7-2 表现自己的个性

Being Yourself

As a youngster, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding 1 stone walls, the house and barn1 provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to neat-as-a-pin2 parlors3 that seemed to whisper, “Not to be touched!”

I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm, I’d wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the property. My parents would never approve. The walls were old; some stones were missing, others loose and crumbling 3. Still, my yearning 4 to scramble 5 across those walls grew so strong that finally, one spring afternoon, I summoned all my courage4 and entered the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.

“I, uh--I wanna climb the stone walls,” I said hesitantly. Everyone looked up. “Can I climb the stone walls?” Instantly a chorus5 went up from the women in the room. “Heavens, no!” they cried in dismay6. “You’ll hurt yourself!” I wasn’t too disappointed; the response was just as I’d expected. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s booming7 voice. “Now hold on just a minute,” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”

“Scoot8,” he said to me with a wink 6, “And come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls and had the time of my life9. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, grinning, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”

Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains 7 the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids can count on hearing me say, “ and people can like you exactly as you are.”

注释：

1. barn [bB:n] n. 牲口棚

2. neat-as-a-pin 短语 neat as a new pin合成为形容词，意为非常整洁

3. parlor 2 [5pB:lE] n. =parlour 客厅，起居室

4. summon one’s courage 鼓足勇气

5. chorus [5kC:rEs] n. 齐声，异口同声

6. dismay [dis5mei] n. 惊恐；惊愕

7. booming [5bu:miN] a. (声音等)低沉有回响的；隆隆作响的

8. scoot [sku:t] vi. 急走，飞奔，猛冲；int. 快走开

9. the time of one’s life 〈口〉一生中特别愉快(或激动)的一段时间

表现自己的个性

我小的时候，最喜欢在宾夕法尼亚州西部爷爷的农场上度过周日下午。由数英里蜿蜒的石头墙围着的房子和畜棚，为我这个城市男孩带来了无穷无尽的乐趣。生长在城市的我习惯了整洁无比的客厅，它们似乎在说：“不许乱动!”

我还记得8岁那年一个下午的情形。自从我第一次去农场，我就特别想得到允许，去爬农场周边的石头墙。我父母决不会同意的。这些石墙年头久了，有些石块不见了，有些石块松动快塌了。可是，我太想爬那些石墙了，最后，在一个春日的下午，我鼓足了勇气，走进客厅，大人们周日吃完午饭后都聚集在那儿。

“我，呃，我想爬那些石头墙，”我犹犹豫豫地说。每个人都抬起头看我。“我能爬那些石头墙吗？”立刻，屋内的女士们异口同声地说：“天哪，不行！”她们惊慌地叫道，“你会伤着的！”我并不觉得太失望，因为这种反应正是我预料的。但是，当我要离开屋子时，我爷爷洪亮的声音使我停住了脚步。“等一下，”我听他说道，“让这孩子去爬墙吧。他得学会自己去做事情。”

“快去吧，”他对我眨眨眼说道，“回来后去找我。”在接下来的两个半小时里，我爬了那些旧石墙，觉得快活极了。过后我去见爷爷，向他讲了我的历险。我永远也忘不了他说的话。“弗雷德，”他咧开嘴笑着说，“你使今天特别有意义，就因为你表现了自己的个性。永远记住：在这个世界上，你只有一个，我喜欢你是怎么样就怎么样。”

从那以后，许多年过去了。如今，我主持电视节目《罗杰斯先生的街坊》，全美有数以百万计的儿童收看该节目。随着时间的推移，节目发生了许多变化，但是有一点始终没变。几乎在每次访谈节目结尾时，我都传达给孩子们一个同样的信息。“在这个世界上，你只有一个，”孩子们总会听到我说，“大家会喜欢你是怎么样就怎么样。”