祖父教給我的真理
Truths my grandfather told me
祖父教給我的真理
My grandfather’s wise and optimistic views on things continues to inform my life 114 years after his birth and 25 years after his death.
在祖父89年的一生中，他對事物明智樂觀的看法，即使在他去世25年後，也一直在指引着我。
For the past 25 years, my grandfather has been following me around, whispering in my ear. Not literally, of course, because that would be weird. But he’s the British-accented adviser in my head, giving me a nod of approval when I need it, and raising an eyebrow when he begs to differ with something I’m doing.
在過去的25年，祖父一直在我身旁，在我耳邊耳語。當然不是字面意思，因爲這樣聽起來很怪異。在我腦海中，他是有着英語口音的指導教師，在我需要的時候，點頭表示讚許；不同意我的所作所爲時，會挑起眉毛。
Of late, for instance, he has been smirking at me and the activity tracker I have clipped to my pocket (a few days ago, I swear to you, it said “HUG ME KATHRYN.” What?)
舉個例子，最近，我把一個運動健身追蹤器放在口袋裏，他一直對着我笑（幾天前，我向你發誓，他說，“凱瑟琳，抱抱我”。不可思議吧？
I am sure that my grandfather routinely walked what is now the recommended 10,000 steps every day and not because he had a $100 gadget urging him to do so. Instead of “exercising,” he dug and hoed and roamed the pathways of his garden, growing vegetables that kept our family of four in potatoes through many winters and roses that were the joy of many summers.
我確定，祖父以前每天行走10，000步，就行今天推薦的一樣，並非因爲$100的追蹤器催促他這樣做。相反，他每天翻土、鋤地，在花園的小路上散佈，冬天種植蔬菜和土豆，夏天種植玫瑰，樂趣無窮。
He was good to the environment in the way that people used to be before they had to be told it was the right thing to do; he never owned a car or learned to drive, so he walked everywhere he could and took a bus the rest of the time.
在人們倡導環保之前，他就以過去的一貫方式注重環保；他從不買車，也不學開車。因此，無論去哪，他儘可能走路，或乘坐公共汽車。
As a young teenager, after my grandmother died, I used to go and hang out with my grandfather on the weekends or in the summer. We walked around, chatted to the neighbours, went to the grocery store. Occasionally, I would bake him a little cake. At the end of the day, he’d turn out my light, and say “That was a good day. I enjoyed every minute of it.”
祖母去世後，我經常在週末或者暑假和祖父一起出去玩。我們四處走動，和鄰居聊天，去雜貨店買東西。有時，我會給他做蛋糕。一天結束後，他會把燈關掉，說，“今天是美好的一天，每一分鐘，我都很開心。”
I never doubted for a moment that he meant it.
我堅信他說的是真的。
In the morning, I’d wake up to his whistling in the kitchen downstairs (usually it was “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” but he also liked opera). At the time, it irritated me — I am not a morning person — but now I’d give anything to hear that whistle one more time.
早上，我總會被他在樓下廚房的哨聲吵醒（通常是“雨點不斷落在我頭上”，不過他也喜歡歌劇），讓我很惱火——因爲我不是早起的人——現在如果能再讓我聽一次他的哨聲，我願意放棄一切。
