I Have a Dream

我有一个梦

Martin Luther King
马丁·路德·金

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

…

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification”—one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, “ and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together?”

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will be the day—this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

100年前，一位伟大的美国人——今天我们就站在他的雕像下——正式签署了《解放宣言》。这项重要法令的颁布，如一座伟大的灯塔，照亮了当时挣扎于不义之火焚烧下的数百万黑奴的希望；它像欢快的破晓曙光，结束了黑人陷于囹圄的漫漫长夜。

然而，整整100年过去了，我们却仍然得面对这个悲惨的现实：黑人依然得不到自由；整整100年过去了，黑人依然被种族隔离的镣铐和种族歧视的锁链羁绊着，举步维艰；整整100年过去了，在物质繁荣的汪洋大海中，黑人却依然独自生存在贫穷的孤岛之上；整整100年过去了，黑人依然在美国社会的阴暗角落里向隅而泣，在自己的土地上却依然流离失所。因此，我们今天来到这里，把这种骇人听闻的情况公布于众。

…………

朋友们，今天我要告诉你们，尽管此刻困难挫折重重，但我仍然有一个梦想。这个梦深深扎根于伟大的美国梦之中。

我有一个梦想：总有一天这个国家会奋然而起，实现其信条的真谛：“我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的。每个人生来就是平等的。”

我有一个梦想：总有一天在佐治亚州的红色山冈上，昔日奴隶的儿子与昔日主人的儿子能够如兄弟手足般同桌而坐。

我有一个梦想：总有一天就算是密西西比这样一个被不公正与种族压迫的热潮所统治着的荒漠之州，也能转变成一方自由和正义的绿洲。

我有一个梦想：总有一天我的4个孩子将生活在一个不以他们的肤色，而是以他们内在品质来评价他们的国度中。

今天，我有一个梦想。

我有一个梦想：总有一天亚拉巴马州——该州州长今天仍在喋喋不休地说着不同意也不执行联邦法令的话语——能有所不同，黑人的小男孩与小女孩能够和白人的小男孩与小女孩如兄弟姐妹般携手同行。

今天，我有一个梦想。

我有一个梦想：总有一天幽谷会上升，高山会下降，崎岖之地将变为坦荡的平原，曲折之路将变为笔直的大道；主的荣光将会显现，芸芸众生同声赞叹。

这是我们的渴望，也是将随我返回南方去的信念。靠着这个信念，我们就能从绝望之山开凿出希望之石。靠着这个信念，我们就能把我们国家里种族争斗的不和谐之音，转谱成一曲兄弟般友爱的动人交响曲。靠着这个信念，我们就能共同工作、共同祈盼、共同战斗、共同昂首入狱、共同维护自由。我们知道，总有一天，我们会获得自由。当这一天到来时，上帝所有的子民都能以全新的意义高唱：我的祖国，亲爱的自由之邦，我为你歌唱。这是祖先安息的故园，这是朝圣者为之自豪的土地。让自由之声在每一座山峰回响！

当美国成为真正伟大的国家时，这一切必将成真。

因此，让自由之声在新罕布什尔州的巍峨高峰回响！

让自由之声在纽约州的雄伟山脉中回响！

让自由之声在宾夕法尼亚州高耸的阿勒格尼山峰回响！

让自由之声在科罗拉多州白雪皑皑的落基山回响！

让自由之声在加利福尼亚州的柔美群峰回响！

不，不仅如此，让自由之声在佐治亚州的石山回响！

让自由之声在田纳西州的远眺山峰回响！

让自由之声在密西西比州的每一座山巅、每一座丘陵回响！

让自由之声在每一处山坡回响！

当我们让自由之声回响时，当我们让自由之声在每一个山村、每一处村寨、每一个州、每一座城回响时，我们就能让这一天早日降临。到那时，上帝所有的孩子——白人与黑人，犹太人与非犹太人，基督教徒与天主教徒——携手同唱那首古老的黑人圣歌：“终于自由了！终于自由了！感谢全能的上帝，我们终于自由了！”

导读

1963年8月23日，马丁·路德·金组织了美国历史上影响深远的“自由进军”运动。他率领一支庞大的游行队伍向首都华盛顿进军，为全美国的黑人争取人权。他在林肯纪念堂前向25万人发表了著名的演说《我有一个梦》，号召大家为反对种族歧视、争取平等而努力。

单词注释

chain [tʃein] n. 链，链条；项圈

transform [træns'fɔ:m] v. 改造；改革；改善

drip [drip] v. 滴下

prodigious [prə'didʒəs] adj. 巨大的；庞大的

mighty ['maiti] adj. 强大的；强有力的

诵读名句

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. o3+7hm3ZcnJ4MfA6kpgI6JzqgHwGKuU0ycD6hBlNWxUz1P0Sx03gZntD4FMptxZC