I believe that each country must chart its own course. China is an ancient nation, with a deeply rooted culture. The United States, by comparison, is a young nation, whose culture is determined by the many different immigrants who have come to our shores, and by the founding documents that guide our democracy.
我認(rèn)為每個(gè)國(guó)家都應(yīng)該勾畫(huà)出自己要走的路,中國(guó)是一個(gè)文明古國(guó),它有著博大精深的文化。相對(duì)而言,美國(guó)是一個(gè)年輕的國(guó)家,它的文化受到來(lái)自許多不同國(guó)家移民的影響,還受到我們民主制度文件的影響。
Those documents put forward a simple vision of human affairs, and they enshrine several core principles -- that all men and women are created equal, and possess certain fundamental rights; that government should reflect the will of the people and respond to their wishes; that commerce should be open, information freely accessible; and that laws, and not simply men, should guarantee the administration of justice.
我有一個(gè)非常簡(jiǎn)單的向往,代表了一些核心的原則,就是所有的人生來(lái)平等,都有著基本的權(quán)利,而政府應(yīng)當(dāng)反映人們的意志,貿(mào)易應(yīng)該是開(kāi)放的,信息流通應(yīng)當(dāng)是自由的,而法律要保證這個(gè)公平。
Of course, the story of our nation is not without its difficult chapters. In many ways -- over many years -- we have struggled to advance the promise of these principles to all of our people, and to forge a more perfect union. We fought a very painful civil war, and freed a portion of our population from slavery. It took time for women to be extended the right to vote, workers to win the right to organize, and for immigrants from different corners of the globe to be fully embraced. Even after they were freed, African Americans persevered through conditions that were separate and not equal, before winning full and equal rights.
當(dāng)然,我們的國(guó)家歷史也不是沒(méi)有過(guò)困難的地方,從很多方面來(lái)講,很多年以來(lái),我們是通過(guò)斗爭(zhēng)來(lái)促進(jìn)這些原則或者使所有的人民能夠享受到。為了締造一個(gè)更完美的聯(lián)合,我們也打過(guò)一個(gè)很痛苦的內(nèi)戰(zhàn),把一部分我們被奴役的人口釋放出來(lái),經(jīng)過(guò)一段時(shí)間才能使婦女有投票權(quán),勞工有組織權(quán),包括來(lái)自各地的移民能夠全部被接受。即使他們被解放以后,非洲裔美國(guó)人也和美國(guó)人經(jīng)過(guò)一些分開(kāi)的、不平等的條件,經(jīng)過(guò)一段時(shí)間才爭(zhēng)取到全面的平等權(quán)利。