Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directorsphr. /bɔːrd əv dəˈrɛktərz/ 董事会，理事会 and Citizensn. /ˈsɪtɪzənz/ 公民，市民:
主席先生，各位董事，各位公民：
One-third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprisen. /ˈɛntərpraɪz/ 事业，企业 seeking the material, civil, or moral welfaren. /ˈwɛlfɛr/ 福祉，福利 of this section can disregardv. /ˌdɪsrɪˈɡɑːrd/ 忽视，不顾 this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but conveyv. /kənˈveɪ/ 传达，表达 to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentimentn. /ˈsɛntɪmənt/ 情感，心意 of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cementv. /sɪˈmɛnt/ 巩固，加强 the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom. Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the state legislaturen. /ˈlɛdʒɪsleɪtʃər/ 立法机构，州议会 was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speakingphr. /stʌmp ˈspiːkɪŋ/ 巡回政治演说 had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden.
南方三分之一的人口属于黑人种族。任何谋求本地区物质、公民或道德福祉的事业，都不能无视我们人口中的这一部分而达到最高的成功。主席先生、各位董事，我不过是在向你们传达我族大众的心声：美国黑人的价值与人格，从未像在这座宏伟博览会的每一个筹办阶段那样，得到如此恰当而慷慨的承认。这一承认，比我们获得自由以来发生的任何事情，都更能巩固两个种族之间的友谊。不仅如此，这里提供的机会还将在我们中间开启一个工业进步的新时代。我们无知又缺乏经验，所以在新生活的最初岁月里，我们从顶端而不是从底层起步，这并不奇怪；国会或州议会里的一个席位，比地产或工业技能更受追逐；政治集会或巡回演说，比开办一个奶牛场或菜园更有吸引力。
A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sightedv. /ˈsaɪtɪd/ 看见，发现 a friendly vesseln. /ˈvɛsəl/ 船，舰. From the mastn. /mæst/ 桅杆 of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, "Water, water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the signal, "Water, water; send us water!" ran up from the distressedadj. /dɪˈstrɛst/ 遇难的，困苦的 vessel, and was answered, "Cast down your bucket where you are." And a third and fourth signal for water was answered, "Cast down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heedingv. /ˈhiːdɪŋ/ 听从，留意 the injunctionn. /ɪnˈdʒʌŋkʃən/ 指令，告诫, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparklingadj. /ˈspɑːrklɪŋ/ 闪闪发光的，清亮的 water from the mouth of the Amazon River.
一艘在海上迷失多日的船，突然望见一艘友善的船。从那艘不幸船只的桅杆上发出信号："水，水；我们快渴死了！"友善的船立刻回话："就在你所在的地方把桶放下去。"第二次，那艘困顿的船又升起信号："水，水；给我们送水来！"回答仍是："就在你所在的地方把桶放下去。"第三、第四次求水的信号，得到的回答依然是："就在你所在的地方把桶放下去。"那艘困顿之船的船长终于听从了这一告诫，把桶放了下去，提上来的竟是满满一桶清冽闪光的水——来自亚马逊河的河口。
To those of my race who depend on betteringv. /ˈbɛtərɪŋ/ 改善，改进 their condition in a foreign land or who underestimatev. /ˌʌndərˈɛstɪmeɪt/ 低估 the importance of cultivatingv. /ˈkʌltɪveɪtɪŋ/ 培养，培育 friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say: "Cast down your bucket where you are" — cast it down in making friends in every manlyadj. /ˈmænli/ 磊落的，有丈夫气的 way of the people of all races by whom we are surroundedv. /səˈraʊndɪd/ 环绕，包围.
对于我族中那些指望在异国他乡改善处境的人，或是那些低估与南方白人——他们的近邻——培养友好关系之重要性的人，我要说："就在你所在的地方把桶放下去"——以一切磊落的方式，去与我们周围各个种族的人结交。
Cast it down in agriculture, mechanicsn. /məˈkænɪks/ 机械技艺，机械学, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquentadj. /ˈɛləkwənt/ 有说服力的，雄辩的 than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlookv. /ˌoʊvərˈlʊk/ 忽略，看漏 the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosperv. /ˈprɑːspər/ 繁荣，兴旺 in proportion as we learn to dignifyv. /ˈdɪɡnɪfaɪ/ 使有尊严 and glorify common labor, and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficialadj. /ˌsuːpərˈfɪʃəl/ 表面的，浮华的 and the substantialadj. /səbˈstænʃəl/ 实在的，实质的, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievancesn. /ˈɡriːvənsɪz/ 不满，怨愤 to overshadowv. /ˌoʊvərˈʃædoʊ/ 使黯然失色，遮蔽 our opportunities.
把它放到农业里、机械技艺里、商业里、家政服务里，也放到各种专业里去。在这一点上还应牢记：无论南方还须背负别的什么罪过，说到纯粹的商业，黑人正是在南方才在商业世界中获得了一个堂堂正正的机会，而这座博览会最能说明问题的，莫过于它强调了这一机会。我们最大的危险在于：在从奴役到自由的巨大跨越中，我们可能忽略一个事实——我们中的大多数要靠自己双手的产出来生活；也可能忘记：我们只有学会让平凡劳动变得有尊严、有荣光，把头脑和技艺投入生活中最普通的职业，才能按比例地兴旺起来；只有学会区分表面与实在、区分生活中华而不实的装饰品与真正有用之物，才能按比例地兴旺起来。没有任何一个种族能在懂得"耕地与写诗同样有尊严"之前兴旺起来。我们必须从生活的底层起步，而不是从顶端。我们也不该让心中的怨愤遮蔽了眼前的机会。
To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperityn. /prɑːˈspɛrəti/ 繁荣，兴旺 of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race, "Cast down your bucket where you are." Cast it down among the eight millions of Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelityn. /fɪˈdɛləti/ 忠诚，忠贞 and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherousadj. /ˈtrɛtʃərəs/ 背叛的，不忠的 meant the ruin of your firesidesn. /ˈfaɪərsaɪdz/ 炉边，家宅. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowelsn. /ˈbaʊəlz/ 深处，内部 of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplusadj. /ˈsɜːrpləs/ 剩余的，过剩的 land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentfuladj. /ˌʌnrɪˈzɛntfəl/ 不怀怨恨的 people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick-bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacingv. /ˌɪntərˈleɪsɪŋ/ 交织，使交错 our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social, we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.
对于白人当中那些指望靠外来出生、语言与习惯都陌生的人来换取南方繁荣的人，倘若允许，我要重复我对本族说过的话："就在你所在的地方把桶放下去。"把桶放到那八百万黑人中间去——他们的习性你们了解，他们的忠诚与爱，你们在那些一旦背叛就会毁掉你们家园的日子里早已验证过。把桶放到这些人中间去——他们不曾罢工，不曾卷入劳工战争，却耕种了你们的田地，清除了你们的森林，修建了你们的铁路与城市，从大地深处取出宝藏，帮助促成了眼前这座展示南方进步的宏伟展览。把桶放到我的人民中间，像你们在这片场地上正在做的那样帮助、鼓励他们，并给予他们头脑、双手与心灵的教育，你们会发现：他们会买下你们多余的土地，让你们田里的荒地开花，也会去经营你们的工厂。这样做的时候，你们尽可确信，未来一如过去，你们和家人身边所环绕的，将是世上最有耐心、最忠诚、最守法、最不怀怨恨的人民。过去我们已向你们证明了自己的忠诚——照料你们的孩子，守在你们父母的病榻旁，常常含着泪送他们入土；未来我们也将以自己谦卑的方式站在你们身旁，怀着任何外邦人都无法企及的忠忱，必要时愿为保卫你们的生命而献出我们自己的生命，并把我们的工业、商业、公民与宗教生活同你们交织在一起，使两个种族的利益合而为一。在一切纯粹属于社交的场合，我们可以像手指一样彼此分开；而在一切关乎共同进步的要事上，我们则如一只手那样合为一体。
There is no defense or securityn. /sɪˈkjʊrəti/ 保障，安全 for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtailv. /kɜːrˈteɪl/ 削减，限制 the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulatingv. /ˈstɪmjəleɪtɪŋ/ 激励，促进, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so investedv. /ɪnˈvɛstɪd/ 投入，投资 will pay a thousand percent interest. These efforts will be twice blessedadj. /ˈblɛsɪd/ 蒙福的，有福的 — blessing him that gives and him that takes.
我们谁都没有别的防卫或保障，唯有全体达到最高的智识与发展水平。倘若在哪里有人试图限制黑人最充分的发展，那就让这些努力转而变成激励与鼓励，使他成为最有用于社会、最有智慧的公民。如此投入的努力或财力，将带来千百倍的回报。这样的努力是双重蒙福的——既祝福给予的人，也祝福接受的人。
There is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitableadj. /ɪnˈɛvɪtəbəl/ 不可避免的:
The laws of changelessadj. /ˈtʃeɪndʒləs/ 永恒不变的 justice bind
Oppressorn. /əˈprɛsər/ 压迫者 with oppressedn. /əˈprɛst/ 被压迫者;
And close as sin and suffering joined
We march to fate abreastadv. /əˈbrɛst/ 并排地，并肩地.
Oppressorn. /əˈprɛsər/ 压迫者 with oppressedn. /əˈprɛst/ 被压迫者;
And close as sin and suffering joined
We march to fate abreastadv. /əˈbrɛst/ 并排地，并肩地.
无论凭人的律法还是上帝的律法，都无法逃脱这必然之事：那永恒不变的公义之律，
把压迫者与被压迫者缚在一起；
我们如同罪与苦难那般紧密相连，
并肩走向命运。
把压迫者与被压迫者缚在一起；
我们如同罪与苦难那般紧密相连，
并肩走向命运。
Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or they will pull against you the load downward. We shall constitutev. /ˈkɑːnstɪtuːt/ 构成，组成 one-third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one-third its intelligence and progress; we shall contributev. /kənˈtrɪbjuːt/ 贡献，出力 one-third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritableadj. /ˈvɛrɪtəbəl/ 名副其实的，十足的 body of death, stagnatingv. /ˈstæɡneɪtɪŋ/ 停滞，失去活力, depressing, retardingv. /rɪˈtɑːrdɪŋ/ 延缓，阻碍 every effort to advance the body politicphr. /ˈbɑːdi ˈpɑːlətɪk/ 政治实体，国家.
将近一千六百万双手，要么帮你们把重担往上拉，要么与你们作对把重担往下拽。我们若不成其为南方三分之一乃至更多的愚昧与犯罪，便将成为它三分之一的智识与进步；我们若不为南方的商业与工业繁荣贡献三分之一的力量，便会成为一个名副其实的死亡之躯，使政治实体的每一次前进努力都陷于停滞、消沉与迟滞。
Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuchadv. /ˌoʊvərˈmʌtʃ/ 过多地，过分地. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneousadj. /ˌmɪsəˈleɪniəs/ 各种各样的，杂七杂八的 sources), remember the path that has led from these to the inventions and production of agricultural implementsn. /ˈɪmplɪmənts/ 工具，器具, buggies, steam-engines, newspapers, books, statuaryn. /ˈstætʃuɛri/ 雕像，雕塑, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks, has not been troddenv. /ˈtrɑːdən/ 踩踏（tread 的过去分词） without contact with thornsn. /θɔːrnz/ 荆棘 and thistlesn. /ˈθɪsəlz/ 蓟草.
博览会的各位先生，当我们向你们呈上这份展示自身进步的微薄努力时，请不要期望过高。三十年前起步时，我们拥有的不过是这儿一条被褥、那儿几个南瓜和几只鸡（还是从各处凑来的）；请记住，从这些走到今天农业器具、轻便马车、蒸汽机、报纸、书籍、雕塑、木刻、绘画以及药房与银行经营上的种种发明与产出，这条路上并非没有踩到荆棘与蓟草。
While we take pride in what we exhibitv. /ɪɡˈzɪbɪt/ 展示，展出 as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectationsn. /ˌɛkspɛkˈteɪʃənz/ 期望，期待 but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the southern states, but especially from northern philanthropistsn. /fɪˈlænθrəpɪsts/ 慈善家, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessingn. /ˈblɛsɪŋ/ 祝福，恩惠 and encouragement.
我们为凭自身独立努力所展出的成果而自豪，但片刻也不曾忘记：若非我们的教育事业一直得到帮助——不仅来自南方各州，尤其来自北方的慈善家，他们使自己的捐赠成为源源不断的祝福与鼓励——我们在这场展览中的份额将远远达不到你们的期望。
The wisest among my race understand that the agitationn. /ˌædʒɪˈteɪʃən/ 鼓动，煽动 of questions of social equality is the extremist follyn. /ˈfɑːli/ 愚蠢，蠢行, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracizedv. /ˈɑːstrəsaɪzd/ 排斥，放逐. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitelyadv. /ˈɪnfɪnətli/ 无限地，远远 more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera-house. In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altarn. /ˈɔːltər/ 祭坛 that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricateadj. /ˈɪntrɪkət/ 错综复杂的 problem which God has laid at the doors of the South, you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind, that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefits will be that higher good, that, let us pray God, will come, in a blotting out of sectionaladj. /ˈsɛkʃənəl/ 地域性的，派系的 differences and racial animositiesn. /ˌænɪˈmɑːsətiz/ 仇恨，敌意 and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandatesn. /ˈmændeɪts/ 命令，法令 of law. This, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth.
我族中最明智的人明白：就社会平等问题鼓噪煽动，乃是极端分子的蠢行；我们要享有终将到来的一切权利，其进展必须来自艰苦而持久的奋斗，而不是人为的强求。任何一个能为世界市场作出贡献的种族，都不会长久地、在多大程度上被排斥在外。法律上的一切权利归我们所有，这既重要又正当；但更为重要的是，我们要为行使这些权利做好准备。眼下在工厂里挣一块钱的机会，其价值远胜于在歌剧院里花一块钱的机会。最后，请允许我再重复一句：三十年来，没有什么比博览会提供的这一机会，给我们带来更多的希望与鼓舞，也没有什么比它更把我们拉近到你们白人身边；在此，我仿佛俯身于那座象征着你我两个种族奋斗成果的祭坛之上——三十年前我们双方几乎都是空手起步——我郑重承诺：在你们努力解决上帝放在南方门前的那个重大而错综复杂的问题时，我族将始终给予你们耐心而富有同情的帮助；只请你们常记在心：这些建筑里所陈列的田野、森林、矿场、工厂、文学与艺术的成果，固然会带来许多好处，但远在物质利益之上的，是那更高的善——让我们祈求上帝让它降临：让地域分歧、种族仇恨与猜忌被一笔抹去，让人人下定决心施行绝对的正义，让所有阶层都心甘情愿地服从法律的命令。这一切，再加上我们的物质繁荣，将为我们深爱的南方带来一个新天新地。