Hello, Chicago!
芝加哥,你好!
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.
假如还有人不相信美国是一个不存在不可能的地方,还有人怀疑开国之父们的梦想依然在影响着我们这个时代,还有人质疑美利坚民主的力量,那么,他们的疑惑在今夜得到了解答。
It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.
在学校和教堂外面,人们排起了长长的队伍,人数之多在美国历史上前所未有。为了投上自己的一票,他们可以等待三个小时、四个小时。许多人是一生中第一次参加投票,因为他们坚信这一次必须有所变革,而他们的声音将举足轻重。
It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled — Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of red states and blue states; we are, and always will be, the United States of America.
所有的人,无论年轻人还是老年人,无论穷人还是富人,无论民主党人还是共和党人,无论黑人还是白人,无论拉美裔还是亚裔, 无论同性恋者还是异性恋者,无论残疾人还是健康人,他们向全世界发出了同一个信息:我们从来不属于共和党的“红州”或者民主党的“蓝州”,我们属于美利坚合众国,现在如此,永远如此!
It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.
在如此漫长的时期内,曾经有如此众多的人们对我们说:对于我们的成功,我们应该淡漠,应该害怕,应该不相信。但是,历史之轮如今已在我们手中,历史之轮将又一次在我们手中驶向美好未来。
It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
通往今夜的道路很漫长,但今夜终于来临。特殊的一天,特殊的一次大选,特殊的决定性时刻,美国迎来了变革。
I just received a very gracious call from Sen. McCain. He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him and Gov. Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.
刚才,我接到了麦凯恩参议员一个非常大度的电话。在这次竞选中,他作出了持久而艰巨的努力。为了这个他热爱的国家,他作出的努力更持久、更艰巨。他为美利坚做出的牺牲,超出了我们绝大多数人的想象。他是一位勇敢无私的领袖,正因为有了象他这样的服务,我们才生活得更好。我对麦凯恩参议员以及佩林州长的成绩表示祝贺。同时,我也期待着在未来与他们一起为振兴国家而共同努力。
I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on that train home to Delaware, the vice-president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.
我要感谢我的竞选搭档,一位全身心投入的男人——当选副总统乔?拜登。为了与他一起在斯克兰顿街道长大的人们,为了曾与他一起坐那趟回特拉华州火车的人们,他全心全意地竟选,他要为这些普通百姓代言。
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House. And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother is watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight, and know that my debt to them is beyond measure.
我要感谢下一位第一夫人米歇尔?奥巴马。她是我家的中流砥柱,是我生命中的最爱。没有她在过去16年来的坚定支持,我就不可能今晚站在这里。我要感谢萨沙和玛丽雅,我太爱你们两个了,你们将有一条新的小狗,它将与我们一起入住白宫。我还要感谢已去世的外婆,我知道此刻她正在天上看着我。她与其它亲人一起造就了今天的我。今夜我思念他们,我知道他们对我的恩情比山高,比海深。
To my campaign manager, David Plouffe; my chief strategist, David Axelrod; and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics — you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.
我要感谢我的竞选经理大卫?普鲁夫,感谢首席策划师大卫?阿克塞罗德以及整个竞选团队,他们是政治史上最优秀的竞选团队。你们成就了今夜,我永远感谢你们为今夜所作出的牺牲。
But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to — it belongs to you.
但最重要的是,我将永远不会忘记这场胜利真正归功于谁---是你们!
I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington — it began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.
我曾经是最没有可能的候选人。起初,我们的资金不多,赞助人也不多。我们的竞选并非始于华盛顿的华丽大厅,而是起于德莫奈地区某家的后院、康科德地区的某家客厅、查尔斯顿地区的某家前廊。
It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to this cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy; who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep; from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on the doors of perfect strangers; from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized, and proved that more than two centuries later, a government of the people, by the people and for the people has not perished from this earth. This is your victory.
这些劳动大众从自己的微薄积蓄中掏出5美元、10美元、20美元,拿来捐助我们的事业。现在的年轻人曾被认为是冷漠的一代,但正是这些年轻人壮大了我们的声势。他们离开自己的家庭和亲人,拿着很少的报酬,起早摸黑地助选。上了年纪的人也顶着严寒酷暑,敲开陌生人的家门助选。无数的美国人自愿地组织起来,证明了在两百多年以后,民有、民治、民享的政府并未从地球上消失。这是你们的胜利。
I know you didn't do this just to win an election, and I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime — two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair.
我知道你们这样做并不只是为了赢得一场大选,更不是为了我个人。你们这样做,是因为你们明白未来的任务有多么艰巨。今晚我们在欢庆,明天我们就将面对一生之中最为严峻的挑战--两场战争、一个充满危险的星球,还有百年一遇的金融危机。今晚我们站在这里庆祝,但我们知道在伊拉克的沙漠里,在阿富汗的群山中,那些勇敢的美国人正在那里。为了我们,他们醒来后面对的是一个有生命危险的世界。这些士兵的父母会在孩子熟睡后仍难以入眠,他们担忧的是如何偿还月供,如何支付医药费,如何存够今后孩子的大学费用。我们需要开发新能源,创造新的就业机会;修建新的学校;我们还要迎接挑战和威胁,并修复与盟国的关系。
The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even one term, but America — I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you: We as a people will get there.
前方的道路还很漫长,任务很艰巨。一年之内,甚至一届任期之内,我们可能都无法完成这些任务。但我从未像今晚这样对美国满怀希望,我相信我们会实现这个目标。我向你们承诺--我们美利坚民族将实现这一目标!
There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years — block by block, brick by brick, callused hand by callused hand.
我们会遇到挫折,会出师不利,会有许多人不认同我得某一项决定或政策。我们知道政府并不能解决所有问题,我会向你们坦陈我们所面临的困难。我会聆听你们的意见,尤其是在我们意见不同的时候。最重要的是,我会请求你们一起参与重建这个国家。用自己的双手,从一砖一瓦做起,这是美国立国221年以来的前进方式,也是惟一的方式。
What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
21个月前那个隆冬所开始的一切绝不应在今天这个秋夜结束。我们所寻求的变革并不只是赢得大选,这只是给变革提供了一个机会。假如我们仍然按照现有方式行事,就没有变革。没有你们,就没有变革。
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation — as one people.
让我们发扬新的爱国精神,树立新的服务意识和责任感;让我们每个人下定决心,更加努力地工作,彼此关爱;让我们牢记这场金融危机带来的教训:不能允许商业街挣扎的同时却让华尔街繁荣。在这个国家,我们属于同一民族,我们患难与共。
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House — a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.
党派政治,琐碎狭隘,不成熟,长期以来这些东西荼毒了我们的政治。让我们牢记,当来自伊利诺伊州的一名男子首次将共和党的大旗扛进白宫时,伴随着他的是自强自立、个人自由、国家统一的共和党建党理念。这也是我们所有人都珍视的理念。虽然民主党今晚大胜,但我们态度谦卑,并决心弥合阻碍我们进步的分歧。
As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends... Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection." And, to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.
当年,林肯面对的是一个比目前分歧更深更大的国家。他说:“我们不是敌人,而是朋友……虽然激情可能褪去,但是我们的感情纽带不会割断。”对于那些现在并不支持我的美国人,我想说,虽然我没有赢得你们的选票,但我听到了你们的声音,我需要你们的帮助,我也将是你们的总统。
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world — our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.
对于关注今夜结果的国际人士,不管他们是在国会、皇宫关注,还是在荒僻地带收听电台,我们的态度是:我们美国人的经历各有不同,但我们的命运相同,新的美国领袖诞生了。那些想要毁灭这个世界的人们,我们必将击败你们。那些追求和平和安全的人们,我们支持你们。那些怀疑美国这盏灯塔是否依然明亮的人们,今天晚上我们已再次证明:美国的真正力量来源并非军事威力或财富规模,而是我们理想的恒久力量:民主、自由、机会和不屈的希望。
For that is the true genius of America — that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
这才是美国真正的精髓--美国能够变革。我们的联邦会不断完善。我们已经取得的成就,将为我们将来能够并且必须取得的成就增添了希望。
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
这次大选创造了多项“第一”,诞生了很多将流芳后世的故事,但今晚令我最为难忘的却是一位在亚特兰大投票的妇女:安妮?库波尔。她和无数排队等待投票的选民没有什么差别,除了一点:她高龄106岁。
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons — because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
在她出生的那个时代,黑奴制刚刚结束。那时路上没有汽车,天上没有飞机。当时像她这样的人由于两个原因不能投票--一第一因为她是女性,第二个原因是她的肤色。
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.
今天晚上,我想到了安妮在美国过去一百年间的种种经历:心痛和希望,挣扎和进步,那些我们被告知我们办不到的年代,以及我们现在这个年代。现在,我们坚信美国式信念──是的,我们能!
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.
妇女曾经没有发言权,她们曾经希望破灭。但安妮活到了今天,看到了妇女们站了起来,她们发表自己的见解,有了选举权。是的,我们能。
When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes, we can.
上世纪三十年代,大萧条横扫美国大地,一片绝望。她看到了美国以新政、新的就业机会以及崭新的共同追求战胜了恐慌。是的,我们能。
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes, we can.
二战时期,炸弹降临我们的海港上空,全世界受到独裁专制的威胁,她见证了美国一代人的伟大崛起,他们拯救了民主。是的,我们能。
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes, we can.
她看到了蒙哥马利通了公共汽车、伯明翰接上了水管、塞尔马建了桥。来自亚特兰大的一位传教士告诉人们:我们能!。是的,我们能。
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes, we can.
人类登上了月球、柏林墙倒下了,科学和想像把世界连了一块。今年,在这次选举中,安妮的手指轻触电子屏幕,投下自己的一票。她在美国生活了106年,其间有最美好的时光,也有最黑暗的时刻,她知道美国能够变革。是的,我们能。
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
美利坚,我们已经一路走来,我们已经看到了那么多变化,但我们仍有很多事情要做。今夜,让我们问自己这样一个问题:假如我们的孩子能够活到下一个世纪;假如我们的女儿有幸与安妮一样长寿,她们将会看到怎样的改变?我们又取得了怎样的进步?
This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.
现在,我们有了回答这个问题的机会。这是我们的时刻,我们的时代。让我们的人民重新就业,为我们的孩子打开机会的大门;恢复繁荣,促进和平;让美国梦重放光芒,再证这一重要的真理,那就是:团结一致,众志成城;一息尚存,希望就在;倘若有人嘲讽我们不能,怀疑我们能,那么我们就以这一永恒信条回应,因为它凝聚了整个民族的精神——是的,我们能!
Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
谢谢大家!愿主保佑你们,保佑美利坚合众国。
posted on 2008-12-22 22:07
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