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英语原文:
Audrey Hepburn,
An Elegant Spirit
Although she was never an ardent follower of any formal religion, my mother’s own faith endured throughout her life: her faith in love, her faith in the miracle of nature, and her faith in the goodness of life. She honored this second chance at life at every opportunity that presented itself and most of all at the end of her life, through her work for UNICEF.
Sometimes a near-death experience can free us of the shackles that life slowly trains us to wear. We come to realize what’s worth the sweat and what isn’t. Although she had no memory of her childhood near-death experience, the knowledge of it, coupled with the fertile ground of an already self-effacing nature, were the roots of the humility that graced her entire life.
I never heard her say, “I did this,” or “I’ve done that.” Toward the end of her life, throughout the UNICEF years, I would hear her say regularly, as the world listened to her, “I can do very little.” I never heard her say that she liked any of her performances. When people complimented her, she would always shy away and ultimately explain how those who surrounded her were the reason for her success.
Bessie Anderson Stanley wrote, “To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”
By Ms. Stanley’s standards, my mother’s life was a success: She was graced with good choices. The first choice she made was her career. Then she chose her family. And when we, her children, were grown and had started our lives, she chose the less fortunate children of the world. She chose to give back. In that important choice lay the key to healing and understanding something that had affected her throughout her entire life: the sadness that had always been there.
Her choices healed the sadness of a little girl who didn’t know her father for most of her life and yet who yearned and longed for that warm embrace, that reassurance that you are loved and that you matter. When I look back, that is just what she gave to Luca and me: the reassurance that we were loved and that we mattered. This was the most valuable essence, the roots that live and grow forever inside you. She truly was a wonderful mother and friend.
译文:
奥黛丽·赫本
—— 一位拥有高尚灵魂的使者
尽管我的母亲赫本从来不是任何正式宗教的虔诚教徒,但她的一生始终坚持着自己的信仰:她信仰爱,信仰大自然的神迹,信仰人生的美好。她珍视上天赐予她的第二次生命,并抓住所有机会予以回报,这尤其体现在她晚年还为联合国儿童基金会积极地付出。
生活的磨砺使人们渐渐套上了精神的枷锁,有时,只有一次濒死的经历才能将我们从这些枷锁中解脱出来,让我们悟出什么值得为之辛苦奋斗、什么不值得。虽然我母亲对童年时濒临死亡的经历记忆不深,但她对这种经历的认识,再加上她谦让淡泊的天性,谦逊的种子就此生根发芽,造就了她一生的绚烂。
她从来不会表功,说“这是我做的”、“那是我干的”。在她晚年服务于联合国儿童基金会的时候,我时常听到她说的正如世人所知的一样,即“我能做的太少”。她从来不曾提及对自己的表演或业绩感到满意和欣喜。人们赞美她,她会羞怯地回避,并解释说,她的成功要归功于身边的人。
贝茜·安德森·斯坦利曾写道:“能笑口常开;能赢得智者的尊重、孩子的青睐;能博得正直评论家的赏识;能承受虚情假意朋友的背叛;能欣赏美、发现他人的优点;能留给世界些许美好,哪怕只是一个健康的孩子、一小片花园、一个改善的社会条件;能因为你的存在让另一个生命更畅快地呼吸……这些都是成功。”
按照斯坦利女士的标准,我母亲无疑是成功的,她的生命因为其明智的选择而熠熠生辉。她做出的第一个选择是她的事业。然后是家庭。当她的孩子,也就是我们长大独立后,她又选择了世界上那些不幸的孩子。她选择了回报世界。无处不在的悲伤影响了她的一生,而这个重要选择则是她治愈、理解这种悲伤的关键。
她的选择抚慰了一个小女孩受伤的心。这个小女孩从小被父亲遗弃、但又渴望温暖的拥抱和那种被爱、被关怀的慰藉。追忆往昔,这也正是母亲赋予卢卡和我的:一种让我们觉得自己拥有爱、值得被爱的慰藉。这正是根植和成长在你内心最宝贵的精华。她的确是一位了不起的母亲和朋友。
Audrey Hepburn,
An Elegant Spirit
Although she was never an ardent follower of any formal religion, my mother’s own faith endured throughout her life: her faith in love, her faith in the miracle of nature, and her faith in the goodness of life. She honored this second chance at life at every opportunity that presented itself and most of all at the end of her life, through her work for UNICEF.
Sometimes a near-death experience can free us of the shackles that life slowly trains us to wear. We come to realize what’s worth the sweat and what isn’t. Although she had no memory of her childhood near-death experience, the knowledge of it, coupled with the fertile ground of an already self-effacing nature, were the roots of the humility that graced her entire life.
I never heard her say, “I did this,” or “I’ve done that.” Toward the end of her life, throughout the UNICEF years, I would hear her say regularly, as the world listened to her, “I can do very little.” I never heard her say that she liked any of her performances. When people complimented her, she would always shy away and ultimately explain how those who surrounded her were the reason for her success.
Bessie Anderson Stanley wrote, “To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”
By Ms. Stanley’s standards, my mother’s life was a success: She was graced with good choices. The first choice she made was her career. Then she chose her family. And when we, her children, were grown and had started our lives, she chose the less fortunate children of the world. She chose to give back. In that important choice lay the key to healing and understanding something that had affected her throughout her entire life: the sadness that had always been there.
Her choices healed the sadness of a little girl who didn’t know her father for most of her life and yet who yearned and longed for that warm embrace, that reassurance that you are loved and that you matter. When I look back, that is just what she gave to Luca and me: the reassurance that we were loved and that we mattered. This was the most valuable essence, the roots that live and grow forever inside you. She truly was a wonderful mother and friend.
译文:
奥黛丽·赫本
—— 一位拥有高尚灵魂的使者
尽管我的母亲赫本从来不是任何正式宗教的虔诚教徒,但她的一生始终坚持着自己的信仰:她信仰爱,信仰大自然的神迹,信仰人生的美好。她珍视上天赐予她的第二次生命,并抓住所有机会予以回报,这尤其体现在她晚年还为联合国儿童基金会积极地付出。
生活的磨砺使人们渐渐套上了精神的枷锁,有时,只有一次濒死的经历才能将我们从这些枷锁中解脱出来,让我们悟出什么值得为之辛苦奋斗、什么不值得。虽然我母亲对童年时濒临死亡的经历记忆不深,但她对这种经历的认识,再加上她谦让淡泊的天性,谦逊的种子就此生根发芽,造就了她一生的绚烂。
她从来不会表功,说“这是我做的”、“那是我干的”。在她晚年服务于联合国儿童基金会的时候,我时常听到她说的正如世人所知的一样,即“我能做的太少”。她从来不曾提及对自己的表演或业绩感到满意和欣喜。人们赞美她,她会羞怯地回避,并解释说,她的成功要归功于身边的人。
贝茜·安德森·斯坦利曾写道:“能笑口常开;能赢得智者的尊重、孩子的青睐;能博得正直评论家的赏识;能承受虚情假意朋友的背叛;能欣赏美、发现他人的优点;能留给世界些许美好,哪怕只是一个健康的孩子、一小片花园、一个改善的社会条件;能因为你的存在让另一个生命更畅快地呼吸……这些都是成功。”
按照斯坦利女士的标准,我母亲无疑是成功的,她的生命因为其明智的选择而熠熠生辉。她做出的第一个选择是她的事业。然后是家庭。当她的孩子,也就是我们长大独立后,她又选择了世界上那些不幸的孩子。她选择了回报世界。无处不在的悲伤影响了她的一生,而这个重要选择则是她治愈、理解这种悲伤的关键。
她的选择抚慰了一个小女孩受伤的心。这个小女孩从小被父亲遗弃、但又渴望温暖的拥抱和那种被爱、被关怀的慰藉。追忆往昔,这也正是母亲赋予卢卡和我的:一种让我们觉得自己拥有爱、值得被爱的慰藉。这正是根植和成长在你内心最宝贵的精华。她的确是一位了不起的母亲和朋友。