雙語(yǔ)美文：傾聽(tīng)先人的聲音

我相信我們并不孤單。

Even if I am on the other side of the world from the farmhouse I live in, I still dream of the ancient vines out the window, and the shed out back that my grandfather’s father built in 1870 with eucalyptus trunks. As long as I can recreate these images, I never quite leave home.

即使我處身地球的另一端，遠(yuǎn)離我家農(nóng)莊，我仍然能夢(mèng)見(jiàn)窗外那古老的藤蔓，夢(mèng)見(jiàn)我爺爺?shù)母赣H在1870年用桉樹(shù)建造的棚屋。只要這些影像還在我腦中浮現(xiàn)，我就離家不遠(yuǎn)。

I don’t think farming in the same place for six generations is a dead weight that keeps you shackled, doing the identical thing year in and year out. Instead, it is a rare link to others before me, who pruned the same vines and painted the same barn that I have. If those in this house survived the Panic of 1893 or the Great Depression, or bathed with cold water and used an outhouse, then surely I know I can weather high gas prices.

我不認(rèn)為六代人在同一地方過(guò)著耕種的生活，年復(fù)一年地干著同樣的活是一種讓人喘不過(guò)氣來(lái)的負(fù)擔(dān)。相反，我與這些先人修剪著相同的藤蔓、給同一座谷倉(cāng)上漆，這是我與他們之間難得的紐帶。如果在這間屋子里住過(guò)的人能夠挺過(guò)1893年的金融恐慌或是經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條，能夠忍受冷水浴、戶(hù)外廁所，那么我也肯定能夠應(yīng)付攀升的汽油價(jià)格。

I believe that all of us need some grounding in our modern world of constant moving, buying, selling, meeting and leaving. Some find constancy in religion. Others lean on friends or community for permanence. But we need some daily signposts that we are not novel, not better, not worse from those who came before us.

我相信在這個(gè)現(xiàn)代社會(huì)，在不停的遷移、買(mǎi)賣(mài)、相聚、分離的生活中，所有人都需要一些寄托。一些人寄情于宗教，另一些人依賴(lài)于朋友或社區(qū)來(lái)尋求安穩(wěn)，但我們還需要一些日常的標(biāo)志物提醒我們：我們也和前人一樣，并沒(méi)有更新潮、更好或更糟。

For me, this house, this farm, these ancient vines are those roots. Although I came into this world alone and will leave alone, I am not alone.

對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，這房子、這農(nóng)莊、這些古老的藤蔓，都是我生活的根基。雖然我孤獨(dú)地來(lái)到這個(gè)世界，也將獨(dú)自離去，但我并不孤單。

There are ghosts of dozens of conversations in the hallways, stories I remember about buying new plows that now rust in the barnyard and ruined crops from the same vines that we are now harvesting.

在屋里的門(mén)廊里回蕩著許多舊時(shí)的對(duì)話(huà)，提到一些我記憶猶新的往事，如購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的犁頭——如今已銹蝕在場(chǎng)院中，還有那曾被毀壞的作物，而我們現(xiàn)正在同一個(gè)藤架上獲得收成。

I believe all of us are natural links in a long chain of being: I need to know what time of day it is, what season is coming, whether the wind is blowing north or from the east, and if the moon is still full tomorrow night, just as the farmers who came before me did.

我相信我們與前人都是人類(lèi)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)紐帶上的不同環(huán)節(jié)。與以前的農(nóng)民一樣，我需要知道現(xiàn)在是一天里的什么時(shí)間，接下來(lái)是什么季節(jié)，會(huì)吹南方還是東風(fēng)，明晚的月亮是否還是圓的。

The physical world around us changes constantly; human nature does not. We must struggle in our brief existence to find some transcendent meaning during reoccurring heartbreak and disappointment and so find solace in the knowledge that our ancestors have all gone through this before.

我們周?chē)默F(xiàn)實(shí)世界在不斷地改變，但人類(lèi)的本性不會(huì)變。在短暫的一生中，憂(yōu)傷及失望會(huì)不斷出現(xiàn)，我們必須努力找出超越現(xiàn)實(shí)的意義，要認(rèn)識(shí)到我們的祖先都經(jīng)歷過(guò)了這些生活坎坷，從而得到心靈的慰藉。

You may find all that too intrusive, living with the past as present. I find it exhilarating. I believe there is an old answer for every new problem, that wise whispers of the past are with us to assure us that if we just listen and remember, we are not alone; we have been here before.

你或者會(huì)覺(jué)得生活中有先人的介入太難接受，但我卻發(fā)現(xiàn)這很令人振奮。我相信每個(gè)新問(wèn)題都有傳統(tǒng)的答案，前人充滿(mǎn)智慧的肺腑之言無(wú)處不在，只要我們能用心傾聽(tīng)、銘記，我們就不會(huì)孤單，因?yàn)槲覀円郧耙苍羞^(guò)相同的經(jīng)歷。