Anti chicken soup

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.

人们常说，雨就像天堂洒下的五彩纸屑。所以今早，连上天也在和我们一起庆祝这个美妙的毕业典礼。

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.

同学们，在我们演讲之前，希望你们先为一直在背后支持你们的父母和监护人做一件事。两年、三年、或四年之前，他们送你们来到这所学校，帮你安顿妥当后，就转身默默离开了，他们或许一路含着泪，回到了家里空荡荡、孤独的房子。这对他们来说不容易，但他们知道，让你们接受教育，比他们自己的感受更重要。为了帮助你们成长，他们愿意做出牺牲，并愿意付出一切。所以，今天不只是你们的大日子，也是他们的大日子，我希望你们能站起来，转过身，为他们送上热烈的掌声。

Now when somebody asks me how the remarks at Cardigan went, I will be able to say they were interrupted by applause.

好了，现在如果有人问我在卡迪根学校的演讲怎么样，我就可以说，掌声如雷，把演讲都打断了。

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.

祝贺你们，2017届毕业生。这是你们生命中的一个重要里程碑，你们人生中的一个重要阶段已经告一段落。但我遗憾地地告诉你们，这其实是你们生命里最容易的阶段。你们就读于卡迪根山中学时，同时也是国际社会中的一员，我觉得大家尤其应当认识到这一点。

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，在全国各地的学校里，有很多毕业典礼的嘉宾们正站在一群躁动不安的毕业生面前，说着几乎同样的话。 他们会说，「今天只是一个开始，而不是结束。你们应该向前看。」他们说得很对，但是，如果你想弄清楚下一步方向，不妨回头看看你走过的路。回想一下来到卡迪根中学的第一天，你也许曾感到孤独、害怕和焦虑。再看看现在你，身边满是朋友、兄弟，正信心满满地准备迎接下一阶段的教育。

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.

想一想，为什么会有这样的变化？我想你们也许会感谢同学们在课堂上、运动场上、宿舍里给予的帮助。朋友的帮助，让你们不再害怕失败。你们知道了：如果失败了，你会爬起来重新来过。如果又失败，你会再来一次。如果又又又失败了，也许就是时候考虑做点别的事了。你们之所以走到今天，不仅是因为你们的成功，还有不惧失败的勇气。

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.

现在，毕业典礼的演讲嘉宾照例要祝你们好运并送上祝福了。我不会这样做，让我来告诉你为什么。

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.

我希望你们在未来的岁月中，不时遭遇不公对待，这样才会理解公正的价值所在。

I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty.

愿你们尝到背叛滋味，这会教你们领悟忠诚之重要。

Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted.

抱歉，我还希望你们时常会有孤独感，这样才不会将良朋挚友视为理所当然。

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.

愿你们偶尔运气不佳，这样才会意识到机遇在人生中的地位，进而理解你们的成功并非命中注定，别人的失败也不是天经地义。

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.

当你们偶尔遭遇失败时，愿你们受到对手幸灾乐祸的嘲弄，这才会让你们理解体育精神的重要性。

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.

愿你们偶尔被人忽视，这样才能学会倾听。愿你们感受到切肤之痛，才能对别人抱有同情心。

Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen.

无论我怎么想，这些迟早会来临。

And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.

而你们能否从中获益，取决于能否参透人生苦难传递的信息。

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.

毕业典礼嘉宾们还会给出一些建议。有些很宏大，有些很实用。他们最普遍的忠告，就是「做你自己」。给一群穿着整齐划一的人提这样的建议有点奇怪。不过你们确实应该做自己，但你们也要明白这句话的真正含义。

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.

如果你并非足够完美，那你不应该只做你自己，而是应该努力成为更好的自己。人们常说「做你自己」，是因为他们希望你不要屈服于他人的意愿随波逐流。但如果你都不了解自己，你是不可能「做你自己」的。

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，「未经审视的人生没有意义」。对某些事而言，「Just do it」“放胆去做”也许是句金玉良言，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适用。拥有美好人生的途径，就是不要去过容易的生活。如果你从不思索生活的意义，那你很容易就会迷失自我。

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.

以上就是我给出的深刻建议。现在再给你们一些去新学校后的建议。过去几年里，我知道你们当中很多年轻人，都是很好的青年。但你们也是享有特权的一群年轻人。即使初来此地之时你们并没有什么特权，现在你们也已经享有了比其他人更多的优势。我的建议是，不要表现得高人一等。

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.

当你来到新学校时，见到那些扫落叶、铲雪、倒垃圾的人，走上前自我介绍，同时记住他们名字，下次见到他们记得叫他们的名字。

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.

当你在路上遇见陌生人，看着他们的眼睛并微笑致意。这样做最糟糕的结果不过是，人们会记住你这个爱笑爱打招呼的年轻人，这并不是什么坏事。

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.

你们之前在的学校里只有男孩，现在大多数人都将进入有女生的学校。关于这件事，我没有建议。

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.

最后一条建议十分简单，但却会对你的人生产生重大影响：每周给人写一封信。不是电子邮件，而是真正写在纸上，只要10分钟。可以问一下长辈邮票是什么，然后你就可以给信封贴邮票了。再说一遍，10分钟，每周一次。

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. It will mean a great deal to people who — for reasons most of us cannot contemplate — have dedicated themselves to teaching middle school boys.

我现在就可以教你怎样写，“亲爱的「填上学校老师的名字」：“从这所新学校开始。我们正在用英语阅读「空白处填写」。足球和足球训练都很难，但我很享受。谢谢您的教诲。” 把它放在信封里，贴上邮票寄出去。这对于那些把生命奉献给教育初中小男孩的中学老师们来讲意义非凡。

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. No one else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school.

如我所说，每周只需要花十分钟。当学年结束时，你差不多给40位老师寄出过便条。这40位老师会因为你做的这件事而感到自己很特殊，同时也会对你另眼相看。在学校的时光里，这是你一人独享的一份红利。

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.

最后，我想用一段歌词来结束今天的致辞。前面，我引用了古希腊哲学家苏格拉底的名言。下面，我要引述伟大的美国音乐哲人鲍勃 • 迪伦的歌词，这些歌词已有快超过50年的历史了。是鲍勃 • 迪伦当年巡回演出期间，思子心切，写给儿子杰西的。歌词表达了家长对子女的美好期盼，这些期盼是美好的、永恒的，也是普世的……其中有一条除外，即歌名和副歌里表达的愿望，那只能算是家长们的叹息，算不得美好的愿望。

So these are the lyrics from by Bob Dylan: 这就是鲍勃 • 迪伦的《永远年轻》：

Thank you!