The Lowest Animal① (1)

Mark Twain(2)

Man is the Cruel Animal. He is alone in that distinction(3).  The higher animals engage in individual fights, but never in organized masses. Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities(4), War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren(5) about him and goes forth in cold blood and with calm pulse(6) to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out, as the Hessians(7) did in our Revolution, and as the boyish Prince Napoleon(8) did in the Zulu war, and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel(9).

Man is the only animal that robs his helpless fellow of his country, retakes possession of it, and drives him out of it or destroys him. Man has done this in all the ages. There is not an acre of ground on the globe that is in possession of its rightful owner, or that has not been taken away from owner after owner, cycle after cycle, by force and bloodshed(10).

Man is the only Slave. And he is the only animal who enslaves. He has always been a slave in one form or another, and has always held other slaves in bondage under him in one way or another. In our day he is always some man’s slave for wages(11), and does that man’s work; and this slave has other slaves under him for minor wages, and they do his work. The higher animals are the only ones who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living(12).

Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins(13) on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people’s countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for “the universal brotherhood of man”—with his mouth(14).

最低等的动物 ①

马克·吐温

人是残忍的动物，而且在残忍方面一枝独秀。高等动物一对一打斗，却从不结群厮杀。人是唯一参与残暴至极的战争的动物，也是唯一会把自己的同胞聚集起来，冷漠无情、心平气和地去消灭同类的动物。人也是唯一会为了肮脏的军饷去打仗的动物，就像美国革命中的黑森人，以及祖鲁战争中孩子气的拿破仑王子那样，参与屠杀跟自己同类的陌生人，尽管他们既没有伤害过自己，也没有跟自己吵过嘴。

人是唯一掠夺并占领自己无助同伴的国土，并把同伙赶出去或者消灭的动物。人自古以来就是这么干的。地球上没有任何一块土地的拥有者是合法的拥有者，或者说，任何土地都曾在暴力和流血中周而复始、一次次易手。

人是唯一做奴隶又役使奴隶的动物。人或多或少都做过奴隶，或多或少都役使过其他人做奴隶。当今之际，每个人都成了工资奴隶，为别人卖力，而这个卖力的人还用更少的工资役使着别的奴隶，让他们为自己干活。只有那些自己动手，丰衣足食的动物才是高等动物。

人是唯一爱国的动物。人类分裂成一个个国家，打着自己的旗号，嘲笑别的国家，并且不惜重金豢养着大批穿着制服的杀手，随时准备攫取其他民族的土地，保卫自己的国土免遭他人攫取。然而在休战期间，人则会洗去手上的血迹，口是心非地开始为“全人类的兄弟情谊”而奋斗。

注释：

1. 本文是马克·吐温的著作《这个该死的人类（The Damned Human Race）》中同名文章中的一些段落。

2. 马克·吐温，本名塞缪尔·朗赫恩·克莱门斯（Samuel Langhorne Clemens）。他经历了美国从“自由”资本主义到帝国主义的发展过程，其思想和创作也表现为从轻快调笑到辛辣讽刺再到悲观厌世的发展阶段。他的早期作品，如短篇小说《竞选州长》（1870）、《哥尔斯密的朋友再度出洋》（1870）等，以幽默、诙谐的笔法嘲笑美国“民主选举”的荒谬和“民主天堂”的本质。中期作品，如长篇小说《镀金时代》（1874）、《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》（1886）及《傻瓜威尔逊》（1893）等，则以深沉、辛辣的笔调讽刺和揭露了像瘟疫般流行于美国的投机潮、拜金热，以及暗无天日的社会现实与惨无人道的种族歧视。19世纪末，随着美国进入帝国主义发展阶段，马克·吐温的一些游记、杂文、政论，如《赤道环行记》（1897）、中篇小说《败坏了哈德莱堡的人》（1900）、《神秘来客》（1916）等的批判揭露意义也逐渐减弱，而绝望神秘情绪则有所增长。

3. in that distinction 意为：“在那一方面”，翻译时重复使用了“残忍”一词。

4. that atrocity of atrocities 本义为：“残暴中的残暴”，转译为“残暴至极”，用来形容战争十分贴切。

5. brethren 意为：“弟兄们、同胞”，该词含有宗教色彩。

6. in cold blood and with calm pulse 译为：“冷漠无情、心平气和”,使用了汉语的四字格结构，发挥了译入语的优势。

7. Hessians 这里指美国独立战争时，英国在德国招募去美国作战的黑森雇佣兵，下文的our Revolution 译为美国革命，即指美国独立战争。

8. the boyish Prince Napoleon“孩子气的拿破仑王子”指祖鲁王子恰卡（Shaka），他被尊称为黑人拿破仑（Black Napoleon）。同拿破仑一样他所发动的战争同样造成了大量的流血牺牲，尽管规模小一点。

9. who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel 也可意译为：“跟自己一无冤二无仇”。

10 注意句中双重否定的翻译。

11. slave for wages 指近代大工业生产中的雇佣关系，直译为“工资奴隶”应该不会造成误解。

12. who exclusively do their own work and provide their own living 译为：“自己动手，丰衣足食”，同样发挥了汉语的优势，显得简洁生动。

13. uniformed assassins 实指各国军队中的士兵，这里译为：“穿着制服的杀手”，是为了保留原文生动的比喻形象。

14. with his mouth 译为：“口是心非”，采用了增词的翻译方法，以便使译文更加明了。