1968年4月4日,马丁·路德·金遇刺身亡。葬礼上,瘦弱的科雷塔身披丧服搂着小女儿静静地坐在那里。从这一刻起,科雷塔的生活彻底被改变。她说:“我比以往任何时候都更加坚信我丈夫的梦想必将成为现实。” 没有任何人给她丝毫压力,她毅然决定,继续丈夫未竞的事业……2006年2月7日,16万群众冒着冬雨和严寒,为这位美国民权运动“第一夫人”生荣死哀的人生写下了完满的句号。
美式发音 适合精听
——克林顿在科雷塔·斯科特·金葬礼上的致辞
We’re here to honor a person.
我们在此向一个人致敬。
Fifty-four years ago, her about-to-be husband said that he was looking for a woman with character, 1)intelligence, personality and beauty, and she sure fit the bill. And I have to say, when she was over 75, I thought she still fit the bill pretty good with all those categories.
五十四年前,她的未婚夫说,他在寻找一位才貌兼备、品行卓越的女性为伴,很显然,她符合了所有的条件。我要说的是,即使她过了75岁的高龄,我仍然认为她是符合所有条件的不二人选。
But I think that’s important: this is a woman, as well as a symbol, as well as the2)embodiment of her husband’s 3)legacy and the developer of her own.
但我认为重要的是:这是一位女士,也是一个象征,她继承了先夫的遗志,同时也延展了她自己的人生。
The second point I want to make is the most important day in her life for everyone of us here at this moment in this church except when she 4)embraced her faith, the next most important day was April 5, 1968, the day after her husband was killed. She had to decide, “What am I going to do with the rest of my life?”
其次,我想要说的是,此刻对我们所有身在这所教堂中的人来说,她人生中最重要的日子——除了她找到她那份信仰的时候——就是1968年4月5日,她丈夫遇害后的那一天。她必须要作出决定:“我要如何度过余生?”
We would have all forgiven her, even honored her if she said, “I have 5)stumbled on enough stony roads. I have been beaten by enough bitter rods. I have 6)endured enough dangers, toils and 7)snares. I’m going home and raising my kids. I wish you all well.” None of us, nobody could have 8)condemned that decision. But she went to 9)Memphis—the scene of the worst nightmare of her life—and led that march for those poor hard-working garbage workers that her husband...
如果她当时说:“在这崎岖的路上我已经经历过太多的坎坷,受过太多的苦,承受了太多的艰难险境了。我要回家,养育我的孩儿。但愿你们一切安好。”我们会谅解她的,甚至仍会尊敬她。没有人会去谴责这样的决定。但是,她去了孟菲斯——她生命中最可怕的梦魇所发生的地方——走在穷苦垃圾收集工人游行队伍的最前面,继承她的丈夫……
Now, that’s the most important thing for us. ’Cause what really matters if you believe all this stuff we’ve been saying is, what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives.
如今,对于我们来说,那才是最重要的。因为,如果你相信我们一直所说的,那么,最重要的是我们要如何度过自己的余生。
So what will happen to the legacy of Martin Luther King and Coretta King? Will it continue to stand for peace and nonviolence and anti-poverty and civil rights and human rights?
那么,马丁·路德·金和科雷塔·金的遗志又会怎样呢?它仍代表着倡导和平与非暴力,消除贫穷,伸张民权和人权吗?
The one thing I always admired about Dr. King and about Coretta when I got to know her, especially, is how they embraced causes that were almost surely lost right alongside causes that they knew if they worked at hard enough, they could actually win. They understood that the difficulty of success does not relieve one of the 10)obligation to try. So all of us have to remember that.
当我逐渐了解科雷塔,我发现金博士伉俪身上有一点是我永远都心存敬意的,那就是他们如何信守那份几乎是注定失败的事业,但同时他们深信,只要他们加倍努力,这份事业终究会取得成功的。他们深知,通往成功路上充满艰难险阻并不意味着就可以推卸责任,拒绝尝试。因此,我们所有人都要牢记那一点。
What are we going to do with the rest of our lives? You want to treat our friend Coretta like a role model? Then model her behavior.
我们要如何度过我们的余生呢?你想要将我们的朋友科雷塔视为自己的楷模吗?那就以她作为自己行动的楷模吧!
This is the first day of the rest of our lives.
今天是我们余生的开端。
Everybody who believes that 11)the Promise of America is for every American, everybody who believes that all people in the world are caught up in what he so 12)eloquently called the inescapable web of 13)mutuality, everyone of us in a way are all the children of Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King. And I for one am grateful for her life and her friendship.
每一位相信美国承诺是属于所有美国人的人,每一位相信世界上的人都置身于——马丁·路德巧妙地称之为——“无可避免地相互关联的网络”之中的人,在某种程度上,我们每个人都是马丁·路德和科雷塔·斯科特·金的儿女。作为她的其中一个子女,能感受到她的热诚和友谊,我无比感恩。
Thank you.
谢谢!
翻译:Terry
