篮球英文堂 第192期:科比亲笔 写给17岁的自己(1)

 　　Dear 17-year-old self, 17岁的我，

　　When your Laker dream comes true tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to invest¹ in the future of your family and friends. 当你的湖人梦明日就将成真，你需要找到投资你家庭和朋友未来的方法。这听起来很简单。

　　This sounds simple, and you may think it's a no-brainer, but take some time to think on it further. 你可能会觉得，这很简单，简直不用动脑。但你真的需要花点时间去好好思考。

　　I said INVEST. 我说的是投资。

　　I did not say GIVE. 我说的不是给予。

　　Let me explain. 让我解释给你听。

　　Purely² giving material things to your siblings³ and friends may appear to be the right decision. 纯粹地给予兄弟姐妹和朋友物质上的东西，似乎是正确的决定。

　　You love them, and they were always there for you growing up, 你爱他们，而他们在你成长的路上也一直相伴。

　　so it's only right that they should share in your success and all that comes with it. 因此，他们应该分享你的成功和随之而来的一切。这是毫无疑问的。

　　So you buy them a car, a big house, pay all of their bills. 所以，你给他们买车，买大房子，付他们所有的账单。

　　You want them to live a beautiful, comfortable life, right? 你希望他们生活舒适、多姿多彩多彩，对吧？

　　But the day will come when you realize that as much as you believed you were doing the right thing, you were actually holding them back. 但终有一天，你会意识到，你越相信你做的是对的，你这样做实际上限制了他们的潜力。

　　You will come to understand that you were taking care of them because it made YOU feel good, 你会逐渐知道，你照顾他们只是为了让你自己感觉很好。

　　it made YOU happy to see them smiling and without a care in the world — and that was extremely⁴ selfish⁵ of you. 你很开心看到他们笑着，过着无忧无虑的生活——这说明你极度自私。

　　While you were feeling satisfied⁶ with yourself, you were slowly eating away at their own dreams and ambitions. 但当你对自己感到满意的同时，你渐渐地蚕食了他们自己的梦想和野心。

1 invest   

v.投资；投入(时间等)；授予，赋予

参考例句：

• I have decided to invest in a new car.我已经决定买一辆新汽车。
• The best time to invest is now.现在是投资的最佳时机。

2 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。

5 selfish   

adj.自私的，利己主义的，自我中心的

参考例句：

• You must learn to share and not be so selfish.你一定要学会与他人分享，不要那么自私。
• She is a selfish person.她是一个自私自利的人。

6 satisfied   

adj.满意的，满足的；清偿过的；确信的，毫无疑问的v.使满意( satisfy的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• She's never satisfied with what she's got. 她对自己的所得从不感到满足。
• He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. 他脸上挂着得意扬扬的笑容。