很多人認為,只有總統(tǒng)才能在耶魯大學的畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表演講。但近幾年條件卻更加嚴格。演講人必須是美國總統(tǒng),是耶魯大學校友,而且他在總統(tǒng)選舉中在耶魯大學所在投票區(qū)里得到的票數(shù)要少于拉爾夫·納德。
This is my first time back here in quite a while. I'm sure that each of you will make your own journey back at least a few times in your life. If you're like me, you won't remember everything you did here. That can be a good thing. But there will be some people, and some moments, you will never forget.
這是我畢業(yè)這么長時間以來第一次回到母校。我也相信你們每個人會在畢業(yè)以后至少回來幾次。當你們像我這么老的時候,你們會不記得在這里做過的每一件事情。這或許是一件好事。不過,一些人,一些事你永遠也不會忘記。
Take, for example, my old classmate, Dick Brodhead, the accomplished dean of this great university. I remember him as a young scholar, a bright lad a hard worker. We both put a lot of time in at the Sterling Library, in the reading room, where they have those big leather couches.We had a mutual understanding—Dick wouldn't read aloud, and I wouldn't snore.
就拿我的老同學狄克·布羅德黑德來說,如今他是這所偉大的學校的杰出校長,他讀書時的聰明、好學與刻苦至今讓我記憶猶新。那時,我們經(jīng)常泡在圖書館那個有著大皮沙發(fā)的閱讀室里。我們之間有個默契:他不大聲朗讀課文,我睡覺時不打呼嚕。
Our course selections were different, as we followed our own path to academic discovery. Dick was an English major, and loved the classics. I loved history, and pursued a diversified course of study. I like to think of it as the academic road less traveled.
后來,隨著學術(shù)探索的領(lǐng)域不同,我們選修的課程也各不相同。狄克主修英語,酷愛古典文學,而我主修歷史,喜歡多樣化的學習過程。我喜歡把這種學習過程想成是少有人走過的學術(shù)之路。
For example, I took a class that studied Japanese Haiku. Haiku, for the uninitiated, is a 15thcentury form of poetry, each poem having 17 syllables. Haiku is fully understood only by the Zen masters.
有趣的是,我選修過日本俳句,對門外漢來說,俳句是15世紀日本的一種詩歌形式,每首詩只有17個音節(jié),我想其意義只有禪學大師才能明了。