I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
今天，我高兴地同大家一起，参加这次示威集会，这将成为历史上最伟大的为了争取自由而举行的示威集会。
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
100年前，一位伟大的美国人签署了《解放黑人奴隶宣言》——今天我们就是在他的雕像前集会。这项重要法令的颁布，对于那千百万在非正义残焰中挣扎的黑人奴隶来说，犹如带来希望之光的硕大灯塔，恰似结束漫漫长夜禁锢的欢畅黎明。
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 segregation and the chains of discrimination.
然而，100年后，黑人依然没有获得自由。100年后，黑人依然悲惨地蹒跚于种族隔离和种族歧视的枷锁之下。
One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished 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 shameful condition.
100年后，黑人依然在美国社会中间向隅而泣，依然感到自己在国土家园中流离漂泊。所以，我们今天来到这里，要把这骇人听闻的情况公诸于众。
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."
从某种意义上说，我们今天来到国家的首都是为了兑现一张支票。我们共和国的缔造者在拟写《宪法》和《独立宣言》的辉煌篇章时，就签署了一张每一个美国人都能继承的期票。这张期票向所有人承诺，是的，白人和黑人都包括在内的所有人，都享有不可剥夺的生存权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。
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 "insufficient funds."
然而今天，美国显然没有向她的有色公民兑现这张期票。美国非但没有履行这一神圣的诺言，还给黑人一张空头支票——一张盖着“资金不足”的印戳而被退回的支票。
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults 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.
但是，我们决不相信正义的银行会破产。我们决不相信这个国家巨大的机会宝库会资金不足。因此，我们来兑现这张支票。这张支票将给我们带来所需要的宝贵的自由和正义的保障。
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 desolate 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 brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
我们来到这块圣地还为了提醒美国：现在正是万分紧急的时刻。现在不是从容不迫悠然行事或服用渐进主义镇静剂的时候。现在是实现民主诺言的时候。现在是走出幽暗荒凉的种族隔离深谷，踏上种族平等的阳关大道的时候。现在是使我们国家走出种族不平等的流沙，踏上充满手足之情的磐石的时候。现在是使上帝所有的儿女享有公正的时刻。
