Thank you, very much. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Buenas noches, mis amigos. I'm delighted to be here with you this evening, because after listening to George Bush all these years, I figured you needed to know what a real Texas accent sounds like. 谢谢，非常感谢。晚上好，女士们、先生们。Buenas noches, mis amigos（晚上好，我的朋友们）。我很高兴今晚能和你们在一起，因为听了乔治·布什这么多年讲话之后，我想你们需要听一听真正的德州口音是什么样的。
Twelve years ago Barbara Jordan, another Texas woman, Barbara made the keynote address to this convention, and two women in a hundred and sixty years is about par for the course. But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels. 十二年前，另一位德州女性芭芭拉·乔丹，在这次大会上发表了基调演讲，一百六十年里只有两位女性登台，这大概就是常态。但只要给我们机会，我们就能表现出色。毕竟，金杰·罗杰斯做了弗雷德·阿斯泰尔做的一切，只是她穿着高跟鞋倒着做。
I want to announce to this Nation that in a little more than 100 days, the Reagan - Meese - Deaver - Nofziger - Poindexter - North - Weinberger - Watt - Gorsuch -Lavelle - Stockman - Haig - Bork - Noriega - George Bush [era] will be over! 我要向全国宣布，再过一百多天，里根—米斯—迪弗—诺夫齐格—波因德克斯特—诺斯—温伯格—瓦特—戈萨奇—拉韦尔—斯托克曼—黑格—博克—诺列加—乔治·布什〔时代〕就将结束！
You know, tonight I feel a little like I did when I played basketball in the 8th grade. I thought I looked real cute in my uniform. And then I heard a boy yell from the bleachers, "Make that basket, bird legs." And my greatest fear is that same guy is somewhere out there in the audience tonight, and he's going to cut me down to size, because where I grew up there really wasn't much tolerance for self-importance, people who put on airs. 你们知道，今晚我感觉有点像我八年级打篮球时那样。我觉得自己穿球衣的样子挺可爱。然后我听到看台上一个男孩喊道："把那个球投进去，瘦竹竿。"我最担心的是，今晚那个家伙就坐在观众席的某个地方，他要把我打个折扣不可，因为我长大的地方，对那种自以为是、装腔作势的人，实在没什么耐心。
I was born during the Depression in a little community just outside Waco, and I grew up listening to Franklin Roosevelt on the radio. Well, it was back then that I came to understand the small truths and the hardships that bind neighbors together. Those were real people with real problems and they had real dreams about getting out of the Depression. 我出生在大萧条时期，在韦科郊外的一个小社区里长大，是听着收音机里罗斯福总统的演讲长大的。就是在那个时候，我开始懂得那些把邻里联系在一起的小道理和艰辛。那些都是真实的人，有真实的问题，他们怀有走出大萧条的真实梦想。
I can remember summer nights when we'd put down what we called the Baptist pallet, and we listened to the grown-ups talk. I can still hear the sound of the dominoes clicking on the marble slab my daddy had found for a tabletop. I can still hear the laughter of the men telling jokes you weren't supposed to hear -- talkin' about how big that old buck deer was, laughin' about mama puttin' Clorox in the well when the frog fell in. 我还记得夏天的夜晚，我们会铺下我们称之为"浸信会草席"的毯子，听大人们聊天。我至今还能听到多米诺骨牌在爸爸捡来当桌面的石板上磕碰的声音。我还能听到大人们讲那些不该让孩子听的笑话时发出的笑声——吹嘘那只老公鹿有多大，笑妈妈把青蛙掉进井里后往井里倒漂白水的事。
They talked about war and Washington and what this country needed. They talked straight talk. And it came from people who were living their lives as best they could. And that's what we're gonna do tonight. We're gonna tell how the cow ate the cabbage. 他们谈论战争、华盛顿以及这个国家需要什么。他们说话直来直去。这些都是竭尽全力过日子的人说出来的。今晚我们也要这样做。我们要把事情的原原本本讲出来。
I got a letter last week from a young mother in Lorena, Texas, and I wanna read part of it to you. She writes, 上周我收到一封来自德州洛雷纳一位年轻母亲的来信，我想给你们念其中一段。她写道，
"Our worries go from pay day to pay day, just like millions of others. And we have two fairly decent incomes, but I worry how I'm going to pay the rising car insurance and food. I pray my kids don't have a growth spurt from August to December, so I don't have to buy new jeans. We buy clothes at the budget stores and we have them fray and fade and stretch in the first wash. We ponder and try to figure out how we're gonna pay for college and braces and tennis shoes. We don't take vacations and we don't go out to eat." "我们的担忧从一个发薪日延续到下一个发薪日，就像其他千千万万人一样。我们有两份还算体面的收入，但我担心怎么付得起不断上涨的车险和食品开销。我祈祷孩子们从八月到十二月别长得太快，这样我就不用买新牛仔裤。我们在平价店买衣服，洗一次就磨毛、褪色、变形。我们绞尽脑汁盘算怎么攒钱上大学、整牙、买运动鞋。我们不去度假，也不出去吃饭。"
"Please don't think me ungrateful. We have jobs and a nice place to live, and we're healthy. We're the people you see every day in the grocery stores, and we obey the laws. We pay our taxes. We fly our flags on holidays and we plod along trying to make it better for ourselves and our children and our parents. We aren't vocal any more. I think maybe we're too tired. I believe that people like us are forgotten in America." "请别觉得我不感恩。我们有工作，有不错的住所，身体健康。我们就是你们每天在杂货店看到的人，我们遵纪守法，我们纳税，我们在节假日升旗，我们踏踏实实地过日子，想让自己、孩子和父母过得更好。我们不再大声说话了。我想也许是太累了。我相信，像我们这样的人，在美国已经被遗忘了。"
Well of course you believe you're forgotten, because you have been. 嗯，你们当然觉得自己被遗忘了，因为你们确实被遗忘了。
This Republican Administration treats us as if we were pieces of a puzzle that can't fit together. They've tried to put us into compartments and separate us from each other. Their political theory is "divide and conquer." They've suggested time and time again that what is of interest to one group of Americans is not of interest to any one else. We've been isolated. We've been lumped into that sad phraseology called "special interests." 这个共和党政府把我们当作拼不拢的拼图碎片。他们试图把我们塞进各个格子里，把我们彼此分开。他们的政治理论就是"分而治之"。他们一次又一次地暗示，对一群美国人有利的，对其他人就没利。我们被孤立了。我们被塞进那个可悲的词汇——"特殊利益集团"。
They've told farmers that they were selfish, that they would drive up food prices if they asked the government to intervene on behalf of the family farm, and we watched farms go on the auction block while we bought food from foreign countries. Well, that's wrong! 他们告诉农民，说他们自私，说如果他们要求政府为家庭农场出面干预，就会推高食品价格，可我们眼睁睁看着农场被送上拍卖台，自己却从外国进口粮食。这，错了！
They told working mothers it's all their fault -- their families are falling apart because they had to go to work to keep their kids in jeans and tennis shoes and college. And they're wrong!! They told American labor they were trying to ruin free enterprise by asking for 60 days' notice of plant closings, and that's wrong. 他们告诉职业母亲，一切都是她们的错——家庭破裂是因为她们不得不出去工作，好让孩子有牛仔裤穿、有运动鞋穿、能上大学。他们错了！他们告诉美国劳工，说劳工要求工厂关闭前提前60天通知是想毁掉自由企业，这错了。
And they told the auto industry and the steel industry and the timber industry and the oil industry, companies being threatened by foreign products flooding this country, that you're "protectionist" if you think the government should enforce our trade laws. And that is wrong. When they belittle us for demanding clean air and clean water for trying to save the oceans and the ozone layer, that's wrong. 他们还告诉汽车工业、钢铁工业、木材工业和石油工业，告诉那些受到外国产品倾销威胁的公司：你们要是认为政府应该执行贸易法，那就是"保护主义"。这错了。当他们因为我们要求清洁的空气和水、要求拯救海洋和臭氧层而嘲笑我们时，那也错了。
No wonder we feel isolated and confused. We want answers and their answer is that "something is wrong with you." Well nothing's wrong with you. Nothing's wrong with you that you can't fix in November! 难怪我们感到孤立和困惑。我们要答案，而他们的答案是"你这个人有问题"。可你没什么问题。你身上没什么问题是十一月的选举解决不了的！
We've been told -- We've been told that the interests of the South and the Southwest are not the same interests as the North and the Northeast. They pit one group against the other. They've divided this country and in our isolation we think government isn't gonna help us, and we're alone in our feelings. We feel forgotten. Well, the fact is that we are not an isolated piece of their puzzle. We are one nation. We are the United States of America. 我们被告知——我们被告知，南方和西南的利益与北方和东北的利益不一样。他们让一群人反对另一群人。他们分裂了这个国家，而我们在孤立中以为政府不会帮助我们，我们独自承受着这些感受。我们觉得被遗忘了。可事实是，我们并不是他们那幅拼图上孤立的碎片。我们是一个国家。我们是美利坚合众国。
Now we Democrats believe that America is still the county of fair play, that we can come out of a small town or a poor neighborhood and have the same chance as anyone else; and it doesn't matter whether we are black or Hispanic or disabled or a women [sic]. We believe that America is a country where small business owners must succeed, because they are the bedrock, backbone of our economy. 我们民主党人相信，美国仍然是一个讲究公平的国家，无论我们来自小镇还是贫困街区，都能和别人有同样的机会；无论我们是黑人、西班牙裔、残疾人还是女性，都一样。我们相信，美国是一个必须让小企业主成功的国家，因为他们是我们经济的基石和脊梁。
We believe that our kids deserve good daycare and public schools. We believe our kids deserve public schools where students can learn and teachers can teach. And we wanna believe that our parents will have a good retirement and that we will too. We Democrats believe that social security is a pact that can not be broken. 我们相信，我们的孩子值得拥有好的日托和公立学校。我们相信，孩子们值得拥有学生能学、老师能教的公立学校。我们希望相信，我们的父母会有一个安好的退休生活，我们自己将来也会有。我们民主党人相信，社会保障是一项不可违背的契约。
We wanna believe that we can live out our lives without the terrible fear that an illness is going to bankrupt us and our children. We Democrats believe that America can overcome any problem, including the dreaded disease called AIDS. We believe that America is still a country where there is more to life than just a constant struggle for money. And we believe that America must have leaders who show us that our struggles amount to something and contribute to something larger -- leaders who want us to be all that we can be. 我们希望相信，我们能度过一生，而不必怀着一种可怕的恐惧——担心一场疾病会让我们和孩子倾家荡产。我们民主党人相信，美国能够克服任何难题，包括被称为艾滋病的可怕疾病。我们相信，美国仍然是一个生活不止是为钱苦苦挣扎的国家。我们相信，美国必须有这样的领导人：他们让我们看到，我们的奋斗有其意义，能汇入更宏大的事业——这样的领导人希望我们发挥出自己的全部潜能。
We want leaders like Jesse Jackson. Jesse Jackson is a leader and a teacher who can open our hearts and open our minds and stir our very souls. And he has taught us that we are as good as our capacity for caring, caring about the drug problem, caring about crime, caring about education, and caring about each other. 我们需要像杰西·杰克逊这样的领导人。杰西·杰克逊是一位领袖和教师，能开启我们的心灵、开启我们的头脑、震撼我们的灵魂。他教导我们，我们的价值取决于我们关怀的能力——关怀毒品问题、关怀犯罪、关怀教育、关怀彼此。
Now, in contrast, the greatest nation of the free world has had a leader for eight straight years that has pretended that he can not hear our questions over the noise of the helicopters. And we know he doesn't wanna answer. But we have a lot of questions. And when we get our questions asked, or there is a leak, or an investigation the only answer we get is, "I don't know," or "I forgot." 相比之下，这个自由世界最伟大的国家，连续八年由一位领导人主政，他却装作听不见我们在直升机轰鸣声中提出的问题。我们清楚他不想回答。但我们有太多问题。当我们好不容易问到答案，或者出现泄密，或者展开调查时，我们唯一得到的回答是："我不知道"，或者"我忘了"。
But you wouldn't accept that answer from your children. I wouldn't. "Don't tell me you 'don't know' or you 'forgot.'" We're not going to have the America that we want until we elect leaders who are gonna tell the truth; not most days but every day; leaders who don't forget what they don't want to remember. 可你不会接受孩子这样的回答。我也不会。"别告诉我你'不知道'或者你'忘了'。"我们要等到选出愿意讲真话的领导人——不是大多数日子讲真话，而是每天都讲真话；这样的领导人不会忘记他们不愿意记起的事——才能拥有我们想要的美国。
And for eight straight years George Bush hasn't displayed the slightest interest in anything we care about. And now that he's after a job that he can't get appointed to, he's like Columbus discovering America. He's found child care. He's found education. Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth. 而连续八年，乔治·布什对我们关心的任何事都没有表现出丝毫兴趣。如今他要竞逐一个不能靠任命得到的工作了，他就像哥伦布发现新大陆一样。他发现了托儿问题。他发现了教育。可怜的乔治，他也没办法，他天生嘴里含着银脚。
Well, no wonder. No wonder we can't figure it out. Because the leadership of this nation is telling us one thing on TV and doing something entirely different. They tell us -- They tell us that they're fighting a war against terrorists. And then we find out that the White House is selling arms to the Ayatollah. 难怪我们搞不清楚。因为这个国家的领导人在电视上告诉我们一回事，做的却是完全另一套。他们告诉我们——他们告诉我们，他们在反恐。然后我们发现白宫在向阿亚图拉出售武器。
They -- They tell us that they're fighting a war on drugs and then people come on TV and testify that the CIA and the DEA and the FBI knew they were flying drugs into America all along. And they're negotiating with a dictator who is shoveling cocaine into this country like crazy. I guess that's their Central American strategy. 他们——他们告诉我们，他们在打击毒品，然后人们在电视上作证说，中央情报局、缉毒局和联邦调查局早就知道有人在把毒品运进美国。他们还在和一个独裁者谈判，那人正疯狂地向我国倾销可卡因。我猜这就是他们的中美洲战略吧。
Now they tell us that employment rates are great, and that they're for equal opportunity. But we know it takes two paychecks to make ends meet today, when it used to take one. And the opportunity they're so proud of is low-wage, dead-end jobs. And there is no major city in America where you cannot see homeless men sitting in parking lots holding signs that say, "I will work for food." 现在他们告诉我们就业率很好，他们支持机会均等。可我们知道，如今要两份薪水才能维持收支平衡，而过去一份就够。他们引以为豪的机会，是低薪、没前途的工作。在美国，没有一座大城市里你看不到无家可归者坐在停车场举着"愿为食物工作"的牌子。
Now my friends, we really are at a crucial point in American history. Under this Administration we have devoted our resources into making this country a military colossus. But we've let our economic lines of defense fall into disrepair. The debt of this nation is greater than it has ever been in our history. We fought a world war on less debt than the Republicans have built up in the last eight years. 我的朋友们，我们确实处于美国历史上一个关键时刻。在这届政府治下，我们把资源投入到把这个国家变成一个军事巨人。但我们任由经济防线年久失修。这个国家的债务比历史上任何时候都高。我们打一场世界大战欠下的债，都比共和党过去八年累积的债务要少。
You know, it's kind of like that brother-in-law who drives a flashy new car, but he's always borrowing money from you to make the payments. 你知道，这就像那个开着一辆耀眼新车的连襟，可他总是向你借钱付车贷。
Well, but let's take what they are most proudest of -- that is their stand of defense. We Democrats are committed to a strong America, and, quite frankly, when our leaders say to us, "We need a new weapons system," our inclination is to say, "Well, they must be right." But when we pay billions for planes that won't fly, billions for tanks that won't fire, and billions for systems that won't work, "that old dog won't hunt." And you don't have to be from Waco to know that when the Pentagon makes crooks rich and doesn't make America strong, that it's a bum deal. 那么，就拿他们最引以为豪的事来说吧——也就是他们的国防立场。我们民主党人致力于建设一个强大的美国，坦白说，当我们的领导人对我们说"我们需要一种新的武器系统"时，我们倾向于说"嗯，他们一定是对的"。可当我们为不会飞的飞机付出数十亿、为不会开火的坦克付出数十亿、为不起作用的系统付出数十亿时，"那条老狗打不了猎了"。你不必来自韦科也能明白，当五角大楼让骗子发财、却不能让美国强大时，那就是一笔糟糕的交易。
Now I'm going to tell you, I'm really glad that our young people missed the Depression and missed the great Big War. But I do regret that they missed the leaders that I knew, leaders who told us when things were tough, and that we'd have to sacrifice, and that these difficulties might last for a while. They didn't tell us things were hard for us because we were different, or isolated, or special interests. They brought us together and they gave us a sense of national purpose. 我现在要告诉你们，我真心为我们的年轻人错过了大萧条、错过了那场大战而高兴。但我确实遗憾他们错过了我所认识的那一代领导人——那些会告诉我们形势艰难、我们必须做出牺牲、这些困难可能要持续一段时间的领导人。他们不会说，事情对我们艰难是因为我们与众不同、被孤立、是什么特殊利益集团。他们把我们团结在一起，给我们一种共同的国家使命感。
They gave us Social Security and they told us they were setting up a system where we could pay our own money in, and when the time came for our retirement we could take the money out. People in the rural areas were told that we deserved to have electric lights, and they were gonna harness the energy that was necessary to give us electricity so my grandmamma didn't have to carry that old coal oil lamp around. And they told us that they were gonna guarant[ee] when we put our money in the bank, that the money was going to be there, and it was going to be insured. They did not lie to us. 他们给了我们社会保障，告诉我们正在建立一套制度，让我们存自己的钱进去，到退休时可以领出来。农村地区的人被告知，我们理应拥有电灯，他们要去开发利用必要的能源，让我们用上电，这样我奶奶就不必再提着那盏老旧的煤油灯到处走了。他们还告诉我们，当我们把钱存进银行时，他们会保证钱还在那里，而且有保险。他们没有对我们撒谎。
And I think one of the saving graces of Democrats is that we are candid. We talk straight talk. We tell people what we think. And that tradition and those values live today in Michael Dukakis from Massachusetts. 我认为民主党人最值得称道的一点，就是我们坦诚。我们说话直来直去。我们告诉人们我们的想法。而这种传统和这些价值观，今天活在来自马萨诸塞州的迈克尔·杜卡基斯身上。
Michael Dukakis knows that this country is on the edge of a great new era, that we're not afraid of change, that we're for thoughtful, truthful, strong leadership. Behind his calm there's an impatience to unify this country and to get on with the future. His instincts are deeply American. They're tough and they're generous. And personally, I have to tell you that I have never met a man who had a more remarkable sense about what is really important in life. 迈克尔·杜卡基斯知道，这个国家正处于一个伟大新时代的边缘，我们不害怕变革，我们追求深思熟虑、真诚、有力的领导。在他冷静的外表下，有一种迫切想团结这个国家、迈向未来的急切心情。他的直觉深具美国精神，既坚韧又慷慨。就我个人而言，我必须告诉你们，我从未见过有谁像他那样，对生活中真正重要的事有如此非凡的洞察力。
And then there's my friend and my teacher for many years, Senator Lloyd Bentsen. And I couldn't be prouder, both as a Texan and as a Democrat, because Lloyd Bentsen understands America. From the barrio to the boardroom, he knows how to bring us together, by regions, by economics, and by example. And he's already beaten George Bush once. 还有我多年的朋友和老师，劳埃德·本特森参议员。作为德州人和民主党人，我都无比自豪，因为劳埃德·本特森理解美国。从拉丁裔聚居区到董事会会议室，他知道如何把我们团结起来——按地域、按经济、并以身作则。而且他已经击败过乔治·布什一次了。
So, when it comes right down to it, this election is a contest between those who are satisfied with what they have and those who know we can do better. That's what this election is really all about. It's about the American dream -- those who want to keep it for the few and those who know it must be nurtured and passed along. 归根结底，这次选举是一场较量：一边是对所拥有的心满意足的人，另一边是知道我们能做得更好的人。这才是这次选举真正关乎的事。它关乎美国梦——一边想把它留给少数人，另一边知道它必须被呵护、被传承。
I'm a grandmother now. And I have one nearly perfect granddaughter named Lily. And when I hold that grandbaby, I feel the continuity of life that unites us, that binds generation to generation, that ties us with each other. And sometimes I spread that Baptist pallet out on the floor, and Lily and I roll a ball back and forth. 我现在是奶奶了。我有一个近乎完美的孙女，叫莉莉。当我抱着这个小孙女时，我感受到那种将我们连在一起、代代相连、彼此相依的生命延续。有时我把那张浸信会草席铺在地上，莉莉和我来回滚球玩。
And I think of all the families like mine, like the one in Lorena, Texas, like the ones that nurture children all across America. And as I look at Lily, I know that it is within families that we learn both the need to respect individual human dignity and to work together for our common good. Within our families, within our nation, it is the same. 我会想到所有像我一样的家庭，像洛雷纳那个家庭，像全美各地抚育孩子的家庭。当我望着莉莉时，我知道，正是在家庭里，我们学会了既要尊重个人的人的尊严，又要为共同利益而合作。在我们的家庭里，在我们的国家里，都是如此。
And as I sit there, I wonder if she'll ever grasp the changes I've seen in my life -- if she'll ever believe that there was a time when blacks could not drink from public water fountains, when Hispanic children were punished for speaking Spanish in the public schools, and women couldn't vote. 当我坐在那里，我想她能否理解我一生中所见到的变化——她是否会相信，曾经有过这样一个时代：黑人不能在公共饮水 fountain 喝水，西班牙裔孩子在公立学校讲西班牙语会受到惩罚，而妇女没有选举权。
I think of all the political fights I've fought, and all the compromises I've had to accept as part payment. And I think of all the small victories that have added up to national triumphs and all the things that would never have happened and all the people who would've been left behind if we had not reasoned and fought and won those battles together. And I will tell Lily that those triumphs were Democratic Party triumphs. 我想到我经历过的所有政治斗争，想到我不得不接受的所有妥协，作为代价的一部分。我想到那些累积成全国性胜利的小胜利，想到那些如果我们没有一起理性思考、一起斗争、一起赢得胜利，就永远不会发生的事，以及会被抛在后面的人。我会告诉莉莉，那些胜利是民主党的胜利。
I want so much to tell Lily how far we've come, you and I. And as the ball rolls back and forth, I want to tell her how very lucky she is that for all our difference, we are still the greatest nation on this good earth. And our strength lies in the men and women who go to work every day, who struggle to balance their family and their jobs, and who should never, ever be forgotten. 我是多么想告诉莉莉，你我一路走来已经走了多远。当球在我们之间来回滚动，我想告诉她，她是多么幸运——尽管我们有诸多分歧，我们仍然是这个美好地球上最伟大的国家。我们的力量在于那些每天去上班的男男女女，他们艰难地平衡着家庭和工作，他们绝不应该被遗忘。
I just hope that like her grandparents and her great-grandparents before that Lily goes on to raise her kids with the promise that echoes in homes all across America: that we can do better, and that's what this election is all about. 我只希望，莉莉能像她的祖父母和曾祖父母那样，在养育自己的孩子时怀着那个回响在全美各地家庭中的承诺：我们能做得更好，而这正是这次选举的全部意义。
Thank you very much. 非常感谢大家。