As difficult as your life can be, as cruel and unrelenting as it may get, you should hang in there. My situation seemed bleak when I first came into this world, but I have managed to carve out a fulfilling life with many rewards. And if you think I'm an exception, consider the accomplishments of one of my personal heroes, the late Christy Brown.
克里斯蒂1932年出生于愛爾蘭的都柏林,在家排行第十,他父母的22個孩子中,只有13個順利長大。克里斯蒂出生時四肢健全,但嚴重癱瘓,讓他無法移動,只能發(fā)出聲音。當時醫(yī)生都不知道他到底怎么回事,多年后,他才被診斷出有特別嚴重的腦性麻痹。
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1932, Christy was the tenth of twenty-two children in his family, though only thirteen of them survived to adulthood. Christy entered the world with all his limbs, but he was terribly crippled, so much so that he could not move and could only barely utter sounds. At the time the doctors did not know what was wrong with him. Years later he would be diagnosed with an especially severe form of cerebral palsy.
因為克里斯蒂說話不清楚,多年來,醫(yī)生一直認為他的智力也有障礙,但是他媽媽堅信他腦子沒問題,只是無法與人溝通??死锼沟俚募胰烁黄鸩粩嗯?,然后有一天,為了讓姐姐了解他的意思,克里斯蒂用左腳從她那里抓來一支粉筆——因為身體上的障礙,他全身上下只有這里能動。
Because Christy could not speak clearly, doctors thought for years that he was mentally handicapped too. His mother insisted that he had no problems mentally—he just could not communicate. She and other family members worked and worked with him. Then one day while Christy was trying to get something across to his sister, he grabbed a piece of chalk from her with his left foot. Due to his physical disabilities, it was the only part of his body he could control.
之后,克里斯蒂學習用左腳寫字、畫圖。他的家人跟我家一樣,下定決心要讓他盡可能過正常的生活,于是把他放在一部舊嬰兒車里,拉著他到處跑(大一點兒之后,就把他放在推車上)。另外,他也和我一樣熱愛游泳。后來,克里斯蒂的媽媽通過一位醫(yī)生的協(xié)助,將他送到約翰霍普金斯醫(yī)院。這位醫(yī)生后來為克里斯蒂和其他腦性麻痹人士創(chuàng)辦了一家醫(yī)院。
Christy learned to write, draw, and paint with his left foot. His family, like mine, was determined to give him as normal a life as possible, so they hauled him around in an old go-cart and then in a wagon. Like me, he became an avid swimmer. Then his mother met a doctor who helped get him admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital. This doctor later created a hospital for Christy and other cerebral palsy patients.
他也把克里斯蒂介紹給文壇,幾位愛爾蘭知名作家鼓勵克里斯蒂以詩人和作家的身份表達自己。他的處女作《我的左腳》是一本回憶錄,后來擴充成為暢銷小說《那些低潮的日子》,并改編成電影,由丹尼爾·戴·路易斯主演(他是克里斯蒂某位文友的兒子)。戴·路易斯因為這部片子,得到奧斯卡最佳男主角獎??死锼沟俸髞碛殖霭媪肆緯?,另外,他也是一位積極創(chuàng)作的畫家。
He also introduced Christy to literature, and several famous Irish writers inspired Christy to express himself as a poet and author. His first book was a memoir called My Left Foot; it was expanded into a best-selling novel, Down All the Days, and was made into a movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis (who, by the way, is the son of one of Christy's literary friends, Cecil). Day-Lewis won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal. Christy eventually published six other books and was also an avid painter.
想想看,在好一段漫長而黑暗的日子里,克里斯蒂和他的家人都在煩惱他的未來。他整個受苦的身體只有一小部分能動,只能發(fā)出幾個聲音,然而他成了知名的作家、詩人和畫家,而且他不凡的人生還被改編成一部得獎電影!
Think of the long dark days Christy Brown and his family spent wondering what quality of life he would ever have. He could move only one small part of his tormented body. He could make only a few sounds. Yet he became a noted writer, poet, and painter and led an amazing life that was depicted in an award-winning movie!
生命中有些什么在等著你呢?何不留下來,看看你的人生故事會如何開展!
What lies in store for you? Why would you not stick around to see how your story unfolds?