我們攀登的山
詩/阿曼達·戈爾曼（Amanda Gorman）翻譯/陶誌健
天亮之時，我們自問：
無邊的陰影中何處能尋得光明？
我們肩負損失，
更須跨海前行。
身陷獸腹時英勇麵對，
我們懂得無聲並不總是安寧，
懂得規範和概念雖能描繪公正
卻不總能帶來公正。
然而不期之間
我們已經擁有黎明。
我們摸索，我們躬行。
我們設法挺過了風暴，目睹了
國家沒有破裂，隻是有待完成。
我們，雖是國家和時代的繼承人，
但此時此地一個纖瘦的黑人女孩
奴隸的後裔，單身母親撫養長大
她可以夢想成為總統
卻仍隻是在為總統朗誦。
是的，我們遠未打磨完善
遠不夠原始純淨
但我們不是要努力組成
一個完美無缺的聯盟，
而是要努力建造
一個有追求的聯盟，
構築一個矢誌效力所有文化、膚色、個性
所有個人境況的國家。
因此，我們抬起目光，
不障目於我們之間的阻隔，
隻展望我們前麵的道路。
我們彌合鴻溝，是深知要把未來放在首位，
必須先將分歧拋在一旁。
我們放下手中武器
是為了伸出手臂擁抱對方。
對所有人，我們都不欲傷害，隻願和睦相處。
如果沒有別的，就讓地球宣告真情：
經曆悲痛之際，我們也在成長，
受到傷害之時，我們仍抱希望，
即使勞頓耗力，我們無不盡力，
我們將永遠緊密相連，勝利昂揚。
不是因為我們再也不會經曆失敗，
而是因為我們再也不去播種分裂。
《聖經》勸告我們去展望：
人人將安坐自家的藤間樹下
則沒人將能令他們害怕。
隻要我們不負時代，
勝利仰仗的就不是刀把，
而是我們建設的道道橋梁。
隻要敢登攀，那便是諾言
可以通向闊地，
通向我們攀登的山。
因為身為美國人不僅是我們繼承的驕傲，
它是我們步入的昨日，
它是我們對明日的修建。
我們看到曾有一股勢力企圖分裂
而不是分享這個民族。
企圖摧毀國家以便拖延民主。
這種圖謀幾近實現。
但是，盡管有時民主會被推遲，
卻絕不會失敗到永遠。
我們篤信這條真理，這種信念。
因為，正當我們注視著未來，
曆史同時也注視著我們。
這是正義重歸的時代。
我們確曾為之憂心。
我們不曾有心理準備來接受
如此恐怖時刻的來臨。
但身置其中，我們卻尋得了力量
撰寫新的篇章，
為自己帶來歡笑和希望。
盡管我們曾經自問
我們怎麽可能戰勝災難？
如今我們反問
災難怎麽可能戰勝我們？
我們不會退回過去
而將邁向未來：
邁向一個帶傷卻完整、
仁慈但勇敢、
凶猛而自由的國家。
恐嚇不能讓我們回頭，
不能阻止我們，因為
我們深知我們的無為和怠惰
將成為下一代的遺產，
我們的失誤將成為他們的負擔。
但是可以肯定：
如果我們寓仁慈於力量，
寓力量於公正，
愛便成為我們的遺產，
並改變我們後代的基本人權。
那麽，讓我們留下的國家
比我們繼承的更加美好。
我銅器錘擊的胸膛一呼一吸間，
我們將把這個悲傷的世界改善為美妙的世界。
我們將從西部的金色山巒站起，
我們將從狂風橫掃的東北站起
那是前輩的首義之地，
我們將從中西部各州的湖邊城市站起，
我們將從陽光照耀的南方站起，
在祖國已知的每個角落，在我們國家的四麵八方，
我們將重建、和解，我們將恢複元氣。
我們多樣而美麗的人民將站出來，
身帶傷痕而依然美麗。
天亮之時，我們走出陰影和烈火，無所畏懼。
新的曙光在升騰，任我放飛，
因為光明永存，
隻要我們勇於看到光明，
隻要我們勇於成為光明。
首發於：學人Scholar https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/54GiOy9cATCpiO_CLNcu6A
附原文：
The Hill We Climb
by Amanda Gorman
When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade.
We've braved the belly of the beast,
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace,
and the norms and notions
of what just is
isn't always just-ice.
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it.
Somehow we do it.
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn't broken,
but simply unfinished.
We the successors of a country and a time
where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one.
And yes we are far from polished.
Far from pristine.
But that doesn't mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect.
We are striving to forge a union with purpose,
to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man.
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,
but what stands before us.
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside.
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another.
We seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
and no one shall make them afraid.
If we're to live up to our own time,
then victory won't lie in the blade.
But in all the bridges we've made,
that is the promise to glade,
the hill we climb.
If only we dare.
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it's the past we step into
and how we repair it.
We've seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it,
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth,
in this faith we trust.
For while we have our eyes on the future,
history has its eyes on us.
This is the era of just redemption
we feared at its inception.
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter.
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert,
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was,
but move to what shall be.
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free.
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation,
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation.
Our blunders become their burdens.
But one thing is certain,
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy,
and change our children's birthright.
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with.
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.
We will rise from the windswept northeast,
where our forefathers first realized revolution.
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.
We will rise from the sunbaked south.
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
In every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.
