Thank you, all. Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, distinguished guests, and my fellow citizens. The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. With a simple oath, we affirm old traditions and make new beginnings. 谢谢大家。首席大法官伦奎斯特先生、卡特总统、布什总统、克林顿总统、各位嘉宾、同胞们。权力的和平交接在历史上是罕见的，但在我们国家却是寻常之事。通过一个简单的誓言，我们重申古老的传统，开启新的篇章。
As I begin, I thank President Clinton for his service to our Nation, and I thank Vice President Gore for a contest conducted with spirit and ended with grace. 在开始之前，我感谢克林顿总统为我们国家所做的贡献，并感谢戈尔副总统在竞选中展现的精神和结束时的风度。
I am honored and humbled to stand here where so many of America's leaders have come before me, and so many will follow. We have a place, all of us, in a long story, a story we continue but whose end we will not see. It is a story of a new world that became a friend and liberator of the old, the story of a slaveholding society that became a servant of freedom, the story of a power that went into the world to protect but not possess, to defend but not to conquer. 我荣幸地站在这里，许多美国领导人曾在此站过，许多人将在此跟随。我们每个人都在一个漫长的故事中有一个位置，一个我们继续书写但看不到结局的故事。这是一个新世界成为旧世界朋友和解放者的故事，一个蓄奴社会成为自由使者的故事，一个大国走向世界去保护而非占有、去捍卫而非征服的故事。
It is the American story, a story of flawed and fallible people united across the generations by grand and enduring ideals. The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born. 这就是美国的故事，一个由伟大而永恒的理想贯穿世代、联结着有缺陷和易犯错的人们的故事。这些理想中最伟大的是美国正在展现的承诺：每个人都有归属，每个人都应有机会，没有人是微不足道的。
Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our Nation has sometimes halted and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course. 美国人被召唤在生活中践行这一承诺，在法律中体现这一承诺。尽管我们国家有时停顿，有时拖延，但我们必须沿着这条路走下去。
Through much of the last century, America's faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country. It is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. Even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel. 在上个世纪的大部分时间里，美国对自由和民主的信念是汹涌大海中的一块磐石。如今它是风中的种子，在许多国家生根发芽。我们的民主信念不仅是我们国家的信条，它是人类与生俱来的希望，是我们承载但不拥有的理想，是我们肩负并传递的信任。即使经过了近225年，我们仍有很长的路要走。
While many of our citizens prosper, others doubt the promise, even the justice of our own country. The ambitions of some Americans are limited by failing schools and hidden prejudice and the circumstances of their birth. And sometimes our differences run so deep, it seems we share a continent but not a country. We do not accept this, and we will not allow it. 虽然我们许多公民生活富足，但其他人对这个承诺甚至对我们国家的正义产生了怀疑。一些美国人的抱负被失败的学校、隐蔽的偏见和出生环境所限制。有时我们的分歧如此之深，仿佛我们共享一个大陆，但不是一个国家。我们不接受这一点，我们绝不允许这样的情况发生。
Our unity, our Union, is a serious work of leaders and citizens and every generation. And this is my solemn pledge: I will work to build a single nation of justice and opportunity. I know this is in our reach because we are guided by a power larger than ourselves, who creates us equal, in His image, and we are confident in principles that unite and lead us onward. 我们的团结、我们的联邦，是领导人、公民和每一代人的严肃工作。这是我的庄严承诺：我将努力建设一个公正与机会并存的单一国家。我知道这是我们可以实现的，因为我们被一个比我们自身更伟大的力量所指引，他按自己的形象创造了我们，使我们平等，我们对团结并引导我们前进的原则充满信心。
America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests, and teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these principles. Every citizen must uphold them. And every immigrant, by embracing these ideals, makes our country more, not less, American. 美国从未因血缘、出生或土地而团结。我们因理想而联结，这些理想使我们超越背景，超越利益，教导我们公民的含义。每个孩子都必须接受这些原则的教育。每个公民都必须坚持这些原则。每个移民通过接受这些理想，使我们的国家更加美国化，而不是相反。
Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our Nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion, and character. America at its best matches a commitment to principle with a concern for civility. A civil society demands from each of us good will and respect, fair dealing and forgiveness. 今天，我们重申一个新的承诺：通过文明、勇气、同情和品格来践行我们国家的承诺。美国在最好的时候，将对原则的承诺与对文明的关切相结合。一个文明的社会要求我们每个人都要有善意和尊重，公平交易和宽恕之心。
Some seem to believe that our politics can afford to be petty because in a time of peace the stakes of our debates appear small. But the stakes for America are never small. If our country does not lead the cause of freedom, it will not be led. If we do not turn the hearts of children toward knowledge and character, we will lose their gifts and undermine their idealism. If we permit our economy to drift and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most. 有些人似乎认为，我们的政治可以变得琐碎，因为在和平时期，我们辩论的利害关系似乎很小。但对美国来说，利害关系从来不是小事。如果我们国家不领导自由事业，就没有人会领导。如果我们不引导孩子们的心向知识和品格，我们将失去他们的天赋并削弱他们的理想主义。如果我们允许经济漂移和衰退，弱势群体将遭受最大的痛苦。
We must live up to the calling we share. Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment; it is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. And this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment. 我们必须不辜负我们共同的使命。文明不是一种策略或情感；它是信任而非愤世嫉俗、社区而非混乱的坚定选择。如果我们坚守这一承诺，就能共同取得成就。
America at its best is also courageous. Our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defeating common dangers defined our common good. Now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. We must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations. 美国在最好的时候也是勇敢的。我们的民族勇气在大萧条和战争时期表现得淋漓尽致，那时战胜共同的危险定义了我们的共同利益。现在我们必须选择，先辈们的榜样是激励我们还是谴责我们。我们必须在一个充满祝福的时代展现勇气，面对问题而不是将它们传给后代。
Together we will reclaim America's schools before ignorance and apathy claim more young lives. We will reform Social Security and Medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the power to prevent. And we will reduce taxes to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working Americans. 我们将共同在无知和冷漠夺走更多年轻生命之前收复美国的学校。我们将改革社会保障和医疗保险制度，让我们的孩子免受我们有能力预防的斗争之苦。我们将减税以恢复经济势头，并奖励勤劳美国人的努力和进取精神。
We will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invite challenge. We will confront weapons of mass destruction, so that a new century is spared new horrors. The enemies of liberty and our country should make no mistake: America remains engaged in the world, by history and by choice, shaping a balance of power that favors freedom. 我们将建立不可挑战的防御，以免软弱招致挑战。我们将应对大规模杀伤性武器，使新世纪免受新的恐怖威胁。自由和我们国家的敌人不应有任何误解：美国仍在世界上参与事务，这是历史的选择，我们正在塑造有利于自由的权力平衡。
We will defend our allies and our interests. We will show purpose without arrogance. We will meet aggression and bad faith with resolve and strength. And to all nations, we will speak for the values that gave our Nation birth. 我们将捍卫我们的盟友和利益。我们将表现出目标但不傲慢。我们将以决心和力量应对侵略和背信弃义。对所有国家，我们将为赋予我们国家生命的价值观而发声。
America at its best is compassionate. In the quiet of American conscience, we know that deep, persistent poverty is unworthy of our Nation's promise. And whatever our views of its cause, we can agree that children at risk are not at fault. 美国在最好的时候是富有同情心的。在美国良知的宁静中，我们知道深刻而持久的贫困不配我们国家的承诺。无论我们对其原因有何看法，我们都同意，处于风险中的儿童没有过错。
Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God; they are failures of love. And the proliferation of prisons, however necessary, is no substitute for hope and order in our souls. Where there is suffering, there is duty. Americans in need are not strangers; they are citizens—not problems but priorities. And all of us are diminished when any are hopeless. 遗弃和虐待不是上帝的行为；它们是爱的失败。监狱的增加，无论多么必要，都不能替代我们灵魂中的希望和秩序。哪里有苦难，哪里就有责任。需要帮助的美国人不是陌生人；他们是公民——不是问题，而是优先事项。当任何人失去希望时，我们所有人都会受到损害。
Government has great responsibilities for public safety and public health, for civil rights and common schools. Yet, compassion is the work of a nation, not just a government. And some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentor's touch or a pastor's prayer. Church and charity, synagogue and mosque lend our communities their humanity, and they will have an honored place in our plans and in our laws. 政府对公共安全和公共卫生、公民权利和普通学校负有重大责任。然而，同情是一个国家的工作，而不仅仅是政府的工作。有些需求和伤痛如此之深，只有导师的触摸或牧师的祈祷才能回应。教会和慈善机构、犹太教堂和清真寺赋予我们社区人性，它们将在我们的计划和法律中占有荣誉地位。
Many in our country do not know the pain of poverty. But we can listen to those who do. And I can pledge our Nation to a goal: When we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side. 我们国家的许多人不知道贫困的痛苦。但我们可以倾听那些经历贫困的人。我可以承诺我们的国家实现一个目标：当我们看到杰里科路上那个受伤的旅人时，我们不会走到另一边。
America at its best is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected. Encouraging responsibility is not a search for scapegoats; it is a call to conscience. And though it requires sacrifice, it brings a deeper fulfillment. We find the fullness of life not only in options but in commitments. And we find that children and community are the commitments that set us free. 美国在最好的时候是一个重视并期望个人责任的地方。鼓励责任不是寻找替罪羊；它是对良知的呼唤。尽管这需要牺牲，但它带来更深的满足感。我们不仅在选择中，而且在承诺中找到生命的充实。我们发现，孩子和社区是使我们自由的承诺。
Our public interest depends on private character, on civic duty and family bonds and basic fairness, on uncounted, unhonored acts of decency, which give direction to our freedom. 我们的公共利益取决于私人品格，取决于公民责任、家庭纽带和基本公平，取决于无数未被赞颂的高尚行为，这些行为为我们的自由指明方向。
Sometimes in life we're called to do great things. But as a saint of our times has said, "Every day we are called to do small things with great love." The most important tasks of a democracy are done by everyone. 生活中有时我们被召唤去做伟大的事情。但正如我们时代的一位圣人所说："每一天我们都被召唤用伟大的爱去做小事。"民主最重要的任务是由每个人完成的。
I will live and lead by these principles: to advance my convictions with civility, to serve the public interest with courage, to speak for greater justice and compassion, to call for responsibility and try to live it, as well. In all these ways, I will bring the values of our history to the care of our times. 我将按照这些原则生活和领导：以文明推进我的信念，以勇气服务公共利益，为更大的正义和同情发声，呼吁责任并努力践行。通过所有这些方式，我将把我们历史的价值观带到我们时代的关怀中。
What you do is as important as anything Government does. I ask you to seek a common good beyond your comfort, to defend needed reforms against easy attacks, to serve your Nation, beginning with your neighbor. I ask you to be citizens: Citizens, not spectators; citizens, not subjects; responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character. 你们所做的事情与政府所做的任何事情同样重要。我要求你们超越舒适区追求共同利益，捍卫必要的改革免受轻易攻击，为你们的国家服务，从你们的邻居开始。我要求你们成为公民：公民，而不是旁观者；公民，而不是臣民；负责任的公民，建设服务社区和品格国家。
Americans are generous and strong and decent, not because we believe in ourselves but because we hold beliefs beyond ourselves. When this spirit of citizenship is missing, no Government program can replace it. When this spirit is present, no wrong can stand against it. 美国人慷慨、坚强、正直，不是因为我们相信自己，而是因为我们持有超越自我的信念。当这种公民精神缺失时，没有政府计划可以替代它。当这种精神存在时，没有错误能够抵挡它。
After the Declaration of Independence was signed, Virginia statesman John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson, "We know the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. Do you not think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm?" 《独立宣言》签署后，弗吉尼亚州政治家约翰·佩奇写信给托马斯·杰斐逊："我们知道赛跑未必快者胜，战斗未必强者赢。你不认为天使在旋风中骑行并指引这场风暴吗？"
Much time has passed since Jefferson arrived for his inauguration. The years and changes accumulate, but the themes of this day, he would know: our Nation's grand story of courage and its simple dream of dignity. 杰斐逊就职以来已经过去了很长时间。岁月和变化累积，但今天的主题，他会知道：我们国家关于勇气的伟大故事和关于尊严的简单梦想。
We are not this story's author, who fills time and eternity with his purpose. Yet, his purpose is achieved in our duty. And our duty is fulfilled in service to one another. Never tiring, never yielding, never finishing, we renew that purpose today, to make our country more just and generous, to affirm the dignity of our lives and every life. This work continues, the story goes on, and an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm. 我们不是这个故事的作者，他以自己的目的充满时间和永恒。然而，他的目的在我们的责任中实现。我们的责任在彼此的服务中履行。永不疲倦，永不屈服，永不止步，我们今天重申这一目的，使我们的国家更加公正和慷慨，确认我们生命和每一个生命的尊严。这项工作继续，故事继续，天使仍然在旋风中骑行并指引这场风暴。
God bless you all, and God bless America. 上帝保佑你们所有人，上帝保佑美利坚合众国。