My fellow citizens:
同胞们：
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
我今天站在这里，面对摆在我们眼前的艰巨重任，深感谦卑，你们寄予我信赖，我十分感激，祖先付出牺牲奉献，我未敢忘却。我感谢布什总统对国家所尽的服务，也对他在整个政权移交过渡时期，展示出的宽宏大量与合作精神，表达我的谢意。
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
有44个美国人进行过总统就职宣誓。有些誓词是在繁荣浪潮兴起和风平浪静和平时期宣读的。也有些誓言则是在阴云密布与暴风骤雨施虐时宣读的。而在这种时刻，美国不仅因为总统有什么能力，或有何愿景，而是因为“我们人民”（美国宪法头三个字，也是最有名的三个字___张放注）一直坚守先辈理念，并对我们建国的伟大文献坚信不移，才使美国朝前走去。
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
过去如此，今天我们这一代美国人也要这样。
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our healthcare is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
就是说，我们都十分清楚，目前已身处危机之中。我们的国家正处于战争之中，正与十分猖獗的暴力和仇恨的组织网络开战。我们的经济遭到重创，由于贪婪与不负责任，也由于我们没有痛下决心做出抉择，造成严重后果，国家也在没有准备的情况下走入新时代。家园丧失了，工作丢掉了，商业一片凋敝。健康保险费用昂贵，学校不能正常开学。而且，每天我们还继续看到，我们在消耗着能源，却壮大了对手，并威胁着整个地球。
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
这些都是数据统计出来的危机的征兆。但在整个美国，更难以统计，但却十分重要的，是信心在逐渐丧失。人们内心恐惧，抱怨说，美国经济衰退是不可避免的，说下一代人得降低自己的期望值。
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
今天，我要向你们说，面临的挑战确实存在。问题很严重，数量也庞大。一切都不可能一朝一夕得以轻松解决。但是，美利坚哪，知晓这些之后，就必须迎接这些挑战！在这个日子里，我们齐聚一起，因为我们选择希望，抛弃恐惧，选择团结，摒弃冲突与纷争。
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
在这个日子里，我们旨在宣布，结束一切鸡毛蒜皮的相互倾轧和开空头支票，也不再彼此指责，陈词滥调。所有这些都太久地毒害着政治环境。我们是个年轻的国家，但要用《圣经》里的话说就是，时候到了，把幼稚把戏搁置一边吧。时候到了，我们重振不懈怠的精神，选择创造更美好的历史，带上珍贵礼物，带上高尚理想：上帝给予诺言，人人生来平等，人人生来自由，人人都有获得追求完整幸福的机会。我们一代又一代地传递下去吧。
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
在重振国家雄风时，我们知道，雄风永远不是别人的赠与，而只能争取获得。我们的征程永远没有捷径，也更不可能事先预定好。这一征程永远不属于内心脆弱者，不属于贪图安逸，不想打拼者，也不属于只求享受财富与虚名者。这一征程只属于敢于承担风险的人，属于实干的人，属于有所作为的人。有人已成为有成就者。但更多的男人女人们则埋头打拼，正是他们，将我们带至通往繁荣与自由的，漫长也充满坎坷的道路上来。
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
他们为了我们，收拾起并不太富足的尘世行囊，他们漂洋过海，旨在找寻新生活。
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the west; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
他们为了我们，在危险的环境下奋斗，目标早已定下。他们经历着磨难，在坚硬的土地上耕耘。
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
他们为了我们，在诸如康科德，葛底斯堡，诺曼底和溪山，战斗并献出生命。
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
正是他们，为了能让我们过上更好的生活，在不懈地拼争，牺牲奉献，努力工作，直至手掌变得粗糙不堪。他们视美国为更大，远大于个体野心的总和。他们视美国为更伟大的国家，远不去注意出身高低，财富多少或党派所属。
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing past of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
今天，我们要继续这一征程。我们要继续保持全球最繁荣最强大的国家地位。我们的劳作者们的创造力，在这场金融危机开始后，并没有减退。我们的创新思想，并没有减少，我们的产品与服务，比上周，上个月或上一年，需求上并没有减少。我们的能力也一点也没有减弱。……那一时刻已经过去。从今天开始，我们必须重新打起精神，拍掉身上的灰尘，重新塑造美国吧。
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
当举目张望，会发现有很多事情要做。目前的经济状况，要求我们必须马上行动起来。动作要大胆，还要敏捷。我们将行动起来___不仅要创造新的就业机会，还要为进一步增长搭建新的基础。要修路，建桥，架电线，铺数据网，这些都将给经济带来活力，并会使我们紧紧地团结在一起。还要让科学研究归位，使技术创新成果提升健康保健质量，同时降低其费用。还要利用太阳能，风能和地能，给汽车注入新的燃料，令工厂转动起来。还要改造学校、学院和大学，以适应新时代的需要。这些就是我们能做到的。而且，这些是马上要做的。
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
现在，有人在怀疑我们的雄心是不是太过庞大，他们进言道，我们目前这一体系，不可能承受得到了太多庞大的计划。他们真是太健忘了。因为他们已经忘记我们这个国家曾创造出什么样的伟业。忘记了自由的民众将想象力与共同的目标融合在一起，与必需的勇气相结合时，会创造出什么样的事情。
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
那些说三道四的人不能明白的是，他们脚下的土地已经发生了变化：无趣的，长久消费我们太多精力的政治纷争已经不灵了。我们今天要质问的，并不是政府是过大抑或太小，而是它到底能不能有效转动，能不能帮助千家万户找到回报很不错的工作，老百姓们能不能承担得起健康医疗保险费用，能不能让人们体面地过退休生活。当发现答案是肯定的地方，我们就要奋力朝前冲。当答案是否定时，所制订的计划要马上叫停。那些掌管大家的钱的人，要确保是可信赖的人。他们花钱时要精打细算，改掉以前的坏习惯，将所有的事情都公开在阳光之下，因为只有这样，才能恢复人民与政府之间的重要的信任关系。
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
我们的市场也明显不是一个问题。它创造财富和扩大自由的能力，是无以匹敌的。只是这场金融危机倒是给我们提了一个醒：没有监管的目光，市场就可能失去控制；一个国家如果只令有钱者持续有钱赚的话，那它注定不会长久繁荣下去。我们的经济之所以成功，并不仅仅依赖于GDP，而是仰仗我们的繁荣，仰仗我们将机会拓展给每个想掌握机会的人的能力上面。之所以这样做，并不是出于慈善考虑，而是因为这才是最保靠的通往共同富裕的道路。
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
说到共同防御。我们认为在安全与理想中间进行选择，是个误区。美国建国先辈们，在面临我们难以想像的危险时，拟定出一部宪章，以确保法律和人权不受到侵害。这部宪章在后来的一代代人的血流之中，获得了完善。那里面的理想，至今仍照耀着整个世界。我们也不会因为有所屈服，将理想抛弃。所以，今天在世界各地观看就职典礼的人们及政府，包括从最富丽堂皇的首都到我父亲出生的那个小小的村舍：我要说告诉你们的是，美国是每个国家的朋友，是每个追求未来和平与尊严的男人，女人和孩子们的朋友，我们已经准备好，还要再次领导全世界。
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
想想早前的一代又一代人，他们面对的是法西斯主义，面对的是导弹和坦克，但仍然有最坚定的盟友，也有持久的信念。他们明白仅依靠自己的力量，不足以保护自己，也不可能唯所欲为。于是，他们知道，力量是在谨慎使用中壮大起来的；安全感则是来自事业的正义性，来自榜样的力量，来自谦卑与约束的历练。
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
我们正是这一遗产的承继者。再次受这些原则指导，我们就能面对新的威胁，哪怕需要更大的努力，与更广泛的合作与国家间的理解。我们将以负责任的态度，撤离伊拉克，把它交还给伊拉克人民。并努力在阿富汗赢得难得的和平。对于旧时的盟友和先前的敌人，我们还要不懈地与之合作，以减少核威胁。我们对自己的生活方式，不会向任何人道歉。但也不会在辩护时有任何摇摆态度。对于那些试图通过恐怖行为与屠杀无辜者，想达到自己目标的人，我们要说，你们知道，我们的精神更强大，而且不可能被摧毁。你们不可能战胜我们，而我们将打败你们。
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
因为我们知道，我们有自我检讨并加以修正的传统，它是我们的长处，不是弱点。我们是个基督徒和伊斯兰教徒，犹太教徒和印度教徒，以及无信仰者们联合起来的国家。我们有来自世界各地的语言与文化，也因为我们曾尝过内战与分裂的苦果，从黑暗的历史阶段走了出来，并因此变得更强大更团结，所以我们从骨子里坚信，旧的仇恨终将会消失；部落纷争的界限很快会消融，当世界变得越来越小，我们共同的人的属性将自己凸显出来，美国必须在引领进入一个新的和平时代上面，扮演自己的角色。
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the west - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
对于伊斯兰教世界，我们将根据互利互敬原则，寻求新的方式。对于世界上那些寻求播种冲突或将自己社会中的种种弊端，转嫁到西方社会的领导者们，我们知道，你们的人民将根据你能建构的而不是你能摧毁的来判断你。对于那些通过腐败、欺骗和对持不同政见者的声音消音来掌控权利的人，我们知道，你们是站在历史的反面，但如果你们愿意将拳头打开，我们一定会向你们伸出手来示好。
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
对于那些贫穷国家的人民，我们保证与你们并肩打拼，令你们的农场繁荣起来，让洁净的水流过去，为忍受饥饿的身体注入养分，给饥渴的心灵提供食粮。对于那些与我们一样享受着生活物资相对丰富的国家，我们说，面对我们国家疆域以外的人们遭遇的苦难，我们不再能容忍冷眼漠视，我们也不能容忍世界的资源被浪费，而不去思考一下其实际使用效率。因为世界已经改变，所以我们必须跟随一起改变。
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
当我们想到将展现在我们眼前的未来的道路时，我们要心存感激，谦卑地记起那些勇敢的美国人，此时，他们正在遥远的沙漠和群山之中巡逻。他们今天也有话要告诉我们，正如无数岁月中，埋葬于阿灵顿公墓里沉落的英雄们中所喃喃细语一样。我们敬仰他们，并不是因为他们是自由的监护人，而是因为他们代表着奉献精神，代表着找寻比自己人生更有意义的某种意愿。而就在此时，在这重新界定一代人的时刻，正是这种精神，占据了我们所有人的内心。
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
至于政府能做什么，和必须做什么，最终仍依赖于美国人民对自己国家的信心与决断。当堤坝开始倒塌，把陌生人请进家门，是一种良善，劳作者宁愿削减自己的工作时间，也不愿看到朋友失去工作，这是一种无私。这些品格将伴随我们走过最黑暗的时刻。当消防队员冲入烟熏火撩的楼梯时，那是他有勇气。只有父母甘愿养育孩子，还会最终决定我们的命运。
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
我们面临的所有挑战都是新的。我们迎接挑战的工具也是新的。但获取成功所赖以的那些价值，打拼，诚实，勇气和公平，宽容和好奇，效忠与爱国，这些东西都不是新的。这些却都是真实存在的。它们一直是我们美国历史前行中沉默的力量。现在需要对这些价值有个回报了。现在就要求我们进入一个负起责任的新的时代。一种每个美国人都要有的认同，也就是说，我们对自己要负责任，对我们的国家要负责任，对世界要负责任。这种责任并不是我们心存不悦地接受来的，而是愉快地争取到的。因为我们深知，只有将全部身心都献给那艰难的任务，我们的灵魂才会如此感到满足，我们的人格才能得到重塑。
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
这是一个公民所要付出的代价，也是一个公民所要承担的承诺。
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
这是我们信心的源泉，这信心就是上帝在呼唤着我们，令我们把一个不可知的命运加以塑造。
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
这是自由与信念的真正意义：它说明了无论是什么种族，有什么信仰，男人们、女人们和孩子们都能加入到这恢弘的林荫大道来庆贺，也说明了为什么一个不到60岁的父亲，并没有在当地某餐馆做服务生，而是站到了你们的面前，要做出最庄严的宣誓。
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
所以，让我们记住这个日子，并深知自己是谁，我们脚下的路已经走了多远。在美国诞生的那里年里，在最寒冷的月份之中，一小群爱国分子，在一个结冰的河岸边，聚集在忽明忽暗的篝火旁。首府已经陷落，敌人正在猛扑过来。雪地上留下斑斑血迹。那时，我们革命的成果遭遇到最大的怀疑，于是我们国家的先辈们将下面的话语读给了民众们听：
“让未来世界知道吧……在最深的冬天里，我们身上已经一无所有，存活下来的只有我们的希望和德行……我们的城市与国家，正面临共同的危险，大家一起来面对（它）吧。”
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
美国民众啊，在面临我们共同的危险时，在这艰难的冬天里，让我们牢记上述那永恒的话语吧。带着希望，带着德行，让我们再一次冲破已经结冰的河流，并咬牙度过可能将至的一场场暴风雨吧。让我们的孩子的孩子们传诵说，当我们遭遇试练，我们没有让这一征程停滞下来，我们没有回头，也没有胆怯；我们的目光已经聚焦在地平线上，聚焦在上帝给予我们的恩慈上面，我们将带着自由的伟大礼物前行，并将它安全地送达到未来的一代又一代人手中。
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. |
收藏
点赞!
反对!