jk羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講

1、J·K·羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講 J·K·羅琳在哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)典禮上的演講作者： 阮一峰日期： 2008年6月17日一、今年6月5日是哈佛大學(xué)的畢業(yè)典禮，請(qǐng)來(lái)的演講嘉賓是哈利波特的作者J.K.羅琳女士。她的演講題目是失敗的好處和想象的重要性（The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination）。我讀了一遍講稿，覺(jué)得很好，很感染人。她幾乎沒(méi)有談到哈里波特，而是說(shuō)了年輕時(shí)的一些經(jīng)歷。雖然J·K·羅琳現(xiàn)在很有錢，是英國(guó)僅次于女皇的最富有的女人

2、，但是她曾經(jīng)有一段非常艱辛的日子，30歲了，還差點(diǎn)流落街頭。她主要談的是，自己從這段經(jīng)歷中學(xué)到的東西。去年的演講嘉賓是比爾·蓋茨，我翻譯了他的演講，影響挺大。今年，我繼續(xù)翻譯，有興趣的朋友可以在網(wǎng)上找到原文和視頻。二、她首先說(shuō)了自己如何構(gòu)思演講稿，以及選擇的兩個(gè)演講主題。President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.福斯特校長(zhǎng)，哈佛集團(tuán)的各位成

3、員，監(jiān)管理事會(huì)的各位理事，各位老師，各位自豪的家長(zhǎng)，以及最重要的各位畢業(yè)生同學(xué)，The first thing I would like to say is 'thank you.' Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation!

4、 Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world's largest Gryffindor reunion.我想說(shuō)的第一句話，就是"謝謝"。不僅因?yàn)楣鸾o了我這樣非同一般的榮譽(yù)，還因?yàn)闉榱藰?gòu)思今天的演講，我忍受了幾個(gè)星期的擔(dān)驚受怕、茶飯不思的生活，使得我體重減輕。這真可謂"雙贏"啊！現(xiàn)在，我唯一要做的就是深呼吸，偷偷看一眼四周飄揚(yáng)的紅色旗幟，讓自己相信真的來(lái)到了世界上最大的

5、"格蘭芬多"聚會(huì)。Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writ

6、ing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, the law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard

7、.在畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表演講，是一項(xiàng)巨大的責(zé)任，令我倍感壓力。直到我回憶起了自己的畢業(yè)典禮，才稍稍放松。那一次的演講嘉賓是杰出的英國(guó)哲學(xué)家瑪麗·沃諾克?；叵胨难葜v，極大地幫助我寫(xiě)作自己的演講稿，因?yàn)槲野l(fā)現(xiàn)一點(diǎn)也不記得她的任何一句話了。這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)讓我如釋重負(fù)，不再害怕自己在不經(jīng)意間就對(duì)你們產(chǎn)生影響，讓你們放棄在商業(yè)、法律、政治方面的大好前途，去追求成為一個(gè)快樂(lè)巫師的那種令人眩暈的愉悅。You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've come out ahead o

8、f Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step to self improvement.你們明白嗎？如果多年以后，你們只記得我講的這個(gè)"快樂(lè)巫師"的笑話，我就已經(jīng)超過(guò)瑪麗·沃諾克了?？梢詫?shí)現(xiàn)的目標(biāo)，是自己改進(jìn)的第一步。Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduat

9、ion, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that have expired between that day and this.實(shí)際上，我真的是絞盡腦汁，思索今天自己到底應(yīng)該講什么。我問(wèn)自己，當(dāng)年我畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，希望知道哪些事情；以及21年后的今天，我又從人生中得到哪些重要的經(jīng)驗(yàn)教訓(xùn)。I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic suc

10、cess, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.我得到了兩個(gè)回答。這個(gè)美妙的日子，我們聚集一堂，慶祝你們?cè)趯W(xué)業(yè)上的成功，但是我決定跟你們說(shuō)說(shuō)失敗的好處。以及當(dāng)你們站在所謂"真實(shí)世界"的門檻之上的時(shí)候，我要頌揚(yáng)想象力的重要

11、性。These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.這樣的主題可能看上去有點(diǎn)異想天開(kāi)和自相矛盾，但是請(qǐng)聽(tīng)下去。三、她開(kāi)始回憶自己大學(xué)畢業(yè)時(shí)的情景：Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an u

12、neasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.對(duì)于一個(gè)42歲的婦女來(lái)說(shuō)，回想自己21歲畢業(yè)時(shí)的情景，是一種稍稍令人不安的經(jīng)歷?；氐?1年之前，我正遭受煎熬，不知道在自己內(nèi)心的追求與父母對(duì)我的期望之間，應(yīng)該如何平衡。I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came f

13、rom impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension. I know that the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil, now.當(dāng)時(shí)，我確信自己一生中唯一想做的事情，就是去寫(xiě)小說(shuō)。但是，我的父

14、母出身貧寒，沒(méi)有受過(guò)大學(xué)教育。他們認(rèn)為，我那些不安分的想象力只是一種怪癖，根本不能用來(lái)還房貸，或者掙來(lái)養(yǎng)老金。我現(xiàn)在知道，這種人生的反諷，有著卡通片里大鐵砧般的巨大打擊力。So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parent

15、s' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.他們希望我再去讀個(gè)職業(yè)學(xué)位，而我想去研究英國(guó)文學(xué)。最后，達(dá)成了一個(gè)雙方都不甚滿意的妥協(xié)：我改學(xué)語(yǔ)言學(xué)?？墒堑鹊礁改傅能囅г诠返霓D(zhuǎn)角，我就立刻拋掉了德語(yǔ)，奔向古典文學(xué)的道路。I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found

16、 out for the first time on graduation day. Of all the subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.我不記得將這事告訴了父母。他們可能是在畢業(yè)典禮那一天才發(fā)現(xiàn)的。我想，在全世界的所有專業(yè)中，他們也許認(rèn)為，不會(huì)有比研究希臘神話更沒(méi)用的專業(yè)了，根本無(wú)法換來(lái)一間獨(dú)

17、立的寬敞衛(wèi)生間。I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I canno

18、t criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.我要申明，我并不責(zé)怪