Coming Together on Thanksgiving (November 24, 2016)
在感恩节团结在一起(2016年11月24日)
Hi, everybody. On behalf of the Obama family - Michelle, Malia, Sasha, Grandma, Bo, and Sunny - I want to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving. Like so many of you, we'll spend the day with friends and family, turkey and touchdowns. We'll give thanks for each other, and for all that God has given us. And we'll reflect on what truly binds us as Americans.
大家好.我谨代表奥巴马一家--米歇尔,玛丽亚,萨沙,外祖母,波和桑尼--我祝你们度过一个快乐的感恩节.和你们许多人一样,我们也和许多朋友及家人一起度过这一天,有火鸡和聚会.我们将彼此感恩,感恩上帝赐予我们的所有东西.我们也反思真正把我们作为美国人团结在一起的东西.
That's never been more important. As a country, we've just emerged from a noisy, passionate, and sometimes divisive campaign season. After all, elections are often where we emphasize what sets us apart. We face off in a contest of "us" versus "them." We focus on the candidate we support instead of some of the ideals we share.
这从未如此地重要.作为一个国家,我们刚刚从喧嚣,热情,有时甚至是分裂的大选季中走过.毕竟,选举经常会是强调什么把我们分散了.我们面对着对定义"我们"与"他们"的考验.我们关注于我们支持的候选人,而不是我们所共有的理想.
But a few short weeks later, Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter our differences, we are still one people, part of something bigger than ourselves. We are communities that move forward together. We are neighbors who look out for one another, especially those among us with the least. We are always, simply, Americans.
但在短短几周之后,感恩节提醒我们,不管我们有多少不同,我们仍是一国民众,是比我们自己本身更伟大事业的一部分.我们是一起才能前进的社会.我们是互相照料的邻居,特别是我们中间的那些少数族裔.最简单的说,我们一直是美国人.
That's why, through the fog of Civil War, President Lincoln saw what mattered most - the unalienable truths for which so many gave their lives, and which made possible "a new birth of freedom." And so precisely when the fate of the Union hung in the balance, he boldly proclaimed a day of Thanksgiving, when the nation's gifts "should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people."
也因此,透过内战的迷雾,林肯总统看到了最至关重要的--不可剥夺的事实,众多的人献出了他们的生命,然后让"自由的新生"成为可能.因此恰恰是在联邦命运飘忽不定的时候,他庄严地宣告了感恩节,那是国家的礼物"应该是严肃的,虔诚的,被感激公认地,作为全部美国民众同心同德,一起发声."
Today, we continue to give thanks for those blessings, and to all who ensured that they would be our inheritance. We remember the determined patriots who landed at the edge of the world in search of freedom. We give thanks to the brave men and women who defend that freedom in every corner of the world. And we honor all people - from the First Americans to our newest arrivals - who continue to shape our nation's story, enrich our heritage, and give meaning to our founding values, values we must never take for granted. That in America, we are bound not by any one race or religion, but rather an adherence to a common belief - that all of us are created equal. That we may think, worship, and speak, and love as we please. That the gift of democracy is ours, and ours alone, to nurture and protect.
今天我们继续向那些祝福感恩,向所有那些确保着他们将是我们遗产的人们感恩.我们牢记,有决心的爱国者们,在世界的角落登陆来寻找自由.我们感恩英勇的男男女女,他们捍卫着世界上每一个角落的自由.我们向所有的人们致敬--从最初的美国人到现在新成为我们的人--他们一直塑造着我们国家的故事,丰富着我们的遗产,并为我们的建国理念带来了新的意义,我们永远不能认为这样的理念是理所当然的.在美国,我们团结在一起,不是依靠任何的一个种族或者宗教,而是对共同信念的遵守--我们所有人生而平等.我们可以自由地思考,去崇拜,去表达,去爱.民主的礼物是我们的,唯一只属于我们,去养育它,保护它.
Never doubt, that is what makes us American - not where we come from, what we look like, or what faith we practice, but the ideals to which we pledge our allegiance. It's about our capacity to live up to the creed as old as our founding: "E Pluribus Unum" - that out of many, we are one. And as long as we continue to welcome the contributions of all people, as long as we stand up for each other, speak out for what is right, and stay true to these ideals - not just when it's easy, but when it's hard - then no one can ever take away our liberty. Our best days will always be ahead. And we will keep building a future where all of our children know the promise of America.
毫无疑问,正是这样让我们成为美国人--不是我们来自哪里,我们长什么样,我们践行怎样的信仰,而是我们承诺忠诚的理想.这事关我们实践古老到"合众为一"信条的能力.这就是"我们各个不同,实则一心".只要我们继续欢迎所有人来做出贡献,只要我们互相支持,说出正确的事情,坚守这些正确的理想--不仅仅是当很容易的时候,而且是困难的时候--那么没有人能带走我们的自由.我们最好的日子将永远在前方.我们将继续建设未来,让我们所有的孩子都知道美国的承诺.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
祝大家感恩节快乐. |