【英语学习4】善良比聪明更难

善良和聪明哪个更难？选择和天赋到底哪个更加重要？杰夫·贝佐斯在普林斯顿大学演讲中曾说：“当你们活到八十岁，在某个安静的时刻沉思，回到内心深处，想起自己的人生故事时，其中最为充实、最有意义的那段讲述，会被你们作出的一系列决定所填满。最后，是选择塑造了我们的人生。”

杰夫·贝佐斯

              It's Harder to Be Kind

As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas. I helped fix windmills, vaccinate cattle, and do other chores.

当我还是个孩子的时候，我和我的祖父母在德克萨斯州的农场里度过夏天。我帮忙修理风车，给牛接种疫苗，还有做其他杂务。

We also watched soap operas every afternoon, especially "Days of our Lives."

我们每天下午都看肥皂剧，尤其是《我们的日子》。

My grandparents belonged to a Caravan Club, a group of Airstream trailer owners who travel together around the U.S. and Canada.

我的祖父母参加了一个房车俱乐部，那是一群开着Airstream房车的人，他们一起环游美国和加拿大。

And every few summers, we'd join the caravan.

每隔几个夏天，我们就会加入商队。

We'd hitch up the Airstream to my grandfather's car, and off we'd go, in a line with 300 other Airstream adventurers.

我们把Airstream挂在爷爷的车上，和其他300名Airstream探险者一起出发。

I loved and worshipped my grandparents and I really looked forward to these trips.

我爱我的祖父母，崇拜他们，我真的很期待这些旅行。

On one particular trip, I was about 10 years old. I was rolling around in the big bench seat in the back of the car. My grandfather was driving.

在一次特别的旅行中，我大约10岁。我在车后座的长椅上打滚。我祖父开车。

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And my grandmother had the passenger seat. She smoked throughout these trips, and I hated the smell.

我祖母坐在副驾驶座上。一路上她都在抽烟，我讨厌那种味道。

At that age, I'd take any excuse to make estimates and do minor arithmetic.

在那个年龄，我会找任何借口去做估算和小算术。

I'd calculate our gas mileage; figure out useless statistics on things like grocery spending.

我要计算我们的油耗；计算一些无用的统计数据，比如杂货支出。

I'd been hearing an ad campaign about smoking.

我一直在听一个关于吸烟的广告活动。

I can't remember the details, but basically the ad said, every puff of a cigarette takes some number of minutes off of your life: I think it might have been two minutes per puff.

具体细节我记不太清了，但基本上广告上是这么说的，每吸一口烟会让你少活几分钟，我想应该是两分钟。

【英语学习4】善良比聪明更难

At any rate, I decided to do the math for my grandmother.

无论如何，我决定为我的祖母算一算。

I estimated the number of cigarettes per day, estimated the number of puffs per cigarette and so on.

我估计了每天香烟的数量，估计了每支香烟要吸几口等等。

When I was satisfied that I'd come up with a reasonable number, I poked my head into the front of the car, tapped my grandmother on the shoulder, and proudly proclaimed:

当我对自己得出一个合理的数字感到满意时，我把头探进车前，拍了拍祖母的肩膀，然后骄傲地宣布：

"At two minutes per puff, you've taken nine years off your life!"

“每次吸两分钟，你就少活九年!”

I have a very vivid memory of what happened next, and it was not what I had expected.

我对接下来发生的事情有着非常清晰的记忆，但这并不是我所期望的。

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I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills.

我以为我会因为我的聪明和算术技巧而受到赞扬。

"Jeff, you're so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division."

“杰夫，你真聪明。你必须做一些复杂的估算，算出一年中有多少分钟，然后做一些除法。”

That's not what happened.

但事实并非如此。

Instead, my grandmother burst into tears.

相反，我的祖母哭了起来。

I sat in the backseat and didn't know what to do while my grandmother was crying. My grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway.

我坐在后座上，不知道该做什么，而我的祖母在哭。我的祖父一直在默默地开车，他把车停在了公路的路肩上。

He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow.

他下了车，转过来，打开我的门，等着我跟他走。

Was I in trouble? My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man. He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time?

我有麻烦了吗?我的祖父是一个非常聪明、安静的人。他从来没有对我说过一句严厉的话，也许这是第一次?

Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother.

或者他会让我回到车上向我奶奶道歉。

I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be.

我和我的祖父母在这方面没有任何经验，也没有办法估计后果。

We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said:

我们停在拖车旁边。祖父看着我，沉默了一会儿，然后温和而平静地说:

"Jeff, one day you'll understand that it's harder to be kind than clever."

“杰夫，总有一天你会明白，善良比聪明更难。”

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