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My fellow citizens:
我的同胞們：
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
今天我站在這里，看到眼前面臨的重大任務，深感卑微。我感謝你們對我的信任，也知道先輩們為了這個國家所作的犧牲。我要感謝布什總統為國家做出的貢獻，以及感謝他在兩屆政府過渡期間給與的慷慨協作。
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
迄今為止，已經有44個美國總統宣誓就職?？偨y的宣誓有時面對的是國家的和平繁榮，但通常面臨的是烏云密布的緊張形勢。在緊張的形勢中，支持美國前進的不僅僅是領導人的能力和遠見，也在于美國人民對國家先驅者理想的信仰，以及對美國立國文件的忠誠。
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
前輩們如此，我們這一代美國人也要如此。
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our healthcare is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
現在我們都深知，我們身處危機之中。我們的國家在戰斗，對手是影響深遠的暴力和憎恨；國家的經濟也受到嚴重的削弱，原因雖有一些人的貪婪和不負責任，但更為重要的是我們作為一個整體在一些重大問題上決策失誤，同時也未能做好應對新時代的準備。我們的人民正在失去家園，失去工作，很多企業倒閉。社會的醫療過于昂貴、學校教育讓許多人失望，而且每天都會有新的證據顯示，我們利用能源的方式助長了我們的敵對勢力，同時也威脅著我們的星球。
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
統計數據的指標傳達著危機的消息。危機難以測量，但更難以測量的是其對美國人國家自信的侵蝕--現在一種認為美國衰落不可避免，我們的下一代必須低調的言論正在吞噬著人們的自信。
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
今天我要說，我們的確面臨著很多嚴峻的挑戰，而且在短期內不大可能輕易解決。但是我們要相信，我們一定會度過難關。
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
今天，我們在這里齊聚一堂，因為我們戰勝恐懼選擇了希望，摒棄了沖突和矛盾而選擇了團結。
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
今天，我們宣布要為無謂的摩擦、不實的承諾和指責畫上句號，我們要打破牽制美國政治發展的若干陳舊教條。
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
美國仍是一個年輕的國家，借用《圣經》的話說，放棄幼稚的時代已經到來了。重拾堅韌精神的時代已經到來，我們要為歷史作出更好的選擇，我們要秉承歷史賦予的寶貴權利，秉承那種代代相傳的高貴理念：上帝賦予我們每個人以平等和自由，以及每個人盡全力去追求幸福的機會。
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
在重申我們國家偉大之處的同時，我們深知偉大從來不是上天賜予的，偉大需要努力贏得。（我們的民族一路走來），這旅途之中從未有過捷徑或者妥協，這旅途也不適合膽怯之人、或者愛安逸勝過愛工作之人、或者單單追求名利之人。這條路是勇于承擔風險者之路，是實干家、創造者之路。這其中有一些人名留青史，但是更多的人卻在默默無聞地工作著。正是這些人帶領我們走過了漫長崎嶇的旅行，帶領我們走向富強和自由。
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the west; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
為了我們，先輩們帶著微薄的細軟，橫渡大洋，尋找新生活；為了我們，先輩們忍辱負重，用血汗澆鑄工廠；為了我們，先輩們在荒蕪的西部大地辛勤耕作，定居他鄉；為了我們，先輩們奔赴（獨立戰爭中的）康科德城和葛底斯堡、（二戰中的）諾曼底、（越戰中的）Khe Sahn，他們征戰、死去。
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
一次又一次，我們的先輩們戰斗著、犧牲著、操勞著，只為了我們可以生活得更好。在他們看來，美國的強盛與偉大超越了個人雄心，也超越了個人的出身、貧富和派別差異。
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
今天我們繼續先輩們的旅途。美國依然是地球上最富裕、最強大的國家。同危機初露端倪之時相比，美國人民的生產力依然旺盛；與上周、上個月或者去年相比，我們的頭腦依然富于創造力，我們的商品和服務依然很有市場，我們的實力不曾削弱。但是，可以肯定的是，輕歌曼舞的時代、保護狹隘利益的時代以及對艱難決定猶豫不決的時代已經過去了。從今天開始，我們必須跌倒后爬起來，拍拍身上的泥土，重新開始工作，重塑美國。
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise healthcare's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
我目之所及，都有工作有待完成。國家的經濟情況要求我們采取大膽且快速的行動，我們的確是要行動，不僅是要創造就業，更要為（下一輪經濟）增長打下新的基礎。我們將造橋鋪路，為企業鋪設電網和數字線路，將我們聯系在一起。我們將回歸科學，運用科技的奇跡提高醫療質量，降低醫療費用。我們將利用風能、太陽能和土壤驅動車輛，為工廠提供能源。我們將改革中小學以及大專院校，以適應新時代的要求。這一切，我們都能做到，而且我們都將會做到。
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
現在，有一些人開始質疑我們的野心是不是太大了，他們認為我們的體制承載不了太多的宏偉計劃。他們是健忘了。他們已經忘了這個國家已經取得的成就；他們已經忘了當創造力與共同目標以及必要的勇氣結合起來時，自由的美國人民所能發揮的能量。
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
這些懷疑論者的錯誤在于，他們沒有意識到政治現實已經發生了變化，長期以來耗掉我們太多精力的陳腐政治論爭已經不再適用。今天，我們的問題不在于政府的大小，而在于政府能否起作用，政府能否幫助家庭找到薪水合適的工作、給他們可以負擔得起的醫療保障并讓他們體面地退休。哪個方案能給與肯定的答案，我們就推進哪個方案。哪個方案的答案是否定的，我們就選擇終止。而掌管納稅人稅金的人應當承擔起責任，合理支出，摒棄陋習，磊落做事，這樣才能在政府和人民之間重建至關重要的相互信任。
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach f; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
我們面臨的問題也不是市場好壞的問題。市場創造財富、拓展自由的能力無可匹敵，但是這場危機提醒我們，如果沒有監管，市場很可能就會失去控制，而且偏袒富人國家的繁榮無法持久。國家經濟的成敗不僅僅取決于國內生產總值的大小，而且取決于繁榮的覆蓋面，取決于我們是否有能力讓所有有意愿的人都有機會走向富裕。我們這樣做不是慈善，而是因為這是確保實現共同利益的途徑。
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
就共同防御而言，我們認為國家安全與國家理想的只能選其一的排他選擇是錯的。面對我們幾乎無法想像的危險，我們的先輩們起草了確保法治和個人權利的憲章。一代代人民的鮮血夯實了這一憲章。憲章中的理想依然照亮著世界，我們不能以經驗之談放棄這些理想。因此我想對正在觀看這一儀式的其他國家的人民和政府說，不論他們現在各國偉大的首府還是在如同我父親出生地一般的小村落，我想讓他們知道：對于每個追求和平和自尊的國家和個人而言，美國都是朋友，我們愿意再次領導大家踏上追尋之旅。
