敬酒不吃(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
敬酒不吃
daily air raids were taking a heavy toll＊ on japan during the summer of 1945. on 26 july, allied leaders issued the potsdam agreement:"we call upon the government of japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all japanese armed forces. the alternative for japan is prompt and utter destruction." the offer was generous; it allowed japanese soldiers to return home without imprisonment.emperor hirohito believed the peace terms were reasonable, but prime minister kantaro suzuki disagreed. soon, he was telling reporters that japan must mokusatsu the allied offer."mokusatsu" literally means"to kill with silence", and suzuki later claimed he had meant"no comment". but the japanese news agency, domei, translated the word as"ignore". with this, the bombing of hiroshima and nagaski was inevitable.

一九四五年夏季，日本每天都受到空袭，死伤甚众。七月二十六日，盟军领袖发表波茨坦宣言：「我们呼吁日本政府马上宣布所有日军无条件投降，否则日本顿成齑粉。」劝降条件十分宽大，容许日本军人回国，不必入狱。裕仁天皇认为和平条件合理，但首相铃木贯太郎不同意，并随即跟记者说，日本必须 mokusatsu盟军的提议。 mokusatsu直译是「以沉默杀却」，铃木后来说他的意思是「不予置评」。但日本同盟通信社把这个字译做「不理会」。于是，广岛、长崎就逃不过轰炸的命运。
备注：
＊ toll的本义是「通行费」，可引伸解作「损失」或「死伤人数」