經(jīng)典兩分鐘演講稿———美國駐華大使駱家輝在新疆大學(xué)的講話

My grandfather swept floors and washed dishes in exchange for English lessons. He came to the United States as a teenager, and eventually he returned to China, where he got married, where my aunts and uncles including my father was born. As was the custom, my grandfather came back to the United States, worked, and supported the family by sending money back to Guangdong Province.

我的祖父掃地、洗碗以換取上英語課的機會。他十幾歲時來到美國，之后他回到中國，在那里成婚，而且我的姑母叔伯——包括我父親——也出生在那里。根據(jù)當(dāng)時的習(xí)俗，祖父回到美國，工作，并且把錢寄回廣東省以養(yǎng)活一家人。

Eventually he went back to Guangdong Province and brought my dad and my aunts and uncles to the United States, so my father came to the United States also as a teenager. He then joined the United States Army just before the outbreak of World War II, and after the war was over he went back to China, met my mom in Hong Kong where they got married, and then brought my mom to the United States.

經(jīng)過一段時間，他回到廣東省并且把我的父親和我的姑母叔伯帶到美國，這樣我的父親也在十幾歲時來到了美國。之后，他在第二次世界大戰(zhàn)爆發(fā)前加入了美國陸軍，戰(zhàn)爭結(jié)束后，他回到了中國，在香港遇到了我母親，他們在那里結(jié)婚，然后將我母親帶到了美國。

When I was growing up, I never thought I’d enter into government service. I actually thought that I might be a teacher or I might be an urban planner, and because I love the outdoors, I actually thought I would be a forest ranger and be a forester.

在我長大的過程中，我從來沒有想過我會進(jìn)入政府服務(wù)。實際上，我以為我可能會成為一名教師，或者一名城市規(guī)劃師，還有，因為我喜歡戶外，我真的以為我會成為一名護(hù)林員，一名林務(wù)員。

My parents wanted me to study medicine or engineering, but I decided I wanted to pursue a degree in law.

我父母想讓我學(xué)習(xí)醫(yī)學(xué)或工程學(xué)，但我決定攻讀法律學(xué)學(xué)位。

From law I got involved in politics, and eventually I was elected the Governor of the State of Washington -- the first Asian-American Governor on the mainland United States; the first Chinese-American Governor in the history of the United States.

我從法律開始參與政治，過了一段時間當(dāng)選華盛頓州州長——美國大陸第一位亞裔美國人州長，美國歷史上第一位華裔美國人州長。

When I was sworn in as the Governor of the State of Washington I moved into the Governor’s residence, or what we call the Governor’s mansion, which was literally one mile from the house where my grandfather had served as a servant. During my inauguration I joked that it took our family 100 years to travel one mile -- from the house where my grandfather was a servant to the house where the Governor of the State of Washington lived.

當(dāng)我宣誓就任華盛頓州州長時，我搬進(jìn)了州長的住宅，就是我們所說的州長官邸，這里離我的祖父曾經(jīng)做家仆的地方真的只有一英里。在就職典禮上，我開玩笑說，我們家族用了100年走過了一英里——從我祖父做家仆的房子到華盛頓州州長所住的房子。

But our family story is really the story of hundreds of millions of Americans from all around the world who came to the United States in pursuit of freedom and in pursuit of opportunity.

而我們家的故事就是數(shù)以百萬計從世界各地到美國來追求自由和機會的美國人的故事。

America is really a land of immigrants, whether first generation or fourth generation, whether our ancestors came from China or Ireland or France or Germany or Japan or Brazil. America is a land of immigrants who came to that country in pursuit of freedom and opportunity.

美國是真的是一個移民之地，不論是第一代或第四代，無論我們的祖先是來自中國還是愛爾蘭，還是法國，德國，日本，巴西。美國是來到這個國家追求自由和機會的移民之地。

The Chinese first came to the United States in the mid 1800s to help finish the American Transcontinental Railroad. They then stayed to work in the gold mines, the lumber camps, and actually served as the merchants in some of the great cities of the West Coast, from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Seattle, and of course they settled in cities like New York.

華人最早在19世紀(jì)中葉來到美國，幫助完成美國的橫貫大陸鐵路。然后，他們留下來在金礦、木材營地中工作，還在西海岸的一些大城市中行商，從圣夫蘭西斯科(三藩市)到洛斯安吉利斯(洛杉磯)到西阿特爾(西雅圖)，當(dāng)然，他們也在紐約這樣的城市定居。