双语阅读｜毕业季，愿你人生蹉跎教育頭條網

7月是传统的毕业季，正当学校领导在毕业典礼上祝大家“前程似锦”的时候，却有人高唱反调：“我祝福你人生旅途中时常运气不佳，唯有如此你才能理解成功不是理所当然，失败也并非命该如此。"

约翰·罗伯茨作为一名普通父亲在儿子的中学毕业典礼上进行了致辞。然而，正当学生与家长期望从这位美国史上最年轻的首席大法官口中听到“开过光”的祝福时，他却不按套路出牌。“背叛、厄运、孤独、痛苦、幸灾乐祸……”每一个字眼都能戳痛在场的每一个人。

今天，在全国各地的大学、高中、初中，有很多的毕业演讲者正站在一群躁动不安的毕业生面前，他们讲着大同小异的话。他们说今天是一个崭新开端的提前演练，“这是一个开始，而不是结束。你们应当向前看。”

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.

他们说的很对，然而，当你们向前看寻找前路的时候，向后回望来途同样重要。

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.

我想，如果你们回顾自己来到卡迪根第一天的那个午后，你们也许会记起自己当时有多孤独，或许你会想起来，你还有一丝害怕和忐忑不安。然而看看现在的你们，称兄道弟的朋友环绕身边，信心满满地迎接下一教育阶段。

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.

双语阅读｜毕业季，愿你人生蹉跎

思考一下这种转变从何而来非常有价值。而当你思考的时候，你会感激你的同学们，在课堂中、田径场上、宿舍里对你的各种支持。一个人的自信，不是因为你做的事情全部都成功，而是因为有了朋友的帮助后，你不惧怕失败。

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.

如果你确实失败了，你就起来再试一次。如果你再次失败了，你就起来再试一次。如果你再次失败，那么可能是时候考虑做其他事情了。但是你要明白，不是成功，而是不惧怕失败，才让你走到了今天。

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.

现在的演讲嘉宾通常还会给予你们的祝福，并向你致以良好的祝愿。我不会那样做，我会告诉你为什么。

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.

在未来的岁月里，时不时的，我希望你们受到一点不公正的对待，这样，你们才会知道正义的价值；我希望你们会遭受背叛，因为那会教你忠诚的重要性。很抱歉这样说，但我希望你们时不时会体会到孤独，这样你们才不会将友情视作理所当然；我希望你们交点噩运，这样你们才会意识到，自己的成功并非天经地义，别人的失败也不是咎由自取。

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.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.

双语阅读｜毕业季，愿你人生蹉跎

当你们失败时，我希望你们的竞争对手时不时地幸灾乐祸一下，这样你们才会领悟体育精神的可贵；希望你们被忽视，这样你们才会知道倾听有多重要。不管以上这些是不是我的希望，它们都会在你们未来的人生中发生，而你们是否会从中获益，完全取决于你们看待人生遭遇的视角。

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.

现在的演讲嘉宾还会给一些忠告，一些人生忠告，一些有用的技巧。最常见的人生忠告是——做你自己。跟一群穿着一模一样校服的人说，「做你自己」，是件很奇怪的事情，但大家还是要说，「做你自己」。（笑声）但是，你们应该理解这句话背后的意义。除非你是一个完人，否则这句话真的不代表你不需要做任何改变。在有些时候，你不应该做你自己，你应该做一个更好的人。人们说「做自己」是因为他们不希望你们放弃内心的梦想，而屈服于外界的压力。但当我们不知道我们自己是谁的时候，我们不可能做自己；而如果我们不仔细思考自己人生的价值，我们也不可能知道自己是谁。

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.

双语阅读｜毕业季，愿你人生蹉跎

古希腊哲学家苏格拉底曾说：「未经检验的人生是不值得活的。」有些时候，「just do it」可能是个很有道理的人生格言，但是，在试图找到你该如何度过未来的人生时，这句话并无价值。当你完全不考虑自己的人生价值时，你不可能找到自己到底是谁。

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.

好了，人生忠告到此为止，下面是教你们一些小技巧到高中里去使用。过去几年中，我认识了你们中的不少男生，我知道你们都是优秀的孩子。但是，你们是「有特权」的男生。如果你们没有特权，你们不会来到这个学校，即使你们来之前没有特权，现在你们也有了。我的建议是：不要自视甚高。

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.

当你到了新学校后，见到那些扫地的、铲雪的、倒垃圾的人，请你们走上去，介绍自己，也请教对方的名字。记住这些名字，在学校里遇到他们，称呼他们的名字。另一条建议，如果你在路上遇到不认识的人，请你微笑、看着他们的眼睛，跟他们说你好。当你这样做，可能会发生的最坏的事，不过是你从此会得一个「微笑并和人打招呼的小子」这个名声。这可不是一个坏的开始。

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.

这是一个男校，你们过去只和男生在一起。你们中的大多数将会去一个有女孩的高中，关于这点，我没什么建议好给。（笑声，掌声）

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.

双语阅读｜毕业季，愿你人生蹉跎

最后的一条建议很简单，但我认为会对你的人生产生巨大的影响。每周一次，你们要写一封信给一个人。不是写 email，是在纸上写一封信。这会花费你们一周里的十分钟。找一个成年人问问，什么是邮票。（笑声）你们将把邮票贴在信封上，把信寄出去。再说一次，每周十分钟。我现在就会教你们写你们的第一封信。信上这么说：「亲爱的某某某老师，我到了新学校，英文课在念什么什么书。橄榄球或者足球好难，但我挺喜欢的。感谢你过去在初中的教导。」把信放到信封里，贴上邮票，寄出去。

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. 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.

这对那些教初中男生的老师很重要，虽然大多数人理解不了为什么重要，（笑声）但这很重要。像我说的，一周十分钟，一学年后，你将寄出去 40 封信给了 40 个人。这 40 个人会因为你做的事情，觉得自己的人生有点特别，同时，他们也会认为你与众不同。

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.

忠告都说完了，最后我希望用一些非常有名的歌词来结束我的讲话。我之前引用了苏格拉底，现在我想借用美国哲人 Bob Dylan 的歌词。这首歌距今已经 50 年了，是 Bob Dylan 在旅途中因为思念自己的儿子 Jesse 而写下的。他列举了一个做父母的，对儿子和女儿的期望。这些期望非常美妙，跨越时空。来自 Bob Dylan 的歌词，《永远年轻》。

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

May God bless and keep you always

愿上帝保佑你

May your wishes all come true

愿你的美梦都能成真

May you always do for others

愿你无私助人

And let others do for you

也接受他人馈赠

May you build a ladder to the stars

愿你筑梯摘星

And climb on every rung

步步拾级