Thank you. Thank you so much. Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:
拜登副总统,最高法院首席大法官先生, 美国国会议员们,尊敬的客人们,同胞们:
Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution.
当我们每次聚集在一起为总统举行就职典礼时,我们都是在见证美国宪法的不朽力量。
We affirm the promise of our democracy.
我们是在又一次立下美国民主的承诺。
We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.
我们再次提醒说,把这个国家凝聚在一起的不是我们的肤色,不是信仰的教条,也不是我们的姓氏源于何处。
What makes us exceptional what makes us American is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago.
使我们与众不同——使我们成为美国人——的,是我们对一个在两个多世纪以前发表的宣言中所表述的理念。
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal;
我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的:人人生而平等,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
他们都从他们的造物主那里被赋予了某些不可剥夺的权利,包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。
Today we continue a never-ending journey to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.
今天,我们仍在继续这个永恒的旅程,让那些字句体现在我们这个时代的现实中。
For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident,
因为历史告诉我们,虽然这些真理是不言而喻的,
they’ve never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.
但它们却不会自动实现;虽然自由是上帝给我们的礼物,但自由只能靠他在世间的子民的奋斗才能获得。
The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob.
1776年爱国先驱们所进行的斗争并不是以少数人的特权或乌合之众的统治来替代专制君主。
They gave to us a republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed.
他们为我们缔造的是一个共和国,一个民有、民治、民享的政府,并将捍卫这个建国理念的任务交给一代又一代的后人。
And for more than two hundred years, we have.
两百多年的历史证明,我们做到了。
Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free.
从皮鞭下和刺刀尖流出的鲜血中,我们发现,建立在自由和平等原则之上的合众国不能一半是蓄奴的,一半是自由的。
We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together.
我们浴火重生,我们发誓共同努力向前。
Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce, schools and colleges to train our workers.
我们共同决定,现代经济需要铁路和公路,以加快旅行和商业,也需要中小学和大学来培训我们的工人。