So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of 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. 让我们呼唤一种全新的爱国主义,一种投入与责任感——我们每个人都更努力地工作,不仅考虑到我们自己,还要考虑到他人。如果这次金融危机有什么教训的话,那就是实体经济受损,华尔街也不可能繁荣。在这个国家,我们荣辱与共。 Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let’s 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 and individual liberty and national unity. Those are values that 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. 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 tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too. 让我们一起抵制两党分立所带来的那些长久以来腐蚀我们的政治的幼稚、繁琐、无谓的争端。让我们记住来自这个州的那个第一个将共和党的大旗插上白宫的人——他引领了一个崇尚自力更生、独立自由和国家统一的政党,这是我们都崇尚的价值观。今晚民主党所取得的伟大胜利,将促使我们更加谦虚、更加坚定地弥合曾经阻碍我们前进的分裂。正如林肯总统对那个更加分裂的国家所说的:“我们不是敌人,我们是朋友……尽管目前的情绪有些紧张,但决不能容许它使我们之间的亲密情感纽带破裂。”而对于那些不支持我的美国人——我可能还没有赢得你们的选票,但是我听到了你们的声音,我需要你们的帮助,我也会成为你们的总统。 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 the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those — to those who would tear the 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. 对于那些身居海外,正在看着这里的美国人,还有在国会、白宫和在世界的某个角落围坐在收音机前的人们——我们可能有不同的经历,但是我们有相同的目标,美国的崭新黎明正浮现在我们的面前。对那些想要破坏这个世界的人——我们将会击败你。对那些寻求和平与安宁的人们——我们将会帮助你。对那些怀疑美国的自由之火是否依旧兴旺的人们——今晚我们再次证明了,我们的真正实力不是来自我们的强大力量、也不是来自我们的巨额财富,而是来自我们坚忍不拔的信念:民主、自由、机遇和永不放弃的理想。 That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. 天赋异禀的美国人——我们的国家可以改变,我们的联盟将是完美的。我们已经取得的成绩给我们带来了信心,让我们向着更伟大的成就前进。 This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight’s 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. 这次选举有太多的第一次,有太多的故事将被代代传叙。但是给我印象最深的是一位女性在亚特兰大投下了她的选票,她像千千万万的美国人一样发出自己的声音,除了一点——安·尼克松·库帕(Ann Nixon Cooper)已经106岁了。 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. 她生于黑暗的奴隶时代,那个时候路上没有汽车,天上也没有飞机。当时的她不能投票,只有两个原因——她的性别和她的肤色。 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. 而今晚,我想她一个世纪的经历——心痛与希望;抗争与进步;一次次失败和逆流而上都证明了:我们做得到。 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. 每一次女性的声音被压制,梦想被摧残,她都看到她们再次站起来,行使自己的权利。我们做得到。 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, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. 当美国人在风沙中绝望,全国陷入萧条,她都看到这个国家克服恐惧,施行新政,创造新的工作岗位,统一目标。我们做得到。 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. 当我们的港口被炸,暴政笼罩着世界,她见证了一代人的崛起,他们捍卫了民主。我们做得到。 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. 她见证了蒙哥马利的公共汽车停运、伯明翰的黑人暴动、塞尔玛的血腥周末和那位来自亚特兰大的传教士对人们高声喊出:“我们一定会胜利。”我们做得到。 |