Why I love a country that once betrayed me | George Takei

翻译人员: Kai Cui 校对人员: Xiaoou Chen

I'm a veteran of the starship Enterprise.

我是进取号战舰的退伍老兵

I soared through the galaxy

我飞翔在银河之间

driving a huge starship

驾驶着巨型的星际飞船

with a crew made up of people

带领着来自全世界的

from all over this world,

人类船员

many different races, many different cultures,

和很多不同文化，不同遗产传承的

many different heritages,

其它种族

all working together,

同心协力

and our mission was to explore strange new worlds,

我们的任务是探索陌生的新世界

to seek out new life and new civilizations,

寻找新的生命和文明

to boldly go where no one has gone before.

向未知的宇宙洪荒大胆前进

Well —

好了

(Applause) —

（掌声）

I am the grandson of immigrants from Japan

我是来自日本移民的第三代后裔

who went to America,

我的祖父母来到美国

boldly going to a strange new world,

勇敢地进入一个陌生的新世界

seeking new opportunities.

寻找新的机会

My mother was born in Sacramento, California.

我的母亲出生在加利福尼亚州萨格拉门托市

My father was a San Franciscan.

我的父亲是旧金山人

They met and married in Los Angeles,

他们在洛杉矶相遇并结婚

and I was born there.

我就在那里出生

I was four years old

我当时只有4岁

when Pearl Harbor was bombed

珍珠港

on December 7, 1941 by Japan,

在1941年12月7日被日本轰炸

and overnight, the world was plunged

一夜之间，全世界

into a world war.

陷入了世界性的战争

America suddenly was swept up

突然之间，美国充满了

by hysteria.

歇斯底里的情绪

Japanese-Americans,

日裔美国人

American citizens of Japanese ancestry,

日本人后裔的美国公民

were looked on

遭到了

with suspicion and fear

怀疑和恐惧

and with outright hatred

以及赤裸裸的仇恨

simply because we happened to look like

只是因为我们碰巧长得像

the people that bombed Pearl Harbor.

轰炸珍珠港的那些人

And the hysteria grew and grew

歇斯底里的情绪在不断增长

until in February 1942,

直到1942年2月

the president of the United States,

美国总统

Franklin Delano Roosevelt,

富兰克林德拉诺罗斯福

ordered all Japanese-Americans

命令美国西海岸的

on the West Coast of America

所有日裔美国人

to be summarily rounded up

立即集合

with no charges, with no trial,

没有罪名，没有审判

with no due process.

未经法律诉讼程序

Due process, this is a core pillar

法律诉讼程序，是我们司法体制的

of our justice system.

核心支柱

That all disappeared.

一切都没有

We were to be rounded up

我们必须被集中起来

and imprisoned in 10 barbed-wire prison camps

被监禁在10个铁丝网围绕的战俘集中营

in some of the most desolate places in America:

它们都位于美国最偏远的地区

the blistering hot desert of Arizona,

亚利桑那州酷热的沙漠

the sultry swamps of Arkansas,

阿肯色州潮湿的沼泽

the wastelands of Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado,

怀俄明、爱达荷、犹他和科罗拉多州的不毛之地

and two of the most desolate places in California.

还有两个位于加利福尼亚州最荒凉的地带

On April 20th, I celebrated my fifth birthday,

4月20日，是我5周岁的生日

and just a few weeks after my birthday,

生日之后的几个星期

my parents got my younger brother,

我的父母把我弟弟

my baby sister and me

妹妹和我

up very early one morning,

很早就叫起来

and they dressed us hurriedly.

匆忙给我们穿上衣服

My brother and I were in the living room

弟弟和我坐在客厅里

looking out the front window,

从窗户向外看

and we saw two soldiers marching up our driveway.

我们看到两名士兵走到门前的车道

They carried bayonets on their rifles.

他们的步枪上装着刺刀

They stomped up the front porch

他们走过门廊

and banged on the door.

大声地敲门

My father answered it,

我的父亲打开门

and the soldiers ordered us out of our home.

士兵命令我们离开家

My father gave my brother and me

父亲给我和弟弟

small luggages to carry,

一人一个小箱子

and we walked out and stood on the driveway

我们走出来，站在外面

waiting for our mother to come out,

等着妈妈

and when my mother finally came out,

我的母亲最后走出来

she had our baby sister in one arm,

一只手抱着妹妹

a huge duffel bag in the other,

另一只手拿着一个大袋子

and tears were streaming down both her cheeks.

她的脸颊上挂着眼泪

I will never be able to forget that scene.

我永远忘不了那个场景

It is burned into my memory.

它深深地烙印在我的记忆中

We were taken from our home

我们被从家里带走

and loaded on to train cars

装上一列火车

with other Japanese-American families.

车上还有其他日裔美国人家庭

There were guards stationed

每节车厢两端

at both ends of each car,

都有士兵把守

as if we were criminals.

好像我们是罪犯

We were taken two thirds of the way across the country,

我们跨越了这个国家四分之三的距离

rocking on that train for four days and three nights,

在摇摇晃晃的车厢中度过了 四天三夜

to the swamps of Arkansas.

最终来到阿肯色州的沼泽地带

I still remember the barbed wire fence

我依然记得围绕在身边的

that confined me.

铁丝网

I remember the tall sentry tower

我记得高高的哨兵塔

with the machine guns pointed at us.

上面架设的机枪瞄准我们

I remember the searchlight that followed me

我记得晚间

when I made the night runs

从兵营跑到厕所时

from my barrack to the latrine.

跟随我的探照灯光

But to five-year-old me,

但是对于5岁的我来说

I thought it was kind of nice that they'd lit the way

我觉得这还不错， 因为他们在我尿尿时

for me to pee.

会为我照亮

I was a child,

我还是个孩子

too young to understand the circumstances

不能理解我为什么

of my being there.

会待在那里

Children are amazingly adaptable.

孩子们的适应能力非常强

What would be grotesquely abnormal

这些极为反常的安排

became my normality

反倒成为我在战俘营中

in the prisoner of war camps.

习以为常的日常生活

It became routine for me to line up three times a day

我习惯了每天三次的列队

to eat lousy food in a noisy mess hall.

习惯了在嘈杂的食堂中吃恶心的食物

It became normal for me to go with my father

习惯了和父亲一起

to bathe in a mass shower.

集体洗澡

Being in a prison, a barbed-wire prison camp,

在一个监狱中， 一个铁丝网环绕的战俘集中营里

became my normality.

这都是我的日常生活

When the war ended,

战争结束了

we were released,

我们也被释放了

and given a one-way ticket

每个人领到一张单程车票

to anywhere in the United States.

可以去美国的任何地方

My parents decided to go back home

我的父母决定回家

to Los Angeles,

回到洛杉矶

but Los Angeles was not a welcoming place.

但是洛杉矶并不友好

We were penniless.

我们身无分文

Everything had been taken from us,

所有的一切都被抢走了

and the hostility was intense.

周围的敌意还非常明显

Our first home was on Skid Row

我们第一个落脚地是

in the lowest part of our city,

城市最下方的贫民窟

living with derelicts, drunkards

与流浪汉、醉鬼

and crazy people,

和疯子们住在一起

the stench of urine all over,

街道、小巷和走廊中

on the street, in the alley,

弥漫着

in the hallway.

排泄物的臭气

It was a horrible experience,

对我们孩子来说

and for us kids, it was terrorizing.

那是一段可怕的经历

I remember once

我记得有一次

a drunkard came staggering down,

一个醉汉踉踉跄跄地走过来

fell down right in front of us,

就在我们眼前跌倒

and threw up.

然后开始呕吐

My baby sister said, "Mama, let's go back home,"

我的妹妹说： “妈妈，我们回家吧。”

because behind barbed wires

因为铁丝网的里面

was for us

就是

home.

我们的家

My parents worked hard

我的父母努力工作

to get back on their feet.

养活一家人

We had lost everything.

我们失去了一切

They were at the middle of their lives

他们在中年时期

and starting all over.

一切重新开始

They worked their fingers to the bone,

他们拼命地工作

and ultimately they were able

最终，我们

to get the capital together to buy

有足够的钱

a three-bedroom home in a nice neighborhood.

在一个不错的街区买一所有三个卧室的房子

And I was a teenager,

那时候我十几岁

and I became very curious

对童年时的监禁生活

about my childhood imprisonment.

非常好奇

I had read civics books that told me about

我阅读了公民教育手册， 其中提到

the ideals of American democracy.

美国民主的理念

All men are created equal,

所有的人生而平等

we have an inalienable right

我们有不可剥夺的

to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

生活、自由和追求幸福的权利

and I couldn't quite make that fit

这与我童年监禁生活

with what I knew to be my childhood imprisonment.

的经历判若云泥

I read history books,

我遍阅历史书籍

and I couldn't find anything about it.

找不到有关这件事的任何描述

And so I engaged my father after dinner

于是我在晚饭后找到父亲

in long, sometimes heated conversations.

与他进行长时间，有时候是激烈的讨论

We had many, many conversations like that,

我们有过很多很多这样的讨论

and what I got from them

从中我收获了

was my father's wisdom.

父亲的智慧

He was the one that suffered the most

在监禁期间

under those conditions of imprisonment,

他遭受的苦难最深

and yet he understood American democracy.

但他依然理解美国式民主

He told me that our democracy

他告诉我，我们的民主

is a people's democracy,

是人民的民主

and it can be as great as the people can be,

人民强大，民主也强大

but it is also as fallible as people are.

但它也像人一样会犯错误

He told me that American democracy

他告诉我，美国民主

is vitally dependent on good people

主要取决于那些善良的人

who cherish the ideals of our system

他们珍爱我们体制的理念

and actively engage in the process

积极地推动

of making our democracy work.

民主的发展

And he took me to a campaign headquarters —

他把我带到一个竞选总部

the governor of Illinois was running for the presidency —

伊利诺伊州长正在竞选总统

and introduced me to American electoral politics.

让我开始接触美国选举政治

And he also told me about

他还给我讲

young Japanese-Americans

年轻的日裔美国人

during the Second World War.

在二战中的故事

When Pearl Harbor was bombed,

珍珠港遭到轰炸之后

young Japanese-Americans, like all young Americans,

年轻的日裔美国人和年轻的美国人一样

rushed to their draft board

纷纷前往征兵处

to volunteer to fight for our country.

志愿为祖国而战

That act of patriotism

爱国的热情

was answered with a slap in the face.

遭到了当头一棒

We were denied service,

我们被拒绝入伍

and categorized as enemy non-alien.

我们被认为是敌对的非盟友

It was outrageous to be called an enemy

敌人的称呼让人愤怒

when you're volunteering to fight for your country,

当你志愿为祖国而战

but that was compounded with the word "non-alien,"

却被冠以“非盟友”的称呼

which is a word that means

这个词的意思是

"citizen" in the negative.

“公民”的对立面

They even took the word "citizen" away from us,

他们甚至剥夺了我们公民的身份

and imprisoned them for a whole year.

还把他们监禁一年

And then the government realized

之后，政府意识到

that there's a wartime manpower shortage,

战争期间人手匮乏

and as suddenly as they'd rounded us up,

就像他们突然把我们抓起来一样

they opened up the military for service

他们又突然向年轻的日裔美国人

by young Japanese-Americans.

敞开了军队的大门

It was totally irrational,

这完全没有道理可讲

but the amazing thing,

但神奇的

the astounding thing,

令人震惊的是

is that thousands of young

成千上万

Japanese-American men and women

来自铁丝网后面的

again went from behind those barbed-wire fences,

年轻日裔美国男女

put on the same uniform as that of our guards,

穿上与守卫同样的军装

leaving their families in imprisonment,

离开监狱中的家庭

to fight for this country.

为祖国而战

They said that they were going to fight

他们说，他们的战争

not only to get their families out

不仅仅是为了让家人

from behind those barbed-wire fences,

走出铁丝网

but because they cherished the very ideal

而且因为他们相信

of what our government stands for,

我们的政府捍卫的理念

should stand for,

他们也要捍卫

and that was being abrogated

被目前行为

by what was being done.

所破坏殆尽的理念

All men are created equal.

所有的人生而平等

And they went to fight for this country.

于是他们挺身而出，为祖国而战

They were put into a segregated

他们被安排在一个单独的

all Japanese-American unit

日裔美国人作战部队

and sent to the battlefields of Europe,

被送往欧洲战场

and they threw themselves into it.

他们投身战争

They fought with amazing,

以异乎寻常的勇气

incredible courage and valor.

和毅力作战

They were sent out on the most dangerous missions

他们执行最危险的任务

and they sustained the highest combat casualty rate

平均各作战部队的情况

of any unit proportionally.

他们的伤亡率最高

There is one battle that illustrates that.

有一场战役说明了这一点

It was a battle for the Gothic Line.

那是哥特防线的一场战役

The Germans were embedded

德国人被困在

in this mountain hillside,

山坡的一侧

rocky hillside,

一面是高耸的峭壁

in impregnable caves,

一面是坚不可摧的山洞

and three allied battalions

三个盟军营

had been pounding away at it

已经连续进攻了

for six months,

6个月

and they were stalemated.

双方陷入僵局

The 442nd was called in

442营得到命令

to add to the fight,

进入战场

but the men of the 442nd

442营的士兵

came up with a unique

有了一个异想天开

but dangerous idea:

又极为危险的想法

The backside of the mountain

山的后面

was a sheer rock cliff.

是一个岩石峭壁

The Germans thought an attack from the backside

德国人认为对方绝不可能

would be impossible.

从后面发动进攻

The men of the 442nd decided to do the impossible.

442营的士兵决定把它变成可能

On a dark, moonless night,

在一个星月无光的晚上

they began scaling that rock wall,

他们开始测量峭壁的高度

a drop of more than 1,000 feet,

超过1000英尺

in full combat gear.

全副武装的士兵

They climbed all night long

花了整整一晚

on that sheer cliff.

攀登这座峭壁

In the darkness,

在黑暗中

some lost their handhold

一些人由于失手

or their footing

或者失足

and they fell to their deaths

跌入下面的深渊

in the ravine below.

坠亡

They all fell silently.

他们无声无息地落下

Not a single one cried out,

没有一声叫喊

so as not to give their position away.

以免暴露行踪

The men climbed for eight hours straight,

士兵们攀爬了8个小时

and those who made it to the top

到达顶部的人

stayed there until the first break of light,

在等待清晨的第一缕阳光

and as soon as light broke,

破晓时分

they attacked.

他们发动了进攻

The Germans were surprised,

德国人无法想象

and they took the hill

他们占领了山头

and broke the Gothic Line.

突破了哥特防线

A six-month stalemate

6个月的僵局

was broken by the 442nd

被442营

in 32 minutes.

在32分钟内打破

It was an amazing act,

这是一次极为成功的行动

and when the war ended,

战争结束后

the 442nd returned to the United States

442营士兵回到美国

as the most decorated unit

他们是二战中

of the entire Second World War.

功勋最为显著的部队

They were greeted back on the White House Lawn

他们在白宫草坪，得到杜鲁门总统

by President Truman, who said to them,

的接见，他说：

"You fought not only the enemy

“你们不但与敌人作战

but prejudice, and you won."

还在与世俗的偏见和你们自己作战。”

They are my heroes.

他们是我心目中的英雄

They clung to their belief

他们沐浴着这个国家闪亮的理念

in the shining ideals of this country,

爬上了峭壁

and they proved that being an American

他们证明，美国人的称号

is not just for some people,

不仅仅属于一部分人

that race is not how we define being an American.

美国人并不是一个种族的名称

They expanded what it means to be an American,

他们重新定义了美国人的概念

including Japanese-Americans

其中也包括了那些

that were feared and suspected and hated.

被人怀疑和仇恨的日裔美国人

They were change agents,

他们促成了未来的变化

and they left for me

他们给我留下了

a legacy.

丰厚的遗产

They are my heroes

他们是我的英雄

and my father is my hero,

我的父亲是我的英雄

who understood democracy

他了解民主的含义

and guided me through it.

引导我走出迷惘

They gave me a legacy,

他们留给我的东西

and with that legacy comes a responsibility,

让我形成了一种责任感

and I am dedicated

我下定决心

to making my country

让我的国家

an even better America,

成为一个更好的美国

to making our government

让我们的政府

an even truer democracy,

变得更加民主

and because of the heroes that I have

由于我心目中的那些英雄

and the struggles that we've gone through,

由于我们经历的那些苦难

I can stand before you

我可以作为一个日裔美国同胞

as a gay Japanese-American,

站在你们的面前

but even more than that,

更重要的是

I am a proud American.

我是一个自豪的美国人

Thank you very much.

非常感谢

(Applause)

（掌声）