美国总统奥巴马在911十周年纪念音乐会上的演讲(中英文对照)

　　美国时间2011年9月11日晚，美国总统奥巴马在华盛顿肯尼迪中心举行的“9·11”纪念音乐会上发表讲话，意在使美国民众在遭受9·11恐怖袭击十年后重新燃起对美国价值观念的信心。

　　奥巴马的演讲全文摘录如下：

　　The Bible tells us -- "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

　　圣经告诉我们“哭泣可能会持续一夜，但欢乐会在明早到来。”

　　Ten years ago, America confronted one of our darkest nights. Mighty towers crumbled. Black smoke billowed up from the Pentagon. Airplane wreckage smoldered on a Pennsylvania field. Friends and neighbors, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters -- they were taken from us with a heartbreaking swiftness and cruelty. And on September 12, 2001, we awoke to a world in which evil was closer at hand, and uncertainty clouded our future.

　　十年前，美国经历了历史上最黑暗的一天。双子塔楼坍塌了，五角大楼升起了黑烟，飞机在宾夕法尼亚州坠毁。亲朋好友们，兄弟姐妹们，父亲母亲们，孩子们，他们离开了我们，让我们承受着难以弥合的伤痛。在2001年9月12日，我们醒来所面对的世界充满了罪恶和对未知未来的恐惧。

　　In the decade since, much has changed for Americans. We've known war and recession, passionate debates and political divides. We can never get back the lives that were lost on that day or the Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the wars that followed.

　　在此之后的十年里，美国人经历了许多变故。我们经历了战争和萧条，激烈的争辩和政治分歧。我们永远也不能唤回失去的生命，或是那些在此后战争中英勇捐躯的英烈。

　　And yet today, it is worth remembering what has not changed. Our character as a nation has not changed. Our faith -- in God and in each other -- that has not changed. Our belief in America, born of a timeless ideal that men and women should govern themselves; that all people are created equal, and deserve the same freedom to determine their own destiny -- that belief, through tests and trials, has only been strengthened.

　　但是，在今天，我们应该去纪念我们走过的路。我们国家的核心价值依然没有变。我们的信念——相信上帝和彼此的力量——并没有变。我们这个国家坚信，人人自律、人人平等、人人自由，这一信念经受了考验，现在更加坚不可摧。

　　These past 10 years have shown that America does not give in to fear. The rescue workers who rushed to the scene, the firefighters who charged up the stairs, the passengers who stormed the cockpit -- these patriots defined the very nature of courage. Over the years we've also seen a more quiet form of heroism -- in the ladder company that lost so many men and still suits up and saves lives every day, the businesses that have been rebuilt from nothing, the burn victim who has bounced back, the families who press on.

　　过去的十年证明，美国并没有畏缩。搜救人员跑进了火场，消防警察冲锋陷阵，飞机乘客跟歹徒搏斗，这些勇士证明了美国人的勇敢。在之后的十年中，我们看到了美国英雄主义的另一种表现形式：云梯消防队依然有勇敢的队员在拯救人们生命，工商企业开始重建，灾难幸存者重新振作起来，遇难者家属开始了新的生活。Last spring, I received a letter from a woman named Suzanne Swaine. She had lost her husband and brother in the Twin Towers, and said that she had been robbed of, "so many would-be proud moments where a father watches their child graduate, or tend a goal in a lacrosse game, or succeed academically." But her daughters are in college, the other doing well in high school. "It has been 10 years of raising these girls on my own," Suzanne wrote. "I could not be prouder of their strength and resilience." That spirit typifies our American family. And the hopeful future for those girls is the ultimate rebuke to the hateful killers who took the life of their father.

　　去年春天，我收到了一位叫Suzanne Swaine女士的来信。她在双子塔楼的灾难中失去了丈夫和兄弟，她说“那么多骄傲的瞬间从她的生命里被剥夺了，父亲原本可以看到孩子毕业、在曲棍球比赛中得分、在考试中获得好成绩。”这位女士还有两个在上大学的女儿，以及一个在念高中的孩子。她在信中写道：“十年来，我一个人养育我的女儿们。她们的坚强和勇敢让我骄傲无比。”这一家人的精神就是全部美国家庭的写照。这些女孩用充满希望的未来给了杀害她们父亲的凶手最有力的回击。

　　These past 10 years have shown America's resolve to defend its citizens, and our way of life. Diplomats serve in far off posts, and intelligence professionals work tirelessly without recognition. Two million Americans have gone to war since 9/11. They have demonstrated that those who do us harm cannot hide from the reach of justice, anywhere in the world. America has been defended not by conscripts, but by citizens who choose to serve -- young people who signed up straight out of high school, guardsmen and reservists, workers and business-people, immigrants and fourth-generation soldiers. They are men and women who left behind lives of comfort for two, three, four, five tours of duty. Too many will never come home. Those that do carry dark memories from distant places and the legacy of fallen friends.

　　这整整十年证明了美国保护公民、维护美国生活方式的决心。外交官远离故土辛勤工作、情报人员默默无闻无私奉献。在9·11后，二百万美国人参与了战争。他们证明，那些伤害了我们的人绝对无法逃脱正义的审判，不论他们藏身何处。事实上，那些保卫国家的人不是征召的士兵，而是自愿服役的公民——他们是毕业入伍的年轻人，国民警卫队士兵和后备役，工人和商业人士，移民和第四代士兵。他们放弃舒适的生活，甚至坚持超期服役。他们中的很多人从此再也没有回来。而即便是平安回来的人也从此留下了难以治愈的心灵创伤和战友逝去的记忆。

　　The sacrifices of these men and women, and of our military families, reminds us that the wages of war are great; that while service to our nation is full of glory, war itself is never glorious. Our troops have been to lands unknown to many Americans a decade ago -- to Kandahar and Kabul; to Mosul and Basra. But our strength is not measured in our ability to stay in these places; it comes from our commitment to leave those lands to free people and sovereign states, and our desire to move from a decade of war to a future of peace.

　　这些军人的奉献以及他们家庭承受的牺牲提醒我们，战争的代价是巨大的，虽然他们对国家的贡献是荣耀的，战争本身却永远不是光荣的。十年中，我们的军队被派到了美国人并不熟悉的地方——坎大哈和喀布尔，摩苏尔和巴士拉。我们的强大并不是用驻军数量来衡量的，而是体现在我们要把这些地方交还给自由人民和主权国家的决心上，以及我们要结束十年的战争迎接和平未来的心愿上。

　　These 10 years have shown that we hold fast to our freedoms. Yes, we're more vigilant against those who threaten us, and there are inconveniences that come with our common defense. Debates -- about war and peace, about security and civil liberties -- have often been fierce these last 10 years. But it is precisely the rigor of these debates, and our ability to resolve them in a way that honors our values and our democracy, that is the measure of our strength. Meanwhile, our open markets still provide innovators the chance to create and succeed, our citizens are still free to speak their minds, and our souls are enriched in churches and temples, our synagogues and our mosques.

　　这十年证明，我们坚定地捍卫我们的自由。是的，我们对那些潜在威胁更加警惕，而且在共同防御过程中我们也造成了一些不便。对于战争与和平、对于安保和民权的争论也一直在激烈地进行着。但是，恰恰由于这些讨论的存在，以及守卫美国价值观的决心，我们证明了我们的强大。同时，我们开放的市场仍然给予创新者革新的机会，我们的公民仍然可以自由地表达观点，我们的灵魂仍然在教堂、寺庙、(犹太)教会堂和清真寺中得到洗礼。

　　These past 10 years underscores the bonds between all Americans. We have not succumbed to suspicion, nor have we succumbed to mistrust. After 9/11, to his great credit, President Bush made clear what we reaffirm today: The United States will never wage war against Islam or any other religion. Immigrants come here from all parts of the globe. And in the biggest cities and the smallest towns, in schools and workplaces, you still see people of every conceivable race and religion and ethnicity -- all of them pledging allegiance to the flag, all of them reaching for the same American dream -- e pluribus unum, out of many, we are one.

　　过去的十年让美国人团结得更加紧密。我们没有变得草木皆兵、互相猜疑。在9·11之后，乔治·W·布什总统清楚地说过，我们今天再次重申：美国将永远不对伊斯兰教或其他任何宗教开战。我们有来自全世界各地的移民。无论是在美国的大都市还是小城镇，在我们的学校还是工作场所，你都可以见到各个人种、各个宗教、各个种族的人，我们都忠于一个国家，我们都怀着同一个美国梦，我们都是一家人。

　　These past 10 years tell a story of our resilience. The Pentagon is repaired, and filled with patriots working in common purpose. Shanksville is the scene of friendships forged between residents of that town, and families who lost loved ones there. New York -- New York remains the most vibrant of capitals of arts and industry and fashion and commerce. Where the World Trade Center once stood, the sun glistens off a new tower that reaches towards the sky.

　　过去的十年体现了美国人的坚强。五角大楼被修复了，我们的工作人员为了共同的目标在为国家工作。痛失亲人的家属与尚克斯维尔市(93号航班坠毁地)的居民结成深厚友谊。纽约仍然焕发生机，是艺术、工业、时尚和贸易的中心。在世贸中心曾经矗立的地方，一座新的摩天大楼直耸云霄。

　　Our people still work in skyscrapers. Our stadiums are still filled with fans, and our parks full of children playing ball. Our airports hum with travel, and our buses and subways take millions where they need to go. And families sit down to Sunday dinner, and students prepare for school. This land pulses with the optimism of those who set out for distant shores, and the courage of those who died for human freedom.

　　我们的民众还在摩天大楼内工作。我们的体育场依然挤满了球迷，我们的公园仍然有孩子嬉闹的场景。我们的机场还是熙熙攘攘，我们的公交和地铁依然承载着百万乘客。美国家庭还会在周日晚上聚餐，学生们仍然照常上课。这片土地的脉搏像往常一样跳动，普通民众乐观地工作出行，军人为人类的自由不怕牺牲。

　　Decades from now, Americans will visit the memorials to those who were lost on 9/11. They'll run their fingers over the places where the names of those we loved are carved into marble and stone, and they may wonder at the lives that they led. And standing before the white headstones in Arlington, and in peaceful cemeteries and small-town squares in every corner of the country, they will pay respects to those lost in Iraq and Afghanistan. They'll see the names of the fallen on bridges and statues, at gardens and schools.

　　十年了，美国人再次回到这个地方纪念遇难的人群。人们的手指轻轻地划过纪念碑的大理石，寻找遇难家属的名字，想念他们曾经在世的样子。站在阿林顿市白色墓石前，或是全国各地的墓园和小城镇的广场上，我们会对那些在阿富汗战争和伊拉克战争中英勇捐躯的战士表示敬意。我们可以看到他们的名字被刻在大桥上、雕像上、公园内、学校里。

　　And they will know that nothing can break the will of a truly United States of America. They will remember that we've overcome slavery and Civil War; we've overcome bread lines and fascism and recession and riots, and communism and, yes, terrorism. They will be reminded that we are not perfect, but our democracy is durable, and that democracy -- reflecting, as it does, the imperfections of man -- also give us the opportunity to perfect our union. That is what we honor on days of national commemoration -- those aspects of the American experience that are enduring, and the determination to move forward as one people.

　　我们知道，没有任何事情可以击败真正的美国意志。我们将永远铭记，我们战胜了奴隶制、内战、灾荒、种族主义、经济萧条、城市暴动、冷战，当然还有恐怖主义。我们将提醒自己，我们不是完美的，但是我们的民主是持久的，而这一民主——反映出了人性的瑕疵——给予了我们不断完善国家的机会。这就是我们在这几天的国家纪念日中所要突出纪念的，这些价值观念让我们的国家持续进步、让我们的民众团结一致。

　　More than monuments, that will be the legacy of 9/11 -- a legacy of firefighters who walked into fire and soldiers who signed up to serve; of workers who raised new towers, and citizens who faced down their private fears. Most of all, of children who realized the dreams of their parents. It will be said that we kept the faith; that we took a painful blow, and we emerged stronger than before.

　　除了纪念碑，我们还将有其他的9·11精神遗产，它们来自冲进火场的消防队员，来自自愿入伍的士兵，来自修建新楼的建筑工人，来自坚强勇敢的公民，来自继承父母遗志的孩子。我们会坚持这样的信念，承受沉痛的打击，但却变得更加强大。

　　"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

　　“哭泣可能会持续一夜，但欢乐会在明早到来。”

　　With a just God as our guide, let us honor those who have been lost, let us rededicate ourselves to the ideals that define our nation, and let us look to the future with hearts full of hope.

　　公正的上帝是我们的指引，让我们纪念逝去的人们，让我们为美国理想奋斗，让我们充满希望面向未来。

　　May God bless the memory of those we lost, and may God bless the United States of America.

　　愿上帝保佑我们逝去的亲人，愿上帝保佑美国。