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克林顿的第二次就职演说(中英文对照)
January 20, 1993, Inaugural Address of William J. Clinton (克林顿1993年就职演讲)
My fellow citizens :(同胞们)
Today we celebrate the mystery of American renewal.
今天,我们庆祝振兴美国这件令人感到异常惊奇的事。
This ceremony is held in the depth of winter. But, by the words we speak and the faces we show the world, we force the spring. A spring reborn in the
world's oldest democracy, that brings forth the vision and courage to reinvent America.
尽管这个仪式在隆冬举行,但是,我们所说的话,我们向全世界所显示的面貌,将促使春天的早日来临。春天重新降临到这个世界上最古老的民主国家,它给我们带来了重新塑造美国的构想和勇气。
When our founders boldly declared America's independence to the world and our purposes to the Almighty, they knew that America, to endure, would have to change. Not change for change's sake, but change to preserve America's ideals; life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. Though we march to the music of our time, our mission is timeless. Each generation of Americans must define what it means to be an American.
当我们的缔造者们大胆地向全世界宣布美国的独立,向上帝宣布我们的目的时,他们知道,美国要长久地存在下去,就必须改革。我们不是为改革而改革,而是为了保持美国的理想——生活、自由和追求幸福。虽然我们伴随着时代的乐曲前进,我们的使命却是永恒的。每一代美国人都必须明确作为一个美国人意味着什么。
On behalf of our nation, I salute my predecessor, President Bush, for his
half-century of service to America. And I thank the millions of men and women whose steadfastness and sacrifice triumphed over Depression, fascism and Communism.
我的前任布什总统为美国服务了半个世纪,在此,我代表我们的国家向他致以崇高的敬意。
Today, a generation raised in the shadows of the Cold War assumes new responsibilities in a world warmed by the sunshine of freedom but threatened still by ancient hatreds and new plagues.
我还要向千百万人民表示感谢,他们以坚定的信念和牺牲战胜了经济萧条、法西斯主义。今天,在冷战的阴影下成长起来的一代人在世界上已肩负起新的责任。这个世界虽然沐浴在自由的阳光下,但仍然面临着旧的仇恨和新的灾祸的威胁。
Raised in unrivaled prosperity, we inherit an economy that is still the world's strongest, but is weakened by business failures, stagnant wages, increasing inequality, and deep divisions among our people.
我们在无与伦比的繁荣中成长,继承了一个仍然是世界上最强大经济,但是,商业失败、工资停滞、不平等加剧,以及我们自己的人民四分五裂,削弱了这个经济。
When George Washington first took the oath I have just sworn to uphold, news traveled slowly across the land by horseback and across the ocean by boat. Now, the sights and sounds of this ceremony are broadcast instantaneously to billions around the world.
当乔治华盛顿第一次发出我刚才宣誓信守的誓言时,消息缓慢地通过骑马传遍大陆和乘船漂洋过海。而今,这个仪式的情景和声音可以立即向全世界数十亿人广播。
Communications and commerce are global; investment is mobile; technology is almost magical; and ambition for a better life is now universal. We earn our livelihood in peaceful competition with people all across the earth.
通讯和商业是全球性的,投资是流动性的,技术几乎是神秘的,而要求改善生活的强烈愿望是全世界人民共同的。今天,我们美国人是和全世界人民在和平竞争中谋求我们的生计。
Profound and powerful forces are shaking and remaking our world, and the urgent question of our time is whether we can make change our friend and not our enemy.
各种根深蒂固和强大的势力正在动摇和重新塑造我们的世界。我们时代迫切需要解决的问题是,我们能否使改革成为我们的朋友,而不是我们的敌人。
This new world has already enriched the lives of millions of Americans who are able to compete and win in it. But when most people are working harder for less; when others cannot work at all; when the cost of health care devastates families and threatens to bankrupt many of our enterprises, great and small; when fear of crime robs law-abiding citizens of their freedom; and when
millions of poor children cannot even imagine the lives we are calling them to lead, we have not made change our friend.
尽管这个新的世界已经使千百万能够在其中竞争并取胜的美国人富裕起来了,但是,在大多数人更加拼命地工作而收入却在减少的时候,在还有人根本找不到工作的时候,在卫生保健费用使许多人倾家荡产、使大大小小的企业行将倒闭的时候,在恐惧犯罪而使奉公守法的公民丧失自由的时候,在千百万贫困儿童甚至难以想象我们正召唤他们去过的那种生活的时候,我们却还没有使改革成为我们的朋友。
We know we have to face hard truths and take strong steps. But we have not done so. Instead, we have drifted, and that drifting has eroded our resources, fractured our economy, and shaken our confidence.
我们知道,我们必须正视严酷的现实并且采取有力的措施,但是,我们没有这样做。相反,我们所奉行的是放任自流的政策,这种政策已经削弱了我们的力量,破坏了我们的经济,动摇了我们的信心。
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