"I Am Prepared to Die" is the name given to the three-hour speech given by Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1964 from the dock of the defendant at the Rivonia Trial. The speech is so titled because it ends with the words "it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die". The speech is considered one of the great speeches of the 20th century, and a key moment in the history of South African democracy.
I Am Prepared to Die for an Ideal
为理想我愿献出生命
February 11, 1990
1990年2月11日
Friends, comrades and fellow South Africans. I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.
我的朋友们、同志们和南非同胞们： 我以和平、民主和全人类自由的名义，向你们大家致意。
I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
今天我站在你们面前，不是作为一名预言家，而是作为人民的谦卑公仆。你们不懈的奋斗和英勇的牺牲才使我今天有可能站在这里，因此，我要把余生献给你们。
On this day of my release, I extend my sincere and warmest gratitude to the millions of my compatriots and those in every corner of the globe who have campaigned tirelessly for my release.
在我获释的今天，我要向千百万同胞，向世界各地为我的获释作出过不懈努力的人们，致以真诚的、最热烈的感谢。
I send special greetings to the people of Cape Town, this city which has been my home for three decades. Your mass marches and other forms of struggle have served as a constant source of strength to all political prisoners.
我要特别感谢开普敦的人民，我以开普敦为家住了30年。你们大规模的游行示威和其他形式的斗争一直是所有政治犯们的力量源泉。
I salute the African National Congress. It has fulfilled our every expectation in its role as leader of the great march to freedom.
我向非国大会议致敬。作为一个领导我们奔向自由的政党，它实现了我们对它的所有期望。
I salute our President, Comrade Oliver Tambo, for leading the ANC even under the most difficult circumstances.
我向我们的主席——奥利弗•坦博同志致敬，他在最艰难的环境下领导着非国大。
I salute the rank and file members of the ANC. You have sacrificed life and limb in the pursuit of the noble cause of our struggle.
我向非国大的普通党员们致敬：你们在争取自由的伟大事业中赴汤蹈火英勇献身。
I salute combatants of Umkhonto we Sizwe, like Solomon Mahlangu and Ashley Kriel who have paid the ultimate price for the freedom of all South Africans.
我向“民族之矛”的战士们——如所罗门•马赫兰古和艾希莉•柯瑞尔——致敬，他们为了全体南非人的自由而流尽了最后一滴血。
I salute the South African Communist Party for its sterling contribution to the struggle for democracy. You have survived 40 years of unrelenting persecution. The memory of great communists like Moses Kotane, Yusuf Dadoo, Bram Fischer and Moses Mabhida will be cherished for generations to come.
我向南非共产党致敬，它为南非的民主斗争作出了非凡的贡献。你们经受了40年的无情迫害而坚持了下来。南非世世代代的人民都将怀念摩西•科达恩、余素夫•达都、布莱姆•费舍尔以及摩西•马西达等伟大的共产主义者。
I salute General Secretary Joe Slovo, one of our finest patriots. We are heartened by the fact that the alliance between ourselves and the Party remains as strong as it always was.
我向秘书长乔•斯洛沃致敬，他是我们最杰出的爱国者之一。一个鼓舞人心的事实是，我们和共产党的联盟依然一如既往地坚不可摧。
I salute the United Democratic Front, the National Education Crisis Committee, the South African Youth Congress, the Transvaal and Natal Indian Congresses and COSATU and the many other formations of the Mass Democratic Movement.
我向统一民主阵线、国民教育危机处理委员会、南非青年会、德兰士瓦省及纳塔尔印度人大会、南非贸易联合会以及其他各种形式的群众民主运动组织致敬。
I also salute the Black Sash and the National Union of South African Students. We note with pride that you have acted as the conscience of white South Africa. Even during the darkest days in the history of our struggle you held the flag of liberty high. The large-scale mass mobilisation of the past few years is one of the key factors which led to the opening of the final chapter of our struggle.
我还要向“黑肩带”妇女协会以及南非学生国民联合会致敬。我们骄傲地看到你们的言行代表了南非白人的良知。即便在我们斗争史上最黑暗的岁月里，你们也高举着民主自由的大旗。过去几年里，大规模的群众动员是揭开我们斗争最后篇章的主要因素之一。
I extend my greetings to the working class of our country. Your organised strength is the pride of our movement. You remain the most dependable force in the struggle to end exploitation and oppression.
我要向我们国家的劳动阶级致敬。你们团结起来的力量是我们争取自由运动的骄傲。你们依然是我们反剥削反压迫斗争中最可依赖的力量。
I pay tribute to the many religious communities who carried the campaign for justice forward when the organisations for our people were silenced.
我向众多宗教团体致敬，在我们的组织被压制得鸦雀无声时，他们挺身而出，展开争取正义的运动。
I greet the traditional leaders of our country - many of you continue to walk in the footsteps of great heroes like Hintsa and Sekhukune.
我向我国过去的领导者们致敬，你们中的很多人继续沿着亨萨、瑟库库内等伟大英雄们的足迹前进。
I pay tribute to the endless heroism of youth, you, the young lions. You, the young lions, have energised our entire struggle.
我向年轻的英雄主义者们致敬，你们是年轻的雄狮。你们——年轻的雄狮们，给我们整个斗争中注入了活力。
I pay tribute to the mothers and wives and sisters of our nation. You are the rock-hard foundation of our struggle. Apartheid has inflicted more pain on you than on anyone else.
我向我们国家里的母亲们、妻子们、姐妹们致敬。你们是我们进行斗争的坚强基石。种族隔离烙在你们身心上的伤痕比任何人的都多。
On this occasion, we thank the world community for their great contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle. Without your support our struggle would not have reached this advanced stage. The sacrifice of the frontline states will be remembered by South Africans forever.
在这个时刻，我们感谢世界——我们感谢世界这个大团体在反对种族隔离的斗争中所作出的伟大贡献。没有你们的支持，我们的斗争不会到达这个新阶段。那些走在斗争前列的国家所付出的牺牲将会被南非人民永远铭记。
My salutations would be incomplete without expressing my deep appreciation for the strength given to me during my long and lonely years in prison by my beloved wife and family. I am convinced that your pain and suffering was far greater than my own.
如果不向我深爱的妻子和家人表示深深的感激，那么我的致敬将是残缺不全的。在我漫长而孤独的铁窗生涯中，他们给了我力量。我相信你们经受的痛苦和苦难远远超过了我自己。
Before I go any further I wish to make the point that I intend making only a few preliminary comments at this stage. I will make a more complete statement only after I have had the opportunity to consult with my comrades.
在我进一步演讲之前，我愿意阐明我的观点，就是在当前阶段，我只打算对一些问题做初步的评论。等到我有机会和我的同志们深入切磋之后，我将发表一个更加全面的声明。
Today the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognise that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security. The mass campaign of defiance and other actions of our organisation and people can only culminate in the establishment of democracy. The destruction caused by apartheid on our sub-continent is in- calculable. The fabric of family life of millions of my people has been shattered. Millions are homeless and unemployed. Our economy lies in ruins and our people are embroiled in political strife. Our resort to the armed struggle in 1960 with the formation of the military wing of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe, was a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid. The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist today. We have no option but to continue. We express the hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated settlement will be created soon so that there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle.
今天，无论是黑人还是白人，大多数南非人都已认识到种族隔离制度已经走到尽头。我们必须果敢地采取我们自己的群众运动来确保国家的和平与安全。我国各个团体和我国人民的大规模反抗等运动只有在民主制度的确立中才能达到高峰。种族隔离制度给我们这片次大陆造成了难以估量的破坏。我们成千上万人的家庭生活遭到了毁坏。几百万人流离失所，没有工作。我们的经济遭到严重破坏，我们的人民卷入了政治冲突。我们在1960年诉诸武装斗争，建立了非洲人民国民大会的战斗组织——“民族之矛”，这纯属为反抗种族隔离制度的暴力而采取的自卫行动。过去那些要求我们必须进行武装斗争的种种因素在今天依然存在，因此除了继续进行武装斗争外我们别无选择。我们希望，不久将会出现一种有利于通过谈判解决问题的局面，这样就可以刀枪入库马放南山了。
I am a loyal and disciplined member of the African National Congress. I am therefore in full agreement with all of its objectives, strategies and tactics.
我是非洲人国民大会忠于职守、遵守纪律的一员。因此，我完全赞同它所提出的所有目标、战略和战术。
The need to unite the people of our country is as important a task now as it always has been. No individual leader is able to take on this enormous task on his own. It is our task as leaders to place our views before our organisation and to allow the democratic structures to decide. On the question of democratic practice, I feel duty bound to make the point that a leader of the movement is a person who has been democratically elected at a national conference. This is a principle which must be upheld without any exceptions.
和以往一样，现在的重要任务是把我国人民团结起来。任何个别领导人都无法独自肩负起这个重担。作为领袖，我们的任务是向我们的组织阐明观点，并允许通过民主机制来决定我们前进的方向。对于实行民主问题，我感到有责任强调一点，即民主运动的领导人要由全国大会通过民主选举而产生，这是一条必须坚持且不能破例的原则。
Today, I wish to report to you that my talks with the government have been aimed at normalising the political situation in the country. We have not as yet begun discussing the basic demands of the struggle. I wish to stress that I myself have at no time entered into negotiations about the future of our country except to insist on a meeting between the ANC and the government.
今天，我愿意向你们报告一下，我同政府进行一系列会谈的目的一直是让我国的政治局势正常化。迄今为止我们还没有开始讨论本次斗争的基本要求。我愿意强调一下，就我国的未来前途，我除了坚持要求在非国大和政府之间进行磋商以外，本人决不会介入和政府的谈判。
Mr De Klerk has gone further than any other Nationalist president in taking real steps to normalise the situation. However, there are further steps as outlined in the Harare Declaration that have to be met before negotiations on the basic demands of our people can begin. I reiterate our call for, inter alia, the immediate ending of the State of Emergency and the freeing of all, and not only some, political prisoners. Only such a normalised situation, which allows for free political activity, can allow us to consult our people in order to obtain a mandate.
在采取切实可行的措施使局势正常化方面，德•克勒克先生比任何一位民族主义总统走得都远。但是就如同《哈拉雷宣言》规划的那样，在就我们人民的基本需要展开谈判之前，我们还有更多措施需要实施。其中，我特别强调，我们要求立即结束紧急状态并释放所有而不是一部分政治犯。只有在一个允许人们自由从事政治活动的正常化的环境里，我们才得以和人民商议以便取得人民的授权。
The people need to be consulted on who will negotiate and on the content of such negotiations. Negotiations cannot take place above the heads or behind the backs of our people. It is our belief that the future of our country can only be determined by a body which is democratically elected on a non-racial basis. Negotiations on the dismantling of apartheid will have to address the over- whelming demand of our people for a democratic, non-racial and unitary South Africa. There must be an end to white monopoly on political power and a fundamental restructuring of our political and economic systems to ensure that the inequalities of apartheid are addressed and our society thoroughly democratised.
在谁将参与谈判以及谈判内容上，我们都需要和人民商议。谈判不能——谈判不能凌驾于我国人民之上或背着人民进行。我们相信，我国的未来只能由一个在不分肤色的基础上通过民主选举而产生的机构来决定。消灭种族隔离制度的谈判必须满足我国人民的压倒一切的要求，即建立一个民主的、不分种族的和统一的南非。由白人垄断政治权力的状况必须结束，还必须从根本上重建我国的政治制度和经济制度，以便确保种族隔离制度产生的不平等问题得到解决，并保证我们的社会彻底实现民主。
It must be added that Mr De Klerk himself is a man of integrity who is acutely aware of the dangers of a public figure not honouring his undertakings. But as an organisation we base our policy and strategy on the harsh reality we are faced with. And this reality is that we are still suffering under the policy of the Nationalist government.
有一点必须另加说明，就是德•克勒克先生本人是一个正直之人，他准确认识到，一个公众人物如不履行其职责必将带来后患。但是作为一个组织，我们基于我们所面临的严酷现实来制定我们的政策和策略，这个严酷现实就是我们依然在民族主义政府的政策下苦苦挣扎。
Our struggle has reached a decisive moment. We call on our people to seize this moment so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long for our freedom. We can no longer wait. Now is the time to intensify the struggle on all fronts. To relax our efforts now would be a mistake which generations to come will not be able to forgive. The sight of freedom looming on the horizon should encourage us to redouble our efforts.
我们的斗争已经到了关键时刻。我们呼吁人民抓住这个时机，以加快我们的民主进程并不使其中断。对于自由我们等待得太久。我们不能再等了。现在是我们在各条战线上加强斗争的时候了。 现在我们若放松努力将铸成大错，我们的子孙后代将不会原谅我们。地平线上出现一抹自由的曙光，这曙光会激励我们加倍努力。
It is only through disciplined mass action that our victory can be assured. We call on our white compatriots to join us in the shaping of a new South Africa. The freedom movement is a political home for you too. We call on the international community to continue the campaign to isolate the apartheid regime. To lift sanctions now would be to run the risk of aborting the process towards the complete eradication of apartheid.
只有通过有纪律的群众运动，我们的胜利才有保障。我们呼吁白人同胞加入到我们塑造一个新南非的行列中来。自由运动也是你们的政治家园。我们呼吁国际社会继续孤立这个实行种族隔离制度的政府。取消对这个政府的制裁就等于冒险，而这种冒险可能会导致根除族隔离制度的进程流产。
Our march to freedom is irreversible. We must not allow fear to stand in our way. Universal suffrage on a common voters` role in a united democratic and non-racial South Africa is the only way to peace and racial harmony.
我们迈向自由的步伐不会逆转。我们绝不允许让畏惧挡住我们前进的道路。按照选民共同的职责，在民主统一且不分种族的南非实行普选，是通向和平与种族和谐的唯一途径。
In conclusion I wish to quote my own words during my trial in 1964. They are true today as they were then:
最后，我想引用一段我在1964年受审时说过的话。这段话在当时是正确的，在今天依然正确：
I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination.
我反对白人统治，也反对黑人统治。I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.
我珍视民主和自由社会的理想，在这个社会中，人人和睦相处，机会均等。It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.`
我希望为这个理想而生，并希望能实现这个理想。但是如果需要，为理想我愿献出生命。
