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Kindness to Animals It is man’s nature to live together in families and tribes, and cities and nations, and therefore men have learned to prize（珍惜）those qualities in each other which make social life happiest and best．Of these qualities one of the most important is sympathy(同情)—fellow feeling．If a man had no fellow-feeling, we should call him“ inhumane(无人性的)”; he would be no true man．We think so much of this quality that we call a kind man“ humane”—that is, man-like in his conduct, first to other men, and afterwards to all living things． If you are cruel to animals, you are not likely to be kind and thoughtful to men; and if you are thoughtful towards men, you are not likely to be cruel and thoughtless towards animals．This is why the wise man of old wrote, “The merciful(仁慈的) man is merciful to his beast．” What a pleasure it is also to be loved by our pets or domestic animals(家畜)；and to feel that we are caring for them and are deserving of their love; or to watch the ways of wild creatures, and gradually to make friends with them! Treating animals kindly does not mean that we must never inflict(施加) any pain on them．We ourselves are trained by pains as well as by pleasures; so, too, punishment is sometimes needed to train our dogs and horses to obey us．We endure pain at the hands of the surgeon, to cure some wound or to heal some disease; so, too, animals must submit(承受) to be doctored． We send out our bravest men to face wounds, sickness, and death, for the good of the nation; so, too, we let our horses share the risk of battle．For similar reasons, we cannot hesitate to destroy dangerous creatures like wolves and tigers and poisonous snakes; but to destroy them cruelly only shows senseless ferocity(残忍)．It is no excuse to say that these animals deserve to be treated cruelly on account of their own cruelty; they are not really cruel, for they tear and kill not from love of unkindness, but because they must do so in order to live． 有人认为，关心动物不如去关心人，这种观点有失偏颇。关心 动物与关心人是不矛盾的，而且应该是统一的。也就是说，連动物的悲惨命运都能感到流泪，那么我想，他对人就会更有同情心，更加会去关心人。相反，一个人、 一 个民族如果对动物的肆意践踏，任意屠杀，那么对于人的生命他也就会敢于轻视。关心动物、尊重动物生命的意义，实质就在于要尊重人、尊重人的生命，不要任意 践踏人的生命。当然，如果当人的生命与动物的生命产生严重矛 盾的时候，应该是人的生命最重要。动物与人是能够做到和谐统一，并不是在任何时候都是非此即彼。在我们的社会中，存在着大量的轻视人的生命行为，就是这些 人連起码的尊重动物生命的道德底线都已经丧失了，何谈得上去 尊重人的生命呢？！所以，正是在这个意义上来讲，尊重动物就是尊重我们自己。 Be Kind To Animals I watched a video clip last night which I think is rather sad and cruel. The clip is about the animals in the Chinese fur farm. They are flipped onto their backs or hang up by their legs or tails to skin them. Before they are skinned alive, animals are pulled from their cages and thrown to the ground; workers bludgeon them with metal rods or slam them on hard surfaces, causing broken bones and convulsions but not always immediate death. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut. When the fur is finally peeled off over the animals' heads, their naked, bloody bodies are thrown onto a pile of those who have gone before them. Some are still alive, breathing in ragged gasps and blinking slowly. Human beings treat the animals cruelly in order to satisfy their endless desires and greed, fur trade is just one of these examples. There are still many illegal trades in the blackmarket selling elephant tusks, tiger skins, rhino horns, etc, pushing the animals to the edge of extinction. Think again for our next generations, are they able to see those animals in future again? How would you redefine these animals to your children? |
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