心扉美文

　　About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. My doctor adviced me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for "prepare to die." It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes

　　大约一年前，我被诊断出癌症。大夫建议我回家，把诸事安排妥当，这是医生对临终病人的标准用语。这意味着你得把你今后10年要对你的子女说的话用几个月的时间说完;这意味着你得把一切都安排妥当，尽可能减少你的家人在你身后的负担;这意味着向众人告别的时间到了。

　　This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It's Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

　　这是我最接近死亡的一次，我希望在随后的几十年里，都不要有比这一次更接近死亡的经历。在经历了这次与死神擦肩而过的经验之后，死亡对我来说只是一项有效的判断工具，并且只是一个纯粹的理性概念时相比，我能够更肯定地告诉你们以下事实：没人想死;即使想去天堂的人，也是希望能活着进去。死亡是我们每个人的人生终点站，没人能够成为例外。生命就是如此，因为死亡很可能是生命最好的造物，它是生命更迭的媒介，送走主主老者，给新生代让路。

　　Obama's Election Triumphant Speech

　　奥巴马大选胜选演说

　　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.

　　让我们记住，如采此次金融危机告诉我们什么，我们再也不会让华尔街繁荣的同时，让别的街受罪。

　　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 have poisoned our politics for so long.

　　在这个国家，我们的兴衰，作为一个民族，作为一个人。让我们抵制诱惑，回到属于同一党派，鸡毛蒜皮的小事和不成熟已经毒害我们的政治如此之久。

　　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.

　　我们所有人都信奉这一价值。民主党今晚获得了巨大的胜利，但我们未来将用谦卑和决心来弥补竞选过程中产生的裂痕。

　　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.

　　正如林肯所说，我们不是敌人，而是朋友。我们决不能成为敌人，尽管目前的情绪有些紧张，但决不能容许它使我们之间的亲密情感纽带破裂。

　　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.

　　对于那些支持我的美国人，以及那些没有将选票投给我的人，我倾听到了你们的声音，我需要得到你们的帮助，而我也同样是你们的总统。

　　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.

　　对于那些在另外一个海岸，从国会到王宫、到在被世界遗忘的角落摆弄收音机、关注美国今夜的人们，我们的故事并非只有一个，但我们的命运是共同的，美国领导人新的曙光即将来临。

　　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.

　　对于那些破坏世界的人，我们将打败你。对于那些寻求和平与安全的人们：我们支持你。对于所有那些疑惑美国的灯塔是否还会继续明亮燃烧的人，今夜我们将再次证明，我们国家的力量并不是来源于我们的胳膊的臂力，也不是来源于我们的财富，而是源自于我们理念的持久力量。这些理念包括：民主、自由、机会以及坚负不屈的希望。

　　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.

　　这是美国真正的才能：美国会发生变化。我们的社会应该更完美。我们已经取得的成就给了我们将来能够而且必须实现的希望。