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当地时间21日中午，第57届美国总统就职典礼在首都华盛顿国会大厦西侧举行，奥巴马总统发表连任就职演讲，呼吁美国民众团结一致，抓住机遇。80多万观礼的嘉宾从全美各地蜂拥而至，他们都期盼着能够见证这一历史性的时刻，同时对奥巴马总统的第二任期也充满了期待。

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:

副总统拜登、首席法官、美国国会议员、尊敬的客人和美国同胞们：

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:

每次聚在一起举行总统就职仪式时，我们总能见证到宪法经久不衰的力量。我们肯定民主的承诺。我们回忆起，团结这个国家的力量不是皮肤的颜色、所信奉的教条或名字的起源。让我们与众不同、成为美国人的是源自对一个理念的效忠，它早在2个多世纪前就在一份宣言中有过明确表述：

“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.”

“我们认为这一真理是不言自明的：人人生而平等，并由造物主赋予了某些不可转让的权利，其中包括生命、自由和追求幸福的权利。”

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’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth. (Applause.) 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，为了缩小这些文字意义与当今现实间的差距，我们将继续这场没有尽头的旅程。因为历史告诉我们，虽然这些真理也许不言自明，但它们从不会自动生效；虽然自由是来自上帝的礼物，但它必须由地球上的子民们去争取。1776年的爱国者们不是为了用少数人的特权或乌合之众的法则取代国王的暴政而战斗。他们给予我们的是一个共和国、一个民有、民治、民享的政府，并委托每一代人去捍卫我们的建国理念。

And for more than two hundred years, we have.

两百多年来，我们一直如此。

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.

通过皮鞭抽打和刀剑割划流出的鲜血，我们学到，没有哪个建立在自由平等原则上的联盟能够容忍半奴隶半自由的状态。我们重塑自我，并发誓一同前进。

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

我们一同决定，一个现代经济体需要铁路和高速路来促进旅游和商务，需要学校和大学来培训我们的工人。

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

我们一同发现，一个自由市场只有当规则能确保公平竞争时才能够繁荣。

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

我们一同下定决定，一个伟大的国家必须照顾弱者，并保护他们不受到生活最恶劣的伤害和不幸。

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.

通过以上所有，我们从未放弃过对中央集权的质疑，也未曾对光靠政府就能解决所有社会弊病的幻想有过屈服。对首创精神和进取精神的歌颂、对勤劳和责任的坚持已经成为我们性格中无法改变的一部分。

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. (Applause.)

但是我们一直懂得，当时代改变时，我们也必须做出相应的改变：忠于建国原则需要我们以新的方式应对新的挑战；保证个人自由最终需要我们采取集体行动。因为没有哪个美国人能独自满足当今世界的需求，就像美国士兵无法独自迎战拥有枪弹和民兵的法西斯主义。没有哪一个人能为我们孩子的未来培训所有的数学和理科教师，或是通过修路联网和建立研究型实验室给我们海岸带来更多就业和商业活动。作为一个国家、一个民族，我们现在比以往任何时候都有必要团结一致，共同去做这些事。

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience. A decade of war is now ending. (Applause.) An economic recovery has begun. (Applause.) America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention. My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together. (Applause.)

这代美国人经受过多次危机的考验，锻炼了我们的意志，证明了我们的韧性。十年的战争即将结束，经济已经开始复苏。美国有着无限可能，因为我们拥有这个无国界的世界所要求的一切品质：青春和动力，多样性和开放性，掌控风险无穷的能力和进行彻底改造的天赋。我亲爱的美国同胞们，我们为此刻而生，只要我们能一同抓住这个机遇，我们就能把它紧紧抓牢。

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. (Applause.) We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class. We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. (Applause.)

因为，作为人民的我们知道，只有少数人过得好，而越来越多人生活无法好转时，我们的国家就无法成功。我们相信，美国的繁荣必须建立在一个愈加庞大的中产阶级宽阔的肩膀上。我们知道，只有当每个人都能在自己的工作中找到独立和自豪，只有当诚实劳动所换得的工资能将家人从困苦的边缘解救出来时，美国才能繁荣。当一个出身贫寒的小女孩意识到，因为自己是美国人，她不论在上帝、还是大家眼中都是自由平等的，知道自己和其他人一样有机会获得成功。只有这样，我们才是坚守了信条。

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time. So we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, reach higher. But while the means will change, our purpose endures: a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American. That is what this moment requires. That is what will give real meaning to our creed.

我们知道，过时的规划无法满足现代的需求。我们必须利用新的想法和科技来重塑我们的政府、改进我们的税法、改革我们的学校，让我们的公民获得所需的技能，更加勤奋地工作、学习更多知识，攀登更高峰。尽管方法会有所改变，我们的目标始终如一：建设一个奖励每个美国人所付出努力和决心的国家。这是我们此刻所需要的，也是赋予我们信条的真实含义。

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity. We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. (Applause.) For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.

作为人民，我们仍然相信，每个公民都享有一定基础的安全和尊严。我们必须做出削减医保开支和债务规模的艰难决定，但是拒绝相信美国必须在照顾建设国家的这代人和投资下一代两者间做出选择的想法。因为我们记得过去的教训，当晚年贫困潦倒，而残疾儿童的父母无处求援时。

We do not believe that in this country freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few. We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us at any time may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other through Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security, these things do not sap our initiative, they strengthen us. (Applause.) They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. (Applause.)

在这个国家，我们不相信自由只是幸运者的特权或少数人的快乐。我们认识到，无论自己对生活多么负有责任感，任何人在某个时候都有可能面临失业、暴病、或者房屋被飓风摧毁等危险。我们通过医保、医补和社保相互间做出的承诺不仅不会损害我们的主动性，反而能使我们更强大。它们不会让我们沦为国家一味的索取者，而是把我们从建设伟大国家包含的风险中解脱出来。

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. (Applause.) Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.

作为人民，我们仍然相信，我们美国人的义务不仅仅是对自己，而是对所有子孙后代。我们将应对气候变化的威胁，因为我们认识到失败将意味着出卖自己的孩子和后人。一些人仍然否认压倒性的科学判断，但没人能够逃避熊熊大火、严重干旱和强风暴的毁灭性影响。

The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition, we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries, we must claim its promise. That’s how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow-capped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

通往可持续能源的道路将是漫长的，有时充满艰辛。但美国不会抵制这样的转变；我们必须领导它。我们不能把这些能够增加新岗位和新产业的技术割让给其他国家—我们必须留住这些好处。那是我们保持经济活力和国家财富的方法——我们的森林和水路，我们的农田和雪峰；是我们保护上帝吩咐我们照顾的星球的方法。它诠释了我们先辈们所宣扬的信条。

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war. (Applause.) Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage. (Applause.) Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm. But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war; who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends – and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

作为人民，我们仍然相信，持久的安全与和平不要通过永远的战争来维护。我们身穿制服、勇敢男女们在战火中历练出了无以伦比的技艺和勇气。被失去亲人的痛苦记忆折磨的公民非常清楚为自由付出自由的代价。认识他们的牺牲能让我们对可能伤害我们的人永远保持警醒。那些人不仅仅赢得战争、还赢得了和平，他们还将不共戴天的仇敌变成最为可靠的盟友。作为继承人的我们必须把这些教训运用到现代。

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law. We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully –- not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear. (Applause.)

我们将通过武器和法律的力量捍卫我们的人民、维护我们的价值观。我们将用和平的手段尝试解决和其他国家的分歧——不是因为我们面对危险的天真，而是因为协约能够更持久地消除疑虑和恐惧。

America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe. And we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation. We will support democracy from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom. And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice –- not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity, human dignity and justice.

美国将在全球每个角落在坚定的联盟中继续承担锚的作用；我们将重启那些利于我们扩展管理国外危机能力的组织机构，因为和平对于最强大的国家来说，比其他国家有更大的利害关系。利益和良心驱使我们去代表那些渴望自由的人，我们将支持民主，范围覆盖亚洲到非洲、美洲到中东。我们还必须成为穷人、病患、被边缘化者和受歧视者希望的源泉——不是仅仅是出于慈善，而是因为这个时代的和平要求我们推进这些在信条中有过描述的原则：宽容和机会；人类的尊严和正义。

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. (Applause.)

作为人民，我们今天在此宣布最不言自明的真理——人人生而平等，它仍是指引我们的星星；就像它曾指引我们的先辈们走过纽约州塞尼卡瀑布城、塞尔玛和石墙；就像它指引所有那些被歌颂或淹没的男女们，他们在这条伟大的林荫大道上留下足迹，倾听一名牧师诉说我们不能独自行走；去听马丁-路德-金宣讲说，我们每个人的自由与地球每一个灵魂的自由有着不可分割的紧密联系。

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began. For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law –- (applause) – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity – (applause) – until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country. (Applause.) Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia, to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for and cherished and always safe from harm.

现在，我们这代人的任务是继承先驱们开创的事业。因为我们的旅程还未完成，除非我们的妻子、母亲和女儿能够获得和付出等值的回报。我们的旅程还未完成，除非我们的同性恋兄弟姐妹们被法律平等对待。因为，如果我们真的生而平等，那么我们对他人承诺的爱也肯定是平等的。我们的旅程还未完成，除非公民不必被迫等待数个小时行使投票权。我们的旅程还未完成，除非我们找到一个更好的方式欢迎那些视美国为机遇之乡、艰苦奋斗、满怀希望的移民；直到聪明年轻的学生和工程师成为劳动大军的一员，而不是被驱逐出境。我们的旅程还未完成，除非我们所有的儿童，从底特律的街头到阿巴拉契亚山脉，再到纽镇安静的小路，知道他们将会受人照顾和珍惜，且永远远离伤害。

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values of life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness. Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time. (Applause.)

那就是我们这代人的任务——让这些生命、自由和追求幸福的话语、权利和价值观变成每个美国人的现实。忠于建国文献并不要求我们在生活的方方面面都达成一致；它不意味着我们用一样的方式去定义自由，或是遵循通往幸福的某一条固定道路。进步不会迫使我们结束长达数个世纪以来关于政府作用的讨论，但它确实要求我们在当代采取行动。

For now decisions are upon us and we cannot afford delay. We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate. (Applause.) We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect. We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years and 40 years and 400 years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

目前，决策的时间越来越临近，我们已经无法再拖延。我们不能把专制主义错当成原则，或是用表演取代政治，抑或是把谩骂当作理性的辩论。我们必须行动起来，认识到我们的工作将不会完美。我们必须行动起来，认识到今天的胜利将只是局部，而这一切将取决于今后4年、40年乃至400年后站在这里的人，由他来推进我们在费城独立大厅被授予的永恒精神。

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction. And we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service. But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty or an immigrant realizes her dream. My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride.

我们美国同胞们，我今天在你们面前的誓词跟历任总统在国会山上背诵的一样，是对上帝和国家的承诺，不是政党或派系。我们必须在任职期间忠实地执行这一誓言。但是我今天说的话，和报名服役的士兵或实现梦想的移民没有太大不同。我的誓言和大家满心自豪、在飘扬的国旗下所做的宣誓没有太大不同。

They are the words of citizens and they represent our greatest hope. You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. (Applause.)

它们是公民的语言，代表了我们最大的期望。你和我作为公民，有能力去设定这个国家的道路。你和我，作为公民，有义务去影响我们时代的讨论——不仅仅是通过选票，还可以抬高声音，去维护我们最古老的价值观和最持久的理念。

Let us, each of us, now embrace with solemn duty and awesome joy what is our lasting birthright. With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom.

让我们每个人现在用庄严的职责和无比的喜悦拥抱我们与生俱来的永恒权利。伴随着共同的努力和共同的愿望，伴随着热情和奉献，让我们一起响应历史的号召，高举珍贵的自由之光进入不确定的未来。

Thank you. God bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America. (Applause.)

谢谢你们，上帝保佑你们，并希望他永远保佑美利坚。