我们面临的挑战也许是新的,我们应对挑战的措施也许也是新的,但那些长期以来指导我们成功的价值观--勤奋、诚实、勇气、公平竞争、包容以及对世界保持好奇心,还有对国家的忠诚和爱国主义--却是历久弥新,这些价值观是可靠的。他们是创造美国历史的无声力量。我们现在需要的就是回归这些古老的价值观。我们需要一个新的负责任的时代,一个觉醒的时代,每个国人都应意识到即我们对自己、对国家和世界负有责任,我们不应该不情愿地接受这些责任,而应该快乐地承担起这些责任。我们应该坚定这一认识,即没有什么比全身心投入一项艰巨的工作更能锻炼我们的性格,更能获得精神上的满足。
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
这是公民应尽的义务,应做出的承诺。
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
我们自信源于对上帝的信仰,上帝号召我们要掌握自己的命运。
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
这就是我们自由和信仰的意义,这也是为何不同种族、不同信仰、不同性别和年龄的人可以同聚一堂在此欢庆的原因,也是我今天能站在这里庄严宣誓的原因,而在50多年前我的父亲甚至都不能成为地方餐馆的服务生。
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
所以,让我们铭记自己的身份,镌刻自己的足迹。在美国诞生的时代,那最寒冷的岁月里,一群勇敢的爱国人士围着篝火在冰封的河边取暖。首都被占领,敌人在挺进,冬天的雪被鲜血染成了红色。在美国大革命最受质疑的时刻,我们的国父们这样说:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
“我们要让未来的世界知道……在深冬的严寒里,唯有希望和勇气才能让我们存活……面对共同的危险时,我们的城市和国家要勇敢地上前去面对。”
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
今天的美国也在严峻的寒冬中面对共同的挑战,让我们记住国父们不朽的语言。带着希望和勇气,让我们再一次勇敢地面对寒流,迎接可能会发生的风暴。我们要让我们的子孙后代记住,在面临挑战的时候,我们没有屈服,我们没有逃避也没有犹豫,我们脚踏实地、心怀信仰,秉承了宝贵的自由权利并将其安全地交到了下一代的手中。