LEE
You all know why I am here. I am
not an orator and I will not try to
convince you of the worthiness of
our cause. I am a soldier and we
are at war and with the declaration
of independence we all expect from
Philadelphia, it will soon be a
formal state of war. In preparation
for that, eight of the thirteen
colonies have levied money in
support of a Continental Army. I
ask South Carolina to be the ninth.

SIMMS
Colonel Lee, Massachusetts may be at
war, along with New Hampshire and
Rhode Island and Virginia, but South
Carolina is not at war.

LEE
Massachusetts and New Hampshire are
not as far from South Carolina as
you might think and the war they're
fighting is not for independence of
one or two colonies. It's for the
independence of a nation.

WITHINGTON
And what nation is that?

Robinson, one of the Patriots, stands up.

ROBINSON
An American nation. Colonel Lee,
with your permission?

LEE
Please.

ROBINSON
Those of us who call ourselves
Patriots are not seeking to give
birth to an American nation, but to
protect one that already exists. It
was born a hundred-and-seventy years
ago at Jamestown, Virginia and has
grown stronger and more mature with
every generation reared and with
every crop sown and harvested. We
are a nation and our rights as
citizens of that nation are
threatened by a tyrant three
thousand miles away.

LEE
Thank you. Were I an orator, those
are the exact words I would have
spoken.

Laughter. Marion rises.

MARION
Mister Robinson, tell me, why should
I trade one tyrant, three thousand
miles away, for three thousand
tyrants, one mile away?

Laughter from the Loyalists. Surprise from Lee and the
Patriots. In the gallery, Gabriel winces.

ROBINSON
Sir?

MARION
An elected legislature can trample a
man's rights just as easily as a
King can.

LEE
Captain Marion, I understood you to
be a Patriot.

MARION
It's Mister Marion.

LEE
I understood him to be a Patriot as
well.

More laughter.

MARION
If you mean by a Patriot, am I angry
at the Townsend Acts and the Stamp
Act? Then I'm a Patriot. And what
of the Navigation Act? Should I be
permitted to sell my tobacco to the
French traders on Martinique? Yes,
and it's an intrusion into my
affairs that I can't... legally.

Laughter.

MARION
And what of the greedy, self-serving
bastards who sit as Magistrates on
the Admiralty Court and have fined
nearly every man in this room.
Should they be boxed about the ears
and thrown onto the first ship back
to England? I'll do it myself.
(beat)
And do I believe that the American
colonies should stand as a separate,
independent nation, free from the
reins of King and Parliament? I do,
and if that makes a Patriot, then
I'm a Patriot.

Marion grows more serious.

MARION
But if you're asking whether I'm
willing to go to war with England,
the answer is, no. I've been to war
and I have no desire to do so again.



SŁOWNICTWO:

crop - plon
desire - pragnienie
to fine - nałożyć karę finansową
greedy -skąpy, chytry, pazerny
to harvest - zbierać, żąć
I'm willing - chcę
independence - niepodległość
intrusion - wdarcie się (na/do/w), najście, ingerencja, niepokojenie, mieszanie się
to levy - nakładać, pobierać, ściągać (podatki), przeprowadzać pobór, werbować, gromadzić, rekwirować
mature - dojrzały
orator - mówca
permission - pozwolenie
to rear - hodować
reins - lejce, przen. Władza, panowanie
to seek to - poszukiwać czegoś, próbować
to sow, sowed, sown - siać, zasiewać, wysiewać,
to trade - handlować, to trade sth for sth - zamienić coś na coś, przehandlować coś w zamian za coś
trample - deptać, zdeptać, podeptać, stratować
tyrant - tyran
worthiness - wartość


GRAMATYKA:

W tekście warto zaobserwować ciekawe użycia przyimków:

I will not try to convince you of the worthiness
I am a soldier and weare at war
In preparation for that
with your permission
am I angry at the Townsend Acts and the Stamp Act?
free from the reins of King and Parliament



TEST

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