(全段翻译) 我们通过痛苦的经验了解到，压迫者不会自愿给与自由，自由必须由被压迫者来争取。坦白地说，我只是参与了在那些从来没有极端地遭受过病态的种族隔离痛苦的人眼里“时机恰到好处”的直接行动中去。我多年以来一直听到这样一个词：“等着！”这个词在每个黑人的耳朵里不断作响，这个“等着”几乎同等于“永不”。我们现在应该从我们自己的角度看到：“正义拖延太久就是没有正义。”（选自马丁路德金《发自伯明翰市立监狱的一封信》)(The whole paragraph tanslated here.)

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." (From Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16th, 1963)

voluntarily ［自动地］

oppressor ［压迫者］

oppressed ［被压迫者］

engage ［参与］

unduly ［非常地］

distinguished ［杰出的］

delay ［耽误、拖延］

（ 陈森森 sensenchen2002@yahoo.com ）