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 curtailed¹, 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 these long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of my 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 liberated³ just as surely as the oppressed.

我渐渐发现不光是我失去了自由，我的兄弟姐妹也失去了自由。 不光我的自由被大打折扣。看起来和我的一样的所有其他人的自由都被大打折扣。在我加入非洲国民大会的时候，也就是当我从追求个人的自由转变为追求人民的自由的时候。加于每一个人身上的枷锁，就是加于全体人民身上的；加于全体人民身上的枷锁就是加于我身上的枷锁。正是在那些漫长而又孤独的岁月里，我从为我自己的民族斗争转变成为全体的人民——白人和黑人，追求自由的奋斗。我深知正如其他事情一样，压迫者和被压迫者同样必须得到解放。

 

When I walked out of prison, that was my mission, to liberate² the oppressed and the oppressor both. Some say that has now been achieved. But I know that 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 longer and even more difficult road. I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter⁴; 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 vista⁵ that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can rest only for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not yet ended.

当我步出监狱的时候，我就把解放被压迫者以及压迫者视为我的使命。有人说这使命已经完成，但我知道并非如此，事实上我们并没有获得自由，我们只是获得争取自由的自由，获得了不被压迫的自由，我们的征程才刚刚开始，我们刚刚踏出这艰苦而又漫长的征程的第一步。在通往自由的道路上我走了很久。我努力不让自己止步。在这条路上我也曾迷失过，但我却发现了一个秘密，就是当爬过一座高山后，才发现原来还有更多的山要攀登，我只是在这里稍加歇息，看一看身边的美好风景，回顾一下自己所走过的路，但我只能稍作停留，因为随着自由而来的还有责任，我不敢逗留，漫长的旅途还未到尽头。

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