The Merchant of Venice.
Of all the bigotries that savage1 the human temper there is none so stupid as the anti-Semitic. It has no basis in reason; it is not rooted in faith; it aspires2 to no ideal; it is just one of those dank and unwholesome weeds that grow in the morass3 of racial hatred4. How utterly5 devoid6 of reason it is may be gathered from the fact that it is almost entirely7 confined to nations who worship Jewish prophets and apostles, revere8 the national literature of the Hebrews as the only inspired message delivered by the deity9 to mankind, and whose only hope of salvation10 rests on the precepts11 and promises of the great teachers of Judah. Yet in the sight of these fanatics12 the Jews of to-day can do nothing right. If they are rich they are birds of prey13. If they are poor they are vermin. If they are in favour of a war it is because they want to exploit the[Pg 313] bloody14 feuds15 of the Gentiles to their own profit. If they are anxious for peace they are either instinctive16 cowards or traitors17. If they give generously—and there are no more liberal givers than the Jews—they are doing it for some selfish purpose of their own. If they do not give—then what could one expect of a Jew but avarice18? If labour is oppressed by great capital, the greed of the Jew is held responsible. If labour revolts against capital—as it did in Russia—the Jew is blamed for that also. If he lives in a strange land he must be persecuted19 and pogrommed out of it. If he wants to go back to his own he must be prevented. Through the centuries in every land, whatever he does, or intends, or fails to do, he has been pursued by the echo of the brutal20 cry of the rabble21 of Jerusalem against the greatest of all Jews—"Crucify Him!" No good has ever come of nations that crucified Jews. It is poor and pusillanimous22 sport, lacking all the true qualities of manliness23, and those who indulge in it would be the first to run away were there any element of danger in it. Jew-baiters are generally of the type that found good reasons for evading24 military service when their own country was in danger.
[Pg 314]
The latest exhibition of this wretched indulgence is the agitation25 against settling poor Jews in the land their fathers made famous. Palestine under Jewish rule once maintained a population of 5,000,000. Under the blighting26 rule of the Turk it barely supported a population of 700,000. The land flowing with milk and honey is now largely a stony27 and unsightly desert. To quote one of the ablest and most far-sighted business men of to-day, "It is a land of immense possibilities, in spite of the terrible neglect of its resources resulting from Turkish misrule. It is a glorious estate let down by centuries of neglect. The Turks cut down the forests and never troubled to replant them. They slaughtered28 the cattle and never troubled to replace them." It is one of the peculiarities29 of the Jew-hunter that he adores the Turk.
If Palestine is to be restored to a condition even approximate to its ancient prosperity, it must be by settling Jews on its soil. The condition to which the land has been reduced by centuries of the most devastating30 oppression in the world is such that restoration is only possible by a race that is prepared for sentimental31 reasons to make and endure sacrifices for the purpose. What is the history of[Pg 315] the Jewish settlement in Palestine? It did not begin with the Balfour Declaration. A century ago there were barely 10,000 Jews in the whole of Palestine. Before the war there were 100,000. The war considerably32 reduced these numbers, and immigration since 1918 has barely filled up the gaps. At the present timorous33 rate of progress it will be many years before it reaches 200,000. Jewish settlement started practically seventy years ago, with Sir Moses Montefiore's experiment in 1854—another war year. The Sultan had good reasons for propitiating34 the Jews in that year, as the Allies had in 1917. So the Jewish resettlement of Palestine began. From that day onward35 it has proceeded slowly but steadily36. The land available was not of the best. Prejudices and fears had to be negotiated. Anything in the nature of wholesale37 expropriation of Arab cultivators, even for cash, had to be carefully avoided. The Jews were, therefore, often driven to settle on barren sand dunes38 and malarial40 swamps. The result can best be given by quoting from an article written by Mrs. Fawcett, the famous woman leader. She visited Palestine in 1921 and again in 1922, and this is her account of the Jewish settlements:
[Pg 316]
"So far from the colonies and the colonists41 draining the country of its resources they have created resources which were previously42 non-existent; they have planted and skilfully43 cultivated desert sands and converted them into fruitful vineyards and orange and lemon orchards44; in other parts they have created valuable agricultural land out of what were previously dismal45 swamps producing nothing but malaria39 and other diseases. The colonists have not shrunk from the tremendous work and the heavy sacrifices required. Many of the early arrivals laid down their lives over their work; the survivors46 went on bravely, draining the swamps, planting eucalyptus47 trees by the hundred thousand so that at length the swamp became a fruitful garden, and the desert once more blossomed like the rose."
Everywhere the Jew cultivator produces heavier and richer crops than his Arab neighbour. He has introduced into Palestine more scientific methods of cultivation48, and his example is producing a beneficent effect on the crude tillage of the Arab peasant. It will be long ere Canaan becomes once more a land flowing with milk and honey. The effects of the neglect and misrule of centuries cannot be [Pg 317]effaced by the issue of a declaration. The cutting down of the trees has left the soil unprotected against the heavy rains and the rocks which were once green with vineyards and olive groves49 have been swept bare. The terraces which ages of patient industry built up have been destroyed by a few generations of Turkish stupidity. They cannot be restored in a single generation. Great irrigation works must be constructed if settlement is to proceed on a satisfactory scale. Palestine possesses in some respects advantages for the modern settler which to its ancient inhabitants were a detriment50. Its one great river and its tributaries51 are rapid and have a great fall. For power this is admirable. Whether for irrigation, or for the setting up of new industries, this gift of nature to Palestine is capable of exploitation only made possible by the scientific discoveries of the last century. The tableland of Judea has a rainfall which if caught in reservoirs at appropriate centres would make of the "desert of Judea" a garden. If this be done Arab and Jew alike share in the prosperity.
There are few countries on earth which have made less of their possibilities. Take its special attractions for the tourist. I was amazed to find[Pg 318] that the visitors to Palestine in the whole course of a year only aggregate52 15,000. It contains the most famous shrines53 in the world. Its history is of more absorbing interest to the richest peoples on earth, and is better taught to their children, than even that of their own country. Some of its smallest villages are better known to countless54 millions than many a prosperous modern city. Hundreds of thousands ought to be treading this sacred ground every year. Why are they not doing so? The answer is: Turkish misrule scared away the pilgrim. Those who went there came back disillusioned55 and disappointed. The modern "spies" on their return did not carry with them the luscious56 grapes of Escol to thrill the multitude with a desire to follow their example. They brought home depressing tales of squalor, discomfort57, and exaction58 which dispelled59 the glamour60 and discouraged further pilgrimages. Settled government gives the Holy Land its first chance for 1900 years. But there is so much undeveloped country demanding the attention of civilisation61 that Palestine will lose that chance unless it is made the special charge of some powerful influence. The Jews alone can redeem62 it from the wilderness63 and restore its ancient glory.
[Pg 319]
In that trust there is no injustice64 to any other race. The Arabs have neither the means, the energy, nor the ambition to discharge this duty. The British Empire has too many burdens on its shoulders to carry this experiment through successfully. The Jewish race with its genius, its resourcefulness, its tenacity65, and not least its wealth, can alone perform this essential task. The Balfour Declaration is not an expropriating but an enabling clause. It is only a charter of equality for the Jews. Here are its terms:
"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The declaration was subsequently endorsed66 and adopted by President Wilson and the French and Italian foreign ministers.
[Pg 320]
The Zionists ask for no more. It has been suggested by their enemies that they are seeking to establish a Jewish oligarchy67 in Palestine that will reduce the Arab inhabitant to a condition of servitude to a favoured Hebrew minority. The best answer to that charge is to be found in the memorandum68 submitted by the Zionist Association to the League of Nations.
"The Jews demand no privilege, unless it be the privilege of rebuilding by their own efforts and sacrifices a land which, once the seat of a thriving and productive civilisation, has long been suffered to remain derelict. They expect no favoured treatment in the matter of political or religious rights. They assume, as a matter of course, that all the inhabitants of Palestine, be they Jews or non-Jews, will be in every respect on a footing of perfect equality. They seek no share in the government beyond that to which they may be entitled under the Constitution as citizens of the country. They solicit69 no favours. They ask, in short, no more than an assured opportunity of peacefully building up their national home by their own exertions70 and of succeeding on their merits."
[Pg 321]
It is a modest request which these exiles from Zion propound71 to the nations. And surely it is just that it should be conceded, and if conceded then carried out in the way men of honour fulfil their bond. There are fourteen millions of Jews in the world. They belong to a race which for at least 1900 years has been subjected to proscription72, pillage73, massacre74, and the torments75 of endless derision—a race that has endured persecution76, which for the variety of torture, physical, material and mental, inflicted77 on its victims, for the virulence78 and malignity79 with which it has been sustained, for the length of time it has lasted, and more than all for the fortitude80 and patience with which it has been suffered, is without parallel in the history of any other people. Is it too much to ask that those amongst them whose sufferings are the worst shall be able to find refuge in the land their fathers made holy by the splendour of their genius, by the loftiness of their thoughts, by the consecration81 of their lives, and by the inspiration of their message to mankind?
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
aspires
|
|
| v.渴望，追求( aspire的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
morass
|
|
| n.沼泽，困境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
hatred
|
|
| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
devoid
|
|
| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
revere
|
|
| vt.尊崇，崇敬，敬畏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
deity
|
|
| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
salvation
|
|
| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
precepts
|
|
| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
fanatics
|
|
| 狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
prey
|
|
| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
feuds
|
|
| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
instinctive
|
|
| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
traitors
|
|
| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
avarice
|
|
| n.贪婪；贪心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
persecuted
|
|
| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
rabble
|
|
| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
pusillanimous
|
|
| adj.懦弱的，胆怯的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
manliness
|
|
| 刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
evading
|
|
| 逃避( evade的现在分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
agitation
|
|
| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
blighting
|
|
| 使凋萎( blight的现在分词 )； 使颓丧； 损害； 妨害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
stony
|
|
| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
slaughtered
|
|
| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
peculiarities
|
|
| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
devastating
|
|
| adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
sentimental
|
|
| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
considerably
|
|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
timorous
|
|
| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
propitiating
|
|
| v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
35
onward
|
|
| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
steadily
|
|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
wholesale
|
|
| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
dunes
|
|
| 沙丘( dune的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
malaria
|
|
| n.疟疾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
malarial
|
|
| 患疟疾的，毒气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
colonists
|
|
| n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
previously
|
|
| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
skilfully
|
|
| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
orchards
|
|
| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
dismal
|
|
| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
survivors
|
|
| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
eucalyptus
|
|
| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
cultivation
|
|
| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
groves
|
|
| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
detriment
|
|
| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
tributaries
|
|
| n. 支流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
aggregate
|
|
| adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
shrines
|
|
| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
disillusioned
|
|
| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
luscious
|
|
| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
discomfort
|
|
| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
exaction
|
|
| n.强求，强征；杂税 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
dispelled
|
|
| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
glamour
|
|
| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
civilisation
|
|
| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
redeem
|
|
| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
injustice
|
|
| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
tenacity
|
|
| n.坚韧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
endorsed
|
|
| vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
oligarchy
|
|
| n.寡头政治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
memorandum
|
|
| n.备忘录，便笺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
solicit
|
|
| vi.勾引；乞求；vt.请求，乞求；招揽(生意) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
exertions
|
|
| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
propound
|
|
| v.提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
proscription
|
|
| n.禁止，剥夺权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
pillage
|
|
| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
massacre
|
|
| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
torments
|
|
| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
persecution
|
|
| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
inflicted
|
|
| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
virulence
|
|
| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
malignity
|
|
| n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
fortitude
|
|
| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
consecration
|
|
| n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |