JK.Rowling演讲稿

自己编辑的,版权未有,希望能帮助更多喜欢学习英语的同学。

JK罗琳2008哈佛毕业典礼演讲---不要害怕失败中英文对照

President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers,

members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates,

福斯特主席，哈佛公司和监察委员会的各位成员，

各位老师、家长、全体毕业生们：

The first thing I would like to say is "thank you." Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary

honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve endured at the thought of giving this

commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is

take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest

Gryffindors' reunion.

首先请允许我说一声谢谢。哈佛不仅给了我无上的荣誉，连日来为这个演讲经受的恐惧和紧

张，更令我减肥成功。这真是一个双赢的局面。现在我要做的就是 深呼吸几下，眯着眼睛

看看前面的大红横幅，安慰自己正在世界上最大的格兰芬多（沪江小编：以防有人没看过《哈

利波特》……格兰芬多是小哈利所在的魔法学院 的名字）聚会上。

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind

back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British

philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in

writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating

discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to

abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay

wizard.\

发表毕业演说是一个巨大的责任，至少在我回忆自己当年的毕业典礼前是这么认为的。那天

做演讲的是英国著名的哲学家 Baroness Mary Warnock，对她演讲的回忆，对我写今天的演

讲稿，产生了极大的帮助，因为我不记得她说过的任何一句话了。这个发现让我释然，让我

不再担心我可能会无 意中影响你放弃在商业，法律或政治上的大好前途，转而醉心于成为

一个快乐的魔法师（gay有快乐和同性恋的意思）。

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of

Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals - the first step to self-improvement.

你们看，如果在若干年后你们还记得―快乐的魔法师‖这个笑话，那就证明我已经超越了

Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可实现的目标——这是提高自我的第一步。

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked

myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned

in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

实际上，我为今天应该和大家谈些什么绞尽了脑汁。我问自己什么是我希望早在毕业典礼上

就该了解的，而从那时起到现在的 21年间，我又得到了什么重要的启示。

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to

celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as

you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial

importance of imagination.

我想到了两个答案。在这美好的一天，当我们一起庆祝你们取得学业成就的时刻，我希望告

诉你们失败有什么样的益处；在你们即将迈向―现实生活‖的道路之际，我还要褒扬想象力的

重要性。

These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.