父亲的忘却，父爱如山

来自美国作家W.Livingston Larned写给自己孩子的一封信。从中英文对比中体会作者的感情！希望读者能从文章中找到共鸣！

对于孩子，比起谴责，我们更应该努力的去理解他们。弄明白孩子之所以这么做的原因，远比批评更有益处。它时刻提醒人们，地提醒人们，年轻人是天真的，成年人是无知的(A stark reminder of the innocence of youth and the unawareness of adulthood)。提醒我们，在父子之间，沟通交流的重要性。

FATHER FORGETS

《父亲的忘却》

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead.I have stolen into your room alone.Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of remorse swept over me.Guiltily I came to your bedside.

我亲爱的孩子，请听我说。我说这些话的时候你已经睡熟了，你的一只小手轻轻地枕在你的脸颊下，前额金黄微曲的小卷发有些被汗水弄湿了。我是一个人独自来到你房间的。刚才，我在书房看报纸的，突然一股令人窒息的自责扑向了我。我十分内疚地来到了你的床边。

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you.I scolded you as you were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel.I took you to task for not cleaning your shoes.I called out angrily when you threw some of your things on the floor.At breakfast I found fault, too.You spilled things.You gulped down your food.

这些便是我常常桂念在脑海里的事情，我亲爱的儿子，我曾对你发怒过。我也因为你容装不整就去学校而斥责过你。我也因为你没有擦状干净你的鞋子而惩罚过你。你把你的玩具乱丢在地板上的时候，我也大声嚷嚷过你。

At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called,“Goodbye, Daddy!” and I frowned, and said in reply, ‘Hold your shoulders back! ’

就连早餐的时候，我也不停地批评你。你会把食物洒落在桌子上。你吃饭的时候，把肘靠在饭桌上。吃面包的时候，你的黄油抹得太厚。当你要去玩的时候，我也正要坐火车出差，你转过身来，挥舞着小手对我说：“亲爱的爸爸，再见！”而我却皱着眉头说：“把背挺直些。”

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you, down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were expensive‐and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from a father!

我还跟踪过你。你那时正趴在地上在玩弹弹珠的游戏，你的长袜上磨出好几个洞来。我就当着别人的小孩的面责怪你，还把你拉了回家。长袜很贵的一一只有你自己去买过长袜你才会更加珍惜！想想吧，我的儿子，从一个父亲的角度！

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the interruption, you hesitated at the door. “What is it you want?” I snapped.

还记得后来，当我还在书房看报的时候，你是怎样羞怯地走到书房门口，眼神里带着一点委屈。当时我浏览完报纸，很不耐烦被你打扰，而你还站在门口犹豫。“你到底想要什么?”我朝你嚷嚷。

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither.

你什么也没有说，突然跑过来，张开你的双臂抱住了我的脖子，亲吻我。你的两只小手紧紧地抱住我，让我感受到了一颗只有上帝才有的怜爱之心。这颗纯洁善良的心灵即使被忽略了也不会凋谢。

And then you were gone, pattering up the stairs. Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me?The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding‐this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years.

随后，你跑了出去，啪啪啪的跑上了楼梯。我亲爱的儿子，后来，我手中的报纸滑落到了地上，我突然感到种无以名状的惭愧。我竟养成了一种喜欢发现别人错误，惩罚别人的习惯。对待自己最亲爱的儿子，我竟然养成了这么一种陋习！我这么做并不是因为我不爱你，是因为我对你的未来赋予了太多的期待。

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight, son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

但是，在你身上仍然发现了很多善良、优秀的品质。你的那颗心灵就像遥远地平线上升起的朝阳。这些好的品质都在你冲过来亲吻我，跟我道晚安中体现得淋漓尽致。我的儿子，我在黑暗中来到你的床边，跪在你的窗前，满心的愧疚！

It is feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual:“He is nothing but a boy‐a little boy!”

这是一种无力的赎罪。我很清楚，如果在你醒着的时候告诉你这些事情，你也不会理解的。但是，明天我要成为一名真正的父亲！我要和你成为死党，和你一起经受痛苦的考验，和你一起开怀大笑。如果我还会指责你，我说话的时候就咬舌头。我会一直念叨这点：“他仅仅只是一个孩子！一个孩子而已！”

I am afraid I have visualized you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much.

恐怕在我的脑子中，我已把你当成了一个成人。就像我现在所看到的一样，你蜷曲在你的睡衣里，如同婴儿一般。昨天，你还躺在你母亲的怀抱中，头靠着她的肩膀。我对你要求得太多了，太多了。