英語美文朗讀 第17期:給愛子的信

Dear Seth,
親愛的塞斯：

You're only three years old, and at this point in your life you can't read, much less understand what I'm going to try to tell you in this letter. But I've been thinking a lot about the life that you have ahead of you, about my life so far as I reflect on what I've learned, and about my role as a dad in trying to prepare you for the trials that you will face in the coming years.
你現(xiàn)在僅僅3歲，在你生命中的這一時刻你還不識字，更不用說讓你去懂得我接下來想在這封信里對你所說的話了。但是我已經(jīng)想了好久，關(guān)于你即將面臨的人生以及我的生活，我反思我所學(xué)會的：思考一個做父親的職責(zé)，力圖讓你為未來歲月中即將面臨的艱巨做好充分準(zhǔn)備。
You won't be able to understand this letter today, but someday, when you're ready, I hope you will find some wisdom and value in what I share with you.
你今天并不能懂得這封信的含義，但是某一天，當(dāng)機(jī)會成熟，我渴望你能在我與你分享的內(nèi)容中找尋到些許的智慧和價值。
You are young, and life has yet to take its toll on you, to throw disappointments and heartaches and loneliness and struggles and pain into your path. You have not been worn down yet by long hours of thankless work, by the slings and arrows of everyday life.
你還很年輕，生命還尚未開始摧殘你，沒有在你的人生道路上安排失望、傷心、孤單、掙扎和苦痛。你還沒有被漫長的吃力不討好的工作，被日常生活的磨難搞得筋疲力盡。
For this, be thankful. You are at a wonderful stage of life. You have many wonderful stages of life still to come, but they are not without their costs and perils.
因此，謝天謝地吧。你正處在人生一個美好的階段。還有很多美好的階段會來到你面前，但是這些都不是唾手可得的，你都得付出代價，經(jīng)歷風(fēng)險。
I hope to help you along your path by sharing some of the best of what I've learned. As with any advice, take it with a grain of salt. What works for me might not work for you.
我渴望通過和你分享一些我所學(xué)到的最好的道理能幫助你走好人生路。至于任何建議，且把它當(dāng)做佐料，因為適合我的并不一定就適用于你。

Life can be cruel
生活會很殘酷

There will be people in your life who won't be very nice. They'll tease you because you're different, or for no good reason. They might try to bully you or hurt you.
你的生活中必定會有不友好的人。他們嘲笑你因為你不同，或沒有什么好的理由。他們可能會欺負(fù)你或者侵害你。
There's not much you can do about these people except to learn to deal with them, and learn to choose friends who are kind to you, who actually care about you, who make you feel good about yourself. When you find friends like this, hold on to them, treasure them, spend time with them, be kind to them, and love them.
對這種人你除了學(xué)會和其相處無計可施，同時你也要學(xué)會擇友，選擇那些對你友善的，那些真正關(guān)心你的，那些令你對自己感覺良好的人做朋友•當(dāng)你尋找到像這樣的朋友，就必定要堅守這份友誼，珍愛他們，花些時間和他們在一起，友善地看待他們并愛他們。
There will be times when you are met with disappointment instead of success. Life won't always turn out the way you want. This is just another thing you'll have to learn to deal with. But instead of letting these things get you down, push on. Accept disappointment and learn to persevere, to pursue your dreams despite pitfalls. Learn to turn negatives into positives, and you'll do much better in life.
有時你會遭遇挫折而非成功。生活并不總會如你所愿。這是另一件你需要學(xué)會處理的事情。但你要挺住向前，而不是因這些事而陷入低谷。要接受失望并要學(xué)會備持，要不畏風(fēng)險地追求你的夢想。學(xué)會把消極轉(zhuǎn)化為積極，之后你在生活中就能做得更好。
You will also face heartbreak and abandonment by those you love. I hope you don't have to face this too much,but it happens. Again, not much you can do but to heal, and to move on with your life. Let these pains become stepping stones to better things in life, and learn to use them to make you stronger.
你同樣會面臨令人心碎的時刻以及你深愛的人的拋棄。我渴望你無須經(jīng)歷太多此類事件，但如果不幸發(fā)生了，再一次，除了慢慢愈合心中的創(chuàng)傷并繼續(xù)你的生活，你別無選擇。讓這些苦楚成為你通向更美好生活的墊腳石，并學(xué)會利用它們讓自己更剛強。

But be open to life anyway
但無論如何，都要張開雙臂擁抱生活

Yes, you'll find cruelty and suffering in your journey through life... but don't let that close you to new things. Don't retreat from life, don't hide or wall yourself off. Be open to new things, new experiences, new people.
是的，在你的生命旅程中你會遇到殘酷和苦難…但不要因此而拒絕接收新鮮事物，不要回避生活，不要暗藏，抑或封閉自己。擁抱新鮮事物，經(jīng)歷全新體驗，接觸新的人。
You might get your heart broken 10 times, but find the most wonderful woman the 11th time. If you shut yourself off from love, you'll miss out on that woman, and the happiest times of your life.
你或許心碎了十次，但是在第十一次找到最好的女子。如果你把自己關(guān)在愛的門外，你就會錯過這個女子和你生命中最幸福的時光。
You might get teased and bullied and hurt by people you meet... and then after meeting dozens of jerks, find a true friend. If you close yourself off to new people, and don't open your heart to them, you'll avoid pain... but also lose out on meeting some incredible people, who will be there during the toughest times of your life and create some of the best times of your life.
你可能會被你所遇到的人嘲笑、欺負(fù)、侵害…而在見了許多這種稀奇古怪的人后，你會找到一個真正的朋友。如果你拒絕接觸新人群，并不向他們敞開心扉，你會避免受傷…但是同時也失去了認(rèn)識一些不可思議的人的機(jī)會，他們會在你生命最艱難的時刻陪伴著你，并帶給你人生中最美好的時光。
You will fail many times but if you allow that to stop you from trying, you will miss out on the amazing feeling of success once you reach new heights with your accomplishments. Failure is a stepping stone to success.
你會失敗很多次，但是如果你讓失敗阻止了你，使你不再努力，你就會錯過那種當(dāng)你達(dá)到成就新高度的難以言喻的成就感。失敗是通向成功的階梯。

Life isn't a competition
生命不是一場比賽

You will meet many people who will try to outdo you, in school, in college, at work. They'll try to have nicer cars, bigger houses, nicer clothes, cooler gadgets. To them, life is a competition--they have to do better than their peers to be happy.
你會遇到許多試圖超過你的人，在中學(xué)、大學(xué)以及工作中。他們想要擁有更好的車，更大的房子，更好的衣服，更酷的小玩意。對他們來說，生命就是一場比賽——他們不得不比同輩人做得更好來讓自己感到開心。
Here's a secret: Life isn't a competition. It's a journey. If you spend that journey always trying to impress others, to outdo others, you're wasting your journey. Instead, learn to enjoy the journey. Make it a journey of happiness, of constant learning, of continual improvement, of love.
這里有一個秘訣：生命并不是一場比賽，而是一段旅程。如果你在途中一直都試圖給他人留下深刻印象，試圖超越別人，那你就是在浪費這段旅程。與之相反，學(xué)會享受這段旅程，使之成為幸福之旅，永恒的學(xué)習(xí)之旅，持久的進(jìn)步之旅以及愛之旅。
Don't worry about having a nicer car or house or anything material, or even a better-paying job. None of that matters a whit, and none of it will make you happier. You'll acquire these things and then only want more. Instead, learn to be satisfied with having enough--and then use the time you would have wasted trying to earn money to buy those things... use that time doing things you love.
不要為擁有一輛更好的車、一所更好的房子、任何物質(zhì)的東西，或是一份更高薪水的工作費心。所有這些都無足輕重，也不會使你更快樂。你在擁有了這些之后只想擁有更多。與之相反，要學(xué)會滿足你已經(jīng)擁有的——然后學(xué)會利用你本想要浪費在為掙錢買這些東西的時間去做你真正熱愛的事。
Find your passion, and pursue it doggedly. Don't settle for a job that pays the bills. Life is too short to waste on a job you hate.
找到你所鐘愛的事業(yè)，并堅持不懈地尋求它。別讓自己被一個還債的工作所累。生命太短暫了，不值得將時間浪費在你不喜歡的工作上面。

Love should be your rule
愛應(yīng)當(dāng)成為你的準(zhǔn)則

If there's a single word you should live your life by, it should be this: Love. It might sound corny, I know... but trust me, there's no better rule in life.
如果讓一個詞成為你的生活支撐的話，那它應(yīng)當(dāng)是愛。也許這聽來已是老生常談，我也明白…但是請信任我，再沒有更好的生活準(zhǔn)則了。
Some would live by the rule of success. Their lives will be stressful, unhappy and shallow.
一些人以成功作為生活準(zhǔn)則。他們的生活會很緊張、不開心并且很膚淺。
Others would live by the rule of selfishness--putting their needs above those of others. They will live lonely lives, and will also be unhappy.
另一些人的生活準(zhǔn)則是個人利益——他們將個人需要置于他人需求之上。這些人注定將孤獨一生，而且也不會快樂。
Still others will live by the rule of righteousness--trying to show the right path, and admonishing anyone who doesn't live by that path. They are concerned with others, but in a negative way, and in the end will only have their own righteousness to live with, and that's a horrible companion.
還有一些人，他們?yōu)檎x而生——努力展現(xiàn)其道路的正確性，并試圖勸服任何一個不以正義為生活準(zhǔn)則的人。他們關(guān)心他人，卻以一種消極的方法，最終懷抱追尋生的正義而終，而這卻是一個糟糕的伴侶。
Live your life by the rule of love. Love your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, with all of your heart. Give to them what they need, and show them not cruelty nor disapproval nor coldness nor disappointment, but only love. Open your soul to them.
以愛作為你的生活準(zhǔn)則。愛你的妻子、你的孩子、你的父母、你的朋友，全心全意地去愛。給予他們所需要的，不要流露出任何殘暴、反對、冷淡或失望，只要將愛展現(xiàn)給他們，向他們敞開靈魂。
Love not only your loved ones, but your neighbors... Your coworkers... strangers... your brothers and sisters in humanity. Offer anyone you meet a smile, a kind word, a kind gesture, a helping hand.
不僅僅愛你深愛的人，也要愛你的鄰居…你的同事…甚至陌生人…他們是你人道上的兄弟姐妹。給你遇到的任何一個人一個微笑、一句善語、一個友愛的姿勢、一只援助之手。
Love not only neighbors and strangers... but your enemy. The person who is crudest to you, who has been unkind to you... love him. He is a tortured soul, and most in need of your love.
不僅僅愛鄰居和陌生人…也要愛你的敵人。對那些對你最殘暴的人，對曾經(jīng)對你不善的人…愛他。他是一個備受折磨的靈魂，最需要你的愛。
And most of all, love yourself. While others may criticize you, learn not to be so hard on yourself, to think that you're ugly or dumb or unworthy of love... but to think instead that you are a wonderful human being, worthy of happiness and love... and learn to love yourself for who you are.
最重要的是愛你自己。當(dāng)別人批評你時，學(xué)會不要對自己太苛刻，去認(rèn)為自己丑、笨或者不值得去愛…而要想著自己是一個很完善的人，值得擁有幸福和真愛…并學(xué)會愛真實的自己。
Finally, know that I love you and always will. You are starting out on a weird, scary, daunting, but ultimately incredibly wonderful journey, and I will be there for you when I can. Godspeed.
最后，要知道我愛你并且永遠(yuǎn)都會。你即將開啟一段有點奇怪、令人驚慌、令人生畏但最終很不可思議的奇妙旅程，而且只要可以，我都會支持你。祝萬事如意。

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