书城外语课外英语-美国总统演讲选萃(下)(双语版)
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第7章 林登·约翰逊就职演讲(1965)(2)

Our Nations course is abundantly clear.We aspire to nothing that belongs to others.We seek no dominion over our fellow man.but mans dominion over tyranny and misery.

我国的方针是明确的。我们并不奢求获得别人的东西。我们并不寻求统治别人,而只希望人类能战胜专制和苦难。

But more is required.Men want to be a part of a common enterprise—a cause greater than themselves.Each of us must find a way to advance the purpose of the Nation,thus finding new purpose for ourselves.Without this,we shall become a nation of strangers.

但是我们需要做更多的事情。人们希望成为共同事业的参与者——这是比他们本身更为伟大的事业。我们每个人都必须想方设法为实现我国的目标作出贡献,因而也为自己找到新的目标。如果缺少这些,我国就会变成一个陌路人组成的国家。

The third article was union.To those who were small and few against the wilderness,the success of liberty demanded the strength of union.Two centuries of change have made this true again.

公约的第三条是团结。对那些当年同荒野作斗争的势单力簿的移民来讲,实现自由需要团结的力量。两个世纪的变革再次证实了这点。

No longer need capitalist and worker,farmer and clerk,city and countryside,struggle to divide our bounty.By working shoulder to shoulder,together we can increase the bounty of all.

资本家和工人,农场主和雇员,城市和农村再也不必为分配利益而争斗,我们只要肩并肩共同努力,就能够增加所有人的利益。

We have discovered that every child who learns,every man who finds work,every sick body that is made whole—like a candle added to an altar-brightens the hope of all the faithful.

我们已经看到,每一个在学的儿童,每一个在职的成人,每一个康复的病人,都像圣坛上的蜡烛,照亮了全体信徒的希望。

So let us reject any among us who seek to reopen old wounds and to rekindle old hatreds.They stand in the way of a seeking nation.

因此,让我们唾弃我们中间任何企图再启旧创、重燃旧恨的人。因为对这个不停地追求的国家来说,他们是道路上的障碍。

Let us now join reason to faith and action to experience,to transform our unity of interest into a unity of purpose.For the hour and the day and the time are here to achieve progress without strife,to achieve change without hatred—not without difference of opinion,but without the deep and abiding divisions which scar the union for generations.

现在,让我们把理性和信念融成一体,将行动和经验融成一体,把利益的一致转变成目标的一致。因为无需冲突便能取得进步,不结仇恨便能实现变革的时刻已经来临——这不是说没有不同的观点,而是不会再有在几代人的团结中留下伤痕的根深蒂固的分歧。

Under this covenant of justice,liberty,and union we have become a nation—prosperous,great,and mighty.And we have kept our freedom.But we have no promise from God that our greatness will endure.We have been allowed by Him to seek greatness with the sweat of our hands and the strength of our spirit.

在这个以公正、自由、团结为宗旨的公约指导下,我们已经成为一个繁荣、伟大和强盛的国家。我们还维护了我们的自由。但是,上帝没有保证我们的伟大国家经久不衰。上帝准许我们用自己的双手、用汗水、用精神力量来争取我们的伟大。

I do not believe that the Great Society is the ordered,changeless,and sterile battalion of the ants.It is the excitement of becoming—always becoming,trying,probing,falling,resting,and trying again—but always trying and always gaining.

我认为,“伟大社会”不是一个等级森严、毫无变化、枯燥乏味的蚁群。“伟大社会”因转化而充满激情——不停地变革、尝试、探索、失败、休整、再尝试——但总是在尝试,总是有所收获。

In each generation,with toil and tears,we have had to earn our heritage again.

我们每一代人都必须用汗水和泪水重新继承我们的传统。

If we fail now,we shall have forgotten in abundance what we learned in hardship:that democracy rests on faith,that freedom asks more than it gives,and that the judgment of God is harshest on those who are most favored.

倘若我们现在失败了,这是因为我们在富裕中忘记了在艰难岁月中懂得的那些道理:民主依赖于信仰,自由的要求大于它的赠与,上帝最严厉地评判最受恩赐的人们。

If we succeed,it will not be because of what we have,but it will be because of what we are;not because of what we own,but,rather because of what we believe.

倘若我们成功了,这并不是因为我们具备了什么条件,而是由于我们本身的原因;并不是因为我们拥有什么东西,而是由于我们的信仰所致。

For we are a nation of believers.Underneath the clamor of building and the rush of our days pursuits,we are believers in justice and liberty and union,and in our own Union.We believe that every man must someday be free.And we believe in ourselves.

因为我们是一个有信仰的民族。我们闹嚷嚷地创业,急匆匆地追逐生活目标,但在这些表象背后,我们是公正、自由和团结的信仰者,是自己联邦的信徒。我们相信,总有一天,人人都会获得自由。而且,我们相信自己有力量。

Our enemies have always made the same mistake.In my lifetime—in depression and in war—they have awaited our defeat.Each time,from the secret places of the American heart,came forth the faith they could not see or that they could not even imagine.It brought us victory.And it will again.

我们的敌人总是犯相同的错误。在我这一生中——在萧条年代和战争岁月——他们期待着我们的失败。但每一次,在美国人民的心灵深处,都会产生出他们无法理解,甚至无法想像的信念。这种信念曾给我们带来胜利,它将再次给我们带来胜利。

For this is what America is all about.It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge.It is the star that is not reached and the harvest sleeping in the unplowed ground.Is our world gone?We say“Farewell.”Is a new world coming?We welcome it—and we will bend it to the hopes of man.

因为这就是美国。这是一块未曾跨越的沙漠,是一座尚未攀登的山岭。这是一颗人迹还没有到过的星球,是沉睡在未开垦土地中的硕果。我们的世界已经过去了吗?我们对它说声“再见”。新的世界来临了吗?我们表示欢迎,并将使它服从人类的愿望。

To these trusted public servants and to my family and those close friends of mine who have followed me down a long,winding road,and to all the people of this Union and the world,I will repeat today what I said on that sorrowful day in November 1963:“I will lead and I will do the best I can.”

对那些肩负重任的公仆,对我的家人,对随我走过漫长而又曲折的道路的朋友们,对联邦全体人民和全世界人民,我今天重述我在1963年11月那悲痛的一天说过的话:“我将领导大家,并将尽我所能。”

But you must look within your own hearts to the old promises and to the old dream.They will lead you best of all.

但是,你们必须在内心铭记旧日的承诺和梦想。这才是你们最好的向导。

For myself,I ask only,in the words of an ancient leader:“Give me now wisdom and knowledge,that I may go out and come in before this people:for who can judge this thy people,that is so great?”

至于我自己,借用一位古代领袖的话,我只“求你赐我智慧聪明,我好在这民前出入;不然,谁能判断这众多的民呢?”

人物小传:美国第36位总统(1963—1969)

姓名:林登·贝恩斯·约翰逊

出生:1908年8月27日,靠近约翰逊城市,得克萨斯州

卒于:1973年1月22日,靠近约翰逊城市,得克萨斯州

所属政党:民主党

资产来源:投资电视与广播业、房地产业

林登·贝恩斯·约翰逊是美国第36任总统,生于得克萨斯州,是父亲塞缪尔和母亲莉伯卡的五个孩子中的长子。父亲是州议员。约翰逊在西南师范毕业后从事过多种职业。1948年当选参议员,1951年成为民主党议员领袖。1960年接受肯尼迪提名他为副总统的建议。1963年11月12日,肯尼迪遇刺身亡,约翰逊继任总统。继任后,他提出有关人权、减税、反穷困和资源保护的立法,得以批准。1964年竞选连任成功。他提出了建立“伟大社会”的口号,并出台了一些实际措施,也取得了某些成效。但他因袭前届政府的政策,并且扩大了印支战争。1965年,还派兵对多米尼加共和国进行了干预。特别是扩大印支战争,受到美国人民的强烈反对。约翰逊为了摆脱困境,不得不与印支方面进行谈判,以便结束战争。

任期届满之后,约翰逊不再竞选总统。退休后,他在得克萨斯的一个牧场住了下来。在他去世的第二天,越南停战协定在巴黎签字。

First Inaugural Address ofRichard Milhous Nixon(1969)

Monday,January 20,1969