Long Walk to Freedom

Then I slowly saw that not only was I not free, but my brothers and sisters

were not free. I saw that it was not just my freedom that was curtailed, but the freedom of everyone who looked like I did. That is when I joined the African National Congress, and that is when the hunger for my own freedom became the greater hunger for the freedom of my people. The chains on any one of my people were the chains on all of them. The chains on all of my people were the chains on me.
It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated as surely as the oppressed.
When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that is not the case. The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a larger and even more difficult road.
I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedoms come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.

curtail v. 剥夺   

oppressor n. 压迫者       
mission n.使命，任务；天职；
falter v. 踌躇   
vista n.峡谷风光；瞻望前途；追溯往事。   

linger v.逗留，拖延

纳尔逊•曼德拉
当我参加非洲国民大会的时候，也就是当我从渴望个人自由转变为渴望全体民众自由的时候，我渐渐发现不光是我没有自由，我的兄弟姐妹们也同样没有自由。不光我的自由被大打折扣，和我一样行事的每个人的自由同样被打了折扣。加在每一个人身上的锁链，如同加于自己的民族身上；加在自己的民族身上的锁链就是加于我身上的锁链。
正是在那些漫长而又孤独的岁月里，我从为自己的民族争取自由转变为所有民族，包括白人和黑人争取自由。我深知正如其他事情一样，压迫者和被压迫者同样需要解放。

当我走出监狱的时候，我就把解放被压迫者和压迫者视为我的使命。有人说这使命已经完结，但我知道事实并非如此，事实是我们仍没有自由，我们仅仅获得了争取自由的自由，获得了不被压迫的权利。我们没有走完我们的征程，在这艰苦而又漫长的征程中我们刚刚迈出了第一步。
在通往自由的道路上我走了很久。我努力不让自己畏缩。这条道路上我曾迷失过方向，但我却发现了一个秘密，就是当你爬过一座高山后，才发现还有更多的山要攀登，我只能在此稍加歇息，窥视一下身边的美好风景，回顾一下自己所走过的路。但我只能稍作停留，因为我的职责是追求自由。我不敢逗留，漫长的旅途还未走到尽头。

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