Chapter Ⅳ 接过墨客的衣钵摇旗呐喊（13）（2/2）
《最震撼人心的声音》作者：姜宇 2017-02-11 10:27
lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.
我想到了两个答案。在这美好的一天，当我们一起庆祝你们取得学业成就的时刻，我决定跟你们谈谈失败有什么样的益处；在你们即将迈向“现实生活”的道路之际，我还要褒扬关键性的想象力的重要性。
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, 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.
这些似乎是不切实际或自相矛盾的选择，但请先容我讲完。
These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.
回顾21岁刚刚毕业时的自己，对于今天42岁的我来说，是一个稍微不太舒服的经历。可以说，我人生的前一部分，一直挣扎在自己的雄心和身边的人对我的期望之间。
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 uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是写小说。不过，我的父母，他们都来自贫穷的不为人所注意的地方，都没有上过大学，坚持认为我过度的想象力是一个令人惊讶的个人怪癖，根本不足以让我偿还贷款，或者取得足够的养老金。
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.
我现在明白反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你，但……
I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but…
他们希望我去拿个职业学位，而我想去攻读英国文学。回想起来，当时达成了一个双方都不甚满意的妥协：我改学现代语言。可是还没等到父母的汽车在路尽头绕过街角，我立刻放弃了德语而报名学习古典文学。
They had 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 parents’car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
我想到了两个答案。在这美好的一天，当我们一起庆祝你们取得学业成就的时刻，我决定跟你们谈谈失败有什么样的益处；在你们即将迈向“现实生活”的道路之际，我还要褒扬关键性的想象力的重要性。
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, 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.
这些似乎是不切实际或自相矛盾的选择，但请先容我讲完。
These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.
回顾21岁刚刚毕业时的自己，对于今天42岁的我来说，是一个稍微不太舒服的经历。可以说，我人生的前一部分，一直挣扎在自己的雄心和身边的人对我的期望之间。
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 uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是写小说。不过，我的父母，他们都来自贫穷的不为人所注意的地方，都没有上过大学，坚持认为我过度的想象力是一个令人惊讶的个人怪癖，根本不足以让我偿还贷款，或者取得足够的养老金。
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.
我现在明白反讽就像用卡通铁砧去打击你，但……
I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but…
他们希望我去拿个职业学位，而我想去攻读英国文学。回想起来，当时达成了一个双方都不甚满意的妥协：我改学现代语言。可是还没等到父母的汽车在路尽头绕过街角，我立刻放弃了德语而报名学习古典文学。
They had 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 parents’car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.