奥巴马2008年在康涅狄格州的卫斯理公会大学毕业生典礼上的演讲——服务创造更美好的未来（中英）

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Dresser, President Roth, for welcoming me to your campus, and congratulations, President Roth on your first year at the helm of (“Wellesley”）Wesleyan. Congratulations also to the class of 2008，and thank you for allowing me to be a part of your graduation.

非常感谢！谢谢！感谢德莱塞主席、罗斯校长，谢谢你们欢迎我来到你们学 校，同时我要祝贺罗斯校长第一年接管卫斯理公会大学。祝贺2008届的毕业生们， 谢谢你们允许我参加你们的毕业典礼。

I have the distinct honor today of pinch-hitting for one of my personal heroes and a hero to this country, Senator Edward Kennedy. Ted is at home, getting some much-needed and deserved rest. And we're so pleased to see many of his family here today, including his wonderful wife, Vicky. He called me up a few days ago and I said that I'd be happy to be his stand-in, even though there was no way that I could fill his shoes.

今天，我十分荣幸能够代替我个人心目中的一位英雄——爱德华?肯尼迪参 议员，来发表这次演讲，他同样也是我们国家的英雄。泰德现在在家里，他需要休 息，也应该休息。我们非常髙兴地看到他的很多家人今天也在这里，包括她出色的 妻子维姬。几天之前，他打了电话给我，我说，我很乐意做他的替身，但是我远不 能取代他。

I did，however, get the chance to glance at the speech he planned on delivering today, and Yd like to start by passing along a message from Ted: “To all those praying for my return to good health, I offer thanks. And to any who，d rather have a different result, I say, don’t get your hopes up just yet!”

然而，我的确有幸看了一下他原本为今晚演讲所准备的稿子，接下来我想替泰德传递一个口信来开始我今天的演讲：“对于那些祈祷我恢复健康的人，我表示衷 心的感谢；而对于那些不希望我复原的人，我想说，别抱太大希望！ ”

So we know that Teddy’s legendary sense of humor is as strong as ever, and I have no doubt that his equally legendary fighting spirit will carry him through this latest challenge. He is our friend, he is our champion, and we hope and pray for his return to good health. Now, the topic of his speech today was common for a commencement, and we heard some of the themes from President

由此我们知道，泰迪还和以前一样风趣幽默，而且我坚信,他超群的斗志能 够帮助他渡过最近这次的难关。他是我们的朋友、我们的勇士，我们希望并祈祷他 能够早日康复。他为今天的毕业典礼准备的演讲主题是非常常见的话题，我们从罗 斯校长的演讲中也听到了一些类似的内容，但是，说到讨论这个主题，没有人比泰 德?肯尼迪更具权威性和启发性了。这个主题就是，为你的国家服务，这是一项与 他的家族的名声和传统具有相同意义的事业。

Roth but one that nobody could discuss with more authority or more inspiration than Ted Kennedy. And that is the topic of service to one’s country~a cause that is synonymous with his family’s name and legacy.

在我出生的那一年，在他的哥哥约翰的号召下，当时美国的那一代人询问他们 的国家：他们可以为自己的国家做些什么。在我成年的时候，他们这样做了。

I was born the year that his brother John called a generation of Americans to ask their country what they could do. And I came of age at a time when they did. They were the Peace Corps volunteers who won a generation of goodwill towards America at a time when America’s ideals were challenged. They were the teenagers and college students, not much older than you, who watched the Civil Rights Movement unfold on their television sets; who saw the dogs and the fire hoses and the footage of marchers being beaten within an inch of their lives; who knew it was probably smarter and safer to stay home, but decided to get on those buses and get in their cars and get on those trains anyway, and take those Freedom Rides down south~who still decided to march. And because they did，they changed the world.

他们是和平军团的志愿者，在美国理想受到质疑的时代，他们赢得了一代人 对美国的友好。他们都是青少年和大学生，并不比你们大多少，他们在自家的电视 上目睹了民权运动的开展；他们近距离地目睹了警犬、消防水带和游行者被打的画 面；他们明知待在家里是一个更明智且更安全的选择，他们仍然决定前行，仍毅然决定乘上公车，钻进自己的汽车，坐上朝南的火车，开始他们的“自由之行”。正 是因为他们的行动，世界发生了改变。

I bring this up today, because you are about to enter a world that makes it easier to get caught up in the notion that there are actually two different stories at work in our lives.

今天我讲这些，是因为你们即将要进入一个世界，这个世界会让你们更容易地 理解一个概念：在我们的生活中，实际上有两个不同的故事在同时发生着。

The first is the story of our everyday cares and concerns—the responsibilities we have to our jobs and our families~the bustle and busyness of what happens in our lives. And the second is the story of what happens in the life of our country—of what happens in the wider world. It，s the story you see when you catch a glimpse of the day’s headlines or turn on the news at night~a story of big challenges like war and recession; hunger and climate change; injustice and inequality. It’s a story that sometimes can seem separate and distant from our own—a destiny to be shaped by forces beyond our control.

第一个故事是关于我们每天关心和关注的事情，生活中的喧闹与忙碌，即我 们对工作和家人的责任。第二个故事是关于发生在我们国家和世界更大范围内的_ 事情。只要看一看当天报纸的头条新闻或是在晚上收看新闻，你就能看到这样一些 极具挑战性的故事，如战争和经济衰退，饥荒和气候变化，不公正和不平等。有时 候，这样的故事看似与我们无关，似乎离我们很遥远，理由是我们无法掌控它们的 命运。

And yet, the history of this nation tells us that it isn，t so. It tells us that we are a people whose destiny has never been written for us, but by us~by generations of men and women, young and old, who have always believed that their story and the American story are not separate, but shared. And for more than two centuries, they have served this country in ways that have forever enriched both.

然而，美国历史告诉我们，事实不是这样。历史告诉我们，我们民族的命运从 来就不是为我们而书写，而是由我们来书写的，由一代又一代的男女老少们书写， 他们相信自己的故事和美国的故事不是毫无关联的，而是联系在一起的。两个多世 纪以来，他们以各种不同的方式服务于国家，在充实自己的同时也让国家更加强大。

I say this to you as someone who couldn’t be standing here if it were not for the service of others, and wouldn’t be standing here today if not for the purpose that service gave my own life.

如果没有他们对国家的服务，如果没有这些服务赋予我的人生目标，我今天就 无法站在这里对你们说这些话。

You see, I spent much of my childhood adrift. My father left my mother and me when I was two. When my mother remarried, I lived overseas for a time, but was mostly raised in Hawaii by her and my grandparents from Kansas. My teenage years were filled with more than the usual dose of teenage rebellion, and I’ll admit that I didn’t always take myself or my studies very seriously. I realize that none of you can probably relate to this, overachievers that you are, but there were many times when I wasn’t sure where I was going, or what I was going to do with my life.

你们知道，我在漂泊中度过了我童年的大部分时光。在我两岁的时候，父亲离 开了母亲和我。当我母亲再婚的时候，我曾在海外住了一段时间，但是在大部分时 间里，我都是由母亲和来自堪萨斯州的外祖父母在夏威夷带大的。青少年时期，我 异常叛逆，我承认那时我并不重视自己，也不重视学习。我知道，你们之中没有一 个人会这样，你们都是非常优秀的学生，而我有许多时候都对自己未来的方向感到 很迷惘，不知道自己该过怎样的生活。但是，在我上大一大二的时候，可能是因为 我母亲曾经教给我的诸如勤奋工作，诚实、执著和怜悯的价值观，在经历了一段漫 长的冬眠之后终于苏醒了 ；也可能是因为优秀的老师和一生的挚友给我树立了良好 的榜样，我开始注意到外面的世界。我在反对南非种族隔离制度的运动中表现非常 活跃，我开始关注这个国家关于贫困和卫生保健的争论。于是，大学毕业的时候， 我有了一个疯狂的想法我要从基层做起，改变这个世界。

But during my first two years of college, perhaps because the values my mother had taught me一values of hard work, honesty, empathy and compassion finally resurfaced after a long hibernation； or perhaps because of the example of wonderful teachers and lasting friends, I began to notice a world beyond myself. I became active in the movement to oppose the apartheid regime in South Africa. I began following the debates in this country about poverty and health care. So that by the time I graduated from college, I was possessed with this crazy idea一that I was going to work at a grassroots level to bring about change.

我给这个国家里所有我能想到的组织都写了信。然后有一天，芝加哥南部的一 个小型教会组织给我提供了一份担任社区组织者工作，负责一个因钢厂关闭而陷入 混乱的社区。我母亲和外祖父母虽然思想开明，却也希望我能上法学院，因为我的 朋友们都在华尔街找工作。而同时，这个组织提出一年支付给我12_美元的薪水， 还提供2000美元让我去买一辆破旧的老爷车。我同意了，接受了这份工作。

I wrote letters to every organization in the country I could think of. And one day, a small group of churches on the South Side of Chicago offered me a job to come work as a community organizer in neighborhoods that had been devastated by the closing of steel mills. My mother and my grandparents, liberal minded though they were, wanted me to go to law school. My friends were applying to jobs on Wall Street. Meanwhile, this organization offered me $12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car. And I said yes. I said yes.

我在芝加哥人生地不熟，也不清楚这个组织的主要工作项目。之前我总是受 到民权运动和约翰?菲茨杰拉德?肯尼迪服务号召的鼓舞，但是，当我来到芝加哥 南部的时候，我发现那里既没有游行，也没有气势高昂的演讲。在空荡荡的工厂周 围，只有很多在生活中挣扎的人们。一开始，我们并没有取得很大的进展。

I didn’t know a soul in Chicago，and I wasn’t sure about what this community organizing business was all about. I had always been inspired by the stories of the Civil Rights Movement and by JFK's call to service, but when I got to the South Side, there were no marches, there were no soaring speeches. In the shadows of empty factories, there were just a lot of people who were struggling. And at first we didn’t get very far.

至今我都还记得我们第一次召开的那场会议。社区群众遭到了暴力团伙的侵 害，因此我们试图联合社区领导组织一次会议，为此我连续工作了几个星期。我们 耐心等候着人们的出现。最终，一群老年人走进了礼堂。他们坐下来，一个痩小的 老太太举起手询问道：“这是玩宾戈游戏的地方吗？ ”

I still remember one of the very first meetings we put together. The community had been plagued by gang violence, and so we tried to mobilize a meeting with community leaders. And I had worked for weeks on this project. We waited and waited for people to show up, and finally, a group of older people walked into the hall. And they sat down. And a little old lady raised her hand and asked, “Is this where the bingo game is?”

我们举步维艰，但是最终我们取得了进步。我们一天天、一个街区一个街区地 把这个社区团结在一起，我们登记新的选民，建立课后计划，创造新的工作机会， 并帮助人们过上有尊严的生活。我也开始意识到，我不仅仅是在帮助别人。通过服 务，我也找到了一个接受我的社区，找到了一种有意义的公民身份，找到了我一直 都在寻找的人生方向。通过服务，我发现了自己的这个看似不可能发生的故事是如 何嵌入美国这个更大的故事中的。

It wasn’t easy, but eventually, we made progress. Day by day, block by block, we brought the community together, and we registered new voters, and we set up after school programs, and fought for new jobs, and helped people live lives with some measure of dignity. I also began to realize that I wasn’t just helping other people. Through service, I found a community that embraced me; citizenship that was meaningful; the direction that Yd been seeking. Through service, I discovered how my own improbable story fit into the larger story of America.

现在，你们每一个人都有机会在未来的日子里找到自己的发现。我之所以用“机 会”这个词，是因为就像罗斯校长说的，你们并不是非得这样做。外面的世界里没 有对社区服务制定要求；没有人会强迫你去关注它。你可以带着你的文凭离弁这个 舞台，去追逐大房子、华美的套装和其他一些我们的金钱文化告诉你们应该买的东 西。你们可以选择缩小自己的关注范围，并尝试过一种与美国毫不相干的生活。

Now，each of you will have the chance to make your own discovery in the years to come. And I say “chance” because, as President Roth indicated, you won’t have to take it. There’s no community service requirement in the outside world; no one’s forcing you to care. You can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and chase only after the big house and the nice suits and the other things that our money culture says you should buy. You can choose to narrow your concerns and live life in a way that tries to keep your story separate from America’s. But I hope you don't. Not because you have an obligation to those who are less fortunate, although I believe you do have that obligation. Not because you have a debt to all those who helped you get to where you are today, although I do believe you have that debt to pay.

但是我希望你们不要这样做。不是因为你们有责任去关心那些不幸的人，虽然 我认为你们确实有这样的责任；也不是因为你们对那些帮助你们走到今天的人有所 亏欠，虽然我认为你们确实有这样的亏欠。

It's because you have an obligation to yourself. Because our individual salvation  depends on collective salvation. Because thinking only about yourself, fulfilling your immediate wants and needs, betrays a poverty of ambition. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon into something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential and discover the role that you’ll play in writing the next great chapter in the American story.

是因为你们对自己有责任。因为我们个人的救赎依赖于集体的拯救。因为如果你只想到自己，只想满足自己眼前的欲望和需求，这就是对雄心壮志的背叛。因为 只有当你把自己的事业与一些更伟大的事业联系在一起的时候，你才能发挥出你真 正的潜力，才会发现自己在书写美国历史的下一个篇章时所扮演的角色。

There are so many ways to serve and so much that needs to be done at this defining moment in our history. You don’t have to be a community organizer or do something crazy like run for President. Right here at this school, many of you have already volunteered at local high schools and elementary schools, contributed to the United Way, and even started a program that brings fresh produce to needy families in the area. One hundred and sixty-four graduates of this school have joined the Peace Corps since 2001，and I confess a special pride that two of you are about to leave for my father’s homeland of Kenya to bring alternative sources of energy to impoverished areas.

在这个历史上的决定性时刻，我们有很多种服务的方式，也有很多事情要做。 你不一定要成为一个社区组织者或者是做一些类似竞选总统这样疯狂的事情。就在 这个学校里，你们中的很多人已经在当地的中小学做志愿腋务，为“国际联合劝募 协会”作贡献，甚至还启动了一个“为本地区的贫困家庭提供新鲜的农产品”的项 目。从2001年开始，这所学校已有164名毕业生参加了和平军团，尤其让我感到骄傲 的是，你们当中的两名毕业生将会动身前往我父亲的家乡肯尼亚，为贫困地区带去 可替代性能源。

I ask you to seek these opportunities when you leave here，because the future of this country~your future, my future, my children’s future~depends on it. At a time when our security and moral standing depends on winning the hearts and minds in the forgotten corners of this world，we need more of you to serve abroad. As President, I intend to grow the Foreign Service, double the Peace Corps over the next few years, and engage young people of other nations in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all of humanity.

我希望你们在离开这里的时候抓住这样的机遇，因为整个国家的未来、你们的 未来、我的未来、我的孩子们的未来，都取决于这个机遇。在这4^时代，我们的安 全和道德声誊的好坏取决于我们是否赢得了那些处在被世界遗忘角落里的人们的支 持与爱戴，因此我们需要更多的人去国外服务。作为总统，我准备把驻外事务所发展壮大，在未来的几年里，让和平军团的成员人数增加一倍，并让其他国家里参与 类似项目的年轻人参与到我们的项目中来，这样，我们就能1起应对全体人类面临 的挑战。

At a time when our ice caps are melting and our oceans are rising, we need you to help lead a green revolution. We still have time to avoid the catastrophic consequences of climate change if we get serious about investing in renewable sources of energy, and if we get a generation of volunteers to work on renewable energy projects, and if we teach people about conservation, and help clean up polluted areas; if we send talented engineers and scientists abroad to help developing countries promote clean energy in a way that’s compatible with economic growth.

在这个冰盖渐融、海平面渐长的时代，我们需要你们引领一场绿色革命。如果 我们能够认真对待在可再生能源上的投资，如果我们能够让一代志愿者致力于可再 生能源项目的开发，如果我们让人们学会节约并帮助清理被污染的环境，如果我们 把有才能的工程师和科学家送到国外，帮助发展中国家以一种与经济发展相协调的 方式来推动清洁能源的使用进程，那么，我们就还来得及避免气候变化带来的一系 列灾难性后果。

At a time when a child in Boston must compete with children in Beijing and Bangalore, we need an army of you to become teachers and principals in schools that this nation cannot afford to give up on. I will pay our educators what they deserve, and give them more support, but I will also ask more of them to be mentors to other teachers, and serve in high-need schools and high-need subject areas like math and science. We will need you.

在这个时代，波士顿的孩子必须与北京以及班加罗尔的孩子们同台竞技，我们 需要你们中的一群人担任学校的教师和校长，我们国家决不能放弃教育事业。我会 给教育工作者们他们应得的报酬，给他们更多的支持，但是我也会对他们提出更高 的要求，要求他们能够成为其他教师的导师，并为有高需求的学校以及对数学和科 学等有髙需求的学科服务。我们需要你们。

At a time when there are children in the city of New Orleans who still spend each  night in a lonely trailer, we need more of you to take a weekend or a week off from work, and head down South, and help rebuild. If you can't get the time, volunteer at the local homeless shelter or soup kitchen in your own communities, because there’s more than enough work to go around. Find an organization that’s fighting poverty, or a candidate who promotes policies you believe in, and find a way to help them. We need you.

在新奥尔良市，一些孩子还是在拖车里度过每一个寂寥的夜晚的时候，我们需要你们中的更多人能够从工作中抽出一个周末或是一个星期的时间，去到南部帮助 他们重建。如果你们没有那么多时间，你们可以在当地的流浪汉之家或者流动厨房 做志愿工作，因为四处看看会让你们发现有太多的工作需要去做。你们需要找一个 旨在对抗贫困的组织，或者是一个能推行你所信仰的政策的候选人，找到一种能够 帮助他们的方式。我们需要你们。

At a time of war, we need you to work for peace. At a time of inequality, we need you to work for opportunity. At a time of so much cynicism and so much doubt, we need you to make us believe again. That’s your task, class of 2008.

在战争爆发时，我们需要你们为和平而努力。在不平等的现象出现时，我们需 要你们为他人争取机遇。在愤世嫉俗和疑云重重的时代，我们需要你们帮我们重新 建立信任。这是你们的任务，2008届的毕业生们。

Now understand this~believing that change is possible is not the same as being naive. Go into service with your eyes wide open, for change will not come easily. On the big issues that our nation faces, difficult choices await. We5ll have to face some hard truths, and some sacrifice will be required—not only from you individually, but from the nation as a whole.

现在，你们要理解这一点，相信可能发生的改变与天真是两码事。在服务时你 们要睁大眼睛，因为改变不是轻而易举的。在国家所面临的那些重大问题上，我们 得做出艰难的抉择，我们得面对一些残酷的现实，我们可能需要做出一些牺牲，不 仅仅是个人的牺牲，还有整个国家的牺牲。

There is no magic bullet to our energy problems, for example; no perfect energy source—so all of us will have to use the energy sources we have more wisely. Deep-rooted poverty will not be reversed overnight; it will require both money and reform at a time when our federal and state budgets are strapped and when Washington is skeptical that reform is possible. Transforming our education system will require not only bold government action, but a change in attitudes among parents and among students. And it’s hard to change attitudes. Bringing an end to the slaughter in Darfur will involve navigating extremely difficult realities on the ground, even for those with the best of intentions.

我们没有解决能源问题的灵丹妙药，比如说，我们所有人都应该更加明智地使 用我们目前所拥有的能源，因为完美的能源是不存在的。根深蒂固的贫困不可能在 一夜之间就被消除，这需要投入资金和实行改革，但我们的联邦政府和国家财政预算吃紧，而且华盛顿政府对改革的可能性存在质疑。教育系统的改革不仅需要政府 采取大胆的行动，而且需要家长和学生转变自身的态度。但态度是很难改变的。想 要结束达尔富尔的杀戮，就必须得处理好当地极其复杂的现实情况，这其中还包括 了那些因好心帮倒忙的糟糕状况。

And so, understand that, should you take the path of service, should you choose to take up one of these causes as your own, know that you’ll experience the occasional frustrations and the occasional failures. Even your successes will be marked by imperfections and unintended consequences. I guarantee you, there will be times when friends or family urge you to pursue more sensible endeavors with more tangible ewards. And there will be rimes where you will be tempted to take such advice.But I hope you’ll remember, during those times of doubt and frustration, that there is nothing naive about your impulse to change the world. Because all it takes is one act of service~one blow against injustice~to send forth what Robert Kennedy called that tiny ripple of hope. That’s what changes the world. That one act. An act by you, Class of 2008.

因此，如果你们选择了服务这条道路，如果你们选择把这其中的一项当做你 们自己的事业，那么你们必须了解，挫折和失败不可避免，随处可见。你们的成功 甚至都是不完美的，可能还会夹杂着一些意料之外的后果。我敢向你们保证，你们 的朋友和家人一定会经常力劝你们追求一些更加实际的东西，以获得更多有形的回 报。你们也可能会因受到诱惑而接受这样的建议。但是我希望你们记住，在面对质 疑和沮丧的时候，想改变世界的冲动无关乎天真。因为将罗伯特?肯尼迪所说的微 小的希望之波散播开去所需要的只不过是一个服务的行动，只不过是对不公正的猛 力一击。那就是改变世界的东西。就那一个行动。你们的行动，2008届的毕业生们。

You know，Ted Kennedy often tells a story about the fifth anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps. He was there, and he asked one of the young Americans why he had chosen to volunteer. And the man replied, “Because it was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country.” “It was the first time someone asked me to do something for my country."I don’t know how many of you have been asked that question, but after today, you have no excuses. I am asking you, and if I should have the honor of serving this nation as President, I will be asking again and again in the coming years. Because we may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe that we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe that with all my heart this generation is ready, and eager, and up to the challenge.

众所周知，泰德?肯尼迪经常讲一个关于和平军团五周年庆典的故事。当时他问其中的一个年轻人，为什么选择做志愿者。这个年轻人回答：“因为这是第一次 有人让我为我的国家做点事情。” “这是第一次有人让我为我的国家做点事情。” 我不知道在你们之中有多少人被问过那个问题，但从今以后，你们就没有借口 了。我现在就在问你们，而且如果我有幸成为美国总统，服务于这个国家，我将会 在今后的日子里反复地问你们这个问题。因为即便作为美国人，我们可能在某些问 题和立场上持有分歧，但是我相信，我们可以为了创造一个更美好的祖国而紧紧团 结在服务行动中。我打算以此作为我总统任期内的一项事业，而且我由衷地相信， 你们这一代人已经整装待发，对这个即将到来的挑战跃跃欲试。

We will face our share of cynics and doubters. But we always have. I can still remember a conversation I had with an older man all those years ago right before I was headed for my new job in Chicago. He said，“Barack，I'll give you a bit of advice. Forget about this community organizing business and do something that’s gonna make you some money. You can't change the world, and people won’t appreciate you trying. But youVe got a nice voice，so you should think about going into television broadcasting. Fm telling you, you have a future there.

我们总会难免遇见一些愤世嫉俗的言论或质疑我们的人。我至今都还记得多年 前与一位老者的对话，那时我正好准备出发前往芝加哥去担任那个新职位。他说： “巴拉克，我要给你一点建议。把这个社区组织的事情忘掉吧，去做一些能让你赚钱 的事情。你无法改变世界，人们也不会感谢你的努力。但是，你的声音很好听，所 以你应该考虑一下去做电视广播界的工作。我告诉你，你在那里肯定前途无量。”

Now, I’ve wondered...he might have been right about the TV thing, but he was wrong about everything else. For that old man has not seen what I have seen. He has not seen the faces of ordinary people the first time they clear a vacant lot or build a new playground or force an unresponsive leader to provide services to a community that’s been neglected. He has not seen the face of a child brighten because of an inspiring teacher or an inspiring mentor. He has not seen the scores of young people educate their parents on issues like Darfur, or mobilize the conscience of a nation around the challenges of climate change. He has not seen the lines of men and women that wrap around schools and churches, that stretch out block after block after block just so they could make their voices heard, many for the first time. That old man who didn’t believe the world could change~who didn’t think one person could make a difference~well he certainly didn’t know much about the life of Joseph Kennedy’s youngest son.

现在，我想想……他说的关于电视广播的事情也许是对的，但是他所说的其他话都是错的，因为那个老人没有看到我所看到的东西。当人们第一次清出一块空 地，或建起一个新运动场，或迫使一个冷漠的领导人为一个被忽略的社区提供服务 时，他没有看到他们脸上的表情。当孩子们因为遇到一个鼓舞人心的老师或导师时， 他没有看到他们脸上所绽放的光彩。他没有看到许多年轻人的成功：他们教自己的父 母了解像达尔富尔这样的问题，或者唤醒国民在气候变化问题上的良知。他没有看到 人们成群环绕在学校和教堂外，队伍伸展到几个街区之外，只是为了向人们表露心 迹，而很多人都是第一次这样做。那个老人不相信世界是可以改变的，他不相信一个 人就能带来改变。那么，他肯定不怎么了解约瑟夫?肯尼迪最小的儿子。

It‘s rare in this country of ours that a person exists who has touched the lives of nearly every single American without many of us even realizing it. And yet, because of Ted Kennedy, millions of children can see a doctor when they get sick. Mothers and fathers can leave work to spend time with their newborns. Working Americans are paid higher wages，and compensated for overtime, and can keep their health insurance when they change jobs.

在我们的国家里，有一个人能够在我们很多人都没有意识到的情况下，便几 乎触及到了每一个美国人的生活，这是很罕见的。然而，正是因为泰德肯尼 迪，数以百万计的孩子在生病的时候能够寻求医生的帮助了，父母能够歇工陪伴他 们刚出生的孩子了，美国的工人们得到了更高的报酬，加班也有酬劳了，而且在换 工作的时候也还能够保有他们的健康保险了。

They are protected from discrimination in the workplace, and those who are born with disabilities can still get an education, and health care，and fair treatment on the job. Our schools are stronger and our colleges are filled with more Americans who afford it. And I have a feeling that Ted Kennedy is not done just yet.

在工作场所，他们不再遭到歧视了，那些天生残疾的人也同样拥有接受教育、获得卫生保健、享有获取工作的同等权利和工作中的同等待遇的机会了。我们的学 校实力更强大了，也有更多的美国人可以负担起大学教育了-。而且我有预感，泰 德?肯尼迪还会为人民做更多。

Surely, surely, if one man can achieve so much and make such a difference in the lives of so many people, then each of us can do our part. Surely, if his service and his story can forever shape America’s story, then our collective service can shape the destiny of this generation. At the very least, his living example calls us to try. That is all I ask of you on this joyous day of new beginnings; that is what Senator Kennedy asks of you as well, and that is how we will keep so much needed work going, and the cause of justice everlasting, and the dream alive for generations to come. Thank you so much to the Class of 2008，and congratulations on your graduation.

可以确定的是，如果一个人可以做这么多事情，改变那么多人的生活，那么 我们每一个人都可以贡献出自己的一份力量。如果他的服务和故事可以永远地塑造 美国的历史，那么，我们共同的服务就能够塑造这代人的命运。至少，他鲜活的例 子呼吁我们去尝试。这就是我在这个欢庆的日子里，在你们新的起点上要求你们做 的、也是肯尼迪议员要求你们做的；这也是，这是我们保证使命继续进行、公正事 业永远持续、后代梦想成真的必经之路。2008届的毕业生们，非常感谢你们，祝贺 你们顺利毕业。

Thank you everybody. God bless you. Thank you!

谢谢你们每一个人。愿上帝保佑你们。谢谢！

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