奧巴馬就職演講

MR. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

謝謝，非常感謝大家。拜登副總統、首席大法官先生、國會議員們、尊敬的各位嘉賓、親愛的公民們。

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy.

We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional –what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

每一次我們集會慶祝總統就職都是在見證美國憲法的持久力量。我們都是在肯定美國民主的承諾。我們重申，將這個國家緊密聯繫在一起的不是我們的膚色，也不是

我們信仰的教條，更不是我們名字的來源。讓我們與衆不同，讓我們成爲美國人的是我們對於一種理念的恪守。200多年前，這一理念在一篇宣言中被清晰闡述：

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“我們認爲下述真理是不言而喻的，人人生而平等。造物主賦予他們若干不可剝奪的權利，包括生存、自由和追求幸福的權利。”

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time. For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob. They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.

今天，我們繼續着這一未竟的征程，架起這些理念與我們時代現實之間的橋樑。因爲歷史告訴我們，即便這些真理是不言而喻的，它們也從來不會自動生效。因爲雖然自由是上帝賦予的禮物，但仍需要世間的子民去捍衛。1776年，美國的愛國先驅們不是隻爲了*國王的暴政而戰，也不是爲贏得少數人的特權，建立暴民的統治。先驅們留給我們一個共和國，一個民有、民治、民享的政府。他們委託每一代美國人捍衛我們的建國信條。

For more than two hundred years, we have.

在過去的200多年裏，我們做到了。

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free. We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.

從奴役的血腥枷鎖和刀劍的血光廝殺中我們懂得了，建立在自由與平等原則之上的聯邦不能永遠維持半奴隸和半自由的狀態。我們贏得了新生，誓言共同前進。

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers。

我們共同努力，建立起現代的經濟體系。架設鐵路與高速公路，加速了旅行和商業交流。建立學校與大學，培訓我們的工人。

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play.

我們一起發現，自由市場的繁榮只能建立在保障競爭與公平競爭的原則之上。

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

我們共同決定讓這個偉大的國家遠離危險，保護她的人民不受生命威脅和不幸的侵擾。

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone. Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, these are constants in our character.

一路走來，我們從未放棄對集權的質疑。我們同樣不屈服於這一謊言：一切的社會弊端都能夠只靠政府來解決。我們對積極向上與奮發進取的讚揚，我們對努力工作與個人責任的堅持，這些都是美國精神的基本要義。

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges;that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.

For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias. No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores. Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation,and one people.

我們也理解，時代在變化，我們同樣需要變革。對建國精神的忠誠，需要我們肩負起新的責任，迎接新的挑戰。保護我們的個人自由，最終需要所有人的共同努力。