本期主播:John
本期文章:The Daffodil Principle
录制地点:德国柏林
The daffodil principle
水仙花法则
Several times my daughter had telephoned to say,"Dad, you must come see the daffodils before they are over."
女儿打了好几次电话说:“爸爸,水仙花凋谢之前,你一定得来看看。”
I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.
我想去,但是从拉古纳到箭头湖需要两小时的车程。在女儿第三次来电时,我勉强答应说:“我下星期二过去。”
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”
星期二一大早就开始下雨,而且还很冷。只是我答应了女儿,所以就开车去了。我终于踏进了女儿卡罗琳的家门,在与外孙拥抱问候之后,我对女儿说:“卡罗琳,忘掉水仙花吧!外面阴云密布,又下起了雾,路根本看不清楚。在这个世界上,要不是为了看你和这几个孩子,我才不会开车过来。”
My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all the time, Dad."
女儿淡然一笑道:“爸爸,我们可是经常在这种天气里开车。”
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!" I told her.
“好啦,除非天气转晴,否则你别想让我开车上路。天一晴我就回家。”我郑重其事地跟她说道。
But first Dad, we're going to see the daffodils, it just a few blocks.
但是爸爸,我们先去看水仙花吧,离这只有几条街。
Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this weather."
卡罗琳回答道,“我来开车,我习惯了。”
"Carolyn," I said, "please turn around."
“卡罗琳,”我厉声说道,“请你调头。”
"It's all right, Dad, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
“好啦,爸爸,我敢保证,如果错过这个机会,你会后悔的。”
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that said, “Daffodil Garden.”
差不多20分钟后,我们拐上了一条石子路面,我看到一座小教堂。在教堂的对面,有一个手写的标牌:“水仙花园”。
We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns — great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
下了车,我和女儿一人拉着一个孩子。我跟着女儿沿着这条小路走去。转一个弯后,我举目望去,不由大吃一惊。在我面前呈现的是最灿烂的景色。就好像是有人拿了大桶大桶的金子撒在了山顶上,山坡上。这些花朵被种成了壮丽的旋涡状——深橙色,白色,柠檬黄,橙红色,金黄色和棕黄色的水仙或排成带状,或排成一列一列的。颜色不同的水仙形成一片片独特颜色的花海。这里有5英亩的水仙花。
"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.
“这些水仙都是谁种的?”我问卡罗琳。
"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home."
“只是一个女人。”卡罗琳答道,“她就住在这,那是她的房子。”
Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.
卡罗琳指向一座A字构架的屋子,在周围壮观的景象的之下,这座房子显得矮小而又简陋。我们朝那间屋子走去,在门前的露台上看到一张海报,标题是:我知道你们要问什么,这就是答案。
The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman with two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
第一个答案比较简单:“5万株。”第二个答案是:“一次栽一株,一个女人所植,用两只手,两条腿,一点智慧。”第三个答案是:“开始于1958年。”
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.
对我来说,这次经历改变了我的一生。
I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun — one bulb at a time — to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.
我想,这位素昧平生的女人,早在40多年前就——一次一株水仙——把自己对于美和快乐的理解带给了这座无名小山的山顶。每次仅仅栽种一株,年复一年,却改变了世界。这位未知姓名的女人永远改变了她所居住的世界。她做的事情雄伟壮观,美妙绝伦,而又鼓舞人心。
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time — often just one baby — step at a time — and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
水仙花园给我们揭示伟大的礼赞法则之一。那就是学会朝着目标努力,每次只要求一步——哪怕是婴儿的步伐——一步接一步这样做——并且学会乐在其中,学会积累时间。当我们利用琐碎的时间,每天都努力一点,那么我们会发现自己也可以完成大事。我们可以改变世界。
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time 'through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
“这多少让我有点难过。”我向卡罗琳坦承,“如果35年前或者40年前,我也想到一个绝妙的计划,这些年来‘一次一株'地努力,我可能能做成什么事情呢。想一想,我会取得多大的成就啊。”
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.
女儿以她惯常直率的方式总结今天所得的经验说:“那就从明天开始吧。”
She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays.
她说得对。总想着过去逝去的时光没有意义。
The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask,
学会从过去的经验教训中变得开心而不是去悔恨的方法就是去问:
"How can I put this to use today?"So you, you use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....
我怎样把学到的派上用场?所以你,你可以去用水仙花法则,不要再等待了······
Stop waiting until your car or home is paid off. Stop waiting until you get a new car or home.Until your kids leave the house,
不要再等了除非你的汽车,房子的贷款还清了。不要再等了直到你有了新的汽车和家,直到你的孩子长大离开了家,
or until you go back to school or until you finish school. Stop waiting until you clean the house or organize the garage. Until you clean off your desk. Stop waiting until you lose 10 lbs or to gain 10 lbs.
或者直到你重新回到学校,毕业。不要再等了除非你打扫了房屋,分类了垃圾。直到你清理了你的桌面。停止等待除非你失去了10磅或者得到了10磅。
Until you get married. Until you get a divorce. Until you have kids. Until the kids go to school.
直到你结了婚,或者直到你离了婚,直到你有了孩子,直到孩子上了学。
Stop waiting until you retire.
不要再等了除非你退休了。
Stop waiting until summer.Until spring. Until winter. Until fall.
等到春天,夏天,冬天,秋天,
Stop waiting until you die.
除非你死去了。
There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
现在就去做幸福的人吧。幸福在路上,而不是在终点。
So work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt.
所以像你不需要金钱那样去工作吧,像你从未受过伤那样去爱吧!
Dance like no one's watching. Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
像没有人在一样尽情舞蹈吧!希望你过着美丽的像水仙花一样的日子!