午夜的一課

詹姆斯·Q.杜邦

Ever since one midnight in 1909， when I first heard my mother crying， I have been groping for beliefs to help me through the rough going and confusions of life. My dads voice was low and troubled as he tried to comfort Mother. And in their anguish， they both forgot the nearness of my bedroom. I overheard them. I was only seven then， and while their problem of that time has long been solved and forgotten， the big discovery I made that night is still right with me： life is not all hearts and flowers; its hard and cruel for most of us much of the time. We all have troubles—they just differ in nature—thats all. And that leads to my first belief.

I believe the human race is very， very tough—almost impossible to discourage. If it wasnt， then why do we have such words as “l(fā)augh” and “sing” and “music” and “dance”—in the language of all mankind since the beginning of recorded time？ This belief makes me downright proud to be a human being.

Next， I believe there is good and evil in all of us. Thomas Mann comes close to expressing what Im trying to say with his carefully worded sentence about the “frightfully radical duality” between the brain and the beast in man—in all of us.

This belief helps me because so long as I remember that there are certain forces of evil ever present in me—and never forget that there is also a divine spark of goodness in me， too—then I find the “score” of my bad mistakes at the end of each day is greatly reduced. “Forewarned of evil， is half the battle against it.” I believe in trying to be charitable， in trying to understand and forgive people， especially in trying to forgive very keen or brilliant people. A man may be a genius， but he can still do things that practically break your heart.

I believe most if not all of our very finest thoughts and many of our finest deeds must be kept to ourselves alone—at least until after we die. This used to confuse me. But now I realize that by their very nature， these finest things we do and cannot talk about are a sort of secret preview of a better life to come. I believe there is no escape from the rule that we must do many， many little things to accomplish even just one big thing. This gives me patience when I need it most.

And then I believe in having the courage to be myself. Or perhaps I should say， to be honest with myself. Sometimes this is practically impossible， but Im sure I should always try.

自1909年的一個(gè)午夜第一次聽(tīng)到母親哭泣以來(lái)，我一直尋找信念幫我度過(guò)生活中的艱辛與困惑。父親安慰母親時(shí)，聲音低沉而憂郁。極度的痛苦讓他們忘記我的臥室就在附近。我無(wú)意中聽(tīng)到了他們的談話，那時(shí)我只有七歲。盡管他們當(dāng)時(shí)的問(wèn)題早已得到解決并被遺忘，但那一晚的重大發(fā)現(xiàn)仍然教導(dǎo)我：生活并不總是充滿鮮花和愛(ài)情。許多時(shí)候生活對(duì)于我們大多數(shù)人來(lái)說(shuō)艱辛而殘酷。我們都有煩惱，只是煩惱的性質(zhì)不同，僅此而已。這就是我的第一個(gè)信念。

我相信人類十分堅(jiān)強(qiáng)，幾乎不可能感到灰心沮喪。如若不然，為何有史以來(lái)人類所有的語(yǔ)言中都有“歡笑”“歌唱”“音樂(lè)”和“舞蹈”這樣的詞呢？這一信念讓我無(wú)比自豪，因?yàn)槲沂且粋€(gè)人。

其次，我相信我們都有善惡兩面。托馬斯·曼字斟句酌地闡述了人類（我們所有人）身上存在的理智與獸性這一“極基本的雙重性”時(shí)，幾乎道出了我的觀點(diǎn)。

這種信念讓我受益，因?yàn)橹灰涀∽约荷砩弦恢贝嬖谥承┬皭旱牧α俊矎奈赐涀约荷砩弦灿猩系圪n予的善良火花——我就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)每天結(jié)束時(shí)，錯(cuò)誤和悔恨的“得分”大大降低。可見(jiàn)“事先警惕惡行是與之斗爭(zhēng)成功的一半”。我相信人要盡量樂(lè)善好施，要盡量理解和寬恕別人，尤其要寬恕特別敏銳和聰慧的人。一個(gè)人或許是天才，但他也會(huì)做出讓你傷心的事情。

我相信，即使不是全部，大多數(shù)我們提出的最富創(chuàng)意的思想，大多數(shù)我們實(shí)施的最富成果的行為，都不應(yīng)讓人知道是我們提出和實(shí)施的——至少要到我們?nèi)ナ乐蟛拍茏屓酥馈＿@一點(diǎn)過(guò)去常常讓我感到困惑，但如今我明白，我們完成這些最美妙的事情卻秘而不宣，實(shí)質(zhì)上是在暗地里預(yù)見(jiàn)未來(lái)更美好的生活。我相信我們必須做許許多多小事才能成就大事，哪怕只有一件大事。這一規(guī)律無(wú)法逃避。這種信念使我在最需要辦大事的時(shí)候很耐心。

還有，我相信要有勇氣還自己本色。或許我應(yīng)該說(shuō)，要對(duì)自己實(shí)事求是。有時(shí)這幾乎不可能，但我確信我應(yīng)該永遠(yuǎn)努力為之。

Word Study

anguish /'??gw??/ n. 劇痛;極度痛苦;苦惱

downright /'da?nra?t/ adv. 徹頭徹尾地，十足地，完全地

Its not just stupid—its downright dangerous.

charitable /'t??r?t?bl/ adj. 慈善的;行善的;布施的

His later years were devoted largely to charitable work.