The Gettysburg Address by Abraha

今天耐着性子补到了弗吉尼亚大会的演讲。实在是今非昔比看不动，挑着后面找到了这篇赫赫有名的演讲。全长10句话，272个词，简短有力。在斯皮尔伯格的Lincoln电影里面有这一节的精彩演绎。就是演员的个子还是不太高。

因为带有一定的politics的色彩，所以就不过多发译文了。文很短，百科里就有很详细的各种介绍。顺便补一点，独立的叫做The American Revolution，后面南北的是American Civil War，叫法一大堆，这是从教材中找到的正式用法。而这篇演说就是发生在后者期间，以前读历史的时候对Robert E.Lee将军印象很深，知道他没打过败仗，在这次战场上遭遇滑铁卢。双方损失惨重，好像那个时候滑膛枪已经进化到线膛枪了。顺便对西点没了太好的印象。

总之，This is one of the most famous speeches of all time. Even if he gave the speech about 2 minutes,it means a lot.

以下正文

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.

score表示20,在纳尼亚中见过，老式用法，87年前。

后面一句其实是指The Declaration of Independence中的一句经典:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

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 battle-field 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 nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

conceive: If you conceive a plan or idea, you think of it and work out how it can be done.

dedicate: If you say that someone has dedicated themselves to something, you approve of the fact that they have decided to give a lot of time and effort to it because they think that it is important. 献 (身); 投 (身); 致力

But, in a larger sense, (更广阔的意义)we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.(增减)

最后一段写得很真挚却又动人。因为太长，分成三小部分进行。

consecrate: When a building, place, or object is consecrated, it is officially declared to be holy. When a person is consecrated, they are officially declared to be a bishop. 为…祝圣; 使圣化

hallow 不是hollow,因为是并列结构，所以和consecrate同义。

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 which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

这两句话写得真好。世界不会注意也不会记得我们在这里说过的话，但它不会忘记勇士们在这片土地上的丰功伟绩。

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.

最后一句长的要命。读了好几次才绕出来。这一句翻译具体看百科吧。

有的人说他写这篇演讲花了一周，有的说他是头一天写的，还有的说是在去往的火车上完成的。唯一肯定的是that this nation, under God,是在修改时又加进去的，An experienced speaker, Lincoln probably anticipated the positive effect this suggestion of divine approval of the US and its goals of freedom would have on the audience.看到这句无语。怪不得statesman的描述慢慢淡出更多变为了politician,并不是说Lincoln不伟大，只是有一些材料对他的南北不同场合的演讲不同略有争议。总觉得有些滑头。但他的确做出了巨大贡献，达到太多人无法企及的人生高度。

这篇文的最后结尾实在是太有名了。而且被太多的引用，都泛滥了。总之不看外部看内部吧，做一个有理性的人是最好推动整体发展的事。