马丁·路德金《我有一个梦想》

I have a dream I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. 今天,我高兴地同大家一起,参加这次将成为我国历史上为了争取自由而举行的最伟大的示威集会。 Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. 100年前,一位伟大的美国人——今天我们就站在他象征性的身影下——签署了《解放宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布,对于千百万灼烤于非正义残焰中的黑奴,犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔,恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。 But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. 然而,100年后,黑人依然没有获得自由。100年后,黑人依然悲惨地蹒跚于种族隔离和种族歧视的枷锁之下。100年后,黑人依然生活在物质繁荣翰海的贫困孤岛上。100年后,黑人依然在美国社会中间向隅而泣,依然感到自己在国土家园中流离漂泊。所以,我们今天来到这里,要把这骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。 In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." 1 从某种意义上说,我们来到国家的首都是为了兑现一张支票。我们共和国的缔造者在拟写宪法和独立宣言的辉煌篇章时,就签署了一张每一个美国人都能继承的期票。这张期票向所有人承诺——不论白人还是黑人——都享有不可让渡的生存权、自由权和追求幸福权。然而,今天美国显然对她的有色公民拖欠着这张期票。美国没有承兑这笔神圣的债务,而是开始给黑人一张空头支票——一张盖着“资金不足”的印戳被退回的支票。 But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. 但是,我们决不相信正义的银行会破产。我们决不相信这个国家巨大的机会宝库会资金不足。因此,我们来兑现这张支票。这张支票将给我们以宝贵的自由和正义的保障。 We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. 我们来到这块圣地还为了提醒美国:现在正是万分紧急的时刻。现在不是从容不迫悠然行事或服用渐进主义镇静剂的时候。现在是实现民主诺言的时候。现在是走出幽暗荒凉的种族隔离深谷,踏上种族平等的阳关大道的时候。现在是使我们国家走出种族不平等的流沙,踏上充满手足之情的磐石的时候。现在是使上帝所有孩子真正享有公正的时候。 It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. 忽视这一时刻的紧迫性,对于国家将会是致命的。自由平等的朗朗秋日不到来,黑人顺情合理哀怨的酷暑就不会过去。1963年不是一个结束,而是一个开 端。如果国家依然我行我素,那些希望黑人只需出出气就会心满意足的人将大失所望。在黑人得到公民权之前,美国既不会安宁,也不会平静。 The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. 反抗的旋风将继续震撼我们国家的基石,直至光辉灿烂的正义之日来临。 I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." 我梦想有一天,这个国家将会奋起,实现其立国信条的真谛:“我们认为这些真理不言而喻:人人生而平等。” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 我梦想有一天,在佐治亚州的红色山岗上,昔日奴隶的儿子能够同昔日奴隶主的儿子同席而坐,亲如手足。 I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 我梦想有一天,甚至连密西西比州——一个非正义和压迫的热浪逼人的荒漠之州,也会改造成为自由和公正的青青绿洲。 I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. 我梦想有一天,我的四个小女儿将生活在一个不是以皮肤的颜色,而是以品格的优劣作为评判的国家里。 Thank God Almighty, we are free at last! 感谢全能的上帝,我们终于自由了!