拯救儿童
Heal the Kids
迈克尔·约瑟夫·杰克逊
By Michael Joseph Jackson
谢谢,谢谢各位亲爱的朋友,对大家如此热烈的欢迎,我由衷地表示感谢;谢谢主席,对您的盛意邀请,我感到万分荣幸。同时,我特别地感谢犹太教律法家施牧里,感谢您11年来在牛津所做的工作。您和我一起努力建立“拯救儿童”,就如创作我们的有关儿童现状的书一样艰辛,但自始至终你都给予极大的支持和爱心。我还要感谢“拯救儿童”的理事多巴·弗里德曼,她将于今晚返回母校,在此,她曾经作为一个马歇尔(注:“马歇尔计划”)学者工作过。当然还要感谢我们“拯救儿童”团队的另一位中心成员玛里琳·皮尔斯。
Thank you, thank you dear friends, from the bottom of my heart, for such a loving and spirited welcome, and thank you, Mr. President, for your kind invitation to me which I am so honored to accept. I also want to express a special thanks to you Shmuley, who for 11 years served as Rabbi here at Oxford. You and I have been working so hard to form Heal the Kids, as well as writing our book about childlike qualities, and in all of our efforts you have been such a supportive and loving friend. And I would also like to thank Toba Friedman, our director of operations at Heal the Kids, who is returning tonight to the alma mater where she served as a Marshall scholar, as well as Marilyn Piels, another central member of our Heal the Kids team.
能来到这样一个曾经汇集过特蕾莎修女、爱因斯坦、罗纳德·里根、罗伯特·肯尼迪和马尔科姆·艾克斯等著名人物的地方演讲让我感到受宠若惊。听说科米蛙(注:《大青蛙布偶秀》里的布偶角色)曾经来过这里,我也有同感,那就是没有深厚阅历的人来这里可并不容易,但我相信他一定没有想到我竟会这么容易地做到。
I am humbled to be lecturing in a place that has previously been filled by such notable figures as Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Ronald Reagan, Robert Kennedy and Malcolm X. I’ve even heard that Kermit the Frog has made an appearance here, and I’ve always felt a kinship with Kermit’s message that it’s not easy being green. I’m sure he didn’t find it any easier being up here than I do.
今天我参观了牛津大学,不禁被这一伟大建筑的宏伟壮观深深地吸引了,更不用说这世纪之城才俊云集的辉煌了。牛津不仅荟萃了最伟大的哲学和科学英才,还引领出了从J.R.R.托尔金到C.S.刘易斯等不少极富爱心的儿童文学作家。今天,我被允许在教堂餐厅里参观了在彩色玻璃窗里的刘易斯·卡罗尔的不朽的作品《艾丽斯漫游奇境记》。同时发现还有我的一位美国同胞,亲爱的苏斯先生也为此增色,启发着全世界的数万儿童的想象力。
As I looked round Oxford today, I couldn’t help but be aware of the majesty and grandeur of this great institution, not to mention the brilliance of the great and gifted minds that have roamed these streets for centuries. The walls of Oxford have not only housed the greatest philosophical and scientific geniuses—they have also ushered forth some of the most cherished creators of children’s literature, from J.R.R. Tolkien to C.S. Lewis. Today I was allowed to hobble into the dining hall in Christ Church to see Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland immortalized in the stained glass windows. And even one of my own fellow Americans, the beloved Dr. Seuss graced these halls and then went on to leave his mark on the imaginations of millions of children throughout the world.
今晚,我想先从我为何能有资格在你们面前讲话开始。
I suppose I should start by listing my qualifications to speak before you this evening.
朋友们,正如其他一些来此的演讲者不善于月球漫步一样,我也并不具备他们所拥有的学术专业知识——而且,大家都知道,爱因斯坦在这方面尤其让人敬畏。但是我可以说,比起大多数人,在其他文化方面我拥有更丰富的经验。人类的知识不仅包括图书馆中用羊皮纸和油墨记载的,还包括那些记在人们内心的、刻进人们灵魂的、印入人类心灵的大量知识。而且朋友们,在我相对短暂的生命里我经历了这么多,以至于我真的难以相信自己只有42岁。我经常对施牧里说我的心理年龄肯定至少有80岁了,今晚我甚至像个80岁老人一样走路。
Friends, I do not claim to have the academic expertise of other speakers who have addressed this hall, just as they could lay little claim at being adept at the moonwalk—and you know, Einstein in particular was really terrible at that. But I do have a claim to having experienced more places and cultures than most people will ever see. Human knowledge consists not only of libraries of parchment and ink—it is also comprised of the volumes of knowledge that are written on the human heart, chiseled on the human soul, and engraved on the human psyche. And friends, I have encountered so much in this relatively short life of mine that I still cannot believe I am only 42. I often tell Shmuley that in soul years I’m sure that I’m at least 80—and tonight I even walk like I’m 80.
那么就请大家听我说,因为今晚我一定要对大家讲的或许会让大家一起来拯救人类,拯救地球!
So please harken to my message, because what I have to tell you tonight can bring healing to humanity and healing to our planet.
多亏上帝的恩典,我很幸运地提前实现了自己一生的艺术和职业抱负。但这些成绩和我是谁,完全不同性质。事实上,在崇拜的观众面前起劲儿地表演《Rockin’ robin》和《Ben》的5岁小男孩并不表示他的笑容背后也同样快乐。
Through the grace of God, I have been fortunate to have achieved many of my artistic and professional aspirations realized early in my lifetime. But these, friends are accomplishments, and accomplishments alone are not synonymous with who I am. Indeed, the cheery five-year-old who belted out Rockin’ Robin and Ben to adoring crowds was not indicative of the boy behind the smile.
今晚,我不想以一个流行乐偶像的身份出现在大家面前(不管它意味着什么),我更愿意做一代人的偶像,一代不再了解作为孩子有什么意义的人。大家都有过童年,可我却缺少它,缺少那些宝贵的美妙的无忧无虑嬉戏玩耍的时光,而那些日子我们本该舒适地沉浸在父母亲人的疼爱中,为星期一早上最担心的拼写测验下功夫做准备。你们当中那些熟悉“杰克逊5人组”的朋友都知道我从5岁幼小的年纪起就开始表演,从那以后,就再也没有停止过跳舞或唱歌。