1)Barbara Pierce Bush

1)Barbara Pierce Bush

Commencement Address at 2)Wellesley College

Wellesley, you see, is not just a place but an idea --an experiment in excellence 1 in which 3)diversity is not just 4)tolerated, but is 5)embraced. The 6)essence of this spirit was 7)captured in a moving speech about tolerance 2 given last year by a student body president of one of your sister colleges. She related the story by Robert Fulghum about a young 8)pastor 3, finding himself in charge of some very 9)energetic children, hits upon a game called “Giants, Wizards, and 10)Dwarfs.” “You have to decide now,” the pastor 11)instructed the children, “Which you are -- a giant, a wizard or a dwarf 4?” At that, a small girl tugging 5 at his pants leg, asked, “But where do the 12)mermaids 7 stand?” And the pastor tells her there are no mermaids. And she says, “Oh yes, there are. I am a mermaid 6.”

   Where do the mermaids stand? All of those who are different, those who do not fit the boxes and the 13)pigeonholes? “Answer that question,” wrote Fulghum, “and you can build a school, a nation, or a whole world.” As that very wise young woman said, “Diversity, like anything worth having, 14)requires effort. Effort to learn about and respect difference, to be 15)compassionate 9 with one another, to 16)cherish your own 17)identity, and to accept 18)unconditionally 10 the same in others.”

   You should all be very proud that this is the Wellesley spirit. You have a first class education from a first class school. And so you need not, probably cannot, live a “paint-by-numbers” life. Decisions are not 19)irrevocable. Choices do come back. And as you 20)set off from Wellesley, I hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.

The first is to believe in something larger than yourself, to 21)get involved in some of the big ideas of our time. I chose 22)literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read, write and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that 23)plague our nation and our society.

And 24)early on I made another choice, which I hope you’ll make as well. Whether you are talking about education, career, or service, you’re talking about life -- and life really must have joy. It’s supposed to be fun! Find the joy in life, because as 25)Ferris Bueller said on his day off, “Life moves pretty fast; and if ya don’t stop and look around once in a while, ya gonna miss it!”

The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years, you’ve had impressed upon you the importance to your career, 26)dedication 11 and hard work. And, of course, that’s true. But as important as your 27)obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a human being first. And those human connections -- with 28)spouses, with children, with friends -- are the most important 29)investment you will ever make.

   At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more 30)verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent. Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens in the White House, but on what happens inside your house.

For over fifty years, it was said that the winner of Wellesley’s annual hoop 13 race would be the first to get married. Now they say, the winner will be the first to become a CEO. Both of those 31)stereotypes show too little tolerance for those who want to know where the mermaids stand. So I want to offer a new legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream -- not society’s dreams -- her own personal dream.

芭芭拉·皮尔斯·布什

在韦尔斯利学院毕业典礼上的演讲

你们知道，韦尔斯利，不仅是一处地方，还是一种理念——一种对美德的考验。在此其中，多样化的差别不光得到包容，而且还受到拥护。一个来自你们姐妹院校学生团体的主席，在去年一个关于宽容的感人演讲中，已经把握住了这种精神的实质。她谈到罗伯特·富尔冈的一个故事，说的是一个年轻牧师发现自己带着一群非常活泼好动的孩子。无意中他碰上一个叫做“巨人、巫师和矮子”的游戏。“现在你们要决定啦，”他提醒那些小朋友，“你自己是哪一种人：巨人、巫师、还是矮子？”他正说着，一个小女孩拽着他的裤腿问道：“但是美人鱼站哪呢？”那牧师就告诉她没有美人鱼。但是她说：“有啊，有的，我就是一条美人鱼。”

美人鱼站哪？那些与众不同，不适合常规定位，不适合传统类别的人又站哪？“回答那个问题吧，”富尔冈写道，“那么你就能构建一所学校，一个国家或者整个世界。”正如那个聪明绝顶的女孩子所说的，“多样性的差异，如同所有值得存在的东西那样，需要人们付出努力——努力去了解和尊重差异，互相爱护，珍惜自己的独特个性，同时无条件地接纳别人同样具有的独特品质。”

你们大家都应该以这就是韦尔斯利的精神而自豪。你们拥有来自一流学校的一流教育。所以你们不需要，很可能也不允许，过一种“依序号涂颜色”的生活。决定并非无可挽回；选择确实还可以重来。在你们离开韦尔斯利之际，我希望你们中许多人会考虑作出三个十分 特别的选择。

第一个选择是，信仰某些比你自身更为博大的东西，并参与到我们这个时代一些大的构想之中。我之所以选择了读写识字能力，是因为我真诚地相信，多一些人能读会写，会理解，会更利于我们解决诸多滋扰国家和社会的问题。

早前，我做了另一个选择——我希望你们也同样会这样选择。无论你们谈论的是教育、职业生涯还是劳务活动，你们说的都是生活——生活实在要有乐趣；生活还应该是好玩的！寻找生活的乐趣吧，因为就像费里斯·巴勒在他自己的假日里说的：“人生过得飞快，要是你不偶尔停一停，到处瞧一瞧，你就会失去它啦！”

第三个你一定不要错过的选择就是，珍惜你的人际关系——你和家人朋友之间的关系。有好几年，你只记得成就自己的事业以及积极投身工作何其重要。当然，那是对的。但是，和你作为医生、律师、商界领袖的职责一样重要的还有一样东西，那就是，你首先是人类一员。而那些人际关系——夫妻之间的，父母与孩子之间的，朋友之间的——是你作过的投资中最为重要的。

在人生结束之时，你决不会因又一次考试不及格，又输了一场官司或是又丢了一桩生意而悔恨；你会为自己没花时间与丈夫、孩子、朋友和父母在一起而后悔。你家庭的幸福，我们整个社会的幸福并不取决于白宫这所房子里发生的一切，而在于你自家房子里发生的一切。

有五十多年，人们都说每年韦尔斯利学院携圈赛跑的冠军会是最快嫁出去的人；现在他们说，冠军会最先成为执行董事。这两种版本的说法，对于那些想知道“美人鱼站哪？”的人都过于苛刻了。因此我想提出一个新的说法：携圈赛跑的冠军会是最早意识到自己梦想的人—这个梦想并非社会之梦，而是她个人独有之想。

注释:

1) Barbara Pierce Bush 前美国第一夫人，现任总统小布什的母亲。

2) Wellesley College 韦尔斯利学院。位于美国马萨诸塞州的著名女子文理学院，素有“没有男子的常春藤”之称，从这里走出的著名女性不胜枚举。前美国第一夫人希拉里就在这里度过了她的大学时光

3) diversity [dai5vE:siti] n. 差异，多样性

4) tolerate [5tClEreit] v. 忍受，容忍

5) embrace [im5breis] v. 拥抱，包含

6) essence [5esns] n. 本质，精髓

7) capture [5kAptFE] v. 捕捉，夺取

8) pastor [5pB:stE] n. （主管教堂的）牧师（尤指非国教派牧师）

9) energetic [7enE5dVetik] a. 精力充沛的，积极的

10) dwarf [dwC:f] n. 矮子，侏儒

11) instruct [in5strQkt] v. 教导，指示

12) mermaid [5mE:meid] n. （传说中的）美人鱼

13) pigeonhole 8 [5pidVinhEul] n. 鸽巢，分类架

14) require [ri5kwaiE] v. 需要，要求

15) compassionate [kEm5pAFEnit] a. 有同情心的，慈悲的

16) cherish [5tFeriF] v. 珍爱，珍惜

17) identity [ai5dentiti] n. 身份，特征

18) unconditionally [5QnkEn5diFEnEli] av. 无条件地，无限制地

19) irrevocable [i5revEkEbl] a. 不能取消的，不可挽回的

20) set off 出发，动身

21) get involved in 参与

22) literacy [5litErEsi] n. 有文化，会读会写

23) plague [plei^] v. 折磨，使苦恼

24) early on 在早期，早先

25) Ferris Bueller 费里斯·巴勒，美国80年代一部电视连续剧《今天不是读书天》(Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)的导演

26) Dedication [7dedi5keiFEn] n. 奉献，献身

27) obligation [7Cbli5^eiFEn] n. 义务，职责

28) spouse 12 [spauz] n. 配偶（夫或妻）

29) investment [in5vestmEnt] n. 投资，可获利的东西

30) verdict [5vE:dikt] n. （陪审团的）裁定，定论

31) stereotype 14 [5stiEriEutaip] n. 陈规，老套