by Robert Louis Stevenson
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove
I should not linger here,
But through the winter air toward my love,
Fly swift toward my love, my fair,
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove.
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove,
And knew the secrets of the air,
I should be gone, my lady, to my love,
To kiss the sweet disparting of her hair,
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove.
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove,
This hour should see my soul at rest,
Should see me safe, my lady, with my love,
To kiss the sweet division of her breast,
If I had wings, my lady, like a dove.
For all is sweet, my lady, in my love;
Sweet hair, sweet breast and sweeter eyes
That draw my soul, my lady, like a dove
Drawn southward by the shining of the skies;
For all is sweet, my lady, in my love.
If I could die, my lady, with my love,
Die, mouth to mouth, a splendid death,
I should take wing, my lady, like a dove,
To spend upon her lips my all of breath,
If I could die, my lady, with my love.
It’s 10 o’clock, after getting a bite to eat you feel tired from a long week of work and decide to leave your friends early and head home. As you walk down the street you look up at the sound of clanking bottles. You see a trash can leaned over with a figure shuffling through. Is it a raccoon? A dog? You carefully proceed, hugging the wall away from the trash can. As you get closer, you realize it’s not an animal, it’s wearing shoes. There is a cart and a large bag you didn’t notice before. The racket stops and a head emerges. It’s an elderly Chinese woman. Your eyes meet as you walk by not knowing what to say. What should you do?
When we think of Chinese people in America, we usually have 2 thoughts, first off our Chinese teachers- professional, well off, fluent in two languages or secondly that lady at the Chinese restaurant your Mom always tells you to talk to. When I think of immigrants from China, I think of the grandma I mentioned. I respect her. I admire her. She wasn’t looking for food or simply trying to steal, she was gathering bottles and cans she could take to be recycled for pocket change. Without knowing a word of English and unfamiliar as to how to get help, she does what other senior citizens at the park told her to do. I have a problem with this- grandmas sorting through trash to earn change. The biggest question is however, what are we going to do?
We have been given a gift- a very powerful gift, tools to change lives in a powerful way. I hear many of my classmates’ goals- go to China and teach English, do international business, marry a Chinese girl. These are all fantastic goals! Through these goals, you will come to deeply understand the Chinese language and culture. As a country, we need good international businessmen and women. We need intelligent diplomats. But that isn’t all we need. We need volunteers at elementary schools so that ESL students don’t fall behind in class. We need translators at hospitals and courts that can explain complicated procedures. We need servers at soup kitchens that not only serve food, but cross language barriers to offer encouragement.
Chinese immigrants are not the only ones in need of help, but because of your ability and talent with the language, they are the ones you can help best. He cannot continue to hold a blind eye.
Even now I remember from the time I was 4 and 5 years old how I developed the interests I still have today. There are primarily 3 major things that were introduced to me at that time that would shape me and envelop my thinking even to this day. They are my love and appreciation for nature and wildlife. My endless fascination with combat and conceptions of what it is to be strong. Finally Christianity, the Old Testament bible stories I heard as a child and becoming familiar with 3 major Christian virtues, Faith, Hope and Love.
现在我仍然记得4岁到5岁的时候,我就开始对一些事情感兴趣,而且这些兴趣我至今仍然保留着。 当时我主要接触到了有三样事物,这些事物随后塑造了我的人生,并至今影响着我的思想。这几样事物就是,第一, 热爱和欣赏大自然和野生动物。第二,热衷于格斗并且确立我关于强大的观念。 最后, 我作为一个孩子听到的旧约圣经的让我故事,了解了基督教的三大美德:信仰,希望和爱。
As I thought back on my own life I began to notice a fascinating trend which is how I tend to consider the past in everything. My love and appreciation for nature somehow shifted to a heavy focus on Dinosaurs. To become a Paleontologist was my dream when I was little. My fascination with combat and conceptions of “true strength” become stronger the older I grew. I got in a lot of fights as a child until I finally started practicing martial arts for myself, which lead me to become very interested in the history of combat, particularly its philosophies. Christianity is special, as it started with stories of the past, however it caused me to look even heavier at the rest of the ancient world.
当我回想自己的生活时,我开始注意到我有一个非常有趣的趋势,那就这是我对过去的一切都很着迷。 我对大自然的爱和欣赏让我对恐龙非常感兴趣。,我小时候的梦想就是成为古生物学家。我长大一点后,
对格斗的兴趣越大,我也越来越想知道什么才是真正的强大。我小时候常常跟人打架,后来我开始练武术。练武术让我对格斗史开始感兴趣,特别是它的哲学方面。 至于说基督教,那是特别的,因为它是过去的故事开始,它使我对古代世界的历史发生了浓厚的兴趣。
These 3 things have been like the cornerstone of my life, it is even the foundation for my interest in studying language. Considering the past has had a major impact on my thinking and actions, which is what I’d like to express today. That is, why the past is significant for all of mankind to consider and be aware of; so to that end I have a few points which I will say succinctly.
这三件事情一直像我一生的基石,甚至是我对学习语言产生兴趣的基础。 对历史的关注对我的思考和行为有重大影响,这是我今天所表达的。 我想说,为什么人类应该重视历史。为此我有几点要简洁地说一下。
Each new generation must learn everything all over again. They will make mistakes that have already been made. No matter the trends of the time, those trends will change and then be repeated again in another way. Like the tide which rolls in over and over again yet every crash of the wave is different. In the 1000s and 900s B.C. a man named Solomon was king over the nation of Israel who was said to have been more wealthy and wiser than any king before and after him. An excerpt of his, specifically taken from his “Ecclesiastes” he repeats several times that “There is nothing new under the sun, all is vanity”. He’s not referring to innovation here, however that the states and affairs of men are principally repeated and that the desires and dreams of people, whether to love or to despise, conquer or defend are the same. That the whole purpose of mankind is to love God and keep his commandments. In short, he is on a very basic level saying that no matter when or who, people are people. That more so than wealth or whatever human beings have a basic spiritual and moral need.
每个新的一代都必须重新学习一切。他们会犯前人已经犯过的错误。无论历史的趋势是什么,这些趋势将再次以另一种方式重复自己。像潮流一样一遍又一遍,但每一次浪潮又有所不同。公元前1000年到900年,有一个名叫所罗门的人,是以色列国的国王,据说他比之前和之后的国王都更富有和更聪明。可是圣经里的《传道书》记载着他说过几次这样的话,“日 光 之 下 並 無 新 事 ,,都是虚荣”。他这里不是指创新,而是人类社会的状态和事务都是重,人们的欲望和梦想,无论是爱还是鄙视,征服还是捍卫,都是一样的。人类的全部目的就是要爱上帝,遵守他的诫命。简而言之,他在一个非常基本的层面上说,无论什么时候,无论是谁, 人就是人。比起财富什么的来,更重要的是人都有基本的精神和道德需要。
Let me give you some examples, do you think there is a period in antiquity where there was no one who sought after status or wealth? No, even primitive peoples had their own way of doing this. Do you think this point in history is the only time when there have been people who accept homosexuality or even women’s rights? In ancient Israel for example did you know women were allowed to own land and deny any marriage suiters according to the law, which is there God given right? We can all learn a lot from the experiences of our forefathers and their forefathers, if we are patient and allow ourselves to be open to the truth.
让我举几个例子,你认为在古代有一个时期,没有人追求地位或财富吗? 不,甚至原始人也以自己的方式追求这些。 你认为历史上只有某个时期人们接受同性恋甚至妇女权利吗? 你知不知道,,在古代以色列,按照律法,妇女可以u拥有土地,可以拒绝任何男人的求婚,而律法则是神给予的权利?如果我们耐心,能够打开心灵接受真实,我们可以从祖先的经验中学到很多东西,。
My last point is that the knowledge of our past fills an emptiness in our hearts. If you have ever been interested in your own family history then you can already understand this. We can be compared to a tree, when it grows it doesn’t put all its energy into developing its height without growing a more stable root system, does it? Otherwise it could only reach so high. In this same way as we bear the reins to our futures we don’t lead ourselves out of an absolute darkness but out of the light of our parents, teachers, friends, country and world.
我的最后一点是,我们关于历史的知识填充了我们心中的空虚。 如果您对自己的家族历史感兴趣,那么您已经可以理解这一点了。 我们可以被比作一棵树,当它生长时,它不会只往上长,不往下长。? 否则的话,它能达到的高度一定很有限。 同样的,当我们向着未来策马前进的时候,我们留在身后的,并不是绝对无知的黑暗时代,而是我们的父母,老师,朋友,国家乃至世界曾经带给我们的光明。
It was once said by George Santayana that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” Well, I’d have to say that even while remembering the past we are still likely to repeat it however having some food is better than no food at all.
乔治·桑塔亚那曾经说过,“那些不记得过去的人注定会重复历史”我不得不说,即使记得过去,我们仍然可能会把历史重复一遍,但是有一些食物总比没有 食物的好。
My Ambition
By YUE Fei
Translated by FANG Huzhai
My angry hair pops up my hat
By the rail
I watch the slowing down of the rain
Looking far
Facing up the sky
I cry out of my ambition
My thirty years’ fame is nothing but dust
Clouds and the moon saw me in many a campaign
Still I should exert myself
Lest my white hair
Should see me in sadness in vain
The revenge against the enemy
Has yet to be sought
When can a subject’s hate
Be finally pacified?
I want to drive my chariot
To crush open the Helan Pass
I vow to devour the flesh of normad captives
And laugh in talking while drinking their blood
When one day again
My country’ land is free from their invasion
I will bow to the emperor in reign
好了歌
方壶斋译
All say gods are good
But achieving fame one still should
Where are the ancient generals and ministers
Under grassy graves they lie cold
All say gods are good
But hoarding money one still should
In life time one can never be satisfied
When satisfied he is to be nailed in wood
All say gods are good
But having a young wife one still should
In life time she says she loves you forever
Should you die, quickly remarry she surely would
All say gods are good
But having children one still should
Loving parents there are many indeed
But how many sons are in dutiful mood?