-
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 vision 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
44
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。
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 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
statistic
s. 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< /p>
--
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.
今天我要说，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.
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
grievance
s and false
promises, the recriminations and worn out
dogmas, that for far too long have
strangled our politics.
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、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，<
/p>
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
possession
s 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. 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。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. We 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，
< br>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。我们将回归科学，运用科技的奇迹
提高医疗质量，降低医疗
费用。我们将利用风能、太阳能和土壤驱动车辆，为工厂提供能源。我们将改革中小学以及大专院校，以适应
新时代的要求。这一切，我们都能做到，而且我们都将会做到。
Now, there are some who question the
scale of our ambitions - who
suggest
that our system
cannot tolerate too many
big plans.
Their memories are short. For they have forgotten
what this country has already done; what free men
and
women can achieve when imagination
is joined to common purpose, and necessity to
courage.
现在，有一些人开始质疑我们的野心是不是太大了，他们认为我们的
体制承载不了太多的宏伟计划。他们是健忘了。他们已经忘了这个
国家已经取得的成就；
他们已经忘了当创造力与共同目标以及必要的勇气结合起来时，自由的美国人民所能发挥的能量。
What the cynics fail to understand
is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that
the stale political arguments that
have
consumed us for so long no longer apply. The
question we ask today is not whether our
government
is too big or
too small, but whether it works -
whether it helps families find jobs at a decent
wage, care they can afford, a
retirement
that
is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend
to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs
will end. And
those of us who manage
the public's dollars will be held to account - to
spend wisely, reform bad habits and do our
business in the light of day - because
only then can we restore the vital trust between a
people and their government.
这些怀疑论者的错误在
于，他们没有意识到政治现实已经发生了变化，长期以来耗掉我们太多精力的陈腐政治论争已经不再适用。今天，
我们的问题不在于政府的大小，而在于政府能否起作用，政府能否帮助家庭找到薪水合适
的工作、给他们可以负担得起的医疗保障并让
他们体面地退休。哪个方案能给与肯定的答
案，我们就推进哪个方案。哪个方案的答案是否定的，我们就选择终止。而掌管纳税人税金
的人应当承担起责任，合理支出，摒弃陋习，磊落做事，这样才能在政府和人民之间重建至关重要的相互信任。
Nor is the question before
us whether the market is a force for good or ill.
Its power to generate wealth and expand
freedom is unmatched, but this crisis
has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the
market can spin out of control
- and
that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours
only the prosperous. The success of our economy
has always
depended not just on the
size of our gross domestic product, but on the
reach f; on our ability to extend opportunity to
every willing heart - not out of
charity, but because it is the surest route to our
common good.
我们面临的问题也不是市场好坏的问题。市场创造财富、拓
展自由的能力无可匹敌，但是这场危机提醒我们，如果没有监管，市场很可
能就会失去控
制，而且偏袒富人国家的繁荣无法持久。国家经济的成败不仅仅取决于国内生产总值的大小，而且取决于繁荣的覆
盖面，
取决于我们是否有能力让所有有意愿的人都有机会走向富裕。我们这样做不是慈善
，而是因为这是确保实现共同利益的途径。
As for
our common defence, we reject as false the choice
between our safety and our ideals. Our founding
fathers, faced
with perils we can
scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the
rule of law and the rights of man, a charter
expanded
by the blood of generations.
Those ideals still light the world, and we will
not give them up for expedience's sake. And
so to all other peoples and governments
who are watching today, from the grandest capitals
to the small village where
my father
was born: know that America is a friend of each
nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a
future
of peace and dignity, and that
we are ready to lead once more.