(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to the MAKING OF A NATION – American history in VOA Special English. By February first, eighteen sixty-one, seven southern states had withdrawn from the United States of America. They created their own independent nation -- the Confederate States of America. The South seceded because Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, had been elected president. Southerners believed he would support a constitutional ban on slavery. They were afraid their way of life would soon end. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe discuss the beginning of Abraham Lincoln's presidency.
President-elect Lincoln traveled by train from his home in Illinois to Washington, D.C. Along the way, he stopped to make speeches. As he got closer to Washington, he was warned that a mob was planning to attack the train. He had to continue his trip in secret. Lincoln arrived in Washington nine days before his inauguration. It was a busy time. He talked with many people, including delegates to a peace convention. Every state was represented at the convention, except the states that had seceded. The delegates urged Lincoln to support slavery. They urged him not to go to war over the issue. Lincoln said only that he would faithfully execute the duties of President of all the United States. He said he would protect and defend the American Constitution. While Lincoln waited for inauguration day, he chose the members of his cabinet. He wanted men representing all opposing groups in the Republican Party. He hoped this would unite the party and give him support in the difficult years ahead. Lincoln chose William Seward as secretary of state, Salmon Chase as Treasury secretary, Gideon Welles as Navy secretary and Montgomery Blair as postmaster general. Seward did not like Chase, Welles or Blair. He told Lincoln that he could not serve in the cabinet with them. He said they would never be able to work together. Lincoln answered that he would be happy to make Seward ambassador to Britain, instead of secretary of state. Seward gave up the argument and agreed to join the cabinet.
Inauguration Day was the fourth of March. President-elect Lincoln rode to the ceremony with outgoing President James Buchanan. Buchanan was ready to give up his power. He told Lincoln: "If you are as happy to get into the White House as I am to get out of it, you must be the happiest man alive!" The inaugural ceremony took place outside the Capitol building. Lincoln was to give his inaugural speech before being sworn-in. He had worked hard on the speech. He wanted to say clearly what his policy would be on slavery and secession. These were the issues which divided the country. These were the issues which were leading the country to civil war. This is what Lincoln said: "There seems to be some fear among the people of the southern states, that because a Republican administration is coming to power, their property and their peace and personal security are threatened. There has never been any reasonable cause for such fears. In fact, much evidence to the contrary has existed, open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all my published speeches." "In one of those speeches, I declared that I had no purpose -- directly or indirectly -- to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I said I believed I had no legal right to do so, and no wish to do so."
"This statement is still true. I can only say that the property, peace, and security of no part of the country are to be in any way endangered by the incoming administration." Lincoln noted that seventy-two years had passed since the first president was inaugurated. Since then, he said, fifteen men had led the nation through many dangers, generally with great success. He went on: "I now begin the same job under great difficulty. The breaking up of the federal Union -- before, only threatened -- now, is attempted. I believe that under universal law and the Constitution, the Union of these states is permanent. This is shown by the history of the Union itself. "The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in seventeen seventy-four. It was continued by the Declaration of Independence in seventeen seventy-six. It grew further under the Articles of Confederation in seventeen seventy-eight. And finally, in seventeen eighty-seven, one of the declared reasons for establishing the Constitution of the United States was to form 'a more perfect Union'. "I therefore believe that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is not broken. I shall make sure, as the Constitution orders me to do, that the laws of the Union are obeyed in all the states.
In doing this, there needs to be no bloodshed or violence. And there shall be none, unless it be forced upon the national government. "The power given to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and to collect the taxes. But beyond what is necessary for these purposes, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." Lincoln then repeated some statements he had made during his campaign for president. He used them to explain the differences between North and South. One part of the country, he said, believes slavery is right and should be extended. The other part believes slavery is wrong and should not be extended. This, he said, was the only important dispute. Lincoln admitted that, even if the dispute could be settled peacefully, there were those who wanted to see the Union destroyed. He said his words were not meant for them. They were meant only for those people who really loved the Union.
He said: "Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot remove our sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go away from or out of the reach of each other. But the different parts of our country cannot do this. They mustremain face to face. And relations -- friendly or hostile -- must continue between them. "Is it possible to make those relations better after separation than before. Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws. Can treaties be more faithfully enforced between aliens than laws can be enforced among friends. "My countrymen -- one and all -- think calmly and well upon this subject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen -- and not in mine -- is the great issue of civil war. The government will not attack you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though emotion may have damaged them, it must not break our ties of love."
Abraham Lincoln then placed his hand on the Christian holy book, the Bible. The Chief Justice of the United States then spoke the presidential oath. Lincoln repeated the words. And the United States had a new president. Lincoln's first crisis came quickly. It was a problem left unsolved by the out-going president. Lincoln had to decide immediately what to do about the federal fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina: Fort Sumter. The fort was surrounded by southern artillery. Southern gunboats guarded the harbor. The federal troops inside Fort Sumter were getting dangerously low on food. But any attempt to send more men or supplies would be seen as an act of war -- civil war. That will be our story next week.
重点解析
1.plan to 计划；打算
They plan to relaunch it as a stand-alone company.
他们计划让它作为一个独立公司重新上市。
2.give up 放弃；停止
She gave up her job to join her husband's campaign.
她辞去工作，加入到丈夫的宣传活动中。
3.in fact 事实上；实际上
In fact, those people have been promoted.
事实上，那些人已经升职了。
4.interfere with 妨碍；干扰
It will seriously interfere with the progress of the work.
它将严重干扰工作的进展。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。到1861年2月1日，南部七个州已经退出美利坚合众国，他们建立了自己独立的国家——美利坚联盟国。南方脱离联邦是因为共和党人亚伯拉罕·林肯当选为总统。南方人认为，他会支持宪法禁止奴隶制，担心自己的生活方式很快就会终结。本周，在我们的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和哈里·门罗将讨论亚伯拉罕·林肯总统任期的开始。
当选的总统林肯乘火车从他在伊利诺伊州的家中前往华盛顿特区，途中他停下来发表演讲。在接近华盛顿时，有人警告他，一群暴徒正计划袭击火车，他不得不秘密地继续他的旅程。林肯在就职典礼九天前到达华盛顿。那段时间他非常忙碌，与许多人交谈，包括参加和平会议的代表。除了已经脱离联邦的州外，每个州都派代表参加了大会。代表们敦促林肯支持奴隶制，力劝他不要为就此问题开战。林肯只说他将忠实地履行美国总统的职责，他将保护和捍卫美国宪法。林肯在等待就职典礼到来的同时，挑选了内阁成员。他希望选出代表共和党内所有对立团体的人，希望这能使党内团结，并在未来的艰难岁月中给予他支持。林肯选择威廉·西沃德为国务卿，萨蒙·蔡斯为财政部长，吉迪恩·威尔斯为海军部长，蒙哥马利·布莱尔为邮政部长。西沃德不喜欢蔡斯、威尔斯或布莱尔，他告诉林肯，他不能和他们一起在内阁任职，无法一起工作。林肯回答说，他很乐意让西沃德出任驻英大使，而不是国务卿。西沃德放弃了争论，同意加入内阁。
就职日是3月4日，当选总统林肯与即将离任的总统詹姆斯·布坎南一同出席了仪式。布坎南准备离任，他对林肯说：“如果你进入白宫的心情，能像我离开一样高兴的话，那你一定是世上最幸福的人！”就职典礼在国会大厦外举行，林肯要在宣誓就职前发表就职演说。他精心准备了这次演讲，他想阐明自己有关奴隶制和脱离联邦的政策，正是这些问题在分裂国家，导致国家走向内战。林肯是这么说的：“南方各州的人民似乎有些担心，因为共和党政府即将掌权，他们的财产、和平和个人安全受到威胁，而这种担心没有任何合理的理由。事实上，存在许多相反的证据，可供他们查阅。几乎在我所有发表的演讲中都能找到。“在其中一次讲话中，我声明，对于已经存在奴隶制的各州，我没有直接或间接的目的去加以干涉。我说过我不认为自己拥有这样去做的合法权利，也不想这样去做。”
“这一说法仍然正确。我只能说，这个国家任何一个地方的财产、和平和安全都不会受到新政府的威胁。”林肯指出，自第一任总统就职以来，已经过去72年了，有15个人带领国家度过了许多危难，总体来看都取得了巨大的成功。他接着说：“我现在迎着巨大的困难，开启同样的工作。联邦联盟的解体——以前只是受到威胁——现在是企图这样去做。我相信，根据世界法和宪法，这些州的联盟是永久性的。这一点可以从联邦的历史中看出来。“联邦比宪法历史久远，它实际上是由1774年的《组织章程》形成的，它在1776年《独立宣言》中得以延续，在1778年的《邦联章程》中进一步发展。最后，在1787年，宣布建立《美国宪法》的原因之一，是要形成一个“更加完善的联盟”。“因此，我认为，从宪法和法律的角度来看，联邦没有被破坏。我要确保，按照宪法的命令，所有州都要遵守联邦法律。
这样做，就无需流血或暴力。不应该有这种事情出现，除非国民政府强制执行。“我将使用授予我的权力，持有、占据和占有属于政府的财产和地方，并征收税款。但除了为达成这些目的，不会有任何入侵事件，也不会对任何地方的人民动用武力。”随后，林肯又重复了他在竞选总统时所作的一些声明，用它们来解释南北之间的差异。他说，美国的一个地区认为奴隶制是正确的，应该扩大实施。另一部分则认为奴隶制是错误的，不应该扩沿。他说，这是唯一重要的争议。林肯承认，即使争端能够和平解决，也有人希望看到联邦被摧毁。他说，他的话不是说给他们听的，而是说给那些真正热爱联邦的人。
他说：“从实体上来看，我们无法分离，不能把各部分肢解拆散，也不能在它们之间筑起不可逾越的屏蔽。丈夫和妻子可能离婚，并离开对方或从此不再联系。但是，我们国家的不同地区不能这样做。他们必须面对面，他们之间的关系——友好也好，敌对也好——必须继续下去。“有没有可能在分离后，彼此的关系比以前更好呢？不熟悉的人之间缔结条约，能比朋友之间制定法律更容易吗？在前者之间执行条约，是否能比在后者之间执行法律时更加忠实？“我所有的同胞们，请在这个问题上冷静地思考一下，花点时间是值得的。“那些心怀不满意情绪的同胞们，内战这一重大问题就掌控在你们手中，而不是我的手中。政府不会攻击你们。如果你们不成为侵略者，就不会出现冲突。“我们不是敌人，而是朋友，我们不应该成为敌人。虽然彼此之间会受情感所伤，但它不能破坏我们爱的纽带。”
亚伯拉罕·林肯随后把手放在基督教的圣书《圣经》上，美国首席大法官随后宣读了总统誓言。林肯重复了这些话语，美国就此拥有了新的总统。林肯面临的第一次危机迅速出现了，这是即将卸任的总统遗留下来的一个问题。林肯必须立即决定，如何处理南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿港的联邦要塞：萨姆特要塞。这个要塞被南方炮兵包围，南方炮艇守卫着港口。萨姆特要塞内的联邦部队正处于食物短缺的危险境地，但任何试图派遣更多人员或物资的行为，都将被视为战争行为——即内战。这将是我们下周要讲述的故事。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
