That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job.” Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.
今晚让我们以更高的积极性起来反抗吧！让我们以更大的决心站起来！让我们在这伟大的时代继续前行，在这有机会使美国成为真正的美国的时代！我们有这样一个机会使美国成为一个更好的国家！同时，我要再一次感谢仁慈的主，让我能和你们在一起前行！
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
你们应该知道，几年前，那时我在纽约，为我的第一本书签名。当我坐在那里签名的时候，一个精神有问题的黑人妇女过来了，我听到她问的唯一一个问题就是：“你是马丁·路德·金吗？”但是我正埋头签名，我回答道：“是啊。”接着下一秒我就感觉到我的胸部被什么东西刺中了，在我意识到的时候我已经被这个精神有问题的妇女刺中了。我即刻被送到了哈莱姆医院。这是一个黑沉沉的礼拜六的下午。那柄刀穿透了我的胸部，通过X光片可以看到刀刃正好从主动脉的边缘穿过，一旦主动脉被刺穿，你就会被你的血所淹没，也就是你的生命将终结。第二天早上《纽约时报》上登出来了，如果我打了喷嚏的话，我就会死掉。4天之后，在手术之后，在我的胸口被打开刀刃被取出来之后，他们允许我坐在轮椅上在医院里四处走走，他们允许我看一些从美国乃至世界各地邮寄来的信件，善意的来信。我看了一些，但是只有一封我永远都不会忘记。我收到了一封总统先生和副总统先生的电报，但我已经忘了电报上说了什么了。我还接受了纽约州州长的拜访以及他的一封信，我也已经忘了这封信上说的什么了。但是有一封信，来自一个小姑娘，她在白普兰斯中学念书，我看了那封信，我终生难忘。信很简单：“亲爱的金博士：我是一名白普兰斯中学九年级的学生，”她说，“这虽然没有什么关系，但我还是要说出来，我是个白人女孩，我在报纸上看到你的不幸、你的遭遇，并且我读到如果你打了喷嚏的话，就会死掉，而我写这封信给你其实只是想告诉你，我真的很高兴你没有打喷嚏。”
You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a [demented] black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, “Are you Martin Luther King?” And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that’s punctured, you drown in your own blood—that’s the end of you. It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had merely sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I’ve forgotten what those telegrams said. I’d received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I’ve forgotten what that letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I’ll never forget it. It said simply, “Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the White Plains High School.” And she said, “While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I’m a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I’m simply writing you to say that I’m so happy that you didn’t sneeze.”
