很多人認(rèn)為,只有總統(tǒng)才能在耶魯大學(xué)的畢業(yè)典禮上發(fā)表演講。但近幾年條件卻更加嚴(yán)格。演講人必須是美國總統(tǒng),是耶魯大學(xué)校友,而且他在總統(tǒng)選舉中在耶魯大學(xué)所在投票區(qū)里得到的票數(shù)要少于拉爾夫·納德。
This is my first time back here in quite a while. I'm sure that each of you will make your own journey back at least a few times in your life. If you're like me, you won't remember everything you did here. That can be a good thing. But there will be some people, and some moments, you will never forget.
這是我畢業(yè)這么長時(shí)間以來第一次回到母校。我也相信你們每個(gè)人會(huì)在畢業(yè)以后至少回來幾次。當(dāng)你們像我這么老的時(shí)候,你們會(huì)不記得在這里做過的每一件事情。這或許是一件好事。不過,一些人,一些事你永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)忘記。
Take, for example, my old classmate, Dick Brodhead, the accomplished dean of this great university. I remember him as a young scholar, a bright lad a hard worker. We both put a lot of time in at the Sterling Library, in the reading room, where they have those big leather couches.We had a mutual understanding—Dick wouldn't read aloud, and I wouldn't snore.
就拿我的老同學(xué)狄克·布羅德黑德來說,如今他是這所偉大的學(xué)校的杰出校長,他讀書時(shí)的聰明、好學(xué)與刻苦至今讓我記憶猶新。那時(shí),我們經(jīng)常泡在圖書館那個(gè)有著大皮沙發(fā)的閱讀室里。我們之間有個(gè)默契:他不大聲朗讀課文,我睡覺時(shí)不打呼嚕。
Our course selections were different, as we followed our own path to academic discovery. Dick was an English major, and loved the classics. I loved history, and pursued a diversified course of study. I like to think of it as the academic road less traveled.
后來,隨著學(xué)術(shù)探索的領(lǐng)域不同,我們選修的課程也各不相同。狄克主修英語,酷愛古典文學(xué),而我主修歷史,喜歡多樣化的學(xué)習(xí)過程。我喜歡把這種學(xué)習(xí)過程想成是少有人走過的學(xué)術(shù)之路。
For example, I took a class that studied Japanese Haiku. Haiku, for the uninitiated, is a 15thcentury form of poetry, each poem having 17 syllables. Haiku is fully understood only by the Zen masters.
有趣的是,我選修過日本俳句,對(duì)門外漢來說,俳句是15世紀(jì)日本的一種詩歌形式,每首詩只有17個(gè)音節(jié),我想其意義只有禪學(xué)大師才能明了。