It is stunning in its brevity: 10 sentences, 272 words, and delivered in just over 2 minutes.

它的簡潔性極具魅力：10 句話、272 個英文字，並在 2 分多鐘就演說完畢。

Few have said more with less.

很少有人在更短時間內傳達更多資訊。

Lincoln delivered the address on November 19, 1863.

林肯是在 1863 年 11 月 19 日發表此演說。

He was in Gettysburg to dedicate a national military cemetery to the Union soldiers who fell at the Battle of Gettysburg 4 months earlier.

他當時人在蓋斯堡，目的是將一座國家公墓貢獻給 4 個月前在蓋茲堡戰役中陣亡的盟軍。

The North's victory here was one of the pivotal battles of the American Civil War.

北方在此的勝利為美國內戰中的關鍵戰役之一。

Lincoln begins this way.

林肯用這個方式開頭。

"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."

「87 年前，我們的祖先在這塊陸地上建立了一個新的國家，它孕育於自由，並奉行人人生而平等的主張。」

Lincoln goes back in time, not to the signing of the Constitution, but to the Declaration of Independence.

林肯將時間回溯到獨立宣言時期，而非簽訂憲法之時。

The Constitution in forming our government was the product of many compromises, most notably, slavery.

形成我們政府的憲法是許多讓步的產物，其中最值得注意的是奴隸制度。

In contrast, the Declaration of Independence declares our enduring national values.

對比而言，獨立宣言聲明了我們持續的國家價值。

In one sentence, Lincoln summarizes the American project: liberty for all and equality of all.

林肯在一句話中總結了美國計畫：給予所有人自由與平等。

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

「我們現在正進行著一場偉大的內戰，考驗該國家，或任何有此信仰和主張的國家，能否長久地存續。」

Lincoln's assertion is two-fold.

林肯的宣言有兩個面向。

First, the United States is unique.

首先，美國是獨特的。

No nation was ever founded on a commitment to liberty and equality.

沒有任何一個國家是建立在致力於自由與平等的基礎之上。

And the Civil War was a trial to see if a nation based on such lofty ideals could survive.

而內戰目的是檢視以如此崇高想法建立的國家是否能存活。

"We are met on a great battlefield of that war.”

「我們在那場戰爭的偉大戰場上相遇。」

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the site of the bloodiest battle of America's bloodiest war.

賓州的蓋茲堡是美國史上最血腥戰爭中最血腥戰役的地點。

In 3 days of fighting, 51,000 Americans on both sides⏤Union and Confederate⏤were killed, wounded, captured, or missing.

三天的戰役中，合眾國聯邦軍和聯盟國雙方共有 5 萬 1 千名美軍戰死、受傷、捕捉或失蹤。

"We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live."

「為了使那國家得以存續，我們將在這片戰場上找到我們最後的安息之地——那些為此而死去的人已經這麼做了。」

"It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this."

「這對我們而言是恰當的，也是適宜的。」

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground."

「然而，從更廣泛的意義上說，我們無法在此祭奠、無法奉獻、無法使這片土地神聖化。」

"The brave men⏤living and dead⏤who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.”

「那些活著和死去的、曾在此拼搏過的勇者，已經使它神聖化，而這一意義是我們乏弱的力量遠遠不能有所增減的。」

Lincoln is not in Gettysburg to celebrate the Union victory.

林肯並未在蓋茲堡慶祝聯邦軍勝利。

Rather, he explains that those who fought were the loyal guardians of the American Experiment.

他反而說明了那些在此奮戰的人，都是美國實驗中忠誠的守護者。

With their blood, they watered the tree of liberty.

他們利用自己的血液，灌溉了自由之樹。

As Lincoln himself knew, how could his words ever compare to that sacrifice?

如同林肯自己所知的，他的言語怎麼能夠跟那些犧牲相提並論呢？

He even speculates that,

他甚至推斷：

"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

「世界不會注意，也不會長久地記住我們在這兒說過什麼，但它絕不會忘記那些人曾在這裡做過什麼。」

Ironically, the world remembers what our 16th president said, but do we remember the actions of those who fought at Gettysburg?

諷刺的次，世界記得了我們第 16 總統說過的話，但我們記得那些蓋茲堡戰役中戰士的行動嗎？

Lincoln answers that question with a challenge:

林肯以一個挑戰回答那個問題：

"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."

「雖然大業尚未成就，但那些為此奮鬥過的烈士們已使這之進入最後的成熟階段，我們活著的人無疑地地應當繼續致力於此志業。」

"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."

「我們應當投身於那留在我們面前的偉大任務，我們將從那些為此投入了全部熱忱的逝者身上獲得更多的熱忱。」

Those who fought and died shouldered our nation's enduring values through the refining fire of Gettysburg and the Civil War.

那些陣亡的人透過蓋斯堡以及內戰的精煉火焰，肩負了我們國家亙古的價值觀。

Lincoln points to them, and challenges the living.

林肯指向他們並挑戰存活的人。

Are we prepared to heed their example, to do what is necessary to advance the founding ideals of the Declaration of Independence?

我們準備好遵循他們的典範、竭盡所能地做能讓獨立宣言建立的理想進步了嗎？

Remember, the Gettysburg Address is a wartime speech.

記住，蓋茲堡演說是戰期演講。

Lincoln is steeling his contemporaries for the many battles, burdens, and responsibilities still ahead.

林肯要鼓勵同胞橫下心面對眼前的許多戰爭、負擔及責任。

But he's also looking to the future; he is looking to us.

但他也看向了未來，他指望著我們。

Lincoln concludes:

林肯做了結論：

"... 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,"

「⋯⋯我們不會讓那些為此獻出生命的人白白犧牲，我們將讓這個國家在上帝的庇佑下，獲得有自由的新生。」

"and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

「而那個為民所有、為民所治、為民所享的政府也絕不會從這片土地上消亡。」

The Union won the Civil War.

聯邦軍在內戰中勝出。

Slavery ended.

奴隸制度結束了。

And with it, the values of liberty and equality were given a "new birth".

而隨之而來的是獲得「新生」的自由、平等價值。

However, the struggle for liberty and equality continued, and persists today.

然而，爭取自由平等的奮鬥持續到了今日。

Lincoln foresaw this.

林肯遇見了這一點。

To remain a nation dedicated to the proposition that "all men"⏤all people⏤"are created equal",

維繫一個致力於「人人生而平等」主張的國家，

and that government of, by, and for the people "shall not perish from the earth".

而為人所有、治、享的政府「絕不會從這片土地上消亡」。

These are the "unfinished work" and the "great task remaining" of every generation.

這些是每一個世代的「尚未完成的大業」以及「餘留的偉大任務」。

Ours is no exception.

我們這個世代也不是例外。

Are we up to President Lincoln's challenge?

我們準備好接受林肯總統的挑戰了嗎？

I'm Professor Doug Douds of the Army War College for Prager University.

我是普拉格大學陸軍戰爭學院的 Doug Douds 教授。