The audacity of hope

The audacity of hope

无畏的希望

My fellow citizens:

我的同胞们：

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.

今天我站在这里，

看到眼 前面临的重大任务，

深感卑微。

我感谢你们对我的信任，

也知道先

辈们为了这个国家所作的牺牲。

我要 感谢布什总统为国家做出的贡献，

以及感谢他在两届政

府过渡期 间给与的慷慨协作。

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 vis

ion

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.

迄今为止，已经有

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个美国总统宣誓就职 。总统的宣誓有时面对的是国家的和平繁荣，但

通常面临的是乌云密布的紧张形势。

在紧张的形势中，

支持美国前进的不仅仅是领导人的能

力和远见，也在于美国人民对国家先驱者理想的信仰，以及对美国立国文件的忠诚。

< br>

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

前辈们如此，我们这一代美国人也要如此。

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

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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.

现在 我们都深知，我们身处危机之中。我们的国家在战斗，对手是影响深远的暴力和憎恨；

国 家的经济也受到严重的削弱，

原因虽有一些人的贪婪和不负责任，

但更为重要的是我们作

为一个整体在一些重大问题上决策失误，

同时也未能做好应对新时代的准备。

我们的人民正

在失去家园 ，失去工作，很多企业倒闭。社会的医疗过于昂贵、学校教育让许多人失望，而

且每天都 会有新的证据显示，

我们利用能源的方式助长了我们的敌对势力，

同时也威胁着我

们的星球。

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.

统计数据的指标传达着 危机的消息。

危机难以测量，

但更难以测量的是其对美国人国家 自信

的侵蚀

--

现在一种认为美国衰落 不可避免，

我们的下一代必须低调的言论正在吞噬着人们的

自信 。

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.

我们的确面临着很多严峻的挑战，

而 且在短期内不大可能轻易解决。

但是我们

要相信，我们一定会度 过难关。

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of

purpose over conflict and discord.

2

今天，

我们在这里齐聚一堂，

因为我们战胜恐惧选择了希望，

摒弃了冲 突和矛盾而选择了团

结。

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. < /p>

今天，

我们宣布要为无谓的摩擦、

不实的 承诺和指责画上句号，

我们要打破牵制美国政治发

展的若干陈旧 教条。

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.

美国仍是一个年轻的国家，借用《圣经 》的话说，放弃幼稚的时代已经到来了。重拾坚韧精

神的时代已经到来，

我们要为历史作出更好的选择，

我们要秉承历史赋予的宝贵权利，

秉承

那种代代相传的高贵理念：

上帝赋予我们每个人 以平等和自由，

以及每个人尽全力去追求幸

福的机会。

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.

在重申我 们国家伟大之处的同时，我们深知伟大从来不是上天赐予的，伟大需要努力赢得。

（我们 的民族一路走来），这旅途之中从未有过捷径或者妥协，这旅途也不适合胆怯之人、

3

或者爱安逸胜过爱工作之人、

或者 单单追求名利之人。

这条路是勇于承担风险者之路，

是实

干家、

创造者之路。

这其中有一些人名留青史 ，

但是更多的人却在默默无闻地工作着。

正是

< br>这些人带领我们走过了漫长崎岖的旅行，带领我们走向富强和自由。

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and

traveled across oceans

in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the west; endured the lash of the

whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy

and Khe Sahn.

为了我们，先辈们带着微薄的细 软，横渡大洋，寻找新生活；为了我们，先辈们忍辱负重，

用血汗浇铸工厂；为了我们， 先辈们在荒芜的西部大地辛勤耕作，定居他乡；为了我们，先

辈们奔赴（独立战争中的） 康科德城和葛底斯堡、（二战中的）诺曼底、（越战中的）

Khe

Sahn

，他们征战、死去。

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.

一次又一次，我们的先辈们战斗着、牺牲着、操劳着，只为了我们可 以生活得更好。在他们

看来，美国的强盛与伟大超越了个人雄心，也超越了个人的出身、 贫富和派别差异。

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 pat, of protecting narrow

interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed.

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Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again

the work of remaking America.

今天我们继续先辈们的旅途。

< br>美国依然是地球上最富裕、

最强大的国家。

同危机初露端 倪之

时相比，

美国人民的生产力依然旺盛；

与上周、

上个月或者去年相比，

我们的头脑依然富于

创造力，我们的商品和服务依然很有市场，我们的实力不曾削弱。但是，可以肯定的是，轻

歌曼舞的时代、

保护狭隘利益的时代以及对艰难决定犹豫不决的时代 已经过去了。

从今天开

始，我们必须跌倒后爬起来，拍拍身上的 泥土，重新开始工作，重塑美国。

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. W

e

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.

我目之所及，

都有工作有待完成。

国家的经济情况要求我们采取大胆且快速的行动，

我们的

确 是要行动，不仅是要创造就业，更要为（下一轮经济）增长打下新的基础。我们将造桥铺

路，

为企业铺设电网和数字线路，

将我们联系在一起。