“The Finish Line Is the Starting Point”“終點(diǎn)即起點(diǎn)”

文森特·E.普賴斯

We are gathered here this beautiful morning， this unseasonably cold morning， in historic Wallace Wade Stadium， the site of many joyful triumphs over the years.

在這個美麗的早晨，天氣異常寒冷，我們聚集在歷史悠久的華萊士·韋德體育場，多年來這里見證了許多令人喜悅的勝利。

The Classics scholars among you may know that the word ‘stadium comes from the Latin for the standard distance of a footrace. And a race may be what many of you may feel youve just completed—an extraordinary run with unforeseen turns along the way. And to be sure， youve earned the opportunity to sit here and to revel at the finish line， with your fans surrounding you.

你們當(dāng)中的古典文學(xué)學(xué)者可能知道，“體育場”這個詞來自拉丁語，指的是賽跑的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)距離。今天在座的許多人也許感覺剛剛完成了一場賽跑——沿路一個個彎道突現(xiàn)，比賽驚心動魄。不過可以肯定的是，你們已經(jīng)贏得了坐在這里的機(jī)會，在終點(diǎn)線上，粉絲環(huán)繞，盡情狂歡。

And you may also feel that you are just beginning another race—one with its own turns and hurdles—and a finish line that seems impossibly far off.

同時也許你會覺得自己剛剛又開始一場新的賽跑——會遇到各種新的彎道和路障——而終點(diǎn)線似乎遙不可及。

Though its gone now， there used to be a track here， and it was here in this stadium that the great Al Buehler， who spent six decades at Duke， coached track and field.

這里原先有一條跑道，雖然現(xiàn)在沒有了。了不起的阿爾·比勒曾在杜克大學(xué)擔(dān)任田徑教練，執(zhí)教六十余年。

It was right here that Coach Buehler brought out2 the best in All-Americans3， ACC4 Champions， and Olympians—a hall-of-fame5 career that led none other than6 Mike Krzyzewski7 to say that， quote， “Al defines the word Coach， and sets an example for all of us.”

正是在這里，比勒教練讓全美最佳運(yùn)動員、大西洋海岸聯(lián)盟賽冠軍和奧運(yùn)會選手發(fā)揮出了最好的競技水平——他的執(zhí)教生涯如此輝煌，甚至邁克·克日熱夫斯基都評價道：“阿爾定義了教練這個詞，為我們所有人樹立了榜樣。”

What the runners hes coached over those many years most appreciate is his quiet wisdom， and a guiding philosophy built around three core principles.

多年來，他指導(dǎo)過的賽跑選手最欣賞他言不在多的智慧，以及他圍繞三個核心原則建立起來的指導(dǎo)理念。

First， you set up your own race.

第一，規(guī)劃自己的賽跑。

What he meant by this was to prepare， and train， and keep on learning. Youve all learned this lesson time and again here at Duke， in late nights in the library and endless hours poring over problem sets. And today， you are ready at the starting line.

比勒的意思是做好準(zhǔn)備、堅持訓(xùn)練，并不斷鞭策自己學(xué)習(xí)。在杜克大學(xué)，你們一次又一次地學(xué)習(xí)這一門課，比如在圖書館里熬夜苦讀，無休無止地鉆研習(xí)題。今天，你們終于站在了起跑線上。

None of us knows the future， but setting up our own race， imagining what we want， and training for it， will help us step off with purpose and with confidence.

我們誰也無法預(yù)知未來，可是，規(guī)劃自己的賽跑，設(shè)想自己所求，并且為此不斷訓(xùn)練，這能幫助我們目標(biāo)明確、信心百倍地出發(fā)。

Coach Buehlers second principle was to stay conscious. He said， “Dont just plod along—think.”

比勒教練的第二個原則是保持清醒。他說，“別只悶頭跑——要思考。”

As an undergraduate runner at the University of Maryland， Buehler kept a piece of tape on the insole of his spikes with the question “why” scrawled on it. And when the going got tough8， when his lungs were burning on a cold morning like this， or the lactic acid9 was building up in his legs， he would feel that tape against his foot and he would ask himself—“why？ Why am I doing this？”—and he would remember the answer—“because I enjoy doing it， and I am good at it.”

比勒曾是馬里蘭大學(xué)的一名田徑本科生。他在自己的釘鞋鞋墊上貼了一塊膠帶，上面潦草地寫著“為什么”。每當(dāng)訓(xùn)練接近極限，肺部在像今天這樣的寒冷清晨都燒得難受，或雙腿酸痛難耐，他就會感覺到腳底貼著的膠帶，就會問自己——“為什么？我為什么要練跑步？”——他也會想起自己的答案——“因為我喜愛跑步，我擅長跑步。”

The reward for all that preparation， for all that getting ready， are those breakthrough moments—the words that finally came to you in that paper， that key finding from an experiment， perhaps， or the flawless performance of a piece you rehearsed time and again—those wonderful moments when you feel you could run forever.

所有的辛苦準(zhǔn)備，所有的未雨綢繆，最好的回報就是那些突破性時刻——或許是寫論文有了靈感，實驗有了重要發(fā)現(xiàn)，抑或是反復(fù)排練的一場表演終入佳境——在那些美妙的時刻，你感覺自己可以永遠(yuǎn)地跑下去。

Here， at the start， remember that in the turns and the stumbles and the hurdles to come， a joyful breakthrough might be just ahead.

讓我們從一開始就記住，前方少不了彎道、磕絆和路障，但令人喜不自禁的突破也許就在不遠(yuǎn)處。

Coach Buehlers third principle was teamwork.

比勒教練的第三條原則是團(tuán)隊合作。

In his office， he had a reminder posted on the wall to always take good care of those you love. You are surrounded here today by people who love you—families and friends and classmates and faculty. In moments of uncertainty， you can turn to them for support and wisdom and guidance.

他的辦公室墻上貼了一張?zhí)崾緱l，提醒自己要始終好好照顧心中所愛之人。今天，你們身邊環(huán)繞著深愛你們的人——家人、朋友、同學(xué)和老師。彷徨不定時，你們可以向他們尋求支持、智慧和指導(dǎo)。

Coach Buehler believes that these guiding principles can carry you through any of the races ahead. But there will be times when despite the breakthroughs， despite your best prepar-ation， despite the love and the support of your family and friends， it just wont be your day.

比勒教練相信，這些指導(dǎo)原則可以幫助你們順利完成未來人生路上的任何賽跑。然而，免不了有些時候，盡管你們?nèi)〉昧烁鞣N突破，做了充分準(zhǔn)備，有家人和朋友的愛與支持，你們?nèi)匀粵]有獲得最后的成功。

And at these moments， I hope you will remember that life is so much more than a race from a starting line to a finish.

這個時候，我希望你們記住：生活絕不僅僅是一場從起點(diǎn)到終點(diǎn)的賽跑。

Heres where Coach Buehlers best advice comes in： “the finish line is the starting point.” Or to put it in another way， whatever our standing in the race we think were running， life goes on. This is a commencement， yes; but our education—our growth as learners， as citizens， professionals， as good and thoughtful people—is a continuous process and its not marked by beginnings and ends.

這里就得引出比勒教練的至理忠言：“終點(diǎn)亦即起點(diǎn)。”換言之，在我們設(shè)想的這場賽跑中，無論我們位次如何，生活都在繼續(xù)。這是一場畢業(yè)典禮，沒錯，但是我們的教育——我們作為學(xué)習(xí)者、公民、專業(yè)人士，作為優(yōu)秀且有思想的人不斷成長——是一個持續(xù)的過程，沒有起點(diǎn)和終點(diǎn)。

The joy， the deep meaning， that sense of purpose and fulfillment， is in the running itself.

由衷的喜悅，深刻的含義，目標(biāo)感和成就感，都蘊(yùn)含于奔跑本身之中。

Our disappointments or challenges are really opportunities for growth and preparation for whats to come. Our breakthroughs are really reminders to stay fully conscious in the moment. And sometimes we only recognize the course weve been running when we stop to rest， and we turn around. And we come to understand that ours is just one leg of a relay， and we hand off that baton to a new runner， fresh to take our effort further than we ever could.

我們遭遇的失望或挑戰(zhàn)其實是成長的機(jī)遇，是為即將到來的一切做準(zhǔn)備。我們所取得的突破性成就其實是在提醒我們，要在當(dāng)下保持完全清醒。有時，我們只在停下休息并轉(zhuǎn)身回望時才會認(rèn)清自己一路奔跑的路途。我們開始明白，自己跑的只是接力全程中的一段，我們會交棒給新來者，他們抖擻精神，接力前行，奔向我們未曾抵達(dá)的遠(yuǎn)方。

The love and the support of our families and teammates along way should remind you of the fact that we are all in this together， all of us—that whatever the hurdle ahead or the hill we have to climb， others have been there， too， and are pulling for us to succeed.

一路上，家人、隊友的愛與支持會提醒你一個事實：我們并肩同行，彼此依靠——無論前方有怎樣的障礙，必須翻越怎樣的高山，別人也曾經(jīng)歷過，而且他們正努力為我們加油，鼓勵我們走向成功。

Duke Class of 2022， as you break the tape10 over this finish line， as you celebrate this triumph and look ahead with excitement to all those triumphs to come， allow me to say congratulations. We cannot wait to see where the trail takes you from here—and know that well be pulling for you all the way.

杜克大學(xué)2022屆全體同學(xué)們，當(dāng)你們沖過終點(diǎn)線時，當(dāng)你們歡慶這場勝利、興奮地展望未來將會取得的所有勝利時，請允許我向你們表示祝賀。我們已經(jīng)迫不及待地想看到你們從此將一路走向何方——我們會一直為你們加油助威。

（譯者單位：中央民族大學(xué)）

1杜克大學(xué)校長。本文是2022年他在華萊士·韋德體育館為畢業(yè)典禮而做的演講。

2 bring sth out使顯現(xiàn)。? 3 all-American（被選為）全美最佳的。? 4 = Atlantic Coast Conference美國的大學(xué)體育聯(lián)盟之一，創(chuàng)立于1953年，其最著名的賽事為男子籃球。? 5 Hall of Fame（統(tǒng)稱體育運(yùn)動等領(lǐng)域的）代表人物，出類拔萃者，佼佼者。此處hall-of-fame用作形容詞。? 6 none other than sb/sth（用于表示吃驚或興奮）竟然，正是。? 7杜克大學(xué)籃球隊前主帥，綽號“K教練”（Coach K），曾作為美國男籃主帥多次率隊奪得世界大賽冠軍。

8 when the going gets tough （the tough get going） 當(dāng)條件變得艱苦時，當(dāng)進(jìn)展變得困難時（隱含有志者更勇往直前之意）。? 9 lactic acid乳酸。

10 tape終點(diǎn)線。