這場美國總統的就職演說,堪稱20世紀之最丨聊聊英語

在上一篇甘迺迪的就職演說賞析中,我們提過20世紀最令人難忘的兩次美國總統就職演說中的另一次是指富蘭克林·德拉諾·羅斯福的第一次就職演說。

5188901d02c5a735d97def9de81ef045

富蘭克林·羅斯福是美國歷史上唯一連任超過兩屆(連任四屆,於第四屆任期內病逝)的總統;他引領美國度過金融危機和二戰,是同盟國陣營的重要領導人之一。

390a6faf168702156802edd995f36cf6

1933年3月4日,羅斯福就任美國第32屆總統。他即將面臨的是席捲整個美國的經濟大蕭條,到處都是失業、破產、暴跌;每個美國人的心中充滿了恐懼,痛苦,甚至是絕望。

那個陰冷的下午,他發表了下面這篇富有激情的演講,他克服困難的決心以及輕鬆愉悅的樂觀態度,點燃了舉國同心、共渡難關的精神之火。

↓羅斯福就職演講(原音版)↓

Inaugural Speech

羅斯福就職演說

fb9d0e896c01d185ae6b3ad3a3e1b15e

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.

因此,讓我首先表明我的堅定信念:我們唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身--一種莫名其妙、喪失理智的、毫無根據的恐懼,它把人轉退為盡所需的種種努力化為泡影。

In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

凡在我國生活陰雲密佈的時刻,坦率而有活力的領導都得到過人民的理解和支持,從而為勝利準備了必不可少的條件。我相信,在目前危急時刻,大家會再次給予同樣的支持。

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits.

幸福並不在於單純地佔有金錢;幸福還在於取得成就後的喜悅,在於創造性努力時的激情。一定不要再瘋狂地追求瞬息即逝的利潤而忘記勞動給我們帶來的歡樂和激勵。

These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

如果這些暗淡的時日可以使我們認識到我們真正的天命不是要別人侍奉,而是為自己和同胞們服務,那麼,我們付出的代價就完全是值得的。

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing.

認識到把物質財富當作成功的標準是錯誤的,我們就會拋棄以地位尊嚴和個人收益為唯一標準來衡量公職和高級政治地位的錯誤觀念;同時也必須終止金融業和商業中的一種作法,它常常使得神聖的委託深似無情和自私的惡行。

Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

難怪信心在減退,因為只有誠實、榮譽感、神聖的責任心、忠貞的維護和無私的作為才能鼓舞信心;沒有這一切,信心出就不能存在。

上面的片段出自羅斯福就職時的演講,裏面提及何為恐懼,以及我們該如何面對恐懼。

除此之外,他還闡述了什麼才是幸福的真諦,告誡人們不要過度沉迷眼前的利益與失去的痛苦,而要着眼未來,把全身心的精力投入工作,才能建立強大的信心。

這篇充滿樂觀精神的演講,讓經濟蕭條時期的美國人民看到了希望。

詞彙:

assert:v.聲稱,表明

nameless:adj.無名的,不可名狀的

unjustified:adj.不公正的,不合理的

paralyze:v.使癱瘓,使麻痹

retreat:v.撤退

vigor:n.活力,氣勢

possession:n.所有權,擁有

stimulation:n.刺激,激發

falsity:n.虛假,虛偽

sacred:adj.神聖的

languish:v./n.憔悴,煩惱

thrive:v.茁壯,興盛

賞析:

這段樂觀從容的演講曾激烈無數美國人民走出陰暗,擁抱暖陽。

第一段中的「firm belief」表示「堅定的信念」,「firm」一詞是「堅定的」,表示羅斯福總統滿滿的信心。

他認為:「the only thing we have to fear is fear itself」這句話的意思是:「我們唯一不得不害怕的就是害怕本身。」這種「莫須有」的恐懼,他連用了三個形容詞「nameless」本意為「無名的」,這裏可以譯為「莫名其妙的」,「unreasoning」可意譯為「喪失理智的」, unjustified 」可意譯為「毫無根據的」,這些詞都表明真正的恐懼,其實不是外界的壓力帶給我們的,而是我們自己內心莫名的「恐懼」在支配着我們。

讓人們看清恐懼的實質不來自困難,而來自內心。因此只要克服內心的敵人,一切都會柳暗花明。

第二段中的「dark hour」意為「黑暗時刻」,這裏指的是金融危機帶來的大蕭條。「which is essential to victory」,這裏是一個「which」引導的定語從句,它在句中代指前面的「美國人民給予的支持和理解」,「be essential to」則意為:「對...是必不可少的」。

這裏指美國人民的支持和理解,對於重建美國國民信心是必不可少的。「critical days」意為:「至關重要的時刻」。

32333eac0b5a06118a6decb9ad3826bd

第三段中的「lie not in....,it lies in...,in...」意為:「不在於...而在於...在於...」先否定前者,再雙重肯定後者,更加突出強調了真正的幸福在於努力時的激情和獲得成功時的喜悅。

後面「no longer must be forgotten」中的「no longer」加強了語氣,表示再也不能一心追逐眼前的利益,而拋棄勞動帶給我們的快樂。

在這裏,其實羅斯福總統呼籲人們理智地面對生活,要吸取經濟危機的教訓,不可貪圖眼前小利,要以長遠的目光,以從容樂觀的心態來工作和生活。

第四段中的「will…if…」這是一個由「if」引導的條件狀語從句,主句用了將來時態,從句則是一般現在時態。這句表明,如果我們能意識到困境帶給我們的啟發和機遇,痛苦就是有價值的。

這讓我們有逆向思維的空間,理性地看到經濟蕭條的積極的一面,可以認清它帶給我們的啟示和價值。

6bf1c95045858c0167771c5b33bb9f0b

第五段中「go hand in hand with」的意思是「密切相關」,這裏是指人民的錯誤觀念才造就了錯誤的評判標準,兩者密切相關,因此,只有改變「把物質財富當作成功的標準」的錯誤想法,才能重建美國信心。

第六段中「small wonder」的意思是「難怪」。「thrive…on…」的意思是「依靠…而繁盛」,這裏指強大的自信心來源於真誠,踏實,勇敢的責任心。

只有擁有了這樣的品質,我們的自信心才會重建,並且像春天的花草一樣枝繁葉茂,遍佈全國。

整段演講娓娓道來,給人帶來了巨大的精神安慰:

從理性方面,它分析了經濟蕭條帶來的啟示,認清急功近利以及唯利是圖的錯誤觀念;從感性方面,也讓人們認清恐懼的實質是源於自己的內心。

我們唯一要恐懼的,只有恐懼本身。

附演講全文:

The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself

胡佛總統,首席法官先生,朋友們:

President Hoover, Mr.Chief Justice, my friends:

This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper.

我能肯定地說,在進行授職儀式的這一天,我的同胞門都期待我在就職之際,能像我國目前形勢所要求的那樣,坦率而果敢的發表講話。現在正是坦誠、勇敢地說出實話、講出全部實情的最佳時候。我們也不必躲閃,不敢面對我們國家今天的實情。這個偉大的國家會一如既往地堅持下去,它會復興而繁榮起來。

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.

因此,讓我首先表明我的堅定信念:我們唯一畏懼的就是畏懼本身——一種不可名狀的、喪失理智的、毫無來由的恐懼,這會麻痹我們轉退為進的意志。一個坦率而有活力的領導,總能在吾國生活陰雲密佈的時刻得到人民應有理解和支持,從而為勝利準備了不可或缺的條件。我相信,值此危難關頭,各位會再度給予這種支持。

In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have shrunken to fantastic levels; taxes have risen; our ability to pay has fallen; government of all kinds is faced by serious curtailment of income; the means of exchange are frozen in the currents of trade; the withered leaves of industrial enterprise lie on every side; farmers find no markets for their produce; and the savings of many years in thousands of families are gone.

面對共同的困難,我和你們都需要這種精神。謝天謝地!人們的憂慮只是物質方面的。物價已難以置信的貶值;稅收上漲了;我們的支付能力下降了;各級政府的收入嚴重縮水;交換方式在貿易過程中遭受凍結;敗葉飄零於工業企業中的各個角落;農產品找不到銷路;千家萬戶數年的積蓄付之東流。

More important, a host of unemployed citizens face the grim problem of existence and an equally great number toil with little return. Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.

更重要的是,大批失業公民正面臨嚴峻的生存問題,大部分人艱苦勞動卻所得甚微。除了愚蠢的樂天派,誰會否認當前這慘暗的現實?

And yet our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for.

但是,目前我們的苦惱的不僅僅是物質匱乏。我們的祖先信奉上帝,無所畏懼,因而所向披靡。我們並未遭到蝗蟲災害,比起他們的艱險,我們仍大可欣慰。

Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

大自然仍在給予我們恩惠,人類的努力已使之倍增。富足就在眼前,但就在我們慶幸的時刻,寬裕卻悄然離去。這主要是因為主宰人類物質交換的統治者們失策了,他們固執己見而又無能為力,一旦認定失敗,就開始退縮了。寡廉鮮恥的貨幣兌換商的種種行徑,將會在公眾輿論的法庭上受到譴責,並將受到人類心靈的唾棄。

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They only know the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

是的,他們努力過,但他們的努力擺脫不了傳統的巢臼。面對不良的信譽,他們提議的只是更多的貸款。當利潤失去了吸引力,不能再用來引誘人們服從他們的錯誤領導時,他們就嘗試規勸,聲淚俱下的請求人們恢覆信心。他們知道的無非是追求私利的那一代人的規則。他們缺乏見地,一旦如此,人民就要蒙難。

Yes, the money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

貨幣兌換商已經從我們文明廟宇中的寶座上逃之夭夭了。我們現在可以使那廟堂恢復傳統的信念。至於能恢復到什麼程度,這要看我們如何運用比純粹的金錢利潤更可貴的社會價值。

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and the moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

幸福並不在於擁有多少金錢;而在於成功的喜悅和創造過程中所帶來的心靈震顫。在瘋狂地追逐那些轉瞬即逝的利潤後,千萬不能忘記勞動帶來的喜悅和激勵。如果這些慘澹的日子能使我們認識到,我們不是接受別人侍奉,而是為自己和人民服務,那麼,我們付出的代價就完全是值得的。

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing.

既已認識到把物質財富當作成功的標準是荒謬的,隨之而來的則是,我們需要放棄職位顯赫僅僅在於高官厚祿的想法;我們必須制止銀行界和企業界的這種常常使神聖的職責混同於冷酷無情和自私自利的惡行。

Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live. Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation is asking for action, and action now.

難怪信心在減弱,因為自信心的提高需要誠實、榮譽感、神聖的責任感、忠實地維護和無私地作為;而沒有這些,哪來的有信心?但是復興不僅僅在道德領域。這個國家呼喚行動,行動現在開始。我們的首要任務是讓人們有工作。只要明智地、勇敢地面對這困難,這不是什麼解決不了的問題。

Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our great natural resources.

我們可以像對待戰時緊急情況那樣,通過政府本身的直接招雇來解決部分問題,並通過這種招雇,同時建設迫切需要的工程,以此來促進和調整天然資源的使用。

Hand in hand with that we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.

同時,我們要坦白地承認工業中心已經勞動力過剩,需藉助全國性的重新分配來努力來為最善於使用土地的人提供更好的使用條件。

Yes, the task can be helped by definite efforts to raise the values of agricultural products and with this the power to purchase the output of our cities. It can be helped by preventing realistically the tragedy of the growing loss through foreclosure of our small homes and our farms. It can be helped by insistence that the Federal, the State, and the local governments act forthwith on the demand that their cost be drastically reduced. It can be helped by the unifying of relief activities which today are often scattered, uneconomical, unequal. It can be helped by national planning for and supervision of all forms of transportation and of communications and other utilities that have a definitely public character. There are many ways in which it can be helped, but it can never be helped by merely talking about it. We must act. We must act quickly.

為了促進這項工作,可以通過適當的抬高農產品的價值,這一策略會提高對城市產品的購買力;要從實際出發,防止出現小房產主和農場主因喪失贖回權而日益蒙受損失的悲劇發生;要堅持聯邦政府、州政府和地方政府立項響應呼籲大幅度削減經費;要統籌安排救濟工作,改變目前那種常常是分散的、效益不大的和不公平的局面;要國家統一規劃和監督各種形式的運輸、交通以及明確具有公共性質的其他設施。完成這一任務,有許多可以藉助的方法,但它絕不能藉助於只是說說而已。我們必須行動,而且必須迅速地行動。

And finally, in our progress toward a resumption of work we require two safeguards against a return of the evils of the old order; there must be a strict supervision of all banking and credits and investments; there must be an end to speculation with other people's money, and there must be provision for an adequate but sound currency.

最後,在恢復的過程中,為防止種種弊端捲土重來,我們需要兩項保證:必須嚴格監督所有的銀行、信貸和投資;必須嚴格制止利用他人錢財參與投機行為,必須具備一種充足而健全的貨幣體系。

These, my friends, are the lines of attack. I shall presently urge upon a new Congress in special session detailed measures for their fulfillment, and I shall seek the immediate assistance of the 48 States.

這就是我們的行動綱領。我會督促新一屆國會召開特別會議,提出實施這些路線的詳細措施,我還將尋求各州的緊急援助。

Through this program of action we address ourselves to putting our own national house in order and making income balance outgo. Our international trade relations, though vastly important, are in point of time and necessity secondary to the establishment of a sound national economy. I favor as a practical policy the putting of first things first. I shall spare no effort to restore world trade by international economic readjustment, but the emergency at home cannot wait on that accomplishment.

通過這個行動方案,我們要致力於整頓國庫和平衡收支。我們的國際貿易關係固然重要,但在時間上和必要性上,要從屬於建立健全的國家經濟的任務。我贊成務實的方針,首要任務要居首位。我將全力以赴地通過國際經濟調整來恢復同各國的貿易,但是,國內的緊急情況不能等待這些的完成。

The basic thought that guides these specific means of national recovery is not narrowly nationalistic. It is the insistence, as a first consideration, upon the Interdependence of the various elements in all parts of the United States of America--a recognition of the old and permanently important manifestation of the American spirit of the pioneer. It is the way to recovery. It is the immediate way. It is the strongest assurance that recovery will endure.

國家復興的這些具體方法,其基本指導思想不是狹隘的民族主義。它首先考慮的是堅持合眾國各個部分、各種因素的相互依賴——即認識到這是美國拓荒精神的傳統和永久的重要性。這是通向復興的道路。這是直接的道路。這是持久復興的最堅強的保證。

In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor--the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others--the neighbor who respects his obligations and respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.

在外交政策方面,我認為美國應當奉行睦鄰政策——決心尊重自己,也尊重其他國家的權利的鄰國——遵守自己的義務,也遵守與世界各國的神聖協議的鄰國。

If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress can be made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and our property to such discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at the larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the larger purposes will bind upon us, bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in times of armed strife.

如果我正確的理解我國人民的情緒的話,那就是:我們現在比以往任何時候都更加認識到我們必須相互依靠;我們不能有所得,並有所施與;我們要前進,就必須像一支受過訓練的忠心耿耿的軍隊那樣行動,並甘願為紀律有所犧牲,因為沒有這種紀律,我們就不可能前進,就不可能形成有效的領導力。我知道,我們準備並且願意為這種紀律獻出生命和財產,因為它使一個以更遠大的利益為目標的領導成為可能。這就是我想要提供的領導。我保證,這些遠大目標將如同一種神聖的義務對我們大家都產生約束,實現迄今只有在戰爭時期才有過的共同責任感的局面。

With this pledge taken, I assume unhesitatingly the leadership of this great army of our people dedicated to a disciplined attack upon our common problems.

作了這項保證,我毫不猶豫地開始領導這支由我國人民組成的大軍,紀律嚴明的向我們共同的問題開進。

Action in this image, action to this end is feasible under the form of government which we have inherited from our ancestors. Our Constitution is so simple, so practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has ever seen. It has met every stress of vast expansion of territory, of foreign wars, of bitter internal strife, of world relations.

用這樣的行動並達到這樣的目的是可行的,因為我們繼承了先輩創立的政體。我們的憲法明確而實用,總是可以在保證基本原則的情況下,通過着重點和排列的變化來滿足特殊的需要。正因為如此,在經受過了大規模領土擴張、對外戰爭、痛苦的內戰和國際關係等種種壓力後,我們的憲制才不愧為現代世界所產生的最經得起考驗的政治體制。

And it is to be hoped that the normal balance of executive and legislative authority may be wholly adequate to meet the unprecedented task before us. But it may be that an unprecedented demand and need for undelayed action may call for temporary departure from that normal balance of public procedure.I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom, I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption.

我希望,行政權和立法權之間的正常平衡完全能應付我們面臨的空前任務。但是,史無前例的要求和迅速行動的需要,也可能使我們暫時偏離公共程序上的這種正常平衡。根據憲法賦予我的職責,我準備提出一些措施,而一個受災世界上的受災國家也許需要這些措施。對於這些措施,以及國會根據本身的經驗和智慧可能制定的這類其他措施,我將在憲法賦予我的權限內,設法予以迅速的採納。

But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me.

但是,一旦國會拒不採納這兩條路線中的一條,如果國家緊急情況刻不容緩,我將不再迴避我所面臨的責任。我將要求國會允許我使用最後的非常情況開展的廣泛的行政權來應付危機,就像我們真的遭到外敵入侵時授予的權力那樣。

I shall ask the Congress for the one power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.

感謝大家寄予我重任,我一定以時代所要求的勇氣和獻身精神來承擔,我會鞠躬盡瘁。

For the trust reposed in me, I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less. We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We aim at the assurance of a rounded, a permanent national life.

正視眼前的嚴峻考驗,懷着舉國一致給我們帶來的熱情和勇氣,懷着追尋傳統的、珍貴的道德觀念的明確意識,懷着男女老少都能通過克盡職守而得到的問心無愧的滿足。我們的目標在於保證國民生活的圓滿和長治久安。

We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it.

我們並不懷疑基本民主制度前途光明。美國人民並沒有失敗。他們在需要時表達了自己的委託,即要求採取直接而有力的行動。他們要求有領導的紀律和引導,他們現在選擇了我作為實現他們的願望的工具。

In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May Heguide me in the days to come

在此舉國奉獻之際,我們謙卑地請求上帝恩賜。願上帝保佑我們每個人。願上帝在未來的日子裏指引我前進。

3b1dcfc43c1e2af28a7e0a3f76e083a3

編輯:然少返回搜狐,查看更多


本文來源:http://www.sohu.com/a/227957822_662097