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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
很高兴和大家分享历史上我们民族对自由的斗争
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration1 for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic2 shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation3 Proclamation. This momentous4 decree came as a great beacon5 light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering6 injustice7. It came as a joyous8 daybreak to end the long night of their captivity9.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation10 and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished11 in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful12 condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient13 funds."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults14 of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate15 valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood16. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate17 discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening18 if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship19 rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred20. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate21 into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic22 heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy23 which has engulfed24 the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality25. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue26 of travel, cannot gain lodging27 in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. *We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility28 is from a smaller ghetto29 to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by a sign stating: "For Whites Only."* We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty30 stream."1
martinlutherkingIhaveadream2.jpg (11261 bytes)
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations31. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered32 by the storms of persecution33 and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed34: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis35 of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted36, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked37 places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."2
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew38 out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords39 of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the prodigious40 hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
点击收听单词发音
1 demonstration | |
n.表明,示范,论证,示威 | |
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2 symbolic | |
adj.象征性的,符号的,象征主义的 | |
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3 emancipation | |
n.(从束缚、支配下)解放 | |
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4 momentous | |
adj.重要的,重大的 | |
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5 beacon | |
n.烽火,(警告用的)闪火灯,灯塔 | |
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6 withering | |
使人畏缩的,使人害羞的,使人难堪的 | |
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7 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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8 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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9 captivity | |
n.囚禁;被俘;束缚 | |
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10 segregation | |
n.隔离,种族隔离 | |
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11 languished | |
长期受苦( languish的过去式和过去分词 ); 受折磨; 变得(越来越)衰弱; 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐 | |
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12 shameful | |
adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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13 insufficient | |
adj.(for,of)不足的,不够的 | |
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14 vaults | |
n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 );地下室;撑物跳高;墓穴 | |
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15 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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16 brotherhood | |
n.兄弟般的关系,手中情谊 | |
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17 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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18 awakening | |
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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19 citizenship | |
n.市民权,公民权,国民的义务(身份) | |
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20 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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21 degenerate | |
v.退步,堕落;adj.退步的,堕落的;n.堕落者 | |
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22 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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23 militancy | |
n.warlike behavior or tendency | |
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24 engulfed | |
v.吞没,包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25 brutality | |
n.野蛮的行为,残忍,野蛮 | |
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26 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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27 lodging | |
n.寄宿,住所;(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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28 mobility | |
n.可动性,变动性,情感不定 | |
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29 ghetto | |
n.少数民族聚居区,贫民区 | |
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30 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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31 tribulations | |
n.苦难( tribulation的名词复数 );艰难;苦难的缘由;痛苦 | |
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32 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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33 persecution | |
n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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34 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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35 oasis | |
n.(沙漠中的)绿洲,宜人的地方 | |
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36 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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37 crooked | |
adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
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38 hew | |
v.砍;伐;削 | |
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39 discords | |
不和(discord的复数形式) | |
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40 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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41 lookout | |
n.注意,前途,瞭望台 | |
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42 almighty | |
adj.全能的,万能的;很大的,很强的 | |
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