娜塔莉波特曼哈佛大学演讲 第2期

 　　The other day I went to an amusement park with my soon to be four-year-old son and I watched him play arcade¹ games. 有一天我和我快四岁大的儿子去了游乐园，我看着他玩街机游戏。

　　He was incredibly focused, throwing his ball at the target. 他非常专注的把球往靶子上扔。

　　Jewish mother that I am, I skipped twenty steps, and was already imagining him as a major league player. 作为一名犹太母亲，我跳过20个步骤，已经开始想象他是一个大联盟的球员。

　　With what is his aim and his arm and his concentration, but then I realized what he want. 投球精准，手臂健壮，全神贯注，但是后来我意识到了他想要的是什么。

　　He was playing to trade in his tickets for the crappy plastic toys. 他玩这个是为了得到票以换取那些粗劣的塑料玩具。

　　The prize was much more exciting than the game to get it. 奖品远比游戏过程令人兴奋。

　　I of course want to urge him to take joy and the challenge of the game, the improvement upon practice, the satisfaction of doing something well, and even feeling the accomplishment² when achieving the game's goals. 我当然想敦促他享受游戏的欢乐和挑战，在练习中进步，表现优越而获得满足感，甚至是在达到游戏目标时的成就感。

　　But all these aspects were shaded by the little ten-cent plastic man, with sticky stretchy blue arms that adhere to the walls.That was the prize. 但所有这些方面都被十美分的塑料小人玩具给遮盖了，它有着可以粘在墙壁上的蓝色手臂。这就是所谓奖品。

　　In a child's nature, we see many of our innate³ tendencies. 从一个孩子的天性中，我们看到了我们许多与生俱来的倾向。

　　I saw myself in him and perhaps you do too. 我在他身上看到了自己，也许你们也看到了自身。

　　Prizes serve as false idols⁴ everywhere, prestige, wealth, fame, power. 奖品作为虚假偶像无处不在，声誉，财富，名声，力量。

　　You will be exposed to many of these, if not all. 你将会接触到很多，至少也会碰到几个。

　　Of course part of why I was invited to come to speak today beyond my being a proud alumna⁵ is that I've recruited some very coveted⁶ toys in my life, including a not so plastic, not so crappy one, an Oscar. 当然今天我被邀请来演讲的部分原因除了我是一个骄傲的女校友外，是因为我在人生中收集了一些非常令人垂涎的玩具，不像塑料那么廉价，也不那么蹩脚，一座奥斯卡小金人。

　　So we bump up against the common troll I think of the commencement address people who have achieved a lot telling you that the fruits of the achievement are not are not always to be trusted. 我们通常在毕业典礼演讲上碰到的烦心事那就是取得了许多成功的人告诉你成功的果实并不总是值得信任。

　　But I think that contradiction can be reconciled and in fact instructed. 但是我认为矛盾实际上是可以协调的，并且具有教导意义。

　　Achievement is wonderful when you know why you're doing it. 成就是美好的，当你知道你为什么这么做的时候。

　　And when you don't know, it can be a terrible trap. 如果你不知道，它就可能变成可怕的陷阱。

1 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

2 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

3 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

4 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

5 alumna   

n.女校友，女毕业生 (pl.alumnae)

参考例句：

• I came across a old alumna in the street this morning.今天早上我在街上碰见一位老校友。
• My alumni and alumna are present at my birthday party.我的男校友和女校友都出席了我的生日聚会。

6 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》