“我祝你不幸并痛苦”美国首席大法官的最佳毕业演讲

I Wish You Bad Luck

(John G. Roberts, Jr.)

（翻译：丹尼尔先生）

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.

人们说，雨就像天上来的五彩纸屑。今天早上，天堂的天使们也正在我们这个精彩的毕业庆典中。同学们，在我们进一步演讲之前，有一个重要的任务需要完成，在你的身后是你们的父母和监护人。两年、三年、或四年之前，他们送你们来 Cardigan 学校，帮助你安顿下来，然后转身又默默离开了大门。对家人而言，意味着莫大的牺牲。他们或许沿着泪的痕迹，回到空洞和孤独的房子。这样做是因为，他们知道你的教育，最终是关乎你的。并不是关乎他们的。为了帮你实现这一点，他们愿意做出牺牲，以及其他任何的帮助。然而今天早上不只是关于你，也关于他们，所以我希望你能站起来，转过身来，并请给他们一个热烈的掌声。

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.

当有人问我对 Cardigan 学校的评价如何时，我可以说他们会被掌声打断（大家自觉地笑了，并鼓掌）。祝贺你们，2017届的毕业生。这是你们人生的一个重要里程碑。人生重要的阶段，其实还在你们身后。我很抱歉地告诉你，书本其实是你生命中最容易的阶段（大家会心一笑）。当你们在 Cardigan 的时候，同时也是国际社会的重要组成部分。我认为这需要特别认知。

「Roberts gave brief remarks in other languages.」

（罗伯茨用其他语言，发表了简短的讲话。）

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/中学，毕业典礼的嘉宾们站在不耐烦的毕业生面前，几乎总是说同样的话。 他们会说，「今天的毕业只是一个开始，而不是结束。你们应该向前看。」 我认为这也足够真实，但是，如果你想弄清楚往哪里去，最好回头看看在哪一步了，然后决定哪里才是你要去的。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，曾有过一点害怕和焦虑。现在看看你自己，身边有很多称兄道弟的朋友，你也有了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，我想你可能会理解，这是因为同学们在教室里、运动场上、和宿舍里给予的支持。就信心而言，我想你会明白，并不是因为你做的每件事都成功了，而是因为在朋友的帮助下，你便不再害怕失败。如果你失败了，你站起来再试一次。如果你又失败了，你站起来再试一次。如果你再次又失败了，也许是时候考虑做别的事情了（大家砰然大笑）。你们之所以走到今天，不仅是因为你们的成功，而是因为你们不害怕失败。

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，我希望你会遭遇不公正的对待，这样你才会明白正义的价值。我希望你会遭受背叛，那样你才会懂得忠诚的重要。很抱歉我这么说。我还希望你会时常有孤独感，如此你才不会把良朋益友视为理所当然的。

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.

我再次地祝愿你不幸，这样你才会意识到机遇在人生中的角色，并能明白你们的成功并非命中注定，别人的失败也非天经地义。当你偶尔遭遇失败时，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，同时希望你有足够的同情心去学习同情。不论我愿不愿意，这些迟早都会发生。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。他们给你最普遍的忠告，就是「做你自己」。给你们都是一样的建议，是一个很奇怪的建议（全场大笑）。除了你必须做你自己外，更需要知道其中的真意。从某种意义上说，你不应该是你自己，而是你应该努力成为更好的自己。除非你是完美的，否则不需要做出任何改变。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。如果你都不知道自己想成为什么样的人，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.

希腊哲学家苏格拉底曾说，「未经审视的人生是没有意义的」。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.

这便是深刻的建议。现在给一些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。你们是非常幸运的年轻人。如果你们来这里时还没有特权，现在已拥有了某种特权。正是因为来到了这里，便拥有了某种特权。我的忠告是：请不要表现出有特权的样子。

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.

当你来到新学校时，请走上前向那个正在扫树叶、铲雪或倒垃圾的人介绍自己。学习他们的名字，在学校的时候叫他们的名字。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（全场微笑），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，很多人未来将会去一间有女生的学校。在此，我无法给你们建议（全场爆笑，并热烈鼓掌）。

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

我给你们的最后一点建议很简单，但我认为它会给你的生活带来很大的改变。一周一次，你应该给某人写封信。不是电子邮件。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。你可以把邮票贴在信封上。10分钟，每周一次。

我现在就教你，应该写的第一张便条。譬如：“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。谢谢您教我。” 把它放在信封里，贴上邮票寄出去。这些对于为了献身中学教育的人来说意义重大（爆笑）。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。40个人会因为你做到了，觉得你很特别。在你上学的时候，没有人会带着这种红利。

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。之前，我引用了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人鲍勃 • 迪伦的歌词。这些歌词，都快超过50年的历史了。在当年巡演期间，他为失踪的儿子杰西写了这些信，歌词呈现了父母对子女的深切期盼。这些期盼是美好，是永恒的，也是普世的。