英譯現(xiàn)代散文●生命從八十歲開始 ◎ 冰心

Life Begins at 80

◎　冰心

◎　Bing Xin

親愛的小朋友：

Dear Little Friends,

我每天在病榻上躺著，面對一幅極好看的畫。這是一個(gè)滿面笑容，穿著紅兜肚，肩上扛著一對大紅桃的孩子，旁邊寫著“冰心同志八十大壽”，底下落款是“一九八〇年十月《兒童文學(xué)》敬祝”。

Every day I lie facing a lovely picture from my sickbed — the picture of a smiling little child wearing a doudu and carrying two big red peaches on the shoulder. It bears the inscriptions“On the 80th birthday of Comrade Bing Xin”and“With best wishes from the Children's Literature, October 1980”on the margin and at the bottom, respectively.

每天早晨醒來，在燦爛的陽光下看著它，使我快樂，使我鼓舞，但是“八十”這兩個(gè)字，總不能使我相信我竟然已經(jīng)八十歲了!

Every morning, when I wake up, it gives me great joy and encouragement to see the picture in the bright sunshine. But the birthday gift hasn't brought me to realize that I am already 80 years old!

我病后有許多老朋友來信，又是安慰又是責(zé)難，說：“你以后千萬不能再不服老了!”所以，我在復(fù)一位朋友的信里說：“孔子說他常覺得‘不知老之將至’，我是‘無知’到了不知老之已至的地步!”

Since I fell ill, many old friends have written to express their sympathy for me and meanwhile warn me never again to work so hard without regard for my old age. So, in reply to a friend's letter, I said,“While Confucius refers to himself as often being ‘unaware of approaching old age’, I am, however, unaware that I am already old!”

這無知要感謝我的千千萬萬的小讀者!自從我二十三歲起寫《寄小讀者》以來，斷斷續(xù)續(xù)地寫了將近六十年。正是許多小讀者們讀《寄小讀者》后的來信，這熱情的回響，使我永遠(yuǎn)覺得年輕!

For this unawareness, I owe a debt of gratitude to millions upon millions of my little readers! It is about 60 years since I began at the age of 23 to write intermittently Letters to Little Readers. The warm response expressed by many of my little friends after reading my letters has given me a perpetual feeling of being young!

我在病中不但得到《中國少年報(bào)》編輯部的贈(zèng)花，并給我拍了照，也得到許多慰問的信，因?yàn)檫@些信的祝福都使我相信我會(huì)很快康復(fù)起來。我的病是在得了腦血栓之后，又把右胯骨摔折。因此行動(dòng)、寫字都很困難。寫這幾百字幾乎用了半個(gè)小時(shí)，但我希望在一九八一年我完全康復(fù)之后，再努力給小朋友們寫些東西。西諺云“生命從四十歲開始”。我想從一九八一年起，病好后再好好練習(xí)寫字，練習(xí)走路。“生命從八十歲開始”，努力和小朋友們一同前進(jìn)!

During my illness, the editorial department of the China Juvenile Daily sent me flowers and took my picture. I also received many letters of sympathy from my friends and readers, whose good wishes inspired me with confidence in my speedy recovery. My illness started with cerebral thrombosis, and later I suffered a fracture in my right hipbone. As a result, I had difficulty getting around and writing by hand. You can imagine how it took me almost half an hour to finish writing this short note of only a few hundred words! As a Western saying goes,“Life begins at 40.”I hope that, starting from 1981, I'll be able to try my hand at writing and moving around after my recovery. Life begins at 80. Let me strive to forge ahead with all my little friends!

祝　你們健康快樂

With every good wish,

你們的熱情的朋友　冰心

Bing Xin, your loving friend

一九八〇年十月二十九日于北京醫(yī)院

Beijing Hospital

29-Oct-80

冰心1923年夏畢業(yè)于燕京大學(xué)，同年8月赴美留學(xué)，前后共三年。在此期間，她寫了散文《寄小讀者》，內(nèi)有29篇通訊，除8篇寫于國內(nèi)，其余21篇都寫于赴美的船上和美國。這些通訊最初陸續(xù)發(fā)表在《晨報(bào)副刊》的“兒童世界”欄內(nèi)，1926年結(jié)集出了單行本。新中國成立后，她繼續(xù)寫了兩集。本篇通訊發(fā)表在《三寄小讀者》中，為該集的代序。