抗战时期，宋美龄国会英文演讲征服美国朝野（附视频和演讲稿）
今天，九·一八事变爆发90周年！脚下这片土地，是先烈曾浴血守卫的山河，我们不能忘，也不敢忘。愿和平永存！今天分享的是为中国抗日战争做出卓越贡献的宋美龄女士的故事和她在美国国会的英文演讲。
1942年至1943年，宋美龄以治病为名赴美进行了将近七个月的访问。在此期间，宋美龄以蒋介石特使的身份在美国连续发表四场英文演讲，在全美掀起一股“宋美龄旋风”。
1943年2月18日，宋美龄在美国国会发表了二十分钟的演说，宋美龄以美国南方口音的英语，把中国人民抗战英勇事迹介绍给美国政府和人民，这是美国历史上著名的国会演讲之一，也是第二位女性登上了这个讲坛，美国朝野为之震动。
1943年2月18日，宋美龄在罗斯福总统夫人的陪同下在国会众议院发表演说，把中国人民奋力抗战的情况生动地介绍给美国人民，唤起美国对中国的同情与更进一步支持。
在中国抗日战争最艰难的时期，宋美龄以中国“第一夫人”的身份访问美国，其足迹遍及纽约、华盛顿、芝加哥、旧金山、洛杉矶。她一路走来一路演讲，美国朝野被其纯正的英语、高雅的风姿、卓越的才华所倾倒，她在美国社会刮起了一场“宋美龄旋风”。宋美龄的美国之行，唤起了美国朝野对中国的同情与支持，提升了当时中国的国际地位。
宋美龄20分钟霸气英文演讲
宋美龄美国国会演讲
战争无法让中国屈膝
Members of the Congress of the United States: At any time it would be a privilege for me to address Congress, more especially this present august body which will have so much to do in shaping the destiny of the world. In speaking to Congress I am literally speaking to the American people. The Seventy-seventh Congress, as their representatives, fulfilled the obligations and responsibilities of its trust by declaring war on the aggressors. That part of the duty of the people’s representatives was discharged in 1941. The task now confronting you is to help win the war and to create and uphold a lasting peace which will justify the sacrifices and sufferings of the victims of aggression.
美国众议院诸位议员：无论何时，余得向贵国国会致词，实属荣幸；尤在今日，余得向一庄严伟大之团体，对于世界命运之形成有绝大影响如贵院者致词， 尤属特别荣幸。余向贵国国会演说，实际上系向美国人民演说。贵国第七十七届国会，以代表美国人民之资格，对侵略者宣战，已尽其人民所信托之义务与责任。此为人民代表之一部分职责，早已在一九四一年履行。诸君当前之要务，乃协助争取胜利，并创建与维护一种永久之和平，俾此次遭受侵略者之一切牺牲与痛苦，具有意义。
First of all, I want to assure you that the American people have every right to be proud of their fighting men in so many parts of the world. I am particularly thinking of those of your boys in the far-flung, out-of-the-way stations and areas where life is attended by dreary drabness—this because their duty is not one of spectacular performance and they are not buoyed up by excitement of battle. They are called upon, day after colorless day, to perform routine duties such as safeguarding defenses and preparing for possible enemy action. It has been said, and I find it true from personal experience, that it is easier to risk one’s life on the battlefield than it is to perform customary humble and humdrum duties which, however, are just as necessary to winning the war. Some of your troops are stationed in isolated spots quite out of reach of ordinary communications. Some of your boys have had to fly hundreds of hours over the sea from an improvised airfield in quests often disappointingly fruitless, of enemy submarines.
余首愿确告诸君，美国人民对于分布全球各地之美国战士实足以自豪。余尤念及驻扎远处偏僻地区，生活至感寂寥之贵国壮士。盖此辈任务，既不能有显赫之表现， 亦无振作精神之战事，而系日复一日，仅奉命担负其例行任务，如守卫防御工事，并准备抵抗敌方可能之蠢动而已。有人曾谓，亲临阵地，出死入生，犹易于日复一 日担任低微单调之工作，余之经验亦复证实此言。然而后一种工作，对于抗战之获胜，正与前一种同属必要。贵国若干部队，驻扎在遥远隔绝地点，非平常交通所能到达。贵国若干壮士，必须用临时赶筑之机场，飞行海面，经数百小时之久，以搜寻敌方之潜艇，往往一无所遇，废然而返。
They, and others, have to stand the monotony of waiting—just waiting. But, as I told them, true patriotism lies in possessing the morale and physical stamina to perform faithfully and conscientiously the daily tasks so that in the sum total the weakest link is the strongest.
贵国此辈健儿，以及其他壮士，均系作单调乏味之守候，日复一日之守候。但余曾告彼等，真正之爱国心乃在具有能忠诚执行日常任务之士气与体力，庶使在最后结果中最弱之一环，亦即为最强之一环。
Your soldiers have shown conclusively that they are able stoically to endure homesickness, the glaring dryness, and scorching heat of the Tropics, and keep themselves fit and in excellent fighting trim. They are amongst the unsung heroes of this war, and everything possible to lighten their tedium and buoy up their morale should be done. That sacred duty is yours. The American Army is better fed than any army in the world. This does not mean, however, that they can live indefinitely on canned food without having the effects tell on them. These admittedly are the minor hardships of war, especially when we pause to consider that in many parts of the world, starvation prevails. But peculiarly enough, oftentimes it is not the major problems of existence which irk a man’s soul; it is rather the pin pricks, especially those incidental to a life of deadly sameness, with tempers frayed out and nervous systems torn to shreds.
贵国士兵，已确实表现，能沉着坚毅忍受思乡之苦，忍受热带之干燥与酷热，并能保持其准备随时作战之强健身体与精神。彼辈亦属此次战争中无名英雄之列。凡足减轻其烦闷，振奋其精神之一切可能措施均应一一采取。此项神圣责任，自在诸君。就美国军队之饮食而言，固较任何他国军队之饮食为优，但此非谓彼等可长此专恃罐头食物，而健康上不至感受任何影响也。以上所举，殆为战争中之轻微困苦;若一念及世界上许多地方尚有饥馑流行，则更觉上述困苦之为轻微。虽然，天下事亦有难言者。扰人心灵使人烦闷者，往往并非为生存之主要问题，而系琐细之刺激，尤其是在单调无聊生活中所受之琐细刺激，足以令人性情暴躁，心魂欲裂。
The second impression of my trip is that America is not only the cauldron of democracy, but the incubator of democratic principles. At some of the places I visited, I met the crews of your air bases. There I found first generation Germans, Italians, Frenchmen, Poles, Czechoslovakians, and other nationals. Some of them had accents so thick that, if such a thing were possible, one could not cut them with a butter knife. But there they were—all Americans, all devoted to the same ideals, all working for the same cause and united by the same high purpose. No suspicion or rivalry existed between them. This increased my belief and faith that devotion to common principles eliminates differences in race, and that identity of ideals is the strongest possible solvent of racial dissimilarities.
余在此次行程中所获之第二印象，即美国不仅为民(咔咔)主制度之镕炉，而且为民(咔咔)主主义之胚胎。余参观各地时，曾于数处晤见贵国空军基地飞行服务人 员，在此辈人员中余即发现有德、意、法、波、捷及其他国籍人民迁往美国之第一代移民。其中有的乡音之重，殊难言喻。然而彼辈固共同远征在外，悉数为美国人，悉数忠心于共同之理想，悉数为同一目的而奋斗，悉数为同一崇高宗旨而精诚团结，既不彼此猜疑，亦不互相争竞。此一事实，益加强余向所抱持之信念与信仰;即对于共同原则之忠心，可以泯灭种族之差异，而且各种理想之相同，乃是对于种族分歧最强之溶解剂。
I have reached your country, therefore, with no misgivings, but with my belief that the American people are building and carrying out a true pattern of the Nation conceived by your forebears, strengthened and confirmed. You, as representatives of the American people, have before you the glorious opportunity of carrying on the pioneer work of your ancestors, beyond the frontiers of physical and geographical limitations. Their brawn and thews braved undauntedly almost unbelievable hardships to open up a new continent. The modern world lauds them for their vigor and intensity of purpose, and for their accomplishment. Your have today before you the immeasurably greater opportunity to implement these same ideals and to help bring about the liberation of man’s spirit in every part of the world. In order to accomplish this purpose, we of the United Nations must now so prosecute the war that victory will be ours decisively and with all good speed.
因是之故，余此次抵达贵国，不特衷心毫无惴虑，而且具有一种信心，即美国人民正在建立与实施一种确系其祖先所怀抱之立国典型。此种信心，益见加强而证实。诸君为美国人民之代表，目前有一光荣机会，使汝祖先之开国工作，发扬光大，超越物体与地理限制之疆界。诸君之祖先曾以大无畏之精神，冒不可思议之困难，筚 路褴褛以开发新大陆。现代人士，无不赞美其精力过人，宗旨坚定，以及成功卓着。诸君今日，当前正有一更无限伟大之机会，可以继续发挥汝祖先所怀抱之理想， 并协助完成解放全球各地人类之精神。为求完成此项目的，身为联合国之一员，必须尽力加强作战，俾联合国早日获得最后之胜利。
Sun-tse, the well-known Chinese strategist said, “In order to win, know thyself and thy enemy.” We have also the saying: “It takes little effort to watch the other fellow carry the load.”
中国着名兵家孙子有言，“知彼知己，胜乃不殆”。吾人另有一谚语云：“看人挑担不吃力。”
In spite of these teachings from a wise old past, which are shared by every nation, there has been a tendency to belittle the strength of our opponents.
此等名言，来自明哲久远之古代，实乃每一民族所共有，然而仍有一种轻视吾敌人力量之趋势。
When Japan thrust total war on China in 1937 military experts of every nation did not give China even a ghost of a chance. But when Japan failed to bring China cringing to her knees as she vaunted, the world took solace in this phenomenon by declaring that they had overestimated Japan’s military might.
当一九三七年日本军阀发动其全面对华战争时，各国军事专家，咸认中国无一线获胜之希望。但日本并不能如其所夸，迫使中国屈膝;于是举世人士，对此现象，深感慰藉，并谓当初对于日本武力，估计过高。
Nevertheless, when the greedy flames of war inexorably spread in the Pacific following the perfidious attack on Pearl Harbor, Malaya, and lands in and around the China Sea, and one after another of these places fell, the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Doubts and fears lifted their ugly heads and the world began to think that the Japanese were Nietzschean supermen, superior in intellect and physical prowess, a belief which the Gobineaus and the Houston Chamberlains and their apt pupils, the Nazi racists, had propounded about the Nordics.
虽然，自日本对于珍珠港(Pearl Harbor)、马来亚(Malaya)，以及南洋一带加以背信无耻之袭击后，战争之贪狂火焰，弥漫太平洋上，而各该地域，相继失守，一时观感，遂又趋向 另一极端。于是怀疑忧惧之狰狞面目乃大暴露。世界人士由此遂视日本人为尼采(Nietzchean)所称之超人，在智力上与体力上均超越他国人民。其实此项信念，乃古皮诺(Gobineaus)派豪斯敦、张伯伦(Houston Chamberlains)派，以及其得意门徒纳粹种族主义派，对于北欧人(Nordics)所发挥者。
Again, now the prevailing opinion seems to consider the defeat of the Japanese as of relative unimportance and that Hitler is our first concern. This is not borne out by actual facts, nor is it to the interests of the United Nations as a whole to allow Japan to continue not only as a vital potential threat but as a waiting sword of Damocles, ready to descend at a moment’s notice.
不宁惟是，就现时流行之意见而言，则又似认为击败日本，为目前比较次要之事，而吾人首应对付者，则为希特勒。但事实证明，并不如此。且即为联合国整体利益着想，吾人亦不宜继续纵容日本使其不独为一主要之潜伏威胁，且为德玛克利斯(Damocles)头上之悬剑，随时可以坠落。
The victories won by the United Sates Navy at Midway and the Coral Sea are doubtless steps in the right direction—they are merely steps in the right direction—for the magnificent fight that was waged at Guadalcanal during the past 6 months attests to the fact that the defeat of the forces of evil though long and arduous will finally come to pass. For have we not on the side of righteousness and justice staunch allies in Great Britain, Russia, and other brave and indomitable peoples? Meanwhile the peril of the Japanese juggernaut remains. Japanese military might must be decimated as a fighting force before its threat to civilization is removed.
美国海军在中途岛(Midway)及珊瑚海(Coral Sea)所获得之胜利，其方向为正确，显然无疑，惟亦仅为向正确方向之前进步骤而已。盖过去六个月在瓜达康纳尔(Guadalcanal)之英勇作战，已 证明一项事实，即凶恶势力之溃败，虽尚需时而费力，最后必将到来。吾人站在正义与公道方面岂无英、苏与其他英勇不屈之民族为吾人忠实之盟邦乎?惟是日本侵 略恶魔继续为祸之可能，依然存在。日本之武力，必须予以彻底摧毁，使其不复能作战，始可解除日本对于文明之威胁。
When the Seventy-seventh Congress declared war against Japan, Germany, and Italy, Congress for the moment had done its work. It now remains for you, the present Representatives of the American people, to point the way to win the war, to help construct a world in which all peoples may henceforth live in harmony and peace.
贵国第七十七届国会，向日、德、义三国宣战。就其在当时而言，贵国国会确已完成其工作。就今日而论，则有待于诸君。诸君为贵国人民之代表，当有以指示取得胜利之途径，并协助建立一新世界，使一切民族此后得相处于融洽与和平之中。
May I not hope that it is the resolve of Congress to devote itself to the creation of the post-war world? To dedicate itself to the preparation for the brighter future that a stricken world so eagerly awaits?
余岂可不希望，美国国会之决心，乃在尽力于创立战后新世界，乃在尽力于准备水深火热之世界所殷切期待之较光明前途乎?
We of this generation who are privileged to help make a better world for ourselves and for posterity should remember that, while we must not be visionary, we must have vision so that peace should not be punitive in spirit and should not be provincial or nationalistic or even continental in concept, but universal in scope and humanitarian in action, for modern science has so annihilated distance that what affects one people must of necessity affect all other peoples.
吾人生于今世，有为吾人自身以及子子孙孙建立一较美满世界之光荣机会。所应牢记不忘者，即一方面固不可抱持过高理想，另一方面却亦必须具有相当理想，使未来之和平在精神上不至成为专对战败者之惩罚，在概念上不至以一区域或一国家甚或一大陆为对象，而以全世界为范围，而其行动亦必须合乎人道主义。盖现代科 学，已将距离缩短至如此程度，以致凡影响一民族之事物，势必同时影响其他一切民族。
The term “hands and feet” is often used in China to signify the relationship between brothers. Since international interdependence is now so universally recognized, can we not also say that all nations should become members of one corporate body?
“手足”一词，在中国用以表示兄弟间之关系。国际间之相互依赖，今既已如此普遍承认，吾人岂不能亦谓一切国家应成为一集(咔咔)合体之分子乎?
The 160 years of traditional friendship between our two great peoples, China and America, which has never been marred by misunderstandings, is unsurpassed in the annals of the world.
中、美两大民族间一百六十年来之传统友谊，从未染有误会之污痕，此在世界历史中，诚无出其右者。
I can also assure you that China is eager and ready to cooperate with you and other peoples to lay a true and lasting foundation for a sane and progressive world society which would make it impossible for any arrogant or predatory neighbor to plunge future generations into another orgy of blood. In the past China has not computed the cost to her manpower in her fight against aggression, although she well realized that manpower is the real wealth of a nation and it takes generations to grow it. She has been soberly conscious of her responsibilities and has not concerned herself with privileges and gains which she might have obtained through compromise of principles. Nor will she demean herself and all she holds dear to the practice of the market place.
余亦能确告诸君，吾人渴望并准备与诸君及其他民族合作，共同奠定一种真实与持久之基础，以建设一合理而进步之世界社会，使任何恣肆骄狂或劫掠成性之邻国， 不复能使后世之人，再遭流血之惨剧。中国虽明知人力一项，乃一国之真正富源，并需累代之久始能成长，然中国在其反侵略战争中，从未计及其在人力方面所受之 损失。中国对于其本身所负之各种责任，深切明了；对于如何而可在原则方面妥协让步以获得种种权益，则从未顾及。中国对于其本身，对于其所珍爱尊重之一切， 亦决不稍降品格，而循商场中市侩之行径。
We in China, like you, want a better world, not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind, and we must have it. It is not enough, however, to proclaim our ideals or even to be convinced that we have them. In order to preserve, uphold, and maintain them, there are times when we should throw all we cherish into our effort to fulfill these ideals even at the risk of failure.
我中国国民，正与诸君相同，不仅为吾人本身，且更为人类全体，希望有一较佳之世界;实则必须有此较佳之世界。然仅宣布吾人之理想，甚或确信吾人具有此种理想，尚嫌不足。盖欲保存、支撑，并维持此等理想，有时必须不惜牺牲一切，甚至甘冒失败之危险，以努力促其实现。
The teachings drawn from our late leader, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, have given our people the fortitude to carry on. From 5 1/2 years of experience we in China are convinced that it is the better part of wisdom not to accept failure ignominiously, but to risk it gloriously. We shall have faith that, at the writing of peace, American and our other gallant allies will not be obtunded by the mirage of contingent reasons of expediency.
吾人已故领袖孙逸仙博士所示之训范，已给予吾国人民奋斗前进之毅力。我中国人民根据五年又半之经验，确信光明正大之甘冒失败，较诸卑鄙可耻之接受失败，更为明智。吾人将有一项信念，即在订立和议之时，美国以及其他英勇之盟友，将不致为一时种种权宜理由所迷惑。
Man’s mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. Twice is this true of the soul of a nation.
个人之品德，于困厄中验之，亦于成功中验之。以言一国之精神，倍加真确。
宋美龄另外一篇名动美国国会的演讲稿双语版
Mr. President, Members of the Senate of the United States, ladies, and gentlemen, I am overwhelmed by the warmth and spontaneity of the welcome of the American people, of whom you are the representatives. I did not know that I was to speak to you today at the Senate except to say,“How do you do, I am so very glad to see you,” and to bring the greetings of my people to the people of America. However, just before coming here, the Vice President told me that he would like to have me say a few words to you.
议长先生，美国参议院各位议员，各位女士、先生，受到诸位所代表的美国人民热情与真诚的欢迎，令我感动莫名。我事先不知今天要在参议院发表演说，只以为要到此说声「大家好，很高兴见到各位」，并向贵国人民转达敝国百姓的问候之意。不过，在来到此地之前，贵国副总统告诉我，他希望我和各位说几句话。
I am not a very good extemporaneous speaker; in fact, I am no speaker at all; but I am not so very much discouraged, because a few days ago I was at Hyde Park, and went to the President's library. Something I saw there encouraged me, and made me feel that perhaps you will not expect overmuch of me in speaking to you extemporaneously. What do you think I saw there I saw many things, but the one thing which interested me most of all was that in a glass case there was the first draft of one of the President's speeches, a second draft, and on and on up to the sixth draft. Yesterday I happened to mention this fact to the President, and told him that I was extremely glad that he had to write so many drafts when he is such a well-known and acknowledgedly fine speaker. His reply to me was that sometimes he writes 12 drafts of a speech. So, my remarks here today, being extemporaneous, I am sure you will make allowances for me.
我并不善于即席演说，事实上根本称不上是演说家，但我不会因此怯场，因为前几天我在海德公园参观过总统图书馆，在那里看见的一些东西鼓励了我，让我感觉各位或许不会对我的即席演说要求太多。各位知道我在那里见到什麽吗?我看到了许多，但最让我感兴趣的，莫过於一个放着总统先生(译按，即罗斯福总统)演说草稿的玻璃箱，里头从第一份草稿、第二份草稿，一直到第六份草稿。昨天，我碰巧向总统先生提及此事，我说我很高兴知道，以他如此知名又公认一流的演说家，还必须写这麽多份草稿。他回答说，有时他一次演说得写12份草稿。因此，今天本人在此发表的即席演说，我确信各位一定会包容。
The traditional friendship between your country and mine has a history of 160 years. I feel--and I believe that I am not the only one who feels this way--that there are a great many similarities between your people and mine, and that these similarlties are the basis of our friendship.
贵国和敝国之间有着160年悠久历史的情谊，我觉得贵国人民和敝国百姓有许许多多的相似点，而这些相似点正是两国情谊的基础，我也相信不是只有我有这样的感觉。
I should like to tell you a little story which will illustrate this belief. When General Doolittle and his men went to bomb Tokyo, on their return some of your boys had to bail out in the interior of China. One of them later told me that he had to bail out of his ship. and that when he landed on Chinese soil and saw the populace running toward him, he just waved his arm and shouted the only Chinese word he knew,“Mei-kuo, Mei-kuo,” which means "America.” Literally translated from the Chinese it means“Beautiful country.”This boy said that our people laughed and almost hugged him, and greeted him like a long lost brother. He further told me that he thought that he had come home when he saw our people; and that was the first time he had ever been to China.
在此，我想说个小故事，来说明此一信念。杜立德将军和部下一起去轰炸东京，回程时有些美国子弟兵不得不在中国内陆跳伞。其中一人後来告诉我，他被迫从飞机跳伞，踏上中国的土地时，看到当地居民跑向他，他就挥着手，喊出他会说的唯一一句中国话：「美国，美国」，也就是「美利坚」的意思，(掌声)美国在中国话的意思是「美丽的国家」。这个大男孩说，敝国人民听了都笑开来，拥抱他，像欢迎失散多年的兄弟一般。他还告诉我说，当他看到我们的人民，感觉他已经回到家；而那是他第一次来到中国。
I came to your country as a little girl. I know your people. I have lived with them. I spent the formative years of my life amongst your people. I speak your language, not only the language of your hearts, but also your tongue. So coming here today I feel that I am also coming home.
我来到贵国时是个小女孩，我熟悉贵国人民，我和他们一起生活过。我生命中成长的岁月是和贵国人民一起度过，我说你们的话，我想的和你们一样，说的也和你们一样。所以今天来到这里，我也感觉我好像回到家了。
I believe, however, that it is not only I who am coming home, I feel that if the Chinese people could speak to you in your own tongue, or if you could understand our tongue, they would tell you that basically and fundamentally we are fighting for the same cause (great applause); that we have identity of ideals ; that the “four freedoms,” which your President proclaimed to the world, resound throughout our vast land as the gong of freedom, the gong of freedom of the United Nations, and the death knell of the aggressors.
不过，我相信不只是我回到家，我觉得，如果中国人民会用你们的语言与你们说话，或是你们能了解我们的语言，他们会告诉你们，根本而言，我们都在为相同的理念奋战(如雷掌声)；我们有一致的理想;亦即贵国总统向全世界揭示的「四个自由」，自由的钟声、联合国自由的钟声，和侵略者的丧钟响彻我国辽阔的土地。
I assure you that our people are willing and eager to cooperate with you in the realization of these ideals, because we want to see to it that they do not echo as empty phrases, but become realities for ourselves, for our children, for our children's children, and for all mankind.
谨向各位保证，敝国人民深愿亦渴望为实现这些理想和贵国合作，因为我们希望这些理想不会流於空言，而是成为我们、我们的子子孙孙、全人类的真况实境。
How are we going to realize these ideals I think I shall tell you a little story which just came to my mind. As you know. China is a very old nation. We have a history of 5,000 years. When we were obliged to evacuate Hankow and go into the hinterland to carry on and continue our resistance against aggression, the Generalissimo and I passed one of our fronts, the Changsha front. One day we went into the Heng-yang Mountains, where there are traces of a famous pavilion called“Rub-the-mirror”pavilion, which was built over 2,000 years ago. It will perhaps interest you to hear the story of that pavilion.
我们要如何实现这些理想?我想，我可以告诉各位一个我刚想到的小故事。各位知道，中国是一个非常古老的国家。我们有五千年历史。我们被迫从汉口撤退，转入大後方继续抵抗侵略的时候，蒋委员长和我经过一处前线，就在长沙。有一天，我们上衡山，山上有一处有名的遗迹，叫「磨镜台」，是两千多年前的古蹟。诸位或许有兴趣听听这古蹟的故事。
Two thousand years ago near that spot was an old Buddhist temple. One of the young monks went there, and all day long he sat crosslegged, with his hands clasped before him in an attitude of prayer, and murmured“Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha! Amita-Buddha!” He murmured and chanted day after day, because he hoped that he would acquire grace.
两千年前，台址近旁有一座古老的佛寺。一名年轻和尚来此修行，他整天盘腿坐禅，双手合十，口中喃喃念着「阿弥陀佛! 阿弥陀佛! 阿弥陀佛! 」他唱念佛号，日复一日，因为他希望成佛。
The Father Prior of that temple took a piece of brick and rubbed it against a stone hour after hour, day after day, and week after week. The little acolyte, being very young, sometimes cast his eyes around to see what the old Father Prior was doing. The old Father Prior just kept on his work of rubbing the brick against the stone. So one day the young acolyte said to him.“Father Prior, what are you doing day after day rubbing this brick on the stone”The Father Prior replied, “I am trying to make a mirror out of this brick.”The young acolyte said,“But it is impossible to make a mirror out of a brick, Father Prior.”“Yes,”said the Father Prior,“and it is just as impossible for you yo acquire grace by doing nothing except murmur 'Amita-Buddha' all day long, day in and day out.”
寺里的住持於是也跟着拿一块砖去磨一块石头，时时刻刻的磨，一天又一天的磨，一周又一周的磨。小和尚有时抬眼瞧瞧老和尚在做什麽。住持只是一个劲儿拿砖磨石。终於有一天，小和尚对住持说，「大师，您每天拿这块砖磨石头，到底为什麽呢 」住持答道：「我要用这块砖做镜子。」小和尚说：「可砖块是做不成镜子的呀，大师。」「没错，」住持说，「就像你成天光念阿弥陀佛，是成不了佛的。」
So, my friends, I feel that it is necessary for us not only to have ideals and to proclaim that we have them, it is necessary that we act to implement them. And so to you, gentlemen of the Senate, and to you ladies and gentlemen in the galleries, I say that without the active help of all of us our leader cannot implement these ideals. It is up to you and to me to take to heart the lesson of “Rub-the-mirror” pavilion.
因此，朋友们，我觉得，我们不但必须有理想，不但要昭告我们有理想，我们还必须以行动来落实理想。(掌声)所以，我要对诸位参议员先生，以及旁听席上的女士先生说，没有我们大家的积极协助，我们的领袖无法落实这些理想。诸位和我都必须紧记「磨镜台」的教训。
I thank you. (Great applause, Senators and their guests arising.)
我谢谢大家。(全场掌声，议员与来宾起立。)
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