经典两分钟演讲稿———美国驻华大使骆家辉在新疆大学的讲话

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.

我的祖父扫地、洗碗以换取上英语课的机会。他十几岁时来到美国，之后他回到中国，在那里成婚，而且我的姑母叔伯——包括我父亲——也出生在那里。根据当时的习俗，祖父回到美国，工作，并且把钱寄回广东省以养活一家人。

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.

经过一段时间，他回到广东省并且把我的父亲和我的姑母叔伯带到美国，这样我的父亲也在十几岁时来到了美国。之后，他在第二次世界大战爆发前加入了美国陆军，战争结束后，他回到了中国，在香港遇到了我母亲，他们在那里结婚，然后将我母亲带到了美国。

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.

在我长大的过程中，我从来没有想过我会进入政府服务。实际上，我以为我可能会成为一名教师，或者一名城市规划师，还有，因为我喜欢户外，我真的以为我会成为一名护林员，一名林务员。

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

我父母想让我学习医学或工程学，但我决定攻读法律学学位。

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.

我从法律开始参与政治，过了一段时间当选华盛顿州州长——美国大陆第一位亚裔美国人州长，美国历史上第一位华裔美国人州长。

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.

当我宣誓就任华盛顿州州长时，我搬进了州长的住宅，就是我们所说的州长官邸，这里离我的祖父曾经做家仆的地方真的只有一英里。在就职典礼上，我开玩笑说，我们家族用了100年走过了一英里——从我祖父做家仆的房子到华盛顿州州长所住的房子。

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.

而我们家的故事就是数以百万计从世界各地到美国来追求自由和机会的美国人的故事。

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.

美国是真的是一个移民之地，不论是第一代或第四代，无论我们的祖先是来自中国还是爱尔兰，还是法国，德国，日本，巴西。美国是来到这个国家追求自由和机会的移民之地。

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.

华人最早在19世纪中叶来到美国，帮助完成美国的横贯大陆铁路。然后，他们留下来在金矿、木材营地中工作，还在西海岸的一些大城市中行商，从圣夫兰西斯科(三藩市)到洛斯安吉利斯(洛杉矶)到西阿特尔(西雅图)，当然，他们也在纽约这样的城市定居。