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A Great Friendship
一段偉大的友誼
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison met in 1776. Could it have been any other year?
托馬斯·杰斐遜和詹姆斯·麥迪遜相識于1776年。為什么偏偏是這一年呢？
They worked together starting then to further American Revolution and later to shape the new scheme of government.
當時他們開始共同努力推動美國革命，后來又一同為政府擬訂新草案。
From the work sprang a friendship perhaps incomparable in intimacy and the trustfulness of collaboration and induration. It lasted 50 years.
在這些合作中孕育出的友誼是親密無間、信誠以托、堅不可摧的。這份友誼維持了五十年。
It included pleasure and utility but over and above them, there were shared purpose, a common end and an enduring goodness on both sides.
當中包含有歡樂，有協作，他們更志同道合地朝共同的目標邁進，歷經多年從不間斷地令彼此受益。
Four and a half months before he died, when he was ailing, debt-ridden, and worried about his impoverished family, Jefferson wrote to his longtime friend.
在離開人世前四個半月時，杰斐遜重病在身，債臺高筑，并為家庭的貧困感到憂心如焚，于是他提筆給這位知心好友寫了封信。
His words and Madison's reply remind us that friends are friends until death.
從他的信以及麥迪遜的回復中，我們可以看到：
They also remind us that sometimes a friendship has a bearing on things larger than the friendship itself, for has there ever been a friendship of greater public consequence than this one?
這兩個朋友是一生之交；并且有時候，他們之間的友情意義之大更超越了友情本身，這份友誼給大眾帶來的深遠影響是前所未有的。
"The friendship which has subsisted between us now half a century, the harmony of our political principles and pursuits have been sources of constant happiness to me through that long period.
“你我之間的友誼迄今已經走過了半個世紀，我們在政治原則與追求上取得的協調在過去的漫漫歲月中為我帶來了源源不斷的快樂。
