偶像勵(lì)志英語演講29:失敗的好處和想象的重要性(11)

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've took their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

我的演講即將結(jié)束。對(duì)你們，我有最后一個(gè)希望，也是我21歲時(shí)就有的一個(gè)希望。畢業(yè)那天與我坐在一起的朋友們現(xiàn)在是我終身的摯交，他們是我孩子的教父或教母，是我處于困境時(shí)可以求助的人，是在我用他們的名字給《哈利·波特》中的“食死徒”起名而不會(huì)起訴我的人。我們?cè)诋厴I(yè)典禮時(shí)坐在了一起，因?yàn)槲覀冴P(guān)系親密，因?yàn)槲覀児餐窒砹四怯肋h(yuǎn)都不能重來的時(shí)光。當(dāng)然，也因?yàn)榧傧胍俏覀冎械娜魏稳烁?jìng)選首相，那照片將是極有價(jià)值的證明。

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:

所以今天我能送給你們的最好的祝福，就是希望你們能擁有這樣的友誼。我希望，即使明天你們不記得我說過的任何一個(gè)字，你們還能記得古羅馬哲學(xué)家塞內(nèi)加的一句至理明言。我當(dāng)年沒有順著事業(yè)的階梯向上攀爬，轉(zhuǎn)而與他在古典文學(xué)的殿堂相遇，他的古老智慧給了我人生的啟迪：

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

生活就像故事一樣，不在于長(zhǎng)短，而在于品質(zhì)，這才是最重要的。

I wish you all very good lives.

祝愿你們擁有美好的生活。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝大家。

重點(diǎn)講解：

1. for life

終生;

eg. He was jailed for life in 1966 for the murder of three policemen.

他因謀殺了3名警察而在1966年被終身監(jiān)禁。

eg. She may have been scarred for life.

她可能會(huì)留下永久的創(chuàng)傷。

eg. There can be no jobs for life.

沒有一輩子的飯碗。

2. be bound by

由……聯(lián)系起來;

eg. A fortnight after the events which I have just recounted, Armand was convalescing very satisfactorily, and we were bound by a firm friendship.

在我剛才敘述的事情過去半個(gè)月以后，阿爾芒已經(jīng)完全康復(fù)，我們彼此已經(jīng)成為好友。

eg. A marriage bound by beauty only lasts as long as the beauty.

用美貌維系的婚姻只能如美貌般短壽。

3. retreat from

放棄，遠(yuǎn)離(計(jì)劃、生活方式等);從…中隱退;

eg. I believe people should live in houses that allow them to retreat from the harsh realities of life.

我認(rèn)為人們所居住的房子應(yīng)該能讓他們遠(yuǎn)離殘酷的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活。

eg. The President's remarks appear to signal that there will be no retreat from his position.(n.)

總統(tǒng)的言辭似乎在暗示他不會(huì)主動(dòng)辭職。

個(gè)人簡(jiǎn)介：

社會(huì)評(píng)論

J·K·羅琳自身就是她想象力的受益者。羅琳通過寫作演繹了一個(gè)現(xiàn)代版本的灰姑娘。貧窮得無法在家里寫作的羅琳在咖啡館中往一張張紙片上涂些著關(guān)于另一個(gè)世界的構(gòu)想。這個(gè)世界不如喬治·盧卡斯的星際那般絢麗，卻足夠豐富。第一本書《哈里·波特與魔法石》的出版，以及這本書所獲得的成功讓羅琳境遇大為改觀。她在寫作上的自信心也開始增長(zhǎng)，這種信心同哈里·波特系列圖書的厚度成正比，《哈利·波特與鳳凰社》至少是《哈利·波特與魔法石》的三倍厚度，而《哈利·波特與混血王子》的長(zhǎng)度也不亞于《哈利·波特與鳳凰社》。全世界的圖書版稅、電影收入、以及各種衍生產(chǎn)品的收入讓羅琳轉(zhuǎn)眼成為英國(guó)最富有的女性之一。羅琳依靠出售想象力，依靠向大眾描述想象的、世界而擺脫了現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的困境。

羅琳的寫作風(fēng)格似乎有些偏“惡魔丑陋系”，《哈利·波特》系列中這一特點(diǎn)顯著。例如：曼德拉草的描述，伏地魔的外貌描述，海格的許多寵物，?？怂梗约昂彰舻难例X，鄧布利多的鼻子，斯內(nèi)普的外貌……這些也許與她的經(jīng)歷有所聯(lián)系，飽嘗人世冷暖。

在授予羅琳榮譽(yù)文學(xué)博士學(xué)位的儀式上，羅琳在大學(xué)期間的老師彼得·韋斯曼教授(Prof Peter Wiseman)在介紹羅琳時(shí)，說她上學(xué)時(shí)是個(gè)十分用功讀書的學(xué)生，同時(shí)，在?？巳卮髮W(xué)，她也是一個(gè)愛做白日夢(mèng)的學(xué)生。

《好管家》雜志的編輯林賽·尼科爾森說：“作為一個(gè)單身母親，羅琳能夠應(yīng)付困境并且擺脫貧窮，同時(shí)還建立起如此之龐大的娛樂帝國(guó)，她實(shí)在是令人鼓舞。”“對(duì)待自己的名聲，羅琳也非常謹(jǐn)慎，她一直做著真實(shí)的自己。”