《美国的变革》---奥巴马当选美国总统演讲 Change is coming to America

Hello, Chicago.
您好，芝加哥。

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.如果还有人仍在怀疑美国是否是一个一切皆有可能的国度的话，如果还有人仍在疑虑我们美国的缔造者的梦想是否还存在于我们这个时代的话，如果还有人仍在质疑我们民主的力量的话，今晚你就可以得到答案。

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference. 这是设在学校和教堂的投票站前排起的前所未见的长队给出的答案；是等了三四个小时的选民所给出的答案，其中许多人都是有生以来第一次投票，因为他们认定这一次肯定会不一样，认为自己的声音会是这次大选有别于以往之所在。

s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.不管你是年轻人还是老年人，是富人还是穷人，是民主党人还是共和党人，是黑人还是白人，也不管你是拉丁美洲人或亚洲人还是本土美国人，更无论你是否为同性变者、是否是残疾人，这是美国人共同的答案。美国人向全世界传递一个声音，那就是我们的选举从不分红州或蓝州。

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.我们属于，而且永远只属于美利坚合众国。

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. 长久以来，很多人一再受到告诫，要对我们所能取得的成绩极尽讽刺、担忧和怀疑之能事，但这个答案让这些人伸出手来把握历史，再次让它朝向美好明天的希望延伸。

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.虽然等待了很长时间，但在今晚的这一决定性时刻，由于我们在这次选举中的努力，美国终于迎来了变革。

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Sen. McCain.今天傍晚稍早的时候，我接到麦凯恩参议员一个特别亲切的电话。

Sen. McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.在竞选过程中，他坚持不懈，努力了很长时间，而且他还会为他所热爱的国家继续更加努力。他已经为美国奉献了太多，以到于我们许多人都无法想象。我们必须要更好地服务于我们的祖国，以补偿这位勇敢而无私的领导人。

I congratulate him; I congratulate Gov. Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.我祝贺他以及佩林此前取得的所有成绩，而且我希望能够与他们合作，重申数月前我们对国家所做的承诺。

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. 我要感谢我在这次旅程中的伙伴－－已当选美国副总统的拜登。他全心参与竞选活动，为普通民众代言，他们是他在斯克兰顿从小到大的伙伴，也是在他回特拉华的火车上遇到的男男女女。

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady Michelle Obama.在过去16年间，如果没有我最好朋友的坚定支持，没有我家庭成员的强力支撑，没有我妻子，也就美国未来的第一夫人米歇尔-奥巴马无私的爱，今晚我不可能站在这里。

Sasha and Malia I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the new White House.马莉娅和萨莎，我也非常爱你们，你们肯定也沉浸在即将入住白宫的喜悦之中。

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.然而，我的外祖母已永远离开了我们，但我知道她也正和所有支持我的家人一样在看着我。我今晚非常想念他们，而且知道我欠他们的太多。

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.我的妹妹玛雅，我的妹妹阿尔玛，我的所有其他的兄弟姐妹们，感谢你们给了我这么多的一切支持，我感谢他们。

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe, the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.和我的竞选顾问大卫-Plouffe，此次竞选的无名英雄，我认为，是他打造了美利坚合众国历史上最好的-最好的政治运动。

To my chief strategist David Axelrod who's been a partner with me every step of the way.To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done. 我的竞选经理大卫·普劳夫(David Plouffe)、首席策略师大卫·艾克斯罗德(David Axelrod)以及政治史上最好的竞选团队－－是你们成就了今天，我永远感激你们为实现今天的成就所做出的牺牲。

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.但最重要的是，我永远不会忘记这场胜利的所有者，胜利属于你们，胜利属于你们。

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. 我从来不是最有希望的候选人。一开始，我们没有太多资金，也没有得到太多人的支持。我们的竞选活动并非诞生于华盛顿的高门华第之内，而是始于得梅因、康科德、查尔斯顿这些地方的普通民众家中。我们的竞选活动能有今天的规模，是因为辛勤工作的人们从自己的微薄积蓄中拿出钱来，捐出一笔又一笔5美元、10美元、20美元。

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep. It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth. 而竞选活动的声势越来越大则是源自那些年轻人，他们拒绝接受认为他们这代人冷漠的荒诞说法；他们离开家、离开亲人，从事报酬微薄、极其辛苦的工作；同时也源自那些已经不算年轻的人们，他们冒着严寒酷暑，敲开陌生人的家门进行竞选宣传；更源自数百万的美国民众，他们自动自发地组织起来，证明了在两百多年以后，民有、民治、民享的政府并未从地球上消失。

This is your victory.这是你们的胜利。

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me. 我知道你们的所作所为并不只是为了赢得大选，我也知道你们做这一切并不是为了我。

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. 你们这样做是因为你们明白摆在面前的任务有多艰巨。因为即便我们今晚欢呼庆祝，我们也知道明天将面临我们一生之中最为艰巨的挑战－－两场战争、一个面临危险的星球，还有百年来最严重的金融危机。

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. 今晚站在此地，我们知道伊拉克的沙漠里和阿富汗的群山中还有勇敢的美国子弟兵醒来，甘冒生命危险保护着我们。

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education. 会有在孩子熟睡后仍难以入眠的父母，担心如何偿还月供、付医药费或是存够钱送孩子上大学。

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. 我们亟待开发新能源、创造新的工作机会；我们需要修建新学校，还要应对众多威胁、修复与许多国家的关系。

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.未来的路还很长，而且我们正在艰难地攀登在陡峭的山坡之上。我们未必能够在一年或是在一个总统任期之内达到目标，但美国肯定可以。我们肯定可以达到目标，此前我从未有今天晚上的如此信心。

I promise you, we as a people will get there. 我向你们承诺－－我们作为一个整体将会达成目标。

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem. 我们会遭遇挫折和不成功的开端。对于我作为总统所做的每项决定和政策，会有许多人持有异议，我们也知道政府并不能解决所有问题。

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. 但我会向你们坦陈我们所面临的挑战。我会聆听你们的意见，尤其是在我们意见相左之时。最重要的是，我会请求你们参与重建这个国家，以美国221年来从未改变的唯一方式－－一砖一瓦、胼手胝足。

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. 21个月前那个寒冬所开始的一切不应该在今天这个秋夜结束。

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. 今天的选举胜利并不是我们所寻求的改变－－这只是我们实现改变的机会。而且如果我们仍然按照旧有方式行事，我们所寻求的改变不可能出现。

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.没有你们，也不可能有这种改变。

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. 因此，让我们发扬新的爱国精神，树立新的服务意识和责任感，让我们每个人下定决心全情投入、更加努力地工作，并彼此关爱。

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. 让我们铭记这场金融危机带来的教训：我们不可能在金融以外的领域备受煎熬的同时拥有繁荣兴旺的华尔街－－在这个国家，我们患难与共。

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. 让我们抵制重走老路的诱惑，避免重新回到长期荼毒美国政治的党派纷争和由此引发的遗憾和不成熟表现。

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.让我们铭记，是这个州的人第一次将共和党的旗帜扛进了白宫，(共和党)是一个将价值观建立在自信、个人自由以及国家团结基础上的政党。

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. 虽然民主党今天晚上赢得了巨大的胜利，但我们是以谦卑的态度和弥合阻碍我们进步的分歧的决心赢得这场胜利的。

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.林肯在向远比我们眼下分歧更大的国家发表讲话时说，我们不是敌人，而是朋友……虽然激情可能褪去，但是这不会割断我们感情上的联系。

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too. 对于那些现在并不支持我的美国人，我想说，或许我没有赢得你们的选票，但是我听到了你们的声音，我需要你们的帮助，而且我也将是你们的总统。

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. 那些彻夜关注美国大选的海外人士，从国会到皇宫，以及在这个世界被遗忘的角落里挤在收音机旁的人们，我们的经历虽然各有不同，但是我们的命运是相通的，新的美国领袖诞生了。

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope. 那些想要颠覆这个世界的人们，我们必将击败你们。那些追求和平和安全的人们，我们支持你们。那些所有怀疑美国能否继续照亮世界发展前景的人们，今天晚上我们再次证明，我们国家真正的力量并非来自我们武器的威力或财富的规模，而是来自我们理想的持久力量：民主、自由、机会和不屈的希望。

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. 这才是美国真正的精华－－美国能够改变。我们的联邦会日臻完善。我们取得的成就为我们将来能够取得的以及必须取得的成就增添了希望。

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. 这次大选创造了多项“第一”，也诞生了很多将世代流传的故事。但是今天晚上令我难忘的却是在亚特兰大投票的一名妇女：安·尼克松·库波尔(Ann Nixon Cooper)。她和其他数百万排队等待投票的选民没有什么差别，除了一点：她已是106岁的高龄。

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. 她出生的那个时代奴隶制度刚刚结束；那时路上没有汽车，天上也没有飞机；当时像她这样的人由于两个原因不能投票－－一是她是女性，另一个原因是她的肤色。

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. 今天晚上，我想到了她在美国过去一百年间所经历的种种：心痛和希望；挣扎和进步；那些我们被告知我们办不到的世代，以及那些坚信美国信条──是的，我们能做到──的人们。

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. 曾几何时，妇女没有发言权，她们的希望化作泡影，但是安·尼克松·库波尔活了下来，看到妇女们站了起来，看到她们大声发表自己的见解，看到她们去参加大选投票。是的，我们能做到。

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. 当30年代的沙尘暴和大萧条引发人们的绝望之情时，她看到一个国家用罗斯福新政、新就业机会以及对新目标的共同追求战胜恐慌。是的，我们能做到。

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. 当炸弹袭击了我们的海港、独裁专制威胁到全世界，她见证了美国一代人的伟大崛起，见证了一个民主国家被拯救。是的，我们能做到。

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can. 她看到蒙哥马利通了公共汽车、伯明翰接上了水管、塞尔马建了桥，一位来自亚特兰大的传教士告诉人们：我们能成功。是的，我们能做到。

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. 人类登上月球、柏林墙倒下，世界因我们的科学和想像被连接在一起。

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can. 今年，就在这次选举中，她用手指触碰屏幕投下自己的选票，因为在美国生活了106年之后，经历了最好的时光和最黑暗的时刻之后，她知道美国如何能够发生变革。是的，我们能做到。

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? 美国，我们来到迄今。我们已经看到这么多。但有这么多事情要做。因此，今夜，让我们反问一下我们自己，如果我们的孩子能够活到下个世纪；如果我的女儿能够幸运地活得像安-尼克森-库珀那样长，他们将会看到什么样的变化？我们那时将会取得什么样的进步？

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. 现在是我们回答这个问题的机会。这是我们的时刻。

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.这是我们的时代，要使我们的人民重新工作并将机会留给我们的子孙；重新恢复繁荣并促进和平；回归我们的美国梦想并重申一个基本事实--在众人之中，我们也是其中一个；当我们呼吸，当我们充满希望的时候，我们遭遇冷嘲热讽和质疑，那些人认为我们无法做到。我们将用一句话来做出回应：不，我们可以！

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.是的，我们能做到。感谢你们。上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。