双语对照 ● The Mirror　镜子的人生哲理

The Mirror　镜子的人生哲理

◎ Robert Fulghum

“Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

“帕帕德罗斯博士，生命的价值是什么？”

The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go.

嘲笑者们又像往常一样笑了起来，人们喧闹着要走。

Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.

帕帕德罗斯举起手，示意教室里的人安静。然后，他久久地凝视着我，似乎在审查我是不是认真的。从我的眼神中，他看出我并不是在开玩笑。

“I will answer your question.”

“我会回答你的问题。”

Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold[20]and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.

他从裤子后面的口袋里掏出皮夹子，从里面拿出一块小圆镜，大小与一个2角5分的硬币差不多。

And what he said went like this:

而后，他这样说道：

“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.

“在战争时期，我还是个小男孩，那时家里很穷，我们住在一个偏僻的小村庄里。有一天，我在马路上发现了许多镜子碎片。曾有一辆德国摩托车在那里发生了事故。

“I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest, and, by scratching it on a stone, I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine—in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.

“我试着找到所有的碎片，把它们拼起来，但这是不可能做到的，所以我只留下了那块最大的碎片。在石头上打磨成圆形以后就成了这个样子。我开始拿着它当玩具，发现自己能用它把光线反射到黑暗的地方：深洞、裂缝、漆黑的壁橱等太阳无法照亮的地方。所以，我非常喜欢它，把它当成一种游戏——让光线进入我能找到的最隐蔽的地方。

“I kept the little mirror, and, as I went about nay growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light—truth, understanding, knowledge—is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.

“这块小镜子我至今仍保留着，并且，随着自己慢慢地成长，空闲的时候，我还会把它拿出来，继续这种富于挑战的游戏。等我长大成人后，便逐渐明白了，这不仅是一个孩子的游戏，更暗示着我的人生价值。我开始知道自己不是光芒，也不能发出光芒。但是真理、理解和知识这些光芒就在那里，它会照亮许多黑暗的地方，只要我去反射的话。

“I am a fragment[21]of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world—into the black places in the hearts of men—and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”

“我是一面镜子的一块碎片，尽管整个镜子的式样和形状我并不知道。但是，我竭尽所能地反射光芒，照亮世界上那些黑暗的地方——照亮人们心灵的黑暗处——让一些人有所改变。也许有人看到后也会跟我做同样的事。这就是我，这就是我的人生价值。”

美丽语录

You’ve got a smile that could light up this whole world.

你有一种笑容，可以照亮整个世界。

超多双语阅读，尽在听力课堂