美国首席大法官在毕业典礼上与众不同的演讲《我祝你不幸并痛苦》

2023-07-28 03:29:2812:24 9.9万

所属专辑：原汁原味英文演讲 | 附演讲稿

声音简介

这篇演讲是2017年美国最高法院首席大法官John G. Roberts（约翰·罗伯茨）在新罕布什尔州的私立男校卡迪根山中学(Cardigan Mountain School)出席儿子杰克的毕业典礼并致辞。

作为美国联邦最高法院第17任首席大法官，同时也是美国两个世纪以来最年轻的首席大法官，约翰·罗伯茨在美国自上任以来便一直享有很高的社会地位。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢！

Rain, somebody said, is like confetti from heaven. So even the heavens are celebrating this morning, joining the rest of us at this wonderful commencement ceremony. Before we go any further, graduates, you have an important task to perform because behind you are your parents and guardians. Two or three or four years ago, they drove into Cardigan, dropped you off, helped you get settled and then turned around and drove back out the gates. It was an extraordinary sacrifice for them. They drove down the trail of tears back to an emptier and lonelier house. They did that because the decision about your education, they knew, was about you. It was not about them. That sacrifice and others they made have brought you to this point. But this morning is not just about you. It is also about them, so I hope you will stand up and turn around and give them a great round of applause. Please.

有人说，雨是天堂落下的五彩纸屑。因此，今天上午老天加入我们，一起庆祝这个精彩的毕业典礼。同学们，在我们深入探讨之前，你们有一个重要的任务要完成，因为在你们身后是你们的父母和监护人。两年、三年、或四年之前，他们开车送你们来到 Cardigan 学校，帮助你安顿下来，然后转身又默默驶出了大门。这对他们而言，那是不平凡的牺牲。他们顺着眼泪的痕迹开车，回到更加空虚和孤独的家里。他们这样做是出于让你受教育的决定，他们知道这只关乎你，而不是他们。是他们的牺牲以及所做的其他事，让你走到这里。然而今天上午不只是关于你，也关于他们，所以我希望你们起立并转身，向他们致以热烈的掌声。

Now when somebody asks me how the remarks at Cardigan went, I will be able to say they were interrupted by applause. Congratulations, class of 2017. You’ve reached an important milestone. An important stage of your life is behind you. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you it is the easiest stage of your life, but it is in the books. While you’ve been at Cardigan, you have all been a part of an important international community as well. And I think that needs to be particularly recognized.

当有人问我在Cardigan 学校的演讲反响如何时，我就可以说被掌声打断了。祝贺你们，2017届的毕业生们。你们到达了一个重要的里程碑。一个重要的人生阶段已经度过。我很抱歉地告诉大家，这是你们人生中最简单的一个阶段，都在书本里。你们已经在Cardigan学校，也已经成为国际社区的重要组成部分，并且我认为你们尤其要意识到这一点。

(Roberts gave brief remarks in Spanish.)

（这一段，罗伯茨用的是西班牙语，祝贺来自墨西哥及其他所有的国际学生。）

Now around the country today at colleges, high schools, middle schools, commencement speakers are standing before impatient graduates. And they are almost always saying the same things. They will say that today is a commencement exercise. ‘It is a beginning, not an end. You should look forward.’ And I think that is true enough, however, I think if you’re going to look forward to figure out where you’re going, it’s good to know where you’ve been and to look back as well. And I think if you look back to your first afternoon here at Cardigan, perhaps you will recall that you were lonely. Perhaps you will recall that you were a little scared, a little anxious. And now look at you. You are surrounded by friends that you call brothers, and you are confident in facing the next step in your education.

现在全国各地，在大学、高中、初中，毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾们站在不耐烦的毕业生面前，基本上都说着同样的话。他们会说，“今天是毕业典礼的练习，这是一个开始，而不是结束。你们应该向前看。”我认为这是正确的，但是，我认为你们需要往回看，从而想清楚什么时候再出发，知道你们已经走到哪里，并且回头看看。回想一下当你来到 Cardigan 的第一个下午，也许你曾感到孤独。或许你还会记得当时有过一点胆怯和焦虑。再看看现在的自己，被很多称兄道弟的朋友包围着，你会充满信心面对下一阶段的教育。

It is worth trying to think why that is so. And when you do, I think you may appreciate that it was because of the support of your classmates in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the dorms. And as far as the confidence goes, I think you will appreciate that it is not because you succeeded at everything you did, but because with the help of your friends, you were not afraid to fail. And if you did fail, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, it might be time to think about doing something else. But it was not just success, but not being afraid to fail that brought you to this point.

值得去思考为什么会这样。当你这样做的时候，我认为你们会感恩来自同学们的支持，在教室里、在运动场上、在宿舍里。随着信心的不断增长，我想你们的感恩并不是因为你们做的每件事都成功了，而是因为在朋友的帮助下，你们不再害怕失败。如果你确实失败了，站起来再试一次。如果你再次失败，站起来再试一次。如果还是失败了，那么也许是时候考虑做别的事情了。不只是因为成功，而是因为你们不害怕失败，才让你们走到这里。

Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.

通常毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾们都会向你们表示祝贺，并向你们致以真挚的祝愿。我不会这么做，让我来告诉你为什么。在未来的岁月里，我希望你被不公平对待，这样你才会认识到公正的价值。我希望你会遭受背叛，那样你才会领悟到忠诚的重要。很抱歉地说。我还希望你会时常有孤独感，唯有如此你才不会把良朋益友视为理所当然。

I wish you bad luck again from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion. Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.

我祝福你人生旅途中时常运气不佳，这样你才会意识到机遇在人生中的角色，进而明白成功并非命中注定的，别人的失败也非天经地义。当你遭遇失败时，希望你的对手会因为你的失败而幸灾乐祸，如此你才能意识到有风度的竞争精神的重要性。希望你会被别人忽视，这样你才能意识到倾听别人的重要性，我希望你遭受痛苦，让你感同身受，从而懂得同情。不管我希望与否，这些事都有可能发生。而你是否从中受益，取决于你能否参透人生苦难所带来的价值。

Now commencement speakers are also expected to give some advice. They give grand advice, and they give some useful tips. The most common grand advice they give is for you to be yourself. It is an odd piece of advice to give people dressed identically, but you should — you should be yourself. But you should understand what that means. Unless you are perfect, it does not mean don’t make any changes. In a certain sense, you should not be yourself. You should try to become something better. People say ‘be yourself’ because they want you to resist the impulse to conform to what others want you to be. But you can’t be yourself if you don't learn who are, and you can’t learn who you are unless you think about it.

如今，毕业典礼嘉宾们也会提出一些建议。有些建议很宏大，有些建议很实用。最常见的建议，就是「做你自己」。对于穿着各异的人们来说，这是一个很奇怪的建议。除了你必须做你自己之外，你更需要懂得其中的内涵。除非你是完美的，这不意味着你不做出任何改变。从某种意义上来说，你不应该做你自己，而是应该努力成为更好的自己。人们常说「做你自己」，是因为他们希望你抵制按他人意愿随波逐流的冲动，不屈从于他人的安排。如果你不能做自己，都不知道自己是谁，你是不可能「做你自己」的。如果不好好思考，你也不可能知道自己想成为什么样的人。

The Greek philosopher Socrates said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ And while ‘just do it’ might be a good motto for some things, it’s not a good motto when it’s trying to figure out how to live your life that is before you. And one important clue to living a good life is to not to try to live the good life. The best way to lose the values that are central to who you are is frankly not to think about them at all.

古希腊哲学家苏格拉底曾说，「未经审视的人生是不值得过的」。对某些事而言，「Just do it」，或许是一个不错的座右铭，但在你还未想明白要过怎样的人生之前，这个座右铭其实并不怎么样。拥有美好人生的一个最好的路径，就是不要试图过轻松的人生。如果你们不思考，就会丢掉对自己至关重要的价值观。

So that’s the deep advice. Now some tips as you get ready to go to your new school. Other the last couple of years, I have gotten to know many of you young men pretty well, and I know you are good guys. But you are also privileged young men. And if you weren’t privileged when you came here, you are privileged now because you have been here. My advice is: Don’t act like it.

以上是一些深刻的建议。还有一些小贴士，给你们准备去新学校的建议。在过去的几年里，我很了解你们其中的年轻人，我知道你们都做得非常棒。你们是优越的年轻人。如果你们来这里之前还没有，那么现在你们已拥有了。因为你们已经来到了这里，便拥有了某种特权。我的忠告是：请不要这样表现。

When you get to your new school, walk up and introduce yourself to the person who is raking the leaves, shoveling the snow or emptying the trash. Learn their name and call them by their name during your time at the school. Another piece of advice: When you pass by people you don’t recognize on the walks, smile, look them in the eye and say hello. The worst thing that will happen is that you will become known as the young man who smiles and says hello, and that is not a bad thing to start with.

当你去往新学校时，请走上前向那个正在扫树叶、铲雪或倒垃圾的人介绍自己。请记得他们的名字，在学校的时候称呼他们的名字。另一条忠告：当你走过那些你不认识的人的时候，微笑着看着他们的眼睛，向他们问好。最糟糕的情况无外乎，你会成为一个微笑着向别人打招呼的年轻人，这并不是一件坏事。

You’ve been at a school with just boys. Most of you will be going to a school with girls. I have no advice for you.

目前你们在一所男校，你们中的大多数人未来将会去一间有女生的学校。对于这一点，我无法给你们建议。

The last bit of advice I’ll give you is very simple, but I think it could make a big difference in your life. Once a week, you should write a note to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you exactly 10 minutes. Talk to an adult, let them tell you what a stamp is. You can put the stamp on the envelope. Again, 10 minutes, once a week. I will help you, right now.

最后一点建议，我想说的很简单，但我认为它可能会使你的人生有很大不同。每周一次，你应该给某人写封信。不是电子邮件，而是一张写在纸上的便条。你只需要10分钟。学会跟大人说话，让他们告诉你邮票是什么，然后把邮票贴在信封上。10分钟，每周一次。我马上帮助你们做。

I will dictate to you the first note you should write. It will say, ‘Dear「fill in the name of a teacher at Cardigan Mountain School」.’ Say: ‘I have started at this new school. We are reading 「blank」 in English. Football or soccer practice is hard, but I’m enjoying it. Thank you for teaching me.’ Put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and send it. It will mean a great deal to people who — for reasons most of us cannot contemplate — have dedicated themselves to teaching middle school boys. As I said, that will take you exactly 10 minutes a week. By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did. Now what else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school?

我现在就教你，应该写的第一张纸条。譬如：“亲爱的「填上Cardigan学校老师的名字」：“我已经在新学校了。我们正在用英语阅读「空白处填写」。足球训练很难，但我很享受。谢谢您教导我。” 把它放在信封里，贴上邮票寄出去。这些对于为了献身中学男校教育的老师们来说意义重大。就像我说的，你每周只需要10分钟。到学年结束的时候，你会给40个人寄信条。这40个人会感到有一点特别，也会因为你做到了，觉得你与众不同。想想你们在校的时光，还能带来比这更多的奖赏吗？

Enough advice. I would like to end by reading some important lyrics. I cited the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier. These lyrics are from the great American philosopher, Bob Dylan. They’re almost 50 years old. He wrote them for his son, Jesse, who he was missing while he was on tour. It lists the hopes that a parent might have for a son and for a daughter. They’re also good goals for a son and a daughter. The wishes are beautiful, they’re timeless. They’re universal. They’re good and true, except for one: It is the wish that gives the song its title and its refrain. That wish is a parent’s lament. It’s not a good wish.

建议足够多了。最后我想用一段歌词来结束今天的致辞。之前我引用了古希腊哲学家苏格拉底的名言。下面则来自伟大的美国音乐哲学家鲍勃 • 迪伦的歌词。这些歌词，都快超过50年的历史了。他在旅途中思念儿子杰西写了这段歌词，歌词呈现了父母对子女的深切期盼，还有给孩子们设立了好的目标。这些祝愿是美好的、永恒的，也是普世的，既美好，又真实。除了一个，正是这个祝愿，赋予这首歌的歌名，还有它的副歌部分。这个祝愿是父母的悲伤，这不是一个好祝愿。

So these are the lyrics from Forever Young by Bob Dylan:

这就是鲍勃 • 迪伦的《永远年轻》

（巧得很，在主播的另一个专辑《爱上英文爱读美文》里就有鲍勃 • 迪伦这首英文歌词的朗读，感兴趣的小伙伴可以去听一听。）

May God bless and keep you always 愿上帝佑你永恒，

May your wishes all come true 愿你美梦成真，

May you always do for others 愿你永助他人，

And let others do for you 也受他人恩惠，

May you build a ladder to the stars 愿你搭建云梯，摘取星辰，

And climb on every rung 一步步向上攀登，

May you stay forever young 愿你永远年轻。

May you grow up to be righteous 愿你长大后正直无私，

May you grow up to be true 愿你长大后诚实真挚，