Never Give Up 永不放棄
Never Give Up 永不放棄
◎ Julie Hubert
The first day of school, our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, “Hi, handsome. My name is Rose. I’ m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?” I laughed and enthusiastically responded, “Of course you may.” and she gave me a giant squeeze.
開學(xué)的第一天，在教授做了自我介紹之后，還建議我們?nèi)フJ(rèn)識一下自己不認(rèn)識的人。我站起身四處環(huán)顧，這時(shí)一只手有禮貌地拍了拍我的肩膀。我轉(zhuǎn)過身來，發(fā)現(xiàn)一位滿臉皺紋、身材瘦小的老女士笑容滿面地看著我，那笑容使她整個(gè)人都大放光彩。她對我說：“嗨，帥小伙，我是羅絲。我87歲了。我能擁抱你嗎？”我笑了，很熱情地回答：“當(dāng)然可以。”之后她用力地?fù)肀Я宋摇?
“Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel.” “No, seriously?” I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
“你為什么在如此年輕而天真的年齡上大學(xué)呢?”我問她。她開玩笑似的回答：“為了找一個(gè)有錢的丈夫，然后結(jié)婚，生一堆孩子，再之后就退休去旅游?！薄安皇前?，你是認(rèn)真的嗎？”我問。我很好奇，想知道是什么激勵(lì)她在這樣的年齡還接受這樣的挑戰(zhàn)。
“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one.” she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milk shake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this “time machine” as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
“我一直都夢想有上大學(xué)的經(jīng)歷，現(xiàn)在我有了。”她告訴我。課后我們一起去學(xué)生活動(dòng)樓，還共同分享了一杯巧克力冰鎮(zhèn)牛奶。我們馬上成了朋友。接下來的三個(gè)月里，每一天我們下課都一起離開，聊起來沒完沒了。我對她這個(gè)“時(shí)間機(jī)器”非常著迷，因?yàn)樗偸呛臀曳窒碜约旱闹腔叟c經(jīng)歷。
Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up, and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up. At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, “I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whisky is killing me. I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.” As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success.”
那一年，羅絲成了整個(gè)校園的偶像，她走到哪兒都能很容易地交上朋友。她喜歡盛裝打扮，還陶醉于來自其他學(xué)生對她的關(guān)注。她盡情歡樂。學(xué)期末，我們邀請羅絲在我們的足球宴會(huì)上講話。我永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)忘記她教會(huì)我們的東西。介紹完畢之后她便登上講臺(tái)。當(dāng)她開始要講自己準(zhǔn)備好的稿子時(shí)，她把那張五寸長三寸寬的卡片掉在了地上。帶著沮喪和一點(diǎn)兒尷尬，她靠近麥克風(fēng)簡短地說：“很抱歉我非常緊張。我不再喝Lent牌的威士忌了，這種威士忌簡直要了我的命。按原先稿子上準(zhǔn)備好的去講是不可能了，還是把我所知道的說給你們聽吧。”我們歡聲大笑，這時(shí)她清了清嗓子開始演講：“我們不會(huì)因?yàn)槟昀隙辉儆瓮?；而是因?yàn)椴辉儆瓮嫖覀儾抛兝系摹H四個(gè)秘密就能使我們永葆青春，讓我們快樂并獲得成功?！?
“You have to laugh and find humor every day.”
“每天你都要開懷大笑并去尋找幽默?！?
“You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it.”
“你要擁有夢想。當(dāng)你失去夢想時(shí)，你就會(huì)死去。我們周圍有這么多人，直到死了都沒意識到這一點(diǎn)?！?
“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change.”
“變老和成長之間有很大的區(qū)別。如果你19歲，在床上躺了一整年，一件有意義的事兒都沒做，你也會(huì)長到20歲。如果我87歲了，也在床上躺了一整年，即使什么都沒做，我也會(huì)變成88歲的。任何人都會(huì)變老。變老并不需要任何智慧或能力。而成長卻需要不斷尋找變化的機(jī)會(huì)?！?
“Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”
“不要后悔。年老的人并不會(huì)因?yàn)樽鲞^什么而后悔，卻會(huì)后悔沒做過什么。唯一懼怕死亡的人是那些有悔恨的人。”
She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Rose”. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
她鼓勵(lì)我們唱“玫瑰”這首歌作為自己演講的結(jié)尾。她強(qiáng)烈建議我們每個(gè)人學(xué)習(xí)抒情詩，并在我們的日常生活中將詞義付諸實(shí)踐。
At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
當(dāng)年年末，羅絲完成了她很多年前就開始的大學(xué)生涯。畢業(yè)后的一個(gè)禮拜，羅絲在自己的睡夢中平靜地逝世。
Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example, that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be.
有2000多名大學(xué)生參加了她的葬禮，大家共同悼念這位了不起的女人，對她表示敬意。她用自己的親身經(jīng)歷告訴我們：想要實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的夢想永不為晚。
Remember, growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional.
記住，變老是注定的，而成長卻是可以選擇的。
