美國前總統雷根告別演說全文中英對照

Farewell Address to the Nation

致全國告別演說

January 11, 1989

1989年1月11日

My fellow Americans:

我的美國同胞們：

This is the 34th time I’ll speak to you from the Oval Office and the last. We’ve been together 8 years now, and soon it’ll be time for me to go. But before I do, I wanted to share some thoughts, some of which I’ve been saving for a long time.

這是我第34次在橢圓形辦公室向你們講話，也是最後一次。我們在一起已經8年了，很快就到了我離開的時候。但在這之前，我想分享一些想法，其中一些我已經保留了很久。

It’s been the honor of my life to be your President. So many of you have written the past few weeks to say thanks, but I could say as much to you. Nancy and I are grateful for the opportunity you gave us to serve.

能成為你們的總統是我一生的榮幸。過去幾周，你們中的許多人寫信表示感謝，但我也可以對你們說同樣的話。南希和我很感激你們給我們的服務機會。

One of the things about the Presidency is that you’re always somewhat apart. You spend a lot of time going by too fast in a car someone else is driving, and seeing the people through tinted glass — the parents holding up a child, and the wave you saw too late and couldn’t return. And so many times I wanted to stop and reach out from behind the glass, and connect. Well, maybe I can do a little of that tonight.

擔任總統的其中一件事是，你總是有某種程度的隔離。你花了很多時間在別人駕駛的汽車上過快地行駛，透過有色玻璃看到人們–父母抱著孩子，以及你看到的太晚而無法返回的揮手。有那麽多次，我想停下來，從玻璃後面伸出手來，和他們聯繫。好吧，也許我今晚可以做一點這樣的事。

People ask how I feel about leaving. And the fact is, “parting is such sweet sorrow.” The sweet part is California and the ranch and freedom. The sorrow — the goodbyes, of course, and leaving this beautiful place.

人們問我對離開有什麽感覺。而事實是，「離別是如此甜蜜的悲傷」。甜蜜的部分是加州、牧場和自由。悲傷的是 — 當然是告別，離開這個美麗的地方。

You know, down the hall and up the stairs from this office is the part of the White House where the President and his family live. There are a few favorite windows I have up there that I like to stand and look out of early in the morning. The view is over the grounds here to the Washington Monument, and then the Mall and the Jefferson Memorial. But on mornings when the humidity is low, you can see past the Jefferson to the river, the Potomac, and the Virginia shore. Someone said that’s the view Lincoln had when he saw the smoke rising from the Battle of Bull Run. I see more prosaic things: the grass on the banks, the morning traffic as people make their way to work, now and then a sailboat on the river.

你知道，從這間辦公室往下走，上樓就是白宮內部總統和家人的住所。在那裡有幾扇我最喜歡的窗戶，我喜歡在清晨站在那裡向外看。從這裡可以看到華盛頓紀念碑，然後是購物中心和傑斐遜紀念堂。但在濕度較低的早晨，你可以看到傑斐遜紀念館後方的河流、波托馬克河和維吉尼亞州的河岸。有人說這是林肯看到奔牛戰役中升起的硝煙時看到的景色。我看到的是更平凡的東西：岸邊的草，早上人們上班時的車流，偶爾河上有帆船。

I’ve been thinking a bit at that window. I’ve been reflecting on what the past 8 years have meant and mean. And the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical one — a small story about a big ship, and a refugee, and a sailor. It was back in the early eighties, at the height of the boat people. And the sailor was hard at work on the carrier Midway, which was patrolling the South China Sea. The sailor, like most American servicemen, was young, smart, and fiercely observant. The crew spied on the horizon a leaky little boat. And crammed inside were refugees from Indochina hoping to get to America. The Midway sent a small launch to bring them to the ship and safety. As the refugees made their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on deck, and stood up, and called out to him. He yelled, “Hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man.”

我一直在那扇窗前思考。我一直在反思過去8年的意義和含義。我腦海中浮現的畫面是一個航海的畫面–一個關於一艘大船、一個難民和一個水手的小故事。那是在80年代初，在船民的高峰期。這名水手正在中途島號航空母艦上努力工作，該航空母艦正在中國南海巡邏。這位水手，像大多數美國軍人一樣，年輕、聰明、觀察力強。船員們在地平線上看到一艘漏水的小船。裡面擠滿了來自印度支那的難民，他們希望能到美國去。中途島號派出一艘小船將他們帶到船上，並將他們帶到安全的地方。當難民們在波濤洶湧的海面上前進時，有一個人看到了甲板上的水手，於是站了起來，向他呼喊。他喊道：「你好，美國水手。你好，自由人」。

A small moment with a big meaning, a moment the sailor, who wrote it in a letter, couldn’t get out of his mind. And, when I saw it, neither could I. Because that’s what it was to be an American in the 1980’s. We stood, again, for freedom. I know we always have, but in the past few years the world again — and in a way, we ourselves — rediscovered it.

一個意義重大的小時刻，一個水手在信中寫下的時刻，讓他無法忘懷。當我看到它時，我也無法忘記。因為這就是在1980年代作為一個美國人的感受。我們再次為自由而站立。我知道我們一直如此，但在過去的幾年裡，世界再次–在某種程度上，我們自己–重新發現了它。

It’s been quite a journey this decade, and we held together through some stormy seas. And at the end, together, we are reaching our destination.

這十年是一個相當長的旅程，我們一起經歷了一些風浪。而在最後，我們一起到達了目的地。

The fact is, from Grenada to the Washington and Moscow summits, from the recession of ’81 to ’82, to the expansion that began in late ’82 and continues to this day, we’ve made a difference. The way I see it, there were two great triumphs, two things that I’m proudest of. One is the economic recovery, in which the people of America created — and filled — 19 million new jobs. The other is the recovery of our morale. America is respected again in the world and looked to for leadership.

事實是，從格雷納達到華盛頓和莫斯科峰會，從81年到82年的經濟衰退，到82年底開始並持續到今天的擴張，我們已經做出了改變。在我看來，有兩個偉大的勝利，兩件我最自豪的事情。一件是經濟復甦，美國人民創造並填補了1900萬個新的就業機會。另一件是我們士氣的恢復。美國在世界範圍內再次受到尊重，並被寄予厚望，成為領導者。

Something that happened to me a few years ago reflects some of this. It was back in 1981, and I was attending my first big economic summit, which was held that year in Canada. The meeting place rotates among the member countries. The opening meeting was a formal dinner for the heads of government of the seven industrialized nations. Now, I sat there like the new kid in school and listened, and it was all Francois this and Helmut that. They dropped titles and spoke to one another on a first-name basis. Well, at one point I sort of leaned in and said, “My name’s Ron.” Well, in that same year, we began the actions we felt would ignite an economic comeback — cut taxes and regulation, started to cut spending. And soon the recovery began.

幾年前發生在我身上的事情反映了其中的一些情況。那是在1981年，我正在參加我的第一次大型經濟峰會，那年在加拿大舉行。會議地點在各成員國之間輪流進行。開幕會議是為七個工業國家的政府首腦舉行的正式晚宴。現在，我像學校裡的新生一樣坐在那裡聽著，都是弗朗索瓦（指法國前總統密特朗François Mitterrand）這個，赫爾穆特那個（指德國前總理柯爾Helmut Kohl）。他們拋開頭銜，彼此直呼其名。有一次，我湊過去說：「我叫羅恩」。嗯，在同一年，我們開始了我們認為會點燃經濟復甦的行動–減稅和監管，開始削減開支。很快，復甦開始了。

Two years later, another economic summit with pretty much the same cast. At the big opening meeting we all got together, and all of a sudden, just for a moment, I saw that everyone was just sitting there looking at me. And then one of them broke the silence. “Tell us about the American miracle,” he said.

兩年後，又舉行了一次經濟高峰會議，與會者基本相同。在盛大的開幕會議上，我們都聚在一起，突然，就在那一瞬間，我看到每個人都坐在那裡看著我。然後他們中的一個人打破了沈默。他說：「給我們講講美國的奇蹟」。

Well, back in 1980, when I was running for President, it was all so different. Some pundits said our programs would result in catastrophe. Our views on foreign affairs would cause war. Our plans for the economy would cause inflation to soar and bring about economic collapse. I even remember one highly respected economist saying, back in 1982, that “The engines of economic growth have shut down here, and they’re likely to stay that way for years to come.” Well, he and the other opinion leaders were wrong. The fact is, what they called “radical” was really “right.” What they called “dangerous” was just “desperately needed.”

早在1980年，當我競選總統時，這一切是如此不同。一些學者說，我們的計劃會導致災難。我們對外交事務的看法會引起戰爭。計劃經濟將導致通貨膨脹飆升並帶來經濟崩潰。我甚至記得一位德高望重的經濟學家說，早在1982年，「經濟增長的引擎在這裡已經關閉了，而且它們可能在未來幾年內保持這種狀態。」嗯，他和其他意見領袖都錯了。事實是，他們所謂的 「激進 」其實是 「正確的」。他們所謂的「危險」只是「迫切需要的」。

And in all of that time I won a nickname, “The Great Communicator.” But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didn’t spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation — from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries. They called it the Reagan revolution. Well, I’ll accept that, but for me it always seemed more like the great rediscovery, a rediscovery of our values and our common sense.

在這段時間裡，我贏得了一個綽號：「偉大的溝通者」。但我從不認為是我的風格或我使用的詞語有什麽不同：而是內容。我不是一個偉大的溝通者，但我傳達了偉大的東西，它們不是從我的眉宇間綻放出來的，而是來自一個偉大國家的心臟–來自我們的經驗、我們的智慧和我們對指導我們兩個世紀的原則的信念。他們稱其為雷根革命。好吧，我接受這個說法，但對我來說，它似乎總是更像是偉大的重新發現，重新發現我們的價值觀和常識。

Common sense told us that when you put a big tax on something, the people will produce less of it. So, we cut the people’s tax rates, and the people produced more than ever before. The economy bloomed like a plant that had been cut back and could now grow quicker and stronger. Our economic program brought about the longest peacetime expansion in our history: real family income up, the poverty rate down, entrepreneurship booming, and an explosion in research and new technology. We’re exporting more than ever because American industry became more competitive and at the same time, we summoned the national will to knock down protectionist walls abroad instead of erecting them at home.

常識告訴我們，當你對某樣東西徵收高額稅款時，人們會減少生產它。因此，我們削減了人民的稅率，而人民的生產比以前更多。經濟就像剪枝的植物一樣綻放，現在可以更快、更強地生長。我們的經濟計劃帶來了我們歷史上最長的和平時期的擴張：實際家庭收入增加，貧困率下降，創業精神蓬勃發展，研究和新技術爆炸。我們的出口比以往任何時候都多，因為美國工業變得更有競爭力，同時，我們喚起了國家意志，在國外推倒保護主義的墻，而不是在國內豎起它們。

Common sense also told us that to preserve the peace, we’d have to become strong again after years of weakness and confusion. So, we rebuilt our defenses, and this New Year we toasted the new peacefulness around the globe. Not only have the superpowers actually begun to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons — and hope for even more progress is bright — but the regional conflicts that rack the globe are also beginning to cease. The Persian Gulf is no longer a war zone. The Soviets are leaving Afghanistan. The Vietnamese are preparing to pull out of Cambodia, and an American-mediated accord will soon send 50,000 Cuban troops home from Angola.

常識還告訴我們，為了維護和平，我們必須在多年的虛弱和混亂之後再次變得強大。因此，我們重建了我們的防禦，在這個新年裡，我們為全球新的和平乾杯。不僅超級大國實際上已經開始減少它們的核武器儲備–而且取得更多進展的希望是光明的–而且架空全球的區域衝突也開始停止。波斯灣不再是一個戰區。蘇聯人正在離開阿富汗。越南人正準備撤出柬埔寨，在美國的調解下，一項協議將很快把5萬名古巴軍隊從安哥拉送回家。

The lesson of all this was, of course, that because we’re a great nation, our challenges seem complex. It will always be this way. But as long as we remember our first principles and believe in ourselves, the future will always be ours. And something else we learned: Once you begin a great movement, there’s no telling where it will end. We meant to change a nation, and instead, we changed a world.

當然，這一切的教訓是，因為我們是一個偉大的國家，我們的挑戰看起來很複雜。它將永遠是這樣的。但只要我們記住我們的首要原則並相信自己，未來將永遠屬於我們。還有一些我們學到的東西。一旦你開始一個偉大的運動，你無法知道它將在哪裡結束。我們原本目的是改變國家，結果我們改變了世界。

Countries across the globe are turning to free markets and free speech and turning away from the ideologies of the past. For them, the great rediscovery of the 1980’s has been that, lo and behold, the moral way of government is the practical way of government: Democracy, the profoundly good, is also the profoundly productive.

全球各地的國家都在轉向自由市場和自由言論，遠離過去的意識形態。對他們來說，1980年代的偉大重新發現是，看，政府的道德方式就是政府的實際方式。民主是深刻的善，也是深刻的生產力。

When you’ve got to the point when you can celebrate the anniversaries of your 39th birthday you can sit back sometimes, review your life, and see it flowing before you. For me there was a fork in the river, and it was right in the middle of my life. I never meant to go into politics. It wasn’t my intention when I was young. But I was raised to believe you had to pay your way for the blessings bestowed on you. I was happy with my career in the entertainment world, but I ultimately went into politics because I wanted to protect something precious.

當你到了可以慶祝39歲生日的時候，你有時可以坐下來，回顧你的生活，並看到它在你面前流淌。對我來說，有一個岔路口，它就在我生命的中間。我從未想過要從政。這不是我年輕時的意圖。但我從小就相信，你必須為賜予你的祝福付出代價。我對自己在娛樂界的職業很滿意，但我最終進入政界是因為我想保護一些珍貴的東西。

Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: “We the People.” “We the People” tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. “We the People” are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which “We the People” tell the government what it is allowed to do. “We the People” are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past 8 years.

我們的革命是人類歷史上第一次真正扭轉政府進程的革命，而且只基於四個小字。「我們人民」。「我們人民」告訴政府該怎麽做，不是政府告訴我們。「我們人民」是司機；政府是汽車。我們決定它應該去哪裡，通過什麽路線，以及多快。世界上幾乎所有的憲法都是政府告訴人民什麽是他們的特權的文件。我們的憲法是一份文件，其中 「我們人民」告訴政府它可以做什麽。「我們人民」是自由的。這一信念是我在過去8年中試圖做的一切事情的根本基礎。

But back in the 1960’s, when I began, it seemed to me that we’d begun reversing the order of things — that through more and more rules and regulations and confiscatory taxes, the government was taking more of our money, more of our options, and more of our freedom. I went into politics in part to put up my hand and say, “Stop.” I was a citizen politician, and it seemed the right thing for a citizen to do.

但早在1960年代，當我開始時，我覺得我們似乎已經開始顛覆事物的秩序–通過越來越多的規則和條例以及沒收性稅收，政府正在奪取我們更多的錢，更多的選擇，以及更多的自由。我從政的部分原因是為了舉起我的手，說：「停止」。我是一個公民政治家，這似乎是一個公民應該做的事情。

I think we have stopped a lot of what needed stopping. And I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.

我認為我們已經阻止了很多需要阻止的事情。我希望我們再次提醒人們，除非政府受到限制，否則人是不自由的。這裡有一個明確的因果關係，就像物理學定律一樣整齊和可預測。隨著政府的擴張，自由就會收縮。

Nothing is less free than pure communism — and yet we have, the past few years, forged a satisfying new closeness with the Soviet Union. I’ve been asked if this isn’t a gamble, and my answer is no because we’re basing our actions not on words but deeds. The detente of the 1970’s was based not on actions but promises. They’d promise to treat their own people and the people of the world better. But the gulag was still the gulag, and the state was still expansionist, and they still waged proxy wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

沒有什麽比純粹的共產主義更不自由的了–然而，在過去的幾年裡，我們與蘇聯建立了令人滿意的新的親密關係。有人問我這是不是一場賭博，我的回答是否定的，因為我們的行動不是基於語言，而是基於行為。1970年代的緩和協議不是基於行動，而是基於承諾。他們承諾會更好地對待自己的人民和世界人民。但古拉格仍然是古拉格，國家仍然是擴張主義，他們仍然在非洲、亞洲和拉丁美洲發動代理戰爭。

Well, this time, so far, it’s different. President Gorbachev has brought about some internal democratic reforms and begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He has also freed prisoners whose names I’ve given him every time we’ve met.

那麽，這一次，到目前為止，它是不同的。戈巴契夫總統已經帶來了一些內部民主改革，並開始從阿富汗撤軍。他還釋放了囚犯，每次我們見面時，我都會把他們的名字告訴他。

But life has a way of reminding you of big things through small incidents. Once, during the heady days of the Moscow summit, Nancy and I decided to break off from the entourage one afternoon to visit the shops on Arbat Street — that’s a little street just off Moscow’s main shopping area. Even though our visit was a surprise, every Russian there immediately recognized us and called out our names and reached for our hands. We were just about swept away by the warmth. You could almost feel the possibilities in all that joy. But within seconds, a KGB detail pushed their way toward us and began pushing and shoving the people in the crowd. It was an interesting moment. It reminded me that while the man on the street in the Soviet Union yearns for peace, the government is Communist. And those who run it are Communists, and that means we and they view such issues as freedom and human rights very differently.

但是，生活有一種通過小事件提醒你注意大事情的方式。有一次，在莫斯科峰會令人振奮的日子里，南希和我決定在一個下午脫離隨行人員，去參觀阿爾巴特街的商店–那是莫斯科主要購物區旁邊的一條小街。儘管我們的訪問是一個驚喜，但那裡的每個俄羅斯人都立即認出了我們，叫出了我們的名字，並伸出手來拉我們。我們被這股熱情沖昏了頭。你幾乎可以在所有的歡樂中感受到可能性。但在幾秒鐘內，一個KGB小隊向我們走來，開始推擠人群中的人。這是一個有趣的時刻。它提醒我，雖然蘇聯街頭的人渴望和平，但政府是共產黨。管理它的人是共產黨人，這意味著我們和他們對自由和人權等問題的看法非常不同。

We must keep up our guard, but we must also continue to work together to lessen and eliminate tension and mistrust. My view is that President Gorbachev is different from previous Soviet leaders. I think he knows some of the things wrong with his society and is trying to fix them. We wish him well. And we’ll continue to work to make sure that the Soviet Union that eventually emerges from this process is a less threatening one. What it all boils down to is this: I want the new closeness to continue. And it will, as long as we make it clear that we will continue to act in a certain way as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner. If and when they don’t, at first pull your punches. If they persist, pull the plug. It’s still trust but verify. It’s still play, but cut the cards. It’s still watch closely. And don’t be afraid to see what you see.

我們必須保持警惕，但我們也必須繼續合作，以減少和消除緊張和不信任。我的看法是，戈巴契夫總統與以前的蘇聯領導人不同。我認為他知道他的社會中的一些問題，並且正在努力解決這些問題。我們祝福他一切順利。我們將繼續努力，以確保最終從這個過程中出現的蘇聯是一個不那麽具有威脅性的蘇聯。這一切歸結為這一點。我希望這種新的親密關係繼續下去。只要我們明確表示，只要他們繼續以有益的方式行事，我們將繼續以某種方式行事，它就會繼續。如果他們不這樣做，一開始就亮出你的拳頭。如果他們堅持下去，就拔掉插頭。這仍然是信任，但經過核實。這仍然是遊戲，但要削減牌。這仍然是密切關注。而且不要害怕看到你所看到的東西。

I’ve been asked if I have any regrets. Well, I do. The deficit is one. I’ve been talking a great deal about that lately, but tonight isn’t for arguments, and I’m going to hold my tongue. But an observation: I’ve had my share of victories in the Congress, but what few people noticed is that I never won anything you didn’t win for me. They never saw my troops, they never saw Reagan’s regiments, the American people. You won every battle with every call you made and letter you wrote demanding action. Well, action is still needed. If we’re to finish the job, Reagan’s regiments will have to become the Bush brigades. Soon he’ll be the chief, and he’ll need you every bit as much as I did.

有人問我是否有任何遺憾。嗯，我有。赤字是其中之一。我最近一直在談論這個問題，但今晚不是為了爭論，我打算忍住不說。但有一個觀察。我在國會中取得了一些勝利，但很少有人注意到的是，我從未贏得過你沒有為我贏得的東西。他們從來沒有看到我的部隊，他們從來沒有看到雷根的兵團，美國人民。你打的每一個電話和寫的每一封信都贏得了每一場戰鬥，要求採取行動。那麽，仍然需要行動。如果我們要完成這項工作，雷根的軍團將不得不成為布希的軍團。很快他就會成為首領，而他會像我一樣需要你們。

Finally, there is a great tradition of warnings in Presidential farewells, and I’ve got one that’s been on my mind for some time. But oddly enough it starts with one of the things I’m proudest of in the past 8 years: the resurgence of national pride that I called the new patriotism. This national feeling is good, but it won’t count for much, and it won’t last unless it’s grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge.

最後，在總統的告別辭中，有一個偉大的警告傳統，而我有一個警告已經在我的腦海中存在了一段時間。但奇怪的是，它是從過去8年中我最自豪的一件事開始的：民族自豪感的重新出現，我稱之為新的愛國主義。這種民族感情是好的，但它不會有多大作用，除非它以深思熟慮和知識為基礎，否則它不會持久。

An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world? Those of us who are over 35 or so years of age grew up in a different America. We were taught, very directly, what it means to be an American. And we absorbed, almost in the air, a love of country and an appreciation of its institutions. If you didn’t get these things from your family you got them from the neighborhood, from the father down the street who fought in Korea or the family who lost someone at Anzio. Or you could get a sense of patriotism from school. And if all else failed you could get a sense of patriotism from the popular culture. The movies celebrated democratic values and implicitly reinforced the idea that America was special. TV was like that, too, through the mid-sixties.

我們想要的是一種知情的愛國主義。而我們是否在教育孩子們美國是什麽，以及足夠盡責教導它在世界歷史長河中代表什麽？我們這些超過35歲左右的人是在一個不同的美國長大的。我們被告知，非常直接，成為一個美國人意味著什麽。我們幾乎在空氣中吸收了對國家的熱愛和對國家機構的欣賞。如果你沒有從你的家人那裡得到這些東西，你就從鄰居那裡得到它們，從街邊參加過韓戰的父親或在安齊奧失去親人的家庭那裡。或者你可以從學校得到一種愛國主義情操。如果所有其他方面都失敗了，你可以從流行文化中獲得愛國主義情操。電影頌揚民主價值觀，並隱晦地加強了美國是特殊的想法。電視也是如此，直到60年代中期。

But now, we’re about to enter the nineties, and some things have changed. Younger parents aren’t sure that an unambivalent appreciation of America is the right thing to teach modern children. And as for those who create the popular culture, well-grounded patriotism is no longer the style. Our spirit is back, but we haven’t reinstitutionalized it. We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise. And freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile; it needs production [protection].

但現在，我們即將進入九十年代，有些事情已經改變了。年輕的父母不確定對美國的不加掩飾的讚賞是否是教育現代兒童的正確方法。至於那些創造流行文化的人，有根有據的愛國主義已不再是一種風格。我們的精神回來了，但我們還沒有把它重新制度化。我們必須做得更好，讓人們知道美國是自由的 — 言論自由、宗教自由、企業自由。而自由是特殊的、罕見的。它是脆弱的；它需要生產[保護]。

So, we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important — why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant. You know, 4 years ago on the 40th anniversary of D – day, I read a letter from a young woman writing to her late father, who’d fought on Omaha Beach. Her name was Lisa Zanatta Henn, and she said, “we will always remember, we will never forget what the boys of Normandy did.” Well, let’s help her keep her word. If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are. I’m warning of an eradication of the American memory that could result, ultimately, in an erosion of the American spirit. Let’s start with some basics: more attention to American history and a greater emphasis on civic ritual.

因此，我們必須根據不是流行的東西，而是重要的東西來教授歷史–為什麽朝聖者來到這裡，誰是吉米・杜利特爾，以及東京上空那30秒意味著什麽。你知道，4年前，在諾曼第登陸紀念日40周年之際，我讀到了一位年輕女子寫給她已故父親的信，他曾在奧馬哈海灘作戰。她的名字叫麗莎・紮納塔・亨，她說，「我們將永遠記住，我們永遠不會忘記諾曼地的孩子們所做的一切。」讓我們幫助她遵守她的承諾。如果我們忘記我們所做的，我們就不知道我們是誰。我警告說，美國人的記憶被消除，最終可能導致美國精神被侵蝕。讓我們從一些基本的東西開始：更加關注美國歷史，更加強調公民儀式。

And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven’t been teaching you what it means to be an American, let ’em know and nail ’em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.

讓我提供關於美國的第一課。美國所有偉大的變革都是從餐桌上開始的。因此，明天晚上在廚房裡，我希望談話開始。孩子們，如果你們的父母沒有教育你們作為一個美國人意味著什麽，讓他們知道並讓他們印在腦海裡。這將是一件非常美國式的事情。

And that’s about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I’ve been at that window upstairs, I’ve thought a bit of the “shining city upon a hill.” The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we’d call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.

這就是我今晚要說的全部，除了一件事。過去幾天，當我在樓上的窗口時，我想到了一點「山丘上的閃亮城市」。這句話來自 這句話來自約翰・溫斯洛普，他寫這句話是為了描述他想像中的美國。他想像的東西很重要，因為他是早期的朝聖者，早期的自由人。他乘坐今天我們稱之為小木船的東西來到這裡；和其他朝聖者一樣，他在尋找一個自由的家園。

I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.

我在政治生涯中一直在談論這座閃亮的城市，但我不知道我是否曾經完全表達過我說這話時看到的東西。但在我的腦海中，它是一座高大、自豪的城市，建立在比海洋更堅固的巖石上，風吹草動，受到上帝的眷顧，充斥著生活在和諧與和平中的各種人；這座城市擁有自由的港口，充滿了商業和創造力。如果必須要有城牆，那麽城牆也有門，而且門對任何有意願和有心來這裡的人都是開放的。這就是我對它的看法，現在也是如此。

And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

在這個冬日的夜晚，這個城市是怎樣的呢？比8年前更繁榮、更安全、更快樂。但不止於此。經過200年，兩個世紀，她仍然堅強地站在花崗巖的山脊上，無論什麽風暴，她的光芒都保持穩定。她仍然是一座燈塔，仍然是所有必須擁有自由的人的磁鐵，是所有來自所有迷失之地的朝聖者的磁鐵，他們正在穿越黑暗，走向家園。

We’ve done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren’t just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

我們已經完成了我們的任務。當我走在城市的街道上時，我想對雷根革命的男男女女說最後一句話，全美國的男男女女在8年裡做了使美國回歸的工作。我的朋友們。我們做到了。我們不只是在浪費時間。我們做出了改變。我們使這個城市更強大，我們使這個城市更自由，我們把她留在了好的手中。總而言之，不壞，一點也不壞。

And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

所以，再見，上帝保佑你，上帝保佑美利堅合眾國。