are some examples:
Our city is open to the world,
and we have no periodical deportations in order to prevent people observing or finding out secrets which might be of military advantage to the enemy.
This is because we rely,
not on secret weapons,
but on our own real courage and loyalty.
There is a difference,
too,
in our educational systems.
The Spartans,
from their earliest boyhood,
are submitted to the most laborious training in courage;
we pass our lives without all these restrictions,
and yet are just as ready to face the same dangers as they are.
Here is a proof of this: when the Spartans invade our land,
they do not come by themselves,
but bring all their allies with them; whereas we,
when we launch an attack abroad,
do the job by ourselves,
and,
though fighting on foreign soil,
do not often fail to defeat opponents who are fighting for their own hearths and homes.
As a matter of fact none of our enemies has ever yet been confronted with our total strength,
because we have to divide our attention between our navy and the many missions on which our troops are sent on land.
Yet,
if our enemies engage a detachment of our forces and defeat it,
they give themselves credit for having thrown back our entire army; or,
if they lose,
they claim that they were beaten by us in full strength.
There are certain advantages,
I think,
in our way of meeting danger voluntarily,
with an easy mind,
instead of with a laborious training,
with natural rather than with state-induced
courage.
We do not have to spend our time practising to meet sufferings which are still in the future; and when they are actually upon us we show ourselves just as brave as these others who are always in strict training.
This is one point in which,
I think,
our city deserves to be admired.
There are also others: “Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance;
our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft.
We regard wealth as something to be properly used,
rather than as something to boast about.
As for poverty,
no one need be ashamed to admit it:
the real shame is in not taking practical measures to escape from it.
Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well: even those who are mostly occupied with their own business are extremely well-informed on general politics –
this is a peculiarity of ours:
we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all.
We Athenians,
in our own persons,
take our decisions on policy or submit them to proper discussions:
for we do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds; the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated.
And this is another point where we differ from other people“Again,
in questions of general good feeling there is a great contrast between us and most other people.
We make friends by doing good to others,
not by receiving good from them.
This makes our friendship all the more reliable,
since we want to keep alive the gratitude of those who are in our debt by showing continued goodwill to them:
whereas the feelings of one who owes us something lack the same enthusiasm,
since he knows that,
when he repays our kindness,
it will be more like paying back a debt than giving something spontaneously.
We are unique in this.
When we do kindnesses to others,
we do not do them out of any calculations of profit or loss: we do them without afterthought,
relying on our free liberality.
Taking everything together then,
I declare that our city is an education to Greece,
and I declare that in my opinion each single one of our citizens,
in all the manifold aspects of life,
is able to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person,
and do this,
moreover,
with exceptional grace and exceptional versatility.
And to show that this is no empty boasting for the present occasion,
but real tangible fact,
you have only to consider the power which our city possesses and which has been won by those very qualities which I have mentioned.
Athens,
alone of the states we know,
comes to her testing time in a greatness that surpasses what was imagined of her.
In her case,
and in her case alone,
no invading enemy is ashamed at being defeated,
and no subject can complain of being governed by people unfit for their responsibilities.
Mighty indeed are the m...
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