let me begin my speech with a replay of scenes familiar to most, if not all, of those present here today.
"mum, i"m sorry, but i need 3,000 yuan for my tuition this year."
"mum, it is my friend"s birthday tomorrow, i must buy her a present."
"mum, this jacket was out of fashion long ago, would you do me a favor? "
take. take. take. the relationship between a mother and a child always seems to follow such a pattern. i know my mother is always there for me, providing me with everything i need; from food to clothing, from tuition to pocket money. i never thought twice about all she did until one day she said, "will there be a time that you"ll say you have taken enough from me? "
like a child endlessly asking, we humans, throughout history, have been continually demanding what we desire from nature. we enjoy the comfort and beauty of our furniture, yet we never bother to think about the serious soil erosion caused by deforestation. we take it for granted that we must warm ourselves in winter times, yet we seldom realize the burning away of precious natural resources. we appreciate all the prosperity from the development of modern industry, yet few would give the slightest consideration to the global air and water pollution caused by industrial wastes. our ruthless exploitation has permanently impaired our mother earth. as we tragically learned from last summer"s floods. we cannot continue our carelessness.
finally, standing here at the threshold of the 21st century, we cannot help thinking of our posterity. nature is not only the mother of the present generation, but also the mother of the generations to come. how severely our descendents will criticize us if we leave them a barren and lifeless mother? how much more they will appreciate us if we give them a world of harmony to inherit? let us start respecting and caring for nature from now on. let us start the campaign of creating a mutually beneficial relationship between people and nature right from this moment. with this new start, i firmly believe, that our children, and our children"s children will live in a brand new age of green trees, clean air, crystal water, blue sky and an even more promising world!
譯文:自然是我們的母親
請允許我用一個我們今天在座的大部分人，就算不是全部，都很熟悉的場景來展開我的演講。
“媽媽，不好意思，今年的學費要三千元。”
“媽媽，明天是我朋友的生日，我要給她買份禮物。”
“媽媽，這件衣服早過時了，幫我買件新的，好嗎?”
索取，索取，再索取。母親和孩子的關系似乎永遠都是這一種形式。我知道母親總是我的靠山，給我一切需要的東西，從食物到衣服，從學費到零用錢。我覺得她所做的一切都是理所當然的，直到有一天，她說:“會不會有這麽一天你對我說我已經索取夠了?’’
就像孩子無止境的要求一樣，我們人類，從古到今，也一直在向自然索求以滿足欲望。我們享受家具的美麗與舒適，但我們從來就不願去想一想由于採伐樹林而引起的嚴重的土壤侵蝕問題。我們認為冬天要取暖是理所當然的事情，卻未曾意識到寶貴的自然資源就這樣被燒掉。我們高興地看到現代工業發展帶來了繁榮，但很少人會對由于工業廢物導致的全球空氣和水質污染問題稍加考慮。我們無情的剝削已經永遠地傷害了地球母親。我們從去年夏天的洪災悲劇中已經認識到，我們不能再繼續漠不關心下去了。
最後，站在21世紀的門檻上，我們不禁展望著繁榮昌盛。自然不僅是現在這一代人的母親，更是未來一代人的母親。如果我們留給他們的是一位貧瘩、毫無生氣的母親，那麽我們會受到子孫們何等嚴厲的批評?如果我們留給他們的遺產是一個和諧的世界，他們會對我們作出何等的稱贊?讓我們從現在開始尊重、關愛自然。讓我們立刻開展一場建立人類與自然互惠互利關系的運動。我堅信，有了這個新的開始，我們的孩子、孩子的孩子必將生活在一個綠樹青蔥、空氣清新、水碧天藍的嶄新世紀，一個前景更加燦爛的世界!