芭芭拉·布什 韦尔斯利学院毕业典礼演讲

英文：

Commencement Address atWellesleyCollege  (Barbara Bush)

  Wellesley, you see, is notjust a place but an idea-an experiment in excellence in which diversity is not just tolerated, but is embraced.The essence of this spirit was captured in amoving speech about tolerance given last year by a student body president ofone of your sister colleges. She related the story by Robert Fulghum about ayoung pastor, finding himself in charge of some very energetic children, hitsupon a game called “Giants, Wizards, and Dwarfs.”“You have to decide now,” the pastor instructed the children, “which you are-agiant, a wizard or a dwarf?” At that, a small girl tugging at his pants leg,asked, “But where do the mermaids stand?” And the pastor tells her there are no mermaids. And she says, “Oh yes, there are. I ammermaid.”

  Where do themermaids stand? All of those who are different, those who do not fit the boxesand the pigeonholes? “Answer that question,”wrote Fulghum, “and you can build a school, a nation, or a whole world,” Asthat very wise young woman said, “Diversity, like anything worth having,requires effort. Effort to learn about and respect difference, to becompassionate with one another, to cherish our own identity, and to acceptunconditionally the same in others.”

   You shouldall be very proud that this is theWellesleyspirit. You have a first-class education from a first-class school. And so youneed not, probably cannot, live a “paint-by-numbers” life. Decisions are not irrevocable. Choices do come back. And as you setoff fromWellesley,I hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.

   The first isto believe in something larger than yourself, to get involved in some of thebig ideas of our time. I chose literacy because I honestly believe that if morepeople could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer tosolving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.

   And early on I made another choice, which I hope you’llmake as well. Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you’retaking about life-and life really must have joy. It’s supposed to be fun! Findthe joy in life, because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off, “Life movespretty fast; and you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you’re gonnamiss it!”

   The thirdchoice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: yourrelationships with family and friends. For several years, you’ve had impressedupon you the importance to your career, dedication and hard work. And, ofcourse, that’s true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, alawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first, And those humanconnections-with spouses, with children, with friends-are the most important investment you will ever make.

   At the end ofyour life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning onemore verdict, or not closing one more deal.You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happensin the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

   For overfifty years, it was said that the winner ofWellesley’s annual hoop race would be thefirst to get married. Now they say, the winner will be the first to become aCEO. Both of those stereotypes show toolittle tolerance for those who want to know where the mermaids stand. So I wantto offer a new legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realizeher dream-not society’s dreams-her own personal dream.

中文对照：在韦尔斯利学院毕业典礼上的演讲 （芭芭拉·布什）

   你们看，韦尔斯利，不仅是一个地方，还是一种理念——一种对美德的考验。在此其中，多元化不仅得到包容，而且还受到拥护，一个来自你们姐妹院校学生团体的主席，在去年一个关于宽容的感人演讲中，已经把握住了这种精神的实质。她谈到发生在罗伯特·富而冈身上的一个故事，说的是一个年轻牧师带着一群非常活泼好动的孩子。无意中他碰上一个叫做“巨人、巫师和矮子”的游戏。“现在你们要决定啦，”他提醒那些小朋友，“你自己是哪一种人：巨人、巫师、还是矮子？”他正说着，一个小女孩拽着他的裤腿问道：“但是美人鱼呢？”那牧师就告诉她没有美人鱼。但是她说：“有啊，有的，我就是一条美人鱼。”

   美人鱼的位置在哪儿？那些与众不同，不适合常规定位，不适合传统类别的人的位置又在哪儿？“如果你能回答那个问题，”富而冈写道，“那么你就能以此办一所学校，建立一个国家或者整个世界。”正如那个聪明绝顶的女孩子所说的，“多样化，如同所有值得存在的东西那样，需要人们付出努力——努力去了解和尊重人之间的差异，互相爱护，珍惜自己的独特个性，同时无条件地接纳别人同样具有的独特品质。”

   你们大家都应该以这就是韦尔斯利的精神而自豪。你们拥有来自一流学校的一流教育。所以你们不需要，很可能也不允许，过一种“墨守成规”的生活。决定并非无可挽回；选择确实还可以重来。在你们离开韦尔斯利之际，我希望你们中许多人会考虑作出三个十分特别的选择。

   第一个选择是，信仰某些比你自身更为博大的东西，并参与到我们这个时代一些大的构想之中。我之所以选择了读写识字能力，是因为我真诚地相信，多一些人能读会写，会理解，更利于我们解决诸多滋扰国家和社会的问题。

   早前，我做了另一个选择——我希望你们也同样会这样选择。无论你们谈论的是教育、职业生涯还是其它服务，你们说的都是生活——生活实在要有乐趣：生活还应该是好玩的！寻找生活的乐趣吧，因为就像费里斯·巴勒在他自己的假日里说的：“人生过得飞快，要是你不偶尔停一停，到处瞧一瞧，你就会错过它啦！”

   三个你一定不要错过的选择就是，珍惜你的人际关系——你和家人朋友之间的关系。有好几年，你只记得成就自己的事业以及积极投身工作何其重要。当然，那是对的。但是，和你作为医生、律师、商界领袖的职责一样重要的还有一样东西，那就是，你首先是人类的一员。而那些人际关系——夫妻之间的，父母与孩子之间的，朋友之间的——会是你最重要的投资。

   在人生结束之时，你决不会因又一次考试不及格，又输了一场官司或是又丢了一桩生意而悔恨；你会为自己没花时间与丈夫、孩子、朋友和父母在一起而后悔。你家庭的幸福，我们整个社会的幸福并不取决于白宫里发生的一切，而在于你自己家里发生的一切。

   有五十多年的时间，人们都说每年韦尔斯利学院携圈赛跑的冠军会是最快嫁出去的人；现在他们说，冠军会最先成为首席执行官。这两种版本的说法，对于那些想知道美人鱼的位置的人都过于苛刻了。因此我想提出一个新的说法：携圈赛跑的冠军会是最早意识到自己梦想的人——这个梦想并非社会之梦，而是她个人独有之想。

注释：

diversity    n. 差异，多样性

essence      n. 本质，精髓

dwarf        n.  矮子，侏儒

mermaid     n. 美人鱼

pigeonhole   n. 鸽巢，分类架

irrevocable  a. 不能取消的，不可挽回的

early on     在早期，早先

 investment  n. 投资，可获利的东西

 verdict      n. 裁定，定论

stereotype   n. 陈规，老套