The Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
November 19, 1863
Fourscore and seven years ago,our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation,conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are egaged in a great civil war,testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and dedicated can long endure.We are met on the battelfield of that war.We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final-resting place for those who gave their lives that the nation might live.It is altogether and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense,we can not dedicate,we can not consecrate,we can not hallow this ground.The brave men,living and dead,have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract.The world will little note what we say here,but it can never forget what they did here.It is for us,the living,rather to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us,that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion,that the nation shall have a new birth of freedom,that the goverment of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.
主講:亞伯拉罕林肯
時(shí)間:1863年11月19日
地點(diǎn):美國(guó),賓夕法尼亞,葛底斯堡
八十七年前,我們先輩在這個(gè)大陸上創(chuàng)立了一個(gè)新國(guó)家,它孕育于自由之中,奉行一切人生來(lái)平等的原則。
我們正從事一場(chǎng)偉大的內(nèi)戰(zhàn),以考驗(yàn)這個(gè)國(guó)家,或者任何一個(gè)孕育于自由和奉行上述原則的國(guó)家是否能夠長(zhǎng)久存在下去。我們?cè)谶@場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中的一個(gè)偉大戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上集會(huì)。烈士們?yōu)槭惯@個(gè)國(guó)家能夠生存下去而獻(xiàn)出了自己的生命,我們來(lái)到這里,是要把這個(gè)戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)的一部分奉獻(xiàn)給他們作為最后安息之所。我們這樣做是完全應(yīng)該而且非常恰當(dāng)?shù)摹?/p>
但是,從更廣泛的意義上說(shuō),這塊土地我們不能夠奉獻(xiàn),不能夠圣化,不能夠神化。那些曾在這里戰(zhàn)斗過(guò)的勇士們,活著的和去世的,已經(jīng)把這塊土地圣化了,這遠(yuǎn)不是我們微薄的力量所能增減的。我們今天在這里所說(shuō)的話(huà),全世界不大會(huì)注意,也不會(huì)長(zhǎng)久地記住,但勇士們?cè)谶@里所做過(guò)的事,全世界卻永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記。毋寧說(shuō),倒是我們這些還活著的人,應(yīng)該在這里把自己奉獻(xiàn)于勇士們已經(jīng)如此崇高地向前推進(jìn)但尚未完成的事業(yè)。倒是我們應(yīng)該在這里把自已奉獻(xiàn)于仍然留在我們面前的偉大任務(wù)我們要從這些光榮的死者身上吸取更多的獻(xiàn)身精神,來(lái)完成他們已經(jīng)完全徹底為之獻(xiàn)身的事業(yè);我們要在這里下定最大的決心,不讓這些死者白白犧牲;我們要使國(guó)家在上帝福佑下自由的新生,要使這個(gè)民有、民治、民享的政府永世長(zhǎng)存。