奥巴马父亲节致辞:祝爸爸们节日快乐

 

　In this week’s address, President Obama reflected on Father’s Day and said that nothing substitutes for the love and support of the presence of a parent in a child’s life. The President knows that for many people like him, being a good parent is a critically important job, and that personal successes matter less than being a source of comfort and encouragement to our kids. President Obama wishes all dads a Happy Father’s Day and everyone a great weekend.

　　在6月15日发表的每周演讲中，美国总统奥巴马谈到了父亲节，表示没有任何东西能代替父母在孩子生活中所代表的爱和支持。奥巴马总统表示，他知道对于像他一样的许多家长来说，做个好父母是非常重要的职责。而比起作为孩子们的安慰和鼓励的支柱，个人成就似乎没那么重要了。奥巴马总统祝所有爸爸父亲节快乐，祝大家周末愉快。

　　Remarks of President Barack Obama

　　The White House June 15, 2013

　　Hi, everybody. This Sunday is Father’s Day, and so I wanted to take a moment to talk about the most important job many of us will ever have – and that’s being a dad.

　　大家好，周日是父亲节，所以我想花一点儿时间谈谈那许多我们都有的重要工作——当爸爸。

　　Today we’re blessed to live in a world where technology allows us to connect instantly with just about anyone on the planet. But no matter how advanced we get, there will never be a substitute for the love and support and, most importantly, the presence of a parent in a child’s life. And in many ways, that’s uniquely true for fathers.

　　今天，我们有幸生活在这样一个世界，在这里，科技让我们可以和世界上任何人即时地保持联络。不管我们多么地先进，都没有什么可以把孩子生命中的爱、支持、最重要的是父母的存在，进行替代。在许多情况下，对父亲来说这尤为正确。

　　I never really knew my own father. I was raised by a single mom and two wonderful grandparents who made incredible sacrifices for me. And there are single parents all across the country who do a heroic job raising terrific kids. But I still wish I had a dad who was not only around, but involved; another role model to teach me what my mom did her best to instill – values like hard work and integrity; responsibility and delayed gratification – all the things that give a child the foundation to envision a brighter future for themselves.

　　我从没真正地了解我自己的父亲，我由单亲母亲和两位优秀的祖父母抚养成人，他们为我做出了巨大的牺牲。全国各地都有单亲父母，例如，只有妈妈，做着英勇伟大的工作，抚养着优秀的孩子。但我仍然希望，我有一个爸爸，他不仅在我的周围，而是在我的生命中，以另一个角色来教导我妈妈也尽力灌输给我的东西，努力工作和正直的价值观，有责任心而不贪图享受，所有给孩子预想自己光明未来基础的东西。

　　That’s why I try every day to be for Michelle and my girls what my father was not for my mother and me. And I’ve met plenty of other people – dads and uncles and men without a family connection – who are trying to break the cycle and give more of our young people a strong male role model.

　　这也就是我每天尽力为米歇尔和我的女儿们去做一些事情的原因，因为我父亲没能为我母亲和我做的这些。我也遇见过大量其他的人，爸爸们，叔伯们和其他没有完整家庭的男人们。他们也尽力去打破这个怪圈，给予我们更多的年轻人强大的男性的榜样。

　　Being a good parent – whether you’re gay or straight; a foster parent or a grandparent – isn’t easy. It demands your constant attention, frequent sacrifice, and a healthy dose of patience. And nobody’s perfect. To this day, I’m still figuring out how to be a better husband to my wife and father to my kids.

　　作为好的父母亲——不管你是同性恋或是异性恋，养父母或是祖父母——都是不易的。这需要你持续地关注，频繁地做出牺牲，很健康耐心的心态。没有人是完美的，至今，我仍在努力想着如何去做一个妻子的好丈夫和孩子的好父亲。

　　And I want to do what I can as President to encourage marriage and strong families. We should reform our child support laws to get more men working and engaged with their children. And my Administration will continue to work with the faith and other community organizations, as well as businesses, on a campaign to encourage strong parenting and fatherhood.

　　我想我可以去做作为总统可以做的事情，去鼓励稳定的婚姻和和谐的家庭。我们应该修订我们的未成年人抚育法，让更多的人获得工作，为他们的孩子而忙碌。我的政府也将继续真诚地和其他社会组织，也包括企业，打赢更好地抚养孩子和传递父爱的战役。

　　Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way, it’s that all our personal successes shine a little less brightly if we fail at family. That’s what matters most. When I look back on my life, I won’t be thinking about any particular legislation I passed or policy I promoted. I’ll be thinking about Michelle, and the journey we’ve been on together. I’ll be thinking about Sasha’s dance recitals¹ and Malia’s tennis matches – about the conversations we’ve had and the quiet moments we’ve shared. I’ll be thinking about whether I did right by them, and whether they knew, every day, just how much they were loved.

　　因为如果说我成长中学到了什么东西的话，这就是如果我们在家庭上失败了，我们所有个人的成功都少了一点儿明亮的光泽，这才是最重要的。当我回忆我的一生，我不会想到任何我通过的待定法案，或是我力促的政策，我将会想到的是米歇尔和我们一起走过的岁月，我将会想到的是萨沙的舞蹈演出和玛丽亚的网球比赛，我们在一起的对话和我们一起共享的静谧时光。我会想是否我做对了，是否他们知道每一天，我是如此的爱着她们。

　　That’s what I think being a father is all about. And if we can do our best to be a source of comfort and encouragement to our kids; if we can show them unconditional² love and help them grow into the people they were meant to be; then we will have succeeded.

　　这就是我认为作为一个父亲应该关心的，如果我们可以尽自己的全力来安慰和鼓励我们的孩子。如果我们可以付出我们无条件地爱，帮助他们成为应该成为的人，那么我们就都成功了。

　　Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, and have a great weekend.

　　因此祝所有爸爸们父亲节快乐，周末快乐。

 

1 recitals   

n.独唱会( recital的名词复数 )；独奏会；小型音乐会、舞蹈表演会等；一系列事件等的详述

参考例句：

• His recitals have earned him recognition as a talented performer. 他的演奏会使他赢得了天才演奏家的赞誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her teachers love her playing, and encourage her to recitals. 她的老师欣赏她的演奏，并鼓励她举办独奏会。 来自互联网

2 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。