a great friendship
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison met in 1776.Could it have been any other year? They worked together starting then to further American Revolution and later to shape the new scheme of government. From the work sprang a friendship perhaps incomparable in intimacy1 and the trustfulness of collaboration2 and induration. It lasted 50 years. It included pleasure and utility but over and above them, there were shared purpose, a common end and an enduring goodness on both sides. Four and a half months before he died, when he was ailing3, debt-ridden, and worried about his impoverished4 family, Jefferson wrote to his longtime friend. His words and Madisons reply remind us that friends are friends until death. They also remind us that sometimes a friendship has a bearing on things larger than the friendship itself, for has there ever been a friendship of greater public consequence than this one?
托马斯杰斐逊和詹姆斯麦迪逊相识于1776年。为何偏偏是这一年呢?当时他们开始一同努力推进美国革命,后来又一同为政府拟订新草案。在这类合作中孕育出的友谊是亲密无间、信诚以托、坚不可摧的。这份友谊保持了五十年。当中包括有欢乐,有协作,他们更志同道合地朝一同的目的迈进,经过多年从不间断地令彼此受益。在离开人世前四个半月时,杰斐逊重病在身,债台高筑,并为家庭的贫困感到忧心如焚,于是他提笔给这位知心好友写了封信。从他的信与麦迪逊的回复中,大家可以看到:这两个朋友是一生之交;并且有时,他们之间的友情意义之大更超越了友情本身,这份友谊给大众带来的深远影响是前所未有些。
The friendship which has subsisted5 between us now half a century, the harmony of our po1itical principles and pursuits have been sources of constant happiness to me through that long period. If ever the earth has beheld6 a system of administration conducted with a single and steadfast7 eye to the general interest and happiness of those committed to it, one which, protected by truth, can never known reproach, it is that to which our lives have been devoted8. To myself you have been a pillar of support throughout life. Take care of me when dead and be assured that I should leave with you my last affections.
你我之间的友谊迄今已经走过了半个世纪,大家在政治原则与追求上获得的协调在过去的漫漫岁月中为我带来了源源持续的快乐。期望这世界上有一种治理规范,在实行的时候专门有坚定不移的一只双眼来审视它,监护大众利益和为之奋斗者的幸福,打造在真理基础上的规范将永远与责难无缘,大家一生所致力的也正在这里。我一个人,还有你,毕生都为此鼎力支持。请你照顾我的身后之事,也请相信,我的友情永远和你同在。
A week later Madison replied-
一个星期后，麦迪逊写了回信
You cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship and political harmony with more affecting recollections than I do. If they are a source of pleasure to you, what arent they not to be to me? We cannot be deprived of the happy consciousness of the pure devotion to the public good with Which we discharge the trust committed to us and I indulge a confidence that sufficient evidence will find in its way to another generation to ensure, after we are gone, whatever of justice may be withheld9 whilst we are here.
在过去的漫长岁月中,你我的友谊与一致的政治观,总令我在回想时心中无比感动。它们为你带来欢乐,对我又何尝不是这样?大家肩负人民的信赖,为大众福利鞠躬尽瘁,从中获得的幸福感是很难泯灭的。我坚信,无论目前对大家的评判如何,大家的所有贡献,身后的下一代人势必给予公断。
