名人教你讲英文：Peaceful resistance 和平抵抗原则（二）

名人教英文：peaceful resistance 和平抵抗原则（二）

in 1925 gandhi again toured india to spread his ideas. some indians believed he was the reincarnation (转世) of god. but gandhi said he was only a man and his power was just the power of persuasion (信念).

gandhi opposed child marriages, urging (极力主张) no woman under the age of twenty-one to be married. he was especially upset about the many child widows in india. young girls were often married to older men and when the men died, the girls could not marry again.

at this time in india, there were altogether almost four hundred thousand indian girls under the age of fifteen who were widows (寡妇). gandhi demanded that these girls be allowed to remarry. besides, in his struggle to improve the status of the untouchables, gandhi gave them a new name: harijans, which means children of god.

gandhi believed india would become independent when it was spiritually (精神上) ready. he encouraged virtuous living among the indian people. he led discussions with great britain. talks between gandhi and other indian leaders and the british fell apart in 1931. again, gandhi was arrested for his political activities. gandhi fasted in prison. as he lay in the shade of a mango tree in the prison yard, he grew very weak. the british, afraid he would die in their hands, freed him.

as gandhi struggled for his goals, the personal tragedy of his relationship with his son harilal grew worse. he wrote mean letters to his father accusing him of being abusive (虐待). in 1936 harilal became a muslim. gandhi was deeply saddened.