(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English. In November of eighteen sixty-three, President Abraham Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He went there to make a speech at a ceremony establishing a military burial ground. Five months earlier, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had marched his army up from Virginia to invade the North. The Union Army of the Potomac went after him. They met at Gettysburg in the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. This week in our series, Kay Gallant and Frank Oliver tell the story of Abraham Lincoln's speech -- the Gettysburg Address. The battle of Gettysburg lasted three days. General Lee threw his men against the Union Army. The northern soldiers refused to break. Lee, at last, had to stop fighting. Badly hurt, his army went back to Virginia. Lee left behind a battlefield covered with Confederate dead. More than three thousand Confederate soldiers had been killed. Union losses were almost as heavy. Two thousand five hundred Union soldiers had been killed.
The terrible job of clearing the battlefield fell to the Union soldiers who had won the battle. Many thousands on both sides had been wounded. The wounded were moved to medical centers for treatment. The dead were buried. Most of the bodies were buried where they fell. The Confederate dead generally were buried together in large, shallow graves. Union troops who fell were buried in separate graves all over the battlefield. A few weeks after the battle, the governor of Pennsylvania visited Gettysburg. As he walked over the battlefield, he saw where rains had washed away the earth covering many of the fallen soldiers. He said men who died so bravely should have a better resting place than that. The governor said a new cemetery should be built for the bodies of the Union soldiers. He asked the governors of other northern states to help raise money for the cemetery. Within a month, there was money enough to buy a large area of the battlefield for a military cemetery. Work began almost immediately. The human remains were moved from other places on the battlefield and put into graves in the new cemetery.
The governor planned a ceremony in November, eighteen sixty-three, to dedicate the Gettysburg cemetery. He invited governors and congressmen from each state in the Union. He asked a former senator and governor of Massachusetts, Edward Everett, to give the dedication speech. An invitation was sent to the White House, too. The governor asked President Lincoln to come to the ceremony. He asked Lincoln to say a few words. Lincoln agreed to do so. He felt it was his duty to go. He wanted to honor the brave men who had died at Gettysburg. Lincoln hoped his words might ease the sorrow over the loss of these men and lift the spirit of the nation. Lincoln was advised to talk about democracy. He recently had received a letter from a man in Massachusetts. The man had just returned from a visit to Europe. The man told Lincoln that Europeans saw the war more clearly than Americans, who were in the middle of it. He said they saw it as a war between the people and an aristocracy. The South, he said, was ruled by a small group of aristocrats. He said once the people understood that it was a war for democracy, they would win it quickly.
The man urged Lincoln to explain to the common people that the war was not the North against the South, but democracy against the enemies of democracy. Lincoln was busy during the two weeks before the ceremony at Gettysburg. He did not have much time to work on his speech. He decided what to say. But he did not choose the exact words he would use. Lincoln left Washington November eighteenth for the train ride to Gettysburg. The train stopped in Baltimore. A crowd waited to see him. An old man came up and shook Lincoln's hand. He told the president that he had lost a son in the fighting at Gettysburg. Lincoln said he understood the man's sorrow. Lincoln said to the old man: "When I think of the sacrifices of life still to be offered, and the hearts and homes to be made lonely before this terrible war is over, my heart is like lead. I feel at times like hiding in a deep darkness." Lincoln arrived at Gettysburg at sundown. He had dinner. Then he went to his room to complete the speech he would give the next day. He worked for several hours. Finally, it was done.
The next morning, Lincoln -- on horseback -- led a slow parade to the new cemetery. A huge crowd waited before the place where Lincoln and the other important visitors would sit. Military bands played. Soldiers saluted. The ceremonies began with a prayer. Then Edward Everett rose to speak. Everett stood silent for a moment. He looked out across the battlefield and the crowds that now covered it. He began to talk about the Civil War and what had caused it. He spoke about Lee's invasion of the North. He told how northern cities would have fallen had Lee not been stopped at Gettysburg. He praised the men who had given their lives in the great battle. Everett spoke for almost two hours. He closed his speech with the hope that the nation would come out of the war with greater unity than ever before. Then Lincoln stood up. He looked out over the valley, then down at the papers in his hand. He began to read:
"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. "Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract." "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work for which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."
"It is rather for us to be here 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 we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The crowd applauded for several minutes. Then the people began to leave. Lincoln turned to a friend. He said he feared his speech had been a failure. He said he should have prepared it more carefully. Edward Everett did not agree with Lincoln. He said the president's speech was perfect. He said the president had said more in two minutes than he, Everett, had said in two hours. Newspapers and other publications praised Lincoln's Gettysburg address. Said one: "The few words of the president were from the heart, to the heart. They cannot be read without emotion." Abraham Lincoln went back to Washington that night. He was very tired. Within a week, his secretary announced that the president was sick. He was suffering from smallpox.
重点解析
1.at last 最后；最终
The case came to an end at last.
这案子终于完结了。
2.in the middle of 在......中间；在......的中部
I reached for the lamp, which stood in the middle of the table.
我伸手去够位于桌子中央的灯。
3.dedicate to 奉献；致力于
We dedicate to provide integrated logistics services for our clients.
我们致力于为客户提供一体化的整合物流服务。
4.suffer from 遭受；患病
I still suffer from catarrh and sinus problems.
我仍然患有黏膜炎和鼻窦炎。
参考译文
欢迎收听VOA慢速英语之建国史话节目。1863年11月，亚伯拉罕·林肯总统前往宾夕法尼亚州的葛底斯堡。他去那里为一个军事墓地的开幕仪式发表演讲。五个月前，联盟国部队的罗伯特·E·李将军从弗吉尼亚州向北方进军。联邦军波托马克军团在后追击。双方在葛底斯堡相遇，爆发了内战中最血腥的战役。在本周的系列节目中，凯·格兰特和弗兰克·奥利弗将讲述亚伯拉罕·林肯发表葛底斯堡演讲的故事。葛底斯堡战役持续了三天，李将军派出部下迎战联邦军队。北方战线无法突破。最后，李将军不得不停止战斗。他的部队伤势严重，撤回到弗吉尼亚州。李将军身后留下的战场上，覆盖着联盟国将士的尸体。三千多名联盟国士兵阵亡。联邦军损失几乎同样惨重，两千五百名联邦军士兵阵亡。
清理战场的可怕工作落到了赢得战斗的联邦部队身上。双方都有数千人受伤，伤者被转移到医疗中心接受治疗。死者则被埋葬。大多数尸体都埋在他们的阵亡之地，联盟国战死的将士都埋葬在一个不深的大墓坑里。阵亡的联邦军则分别被埋葬在战场上的多个坟墓中。战斗结束数周后，宾夕法尼亚州州长前往葛底斯堡。当他走过战场时，看到雨水冲走了掩埋着众多阵亡士兵的泥土。他说，那些英勇牺牲的勇士们应该有一个更好的安息之地。州长说，应该建造一个新的公墓，埋葬联邦士兵的遗体。他请求北方其他州的州长帮助为墓地筹集资金。不到一个月，就筹足了为建造军事公墓购买一大片战场用地的钱款。建设工作几乎立刻启动。人们将战士的遗体从战场上的其他地方，转移到新公墓里。
州长计划在1863年11月举行葛底斯堡公墓落成典礼，他邀请了联邦各州的州长和国会议员，请马萨诸塞州前参议员兼州长爱德华·埃弗雷特为公募落成发表演说。邀请函也发到了白宫，州长请林肯总统来参加落成仪式，并请林肯讲几句话。林肯同意了，他觉得自己有责任前往，他想到葛底斯堡去向阵亡的勇士们致敬。林肯希望他的话语能减轻阵亡将士家人的悲痛，振奋民族精神。有人建议林肯讨论民主问题，他最近收到了马萨诸塞州一名男子的来信。那人刚从欧洲旅行回来。人更清楚地看明这场战争。他说，他们认为这是人民和贵族之间的战争，南方由一小群贵族统治。他说，一旦人民明白这是一场民主战争，他们很快就会赢得胜利。
那个人敦促林肯向普通民众解释，这场战争不是南北双方对战的战争，而是民主对抗民主敌人的战争。林肯在葛底斯堡落成仪式开始前的两周都很繁忙，他没有太多时间考虑演讲内容。他决定了要谈的内容，但没有选择要使用的确切字词。林肯于11月18日离开华盛顿，乘火车去葛底斯堡。火车停在巴尔的摩时，一群人等着见他。一位老人走上前与林肯握手。他告诉总统他在葛底斯堡的战斗中失去了一个儿子，林肯说他理解这位老人的悲伤。林肯对老人说：“当我想到还要牺牲生命，在这场可怕的战争结束之前，还要有人和家庭感受到孤独，我的心就像灌了铅一样。我有时觉得自己像躲在黑暗中一样。”林肯在日落时分到达葛底斯堡，他吃过晚饭后到自己的房间去完成第二天要做的演讲，他工作了数小时。最后，演讲写好了。
第二天早上，林肯骑着马，慢慢地列队前往新公墓。一大群人等候在林肯和其他要员的座位前。军乐队在演奏，士兵们行礼致敬。仪式以祷告开始，然后爱德华·埃弗雷特起身讲话。埃弗雷特沉默了一会儿，他望向战场和站在上面的人群，开始谈论内战及其起因。他谈到李将军入侵北方，谈到如果李将军没有被阻拦在葛底斯堡，北方城市将如何落陷。他赞扬那些在这场伟大战役中阵亡的将士。埃弗雷特的演讲持续了近两个小时。他在结束时说道，希望全国人民能以前所未有的团结从战争中走出来。随后，林肯站起身来。他向山谷那边望去，然后看向手中拿的稿子。他开始读了起来：
“八十七年前，我们的先辈在这个大陆上创建了一个新的国家，这个国家孕育于自由之中，致力于人人生而平等的主张。“目前，我们陷入内战中，考验着一个国家所奉行的原则能否坚持延续。我们在一个伟大的战场集会。烈士们为使这个国家能够生存下去而献出自己的生命，我们来到这里，是要把这个战场的一部分奉献给他们作为最后安息之所。我们这样做完全适宜，非常恰当。”“但是，从更为广泛的意义上来说，我们无法奉献、无法圣化、无法神化这块土地。那些曾在这里战斗过的勇敢的生者与死者已经将这块土地圣化，这远不是我们微薄的力量所能增减的。”“世人也许不会注意，也不会长久记住我们在这里所说的话，却永远不会忘记这些勇士们在这里做出的伟绩。而我们这些活着的人，更应该在这里把自己的全部奉献给勇士们用鲜血推进却未完成的崇高事业。”
“我们更应当在这里献身于摆在我们面前的伟大事业，由于他们的光荣牺牲，我们要更坚定地致力于他们曾全力以赴做出贡献的那个事业。我们在这里表明决心，那些死者不会白白浪费生命，这个上帝注视着的民族，将会获得新的自由，民有、民治、民享的政府，定将长存于世界。”人们鼓起掌来，掌声持续了好几分钟。随后，人群开始离去。林肯转向一位朋友，他说自己担心演讲失败了，应该更仔细地准备。爱德华·埃弗雷特不同意林肯的说法，他说总统的讲话很完美，总统在两分钟内表达的内容比他自己两小时内说的更多。报纸和其他出版物赞扬了林肯在葛底斯堡发表的演说，一家报纸说：“总统惜金之言发自肺腑，正中民心，读之不得不满怀热情。”亚伯拉罕·林肯于当晚返回华盛顿。他十分疲惫累。一周之内，他的秘书告知总统生病了，他患上了天花。
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