英文自修35：维系于个人的信任

Thought for the Day 20140308

Speaker: Brian Draper

With news yesterday that the Lawrence family had been spied on by undercover officers during the Macpherson Inquiry, it’s little wonder that Neville, Stephen’s father, was sceptical about yet another inquiry being established as a result. “I will never be able to trust these people,” he said. And who would dare blame him? 

昨天新闻报道劳伦斯一家在麦克佛森调查中遭警察卧底侦查，难怪斯蒂芬之父内维尔怀疑起为此而设立的一项新调查来。“我再也不能信任这些人了，”他说。谁又能怪他呢？

 

 

But where does it leave the rest of us, who weren’t involved directly, but who care - and whose trust in institutions like the police is threatened by each new revelation like this? And for the police, read Parliament, Media, the Church, Big Business, and so on. 

然而我们这样不直接相关、但关注此事的人又当如何？每有此类新闻，我们对警察之类机构的信任度就要降低。非止警方，举凡议会、教会、大企业，莫不如是。

Of course, there are honest, brave and good people throughout the Met. I know, because I’ve been working with some recently. And it’s not to say, either, that undercover policing doesn’t achieve vital results on behalf of us all. Because it does. 

当然，大都会警察署也不乏诚实、勇敢的好人。我因最近跟一些这样的人共事过，故有所知。也不是说卧底的警员没为我们大家取得过生死攸关的战果。
 

But we need trust in all of our institutions, for society to flourish, don’t we? Without it, honest scepticism leads to cynicism; we might be as wise as serpents, but without the innocence of doves to go with it, we can start to look unkindly on strangers, and with suspicion at those in authority. We can even resist being positively vulnerable, to our family and friends, if we are not careful. 

但我们需要对各种机构有信任感，社会才能繁荣，不是吗？没有信任感，怀疑就会变成弃世；我们能像蛇一样精明，却没有鸽子般的纯洁加以调和，就会开始用不善的眼光看待路人，对当权者也会疑神疑鬼。如果不当心，我们甚至会对自己的家人朋友也不愿再笑脸相对、敞开心扉。

Trust arrives, as they say, on foot but leaves on horseback. And that’s surely because it’s such a precious, pain-staking and above all personal thing to establish. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve asked my children to trust me, whether in the smaller stuff - "Your teacher won’t like that jewellery on you, trust me!" - or the bigger stuff, too: "Let go of the side of the pool and swim towards me; I won’t let you sink." 

人说信任来之不易，却极易失去。这当然因为信任是一种宝贵的东西，要费劲心力才能赢得。最重要的是，信任靠人维系。我已经不记得有多少次要孩子相信我了，不管是小事情——“你的老师不会喜欢你戴那件珠宝的，相信我！”——还是大事情：“放开泳池边，游过来；我不会让你沉下去的。”

And so it’s surely when we depersonalise community that it feels less compelling to honour the trust that is nevertheless still required of us. When there’s a mask to hide behind, especially when it’s the face of a faceless institution - it’s easier to think it’s not my trust to protect anymore. Yet every action has a consequence; and each time we act without responsibility, trust breaks somewhere; and with it, trust in our society diminishes. 

所以，如今社区非人格化，就感觉种种无论如何仍需保持的信任没有以前那么亟需遵行了。如有面具可遮挡，而这遮挡又是无面目的机构的脸，就更容易觉得这种信任“又不是给我一个人的”，无需珍惜。然而每一行动均有后果；每一次不负责任的行为，都会摧毁某处的信任；随之，社会公信也就减弱了。

That’s why it’s surely so important for individuals to take responsibility, or to be brought to justice when it’s needed. But it’s also why it matters for each of us to take personal responsibility - to be trust worthy - wherever we find our self. 

这就是为何个人承担责任是如此重要，而有需要时又必须绳之以法。而这也是为何我们众人无论何处都要承担个人责任——值得信任——是件大事。

Jesus said, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” Is it naive, I wonder, to aim for the kind of social integrity that means a stranger could trust me as much as the child I’m teaching to swim?

耶稣说：“人在最小的事上忠心，在大事上也忠心。”我在想，要实现这样一种社会诚信，使路人像学游泳的孩子一样信任我，这是否不切实际？