So, indeed, I have spent my life looking into the lives of presidents who are no longer alive. Waking up with Abraham Lincoln in the morning, thinking of Franklin Roosevelt when I went to bed at night. But when I try and think about what I've learned about the meaning in life, my mind keeps wandering back to a seminar that I took when I was a graduate student at Harvard with the great psychologist Erik Erikson.
私は 今は亡き大統領の 人生の研究をしてきました リンカーンと共に目を覚まし ルーズベルトを思いながら寝ています でも 私が学んだ人生の意味を思うと ハーバードの大学院で受けた― 心理学者 エリク エリクソンの 講義を思い出します
He taught us that the richest and fullest lives attempt to achieve an inner balance between three realms: work, love and play. And that to pursue one realm to the disregard of the other, is to open oneself to ultimate sadness in older age. Whereas to pursue all three with equal dedication, is to make possible a life filled not only with achievement, but with serenity.
エリクソンは 充実した人生には 三つの領域の内面バランスが必要だと言いました 「仕事」「愛」「遊び」です 一つの領域しか追求しないと 老いたときに喪失感が生まれるのに対し 三つの領域に没頭すると 達成感だけではなく 心の平静と共に 人生を全うできるのです
So since I tell stories, let me look back on the lives of two of the presidents I've studied to illustrate this point -- Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Johnson. As for that first sphere of work, I think what Abraham Lincoln's life suggests is that fierce ambition is a good thing. He had a huge ambition. But it wasn't simply for office or power or celebrity or fame -- what it was for was to accomplish something worthy enough in life so that he could make the world a little better place for his having lived in it.
物語るにあたり 私が研究した― 大統領二人の人生を振り返ってみます エイブラハム リンカーン と リンドン ジョンソンです 一つめの「仕事」に関してですが すさまじい野望を持つのは良いと リンカーンの人生が物語っていると思います 彼には大きな野望がありました でも それは任務 権力 名声 評判のためではなく 世界を少しでも改善させるために 人生で価値ある何かを達成したかったのです
Even as a child, it seemed, Lincoln dreamed heroic dreams. He somehow had to escape that hard-scrabble farm from which he was born. No schooling was possible for him, except a few weeks here, a few weeks there. But he read books in every spare moment he could find. It was said when he got a copy of the King James Bible or "Aesop's Fables," he was so excited he couldn't sleep. He couldn't eat. The great poet Emily Dickinson once said, "There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away." How true for Lincoln.
子どもの頃でさえ リンカーンには雄々しい夢がありました 彼は生家である農家を後にする― 必要がありました 短期間の授業を除き 学校教育は受けられませんでした 彼は暇さえあれば読書をしました 聖書やイソップ童話が手に入ったとき 興奮して 睡眠も食事も取れなかったと 言われています 詩人のエミリー ディキンソンが “本のように 彼方へ旅させてくれる船は無い” と言ったように リンカーンは本にのめり込み
Though he never would travel to Europe, he went with Shakespeare's kings to merry England, he went with Lord Byron's poetry to Spain and Portugal. Literature allowed him to transcend his surroundings. But there were so many losses in his early life that he was haunted by death. His mother died when he was only nine years old; his only sister, Sarah, in childbirth a few years later; and his first love, Ann Rutledge, at the age of 22. Moreover, when his mother lay dying, she did not hold out for him the hope that they would meet in an afterworld. She simply said to him, "Abraham, I'm going away from you now, and I shall never return." As a result he became obsessed with the thought that when we die our life is swept away -- dust to dust.
ヨーロッパ旅行をせずとも シェイクスピアの王と共に陽気なイギリスへ行き バイロンの詩と共にスペインやポルトガルに行きました 文学で彼の環境は向上したのです でも 若い時に多くの死と向き合い 死に悩まされました 母は彼が9歳の時に他界 数年後 姉も出産中に亡くなり 初恋の相手は22歳で他界しています さらに彼の母は死に際に あの世で再会する― 望みには触れず ただ言いました “別れの時が来た もう戻りはしないよ” その結果 亡くなると人生は 微塵に消えるという考えに取りつかれました
But only as he grew older did he develop a certain consolation from an ancient Greek notion -- but followed by other cultures as well -- that if you could accomplish something worthy in your life, you could live on in the memory of others. Your honor and your reputation would outlive your earthly existence. And that worthy ambition became his lodestar. It carried him through the one significant depression that he suffered when he was in his early 30s.
でも彼は歳を重ねるにつれて 古代ギリシャの概念や 他の文化から ある慰みを得ました 人生で価値ある何かを達成すれば 他者の記憶に生き続けるという考えです 名誉や評判で 後世に名を残すのです その立派な野望が彼の目標になりました 30代初めに患った鬱を克服できたのも 目標があったからです
Three things had combined to lay him low. He had broken his engagement with Mary Todd, not certain he was ready to marry her, but knowing how devastating it was to her that he did that. His one intimate friend, Joshua Speed, was leaving Illinois to go back to Kentucky because Speed's father had died. And his political career in the state legislature was on a downward slide. He was so depressed that friends worried he was suicidal. They took all knives and razors and scissors from his room. And his great friend Speed went to his side and said, "Lincoln, you must rally or you will die." He said that, "I would just as soon die right now, but I've not yet done anything to make any human being remember that I have lived."
彼を圧倒した三つの出来事がありました メリートッドとの婚約破棄は 結婚する心構えがなかったからですが 彼女には打撃だとわかっていました 無二の親友 スピードが父の死去で イリノイからケンタッキーへ帰って行きました リンカーンの州議会での 政治的キャリアは低下していました 落ち込んだ彼が自殺を図る心配をした友人は 彼の部屋から刃物を取り除きました 親友のスピードが戻り 言いました “元気を出さなきゃ死んじゃうよ” リンカーンは “今すぐにでも死ぬとも でも 私を覚えていてもらうには まだ何もやり遂げていない”
So fueled by that ambition, he returned to the state legislature. He eventually won a seat in Congress. He then ran twice for the Senate, lost twice. "Everyone is broken by life," Ernest Hemingway once said, "but some people are stronger in the broken places." So then he surprised the nation with an upset victory for the presidency over three far more experienced, far more educated, far more celebrated rivals. And then when he won the general election, he stunned the nation even more by appointing each of these three rivals into his Cabinet. It was an unprecedented act at the time because everybody thought, "He'll look like a figurehead compared to these people." They said, "Why are you doing this, Lincoln?" He said, "Look, these are the strongest and most able men in the country. The country is in peril. I need them by my side." But perhaps my old friend Lyndon Johnson might have put it in less noble fashion: "Better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in." (Laughter)
その野望に刺激され 彼は議会へと戻り 遂に議会の座を勝ち取りました そして上院議員に2回立候補し 2回落選 へミングウェイは “誰でもくじけることはあるが 弱ったときに強くなる人もいる” と言っています その後 自分より経験や教養があり 世に知られた3人のライバルを 大統領選で打ち破り 世間を驚かせました 彼は総選挙で当選した際 そのライバルを閣僚として迎え 更に世間を驚かせました 前代未聞の行為に 誰もが思いました “彼はあの3人に比べて表看板のようだ” “なぜ こんなことをする?” と尋ねられると リンカーンは答えました “我が国で 一番強くて出来の良い男たちだ この国は危険にさらされている 彼らの力が必要だ” リンドン ジョンソンだったら そんな表現はしなかったでしょう “外にいる自分の敵にテントの中へ小便をされるより 中から外へされるほうがましだ” (笑)
But it soon became clear that Abraham Lincoln would emerge as the undisputed captain of this unruly team. For each of them soon came to understand that he possessed an unparalleled array of emotional strengths and political skills that proved far more important than the thinness of his external résumé. For one thing, he possessed an uncanny ability to empathize with and to think about other peoples' point of view. He repaired injured feelings that might have escalated into permanent hostility. He shared credit with ease, assumed responsibility for the failure of his subordinates, constantly acknowledged his errors and learned from his mistakes. These are the qualities we should be looking for in our candidates in 2008. (Applause) He refused to be provoked by petty grievances. He never submitted to jealousy or brooded over perceived slights. And he expressed his unshakeable convictions in everyday language, in metaphors, in stories. And with a beauty of language -- almost as if the Shakespeare and the poetry he had so loved as a child had worked their way into his very soul.
しかし リンカーンがこの面倒な陣容の 明白な司令塔であると 間もなくしてわかります 外見上の経歴の薄さよりも ずっと大切な 無比の感情的な力と 政治的知恵を 持ち合わせた― リンカーンに ライバルは気づきます まず 彼には人と共感したり 他者の観点を思いやる超人的な力がありました もつれが生じると 不和を修復しました 喜んで功績を分かち合い 部下の失敗には責任を肩代わりし 常に間違いを認め 間違いから学びました 2008年の候補者に求めるべき素質があります (拍手) 些細なことで怒ることはせず 決して嫉妬や軽蔑にも振り回されなかったのです そして彼は不動の信念を 日頃から談話や演説で表現しました 彼が使う言葉の美しさは 大好きだったシェイクスピアや詩が 彼の心に入りこんだようでした
In 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, he brought his old friend, Joshua Speed, back to the White House, and remembered that conversation of decades before, when he was so sad. And he, pointing to the Proclamation, said, "I believe, in this measure, my fondest hopes will be realized." But as he was about to put his signature on the Proclamation his own hand was numb and shaking because he had shaken a thousand hands that morning at a New Year's reception. So he put the pen down. He said, "If ever my soul were in an act, it is in this act. But if I sign with a shaking hand, posterity will say, 'He hesitated.'" So he waited until he could take up the pen and sign with a bold and clear hand. But even in his wildest dreams, Lincoln could never have imagined how far his reputation would reach.
1863年に奴隷解放宣言が調印されたとき 旧友のスピードをホワイトハウスに連れ戻し 彼が惨めだった何十年も前の会話を思い出しました そして 宣言書を指して言いました “この法令によって私の一番の願いが実現するんだね” しかし彼が宣言書に署名しようとした時 手が震えていました 大勢の人と握手をしていたからです 彼はペンを置き 言いました “精魂を込めるとは このことだ でも震える手で署名すれば 躊躇したと言い継がれるだろう” 彼はペンを持てるまで待ち 力強くはっきりとした手で署名したのです しかし リンカーンには 自らの評判の成長ぶりは 想像もつきませんでした
I was so thrilled to find an interview with the great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, in a New York newspaper in the early 1900s. And in it, Tolstoy told of a trip that he'd recently made to a very remote area of the Caucasus, where there were only wild barbarians, who had never left this part of Russia. Knowing that Tolstoy was in their midst, they asked him to tell stories of the great men of history. So he said, "I told them about Napoleon and Alexander the Great and Frederick the Great and Julius Caesar, and they loved it. But before I finished, the chief of the barbarians stood up and said, 'But wait, you haven't told us about the greatest ruler of them all. We want to hear about that man who spoke with a voice of thunder, who laughed like the sunrise, who came from that place called America, which is so far from here, that if a young man should travel there, he would be an old man when he arrived. Tell us of that man. Tell us of Abraham Lincoln.'" He was stunned. He told them everything he could about Lincoln. And then in the interview he said, "What made Lincoln so great? Not as great a general as Napoleon, not as great a statesman as Frederick the Great." But his greatness consisted, and historians would roundly agree, in the integrity of his character and the moral fiber of his being.
作家のトルストイを1900年代初頭に取材した記事を 私はニューヨークの新聞で見つけて興奮しました その記事でトルストイは外に出たことのない― 野蛮人だけが住むロシアの 人里離れた場所に行ったと 語っていました トルストイを知っていた彼らは 歴史上の偉大な人物の話をして欲しいと頼みました トルストイ曰く “ナポレオンや フリードリヒ大王や シーザーの 話をしたら 彼らは喜んだ 話し終える前に野蛮人のボスが立ち上がり言った ‘待ってくれ 一番偉大な支配者のことを聴いていない 雷の声で話し 日の出のように笑う男 若者が旅したならば 到着するころには年寄りになるほど 遠く離れたアメリカという場所から 来た男の話が聴きたい リンカーンの話をしてくれないか’” トルストイは驚くも 知っている事は全て話しました トルストイは取材の中で ナポレオンやフリードリヒ大王ほど リンカーンは卓越していなかった と言っています しかし 歴史学者が口をそろえて言うように 彼の偉大さとは 誠実さや 気骨稜稜とした本質にありました
So in the end that powerful ambition that had carried Lincoln through his bleak childhood had been realized. That ambition that had allowed him to laboriously educate himself by himself, to go through that string of political failures and the darkest days of the war. His story would be told. So as for that second sphere, not of work, but of love -- encompassing family, friends and colleagues -- it, too, takes work and commitment. The Lyndon Johnson that I saw in the last years of his life, when I helped him on his memoirs, was a man who had spent so many years in the pursuit of work, power and individual success, that he had absolutely no psychic or emotional resources left to get him through the days once the presidency was gone.
ですから 侘しい子供時代を通して駆り立てた― 強力な意思が 最終的に現れたのです 苦心して独学し 一連の政治上の失敗や 戦時中の暗い日々を 耐え抜かせた野望です 語り継がれる彼の話です 家族や友達や同僚を含む― 二つめの「愛」に関しても 仕事やコミットメントが必要です 私がジョンソンの回顧録作成に関わり 最期までに見た彼は 仕事の追求 権力 功名に何年も費やし 大統領引退後には 日々を切り抜いていく魂や意欲は まったく 残っていませんでした
My relationship with him began on a rather curious level. I was selected as a White House Fellow when I was 24 years old. We had a big dance at the White House. President Johnson did dance with me that night. Not that peculiar -- there were only three women out of the 16 White House Fellows. But he did whisper in my ear that he wanted me to work directly for him in the White House. But it was not to be that simple. For in the months leading up to my selection, like many young people, I'd been active in the anti-Vietnam War movement, and had written an article against Lyndon Johnson, which unfortunately came out in The New Republic two days after the dance in the White House. (Laugher) And the theme of the article was how to remove Lyndon Johnson from power. (Laughter) So I was certain he would kick me out of the program. But instead, surprisingly, he said, "Oh, bring her down here for a year, and if I can't win her over, no one can." So I did end up working for him in the White House. Eventually accompanied him to his ranch to help him on those memoirs, never fully understanding why he'd chosen me to spend so many hours with.
彼とはユニークな出会い方をしました 24歳の時 私はホワイトハウスフェローに選ばれました ホワイトハウスでパーティーがあり 私は彼と踊ったのです 女は3人だけだったので 不思議ではありませんが 彼は官邸で彼の下で働いてほしいと 私の耳元で囁きました 厄介なことに 私は その何か月も前から 他の若者のように 反ベトナム戦争運動に積極的で 私の書いたジョンソン批判の記事が 不幸にもパーティーの 二日後に新聞に載ったのです (笑) ジョンソンを いかに政権から降ろすか という記事でした (笑) 彼に嫌われると思いましたが 驚くことに彼は言ったのです “彼女を一年ここに連れて来なさい 彼女を説得できるのは 私だけだ” それで 官邸で仕えることになり 採用された理由を理解しないまま 回顧録作成のため 彼の牧場について行きました
I like to believe it was because I was a good listener. He was a great storyteller. Fabulous, colorful, anecdotal stories. There was a problem with these stories, however, which I later discovered, which is that half of them weren't true. But they were great, nonetheless. (Laughter) So I think that part of his attraction for me was that I loved listening to his tall tales. But I also worried that part of it was that I was then a young woman. And he had somewhat of a minor league womanizing reputation. So I constantly chatted to him about boyfriends, even when I didn't have any at all.
私が聞き上手だったからだと信じたいです 彼の話には 人を引き込む力がありました でも 話の半分は 尾ひれがついていたと 後でわかりました それでも 素晴らしかったのです ですから 彼の話に魅了された私に惹かれたのだと思いますが 私の若さも理由かと心配しました 彼が女たらしだという噂もあったので 私は恋人がいない時でさえ 常に彼には恋人の話をしていました
Everything was working perfectly, until one day he said he wanted to discuss our relationship. Sounded very ominous when he took me nearby to the lake, conveniently called Lake Lyndon Baines Johnson. And there was wine and cheese and a red-checked tablecloth -- all the romantic trappings. And he started out, "Doris, more than any other woman I have ever known ... " And my heart sank. And then he said, "You remind me of my mother." (Laughter)
彼が我々の関係について 話をしたいと言った日まで 全ては完璧でした 都合良く リンドンBジョンソン湖と名づけられた 湖に連れていかれたときは 変な予感がしました ワインやチーズなどが ロマンチックに並んだ中で 彼は言いました “ドリス 私が知るどんな女性よりも…” 私の心は沈みました そのときです “君はオフクロを思い出すよ” (笑)
It was pretty embarrassing, given what was going on in my mind. But I must say, the older I've gotten, the more I realize what an incredible privilege it was to have spent so many hours with this aging lion of a man. A victor in a thousand contests, three great civil rights laws, Medicare, aid to education. And yet, roundly defeated in the end by the war in Vietnam. And because he was so sad and so vulnerable, he opened up to me in ways he never would have had I known him at the height of his power -- sharing his fears, his sorrows and his worries. And I'd like to believe that the privilege fired within me the drive to understand the inner person behind the public figure, that I've tried to bring to each of my books since then.
私が想像していた事を考えると恥ずかしい話ですが 晩年の名士と何時間も 過ごせたのは光栄だったと 年齢を重ねるに連れて感じます 数々の争いの勝者であり 三大公民権 老人医療保障制度 教育援助を確立させた男です しかしベトナム戦争で支持率は急落 彼はあまりの悲しさと弱さから 権力者として絶頂期にいたときには 決して見せなかった恐怖心や 悲しみや心配事を話し出しました ジョンソンと過ごせたことにより 私が後に本にした― 社会的地位のある人間の心の内を 理解しようと駆り立てられました
But it also brought home to me the lessons which Erik Erikson had tried to instill in all of us about the importance of finding balance in life. For on the surface, Lyndon Johnson should have had everything in the world to feel good about in those last years, in the sense that he had been elected to the presidency; he had all the money he needed to pursue any leisure activity he wanted; he owned a spacious ranch in the countryside, a penthouse in the city, sailboats, speedboats. He had servants to answer any whim, and he had a family who loved him deeply.
しかし エリクソンが我々に伝授しようとした 人生のバランスを見つける大切さの 教えにも共感しました 外見上ジョンソンは 大統領になったという意味では 亡くなるまで 幸せに必要なものは持っていたはずです 彼には どんな楽しみをも 手に入れられる経済力がありました 田舎には広大な牧場 街にはペントハウス ヨットやスピードボートも持っており どんな気まぐれにも応えてくれる使用人と 心から愛してくれる家族がいました
And yet, years of concentration solely on work and individual success meant that in his retirement he could find no solace in family, in recreation, in sports or in hobbies. It was almost as if the hole in his heart was so large that even the love of a family, without work, could not fill it. As his spirits sagged, his body deteriorated until, I believe, he slowly brought about his own death. In those last years, he said he was so sad watching the American people look toward a new president and forgetting him. He spoke with immense sadness in his voice, saying maybe he should have spent more time with his children, and their children in turn. But it was too late. Despite all that power, all that wealth, he was alone when he finally died -- his ultimate terror realized.
それでも長年 仕事と個人的成功だけに専念したために 引退したときには 家族にも 気晴らしにも スポーツにも 趣味にも 慰めを見いだせませんでした 仕事なしには 家族の愛さえも 心に開いた大きな穴を塞げないように見えました 彼の精神と共に 体も衰え 自らの死を招いたように感じます 米国人が新大統領に期待し 自分が忘れられるのは悲しいと 他界する前の数年間 言っていました 彼は非常に悲しい声で 子どもや孫と多くの時間を 過ごすべきだったと言いました でも遅すぎました あれだけの力や富にも関わらず 彼がもっとも恐れていたように 孤独な死を遂げました
So as for that third sphere of play, which he never had learned to enjoy, I've learned over the years that even this sphere requires a commitment of time and energy -- enough so that a hobby, a sport, a love of music, or art, or literature, or any form of recreation, can provide true pleasure, relaxation and replenishment. So deep, for instance, was Abraham Lincoln's love of Shakespeare, that he made time to spend more than a hundred nights in the theater, even during those dark days of the war. He said, when the lights went down and a Shakespeare play came on, for a few precious hours he could imagine himself back in Prince Hal's time.
彼が決して学ぶことのなかった― 三つ目の「遊び」には 時間とエネルギーが必要だと 私は何年もかけて学びました スポーツ 音楽 芸術 文学 またはどんな趣味でも 喜び 安らぎ 充足感を 与えることがわかりました シェイクスピアを愛していたリンカーンは 戦時中の暗い日々でさえ 何百回も 劇場に足を運びました 灯りが消えシェイクスピアの演劇が始まると その貴重な数時間はハル王子の時代に タイムトリップできると言いました
But an even more important form of relaxation for him, that Lyndon Johnson never could enjoy, was a love of -- somehow -- humor, and feeling out what hilarious parts of life can produce as a sidelight to the sadness. He once said that he laughed so he did not cry, that a good story, for him, was better than a drop of whiskey. His storytelling powers had first been recognized when he was on the circuit in Illinois. The lawyers and the judges would travel from one county courthouse to the other, and when anyone was knowing Lincoln was in town, they would come from miles around to listen to him tell stories. He would stand with his back against a fire and entertain the crowd for hours with his winding tales. And all these stories became part of his memory bank, so he could call on them whenever he needed to. And they're not quite what you might expect from our marble monument.
しかし ジョンソンが楽しめなかった― リンカーンのもっと重要な骨休めは ユーモアに対する愛と 悲しみへの測光として 人生の面白みを探求することです 彼は泣かないように笑ったと言いました 彼はウィスキー1滴より 良い話を好みました 彼の話力はイリノイを巡回したとき 初めて注目されました 弁護士と裁判官が郡庁舎を 順繰り回るのですが リンカーンの話を聴きたくて 大勢の人が やって来ました 彼は火を背に立って いろいろな話で聴衆を何時間も惹きつけました 彼は数々の話を記憶しており 必要な時はいつでも思い出すことができました 坐像からは想像できない数々の逸話―
One of his favorite stories, for example, had to do with the Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen. And as Lincoln told the story, Mr. Allen went to Britain after the war. And the British people were still upset about losing the Revolution, so they decided to embarrass him a little bit by putting a huge picture of General Washington in the only outhouse, where he'd have to encounter it. They figured he'd be upset about the indignity of George Washington being in an outhouse. But he came out of the outhouse not upset at all. And so they said, "Well, did you see George Washington in there?" "Oh, yes," he said, "perfectly appropriate place for him." "What do you mean?" they said. "Well," he said, "there's nothing to make an Englishman shit faster than the sight of General George Washington." (Laughter) (Applause)
例えば 彼のお気に入りは 独立戦争の英雄 イーサン アレンの話でした 彼の語り口で話してみます アレンが英国へ行ったとき 英国人は独立戦争に負けたことで まだ機嫌を害していて 彼に恥ずかしい思いをさせようと 屋外便所の中にワシントン将軍の 巨大な写真を貼っておいたのです そんな侮辱をされれば 怒るだろうと思ったのに 彼は全然怒りませんでした “便所の中のワシントンを見た?” と尋ねる彼らに “見たさ 彼には完璧な場所だ” とアレン “どういう意味だい?” “将軍に見られたら 英国人は ゆっくりクソもしてられないさ” (笑) (拍手)
So you can imagine, if you are in the middle of a tense cabinet meeting -- and he had hundreds of these stories -- you would have to relax. So between his nightly treks to the theater, his story telling, and his extraordinary sense of humor and his love of quoting Shakespeare and poetry, he found that form of play which carried him through his days. In my own life, I shall always be grateful for having found a form of play in my irrational love of baseball. Which allows me, from the beginning of spring training to the end of the fall, to have something to occupy my mind and heart other than my work.
張りつめた閣議の途中で このような話をされれば 肩の力も抜けるわけです リンカーンは毎晩 劇場に行ったり 並はずれたユーモアを披露したり シェイクスピアや詩を引用しながら 日々を頑張り通す遊びを見いだしました 私の場合 野球の大ファンとなって 遊びを見いだせたのは ありがたいことです 春のトレーニング開始時期から 秋の終わりまで 仕事以外に熱中できることを 見つけられました
It all began when I was only six years old, and my father taught me that mysterious art of keeping score while listening to baseball games -- so that when he went to work in New York during the day, I could record for him the history of that afternoon's Brooklyn Dodgers game. Now, when you're only six years old, and your father comes home every single night and listens to you -- as I now realize that I, in excruciating detail, recounted every single play of every inning of the game that had just taken place that afternoon. But he made me feel I was telling him a fabulous story. It makes you think there's something magic about history to keep your father's attention.
それは私が6歳の時に始まりました 野球中継を聴きながら スコアの付け方を 私の父が教えてくれました 父が仕事をしている昼間に 私がドジャーズ戦の経過を 記録できるようにです 6歳の子にとって 父親が毎晩帰宅し 耳を傾けてくれるのです 耐えがたい詳細と共に その日の試合の イニング毎の試合運びを述べました でも父は 素晴らしい話をしているような気にさせてくれました 父の注意を引き留めるのに 物語には魔法があると思わされます
In fact, I'm convinced I learned the narrative art from those nightly sessions with my father. Because at first, I'd be so excited I would blurt out, "The Dodgers won!" or, "The Dodgers lost!" Which took much of the drama of this two-hour telling away. (Laughter) So I finally learned you had to tell a story from beginning to middle to end. I must say, so fervent was my love of the old Brooklyn Dodgers in those days that I had to confess in my first confession two sins that related to baseball.
私は父と毎晩に渡る話で 話法を学んだと確信しています なぜなら 最初はあまりの興奮で “ドジャースが勝った!” とか “負けた!” と うっかり2時間の話の要点を言ってしまうからです (笑) 結局 順を追って話をするよう 学びました 私は当時 ドジャースの 熱狂的ファンだったので 初めての懺悔では 野球関連の罪を二つ告白しました
The first occurred because the Dodgers' catcher, Roy Campanella, came to my hometown of Rockville Centre, Long Island, just as I was in preparation for my first Holy Communion. And I was so excited -- first person I'd ever see outside of Ebbets Field. But it so happened he was speaking in a Protestant Church. When you are brought up as a Catholic, you think that if you ever set foot in a Protestant Church, you'll be struck dead at the threshold. So I went to my father in tears, "What are we going to do?" He said, "Don't worry. He's speaking in a parish hall. We're sitting in folding chairs. He's talking about sportsmanship. It's not a sin." But as I left that night, I was certain that somehow I'd traded the life of my everlasting soul for this one night with Roy Campanella. (Laughter) And there were no indulgences around that I could buy. So I had this sin on my soul when I went to my first confession. I told the priest right away. He said, "No problem. It wasn't a religious service." But then, unfortunately, he said, "And what else, my child?"
一つめはドジャースの捕手 ロイ カンパネラが 私の聖餐式の準備中に 私の故郷に来たのです 球場以外の場所で 選手を見られる事に舞い上がりました でも彼は新教教会で話すことになっていました カトリック教徒にすれば 新教教会に入るなんて 敷居をまたいだ時点で殺されます 私が涙目で訴えると 父は “スポーツマン精神の話を 聞くだけだから罪ではないよ” と 言いました でも その講演の夜 なぜか私は カンパネラとの晩と引き換えに 永遠の魂を失ったように感じました (笑) 私が買える免罪符はなかったので 初めての懺悔では この罪を 神父様に告白しました “大丈夫 それは宗教と関係ありません” でも “他には?” と不幸にも聞かれ
And then came my second sin. I tried to sandwich it in between talking too much in church, wishing harm to others, being mean to my sisters. And he said, "To whom did you wish harm?" And I had to say that I wished that various New York Yankees players would break arms, legs and ankles -- (Laughter) -- so that the Brooklyn Dodgers could win their first World Series. He said, "How often do you make these horrible wishes?" And I had to say, every night when I said my prayers. (Laughter) So he said, "Look, I'll tell you something. I love the Brooklyn Dodgers, as you do, but I promise you some day they will win fairly and squarely. You do not need to wish harm on others to make it happen." "Oh yes," I said. But luckily, my first confession -- to a baseball-loving priest! (Laughter)
二つめの罪を言ったのです 私が呪いをかけている事を 他の事に割り込ませて言いました 神父様は “誰にそんな呪いを?” 私はヤンキース選手が骨折すればいいと 思っていたと言いました (笑) ドジャースのワールドシリーズでの初勝利を願っていたのです 呪いの頻度を聞かれ お祈りする毎晩と答えました (笑) “私だってドジャースが 大好きさ でも いつの日か 彼らは正々堂々と勝ってくれるよ そんなお願いは必要ないよ” 私は “はい” と言いました 初懺悔をしたのが野球好きな神父様で良かったです (笑)
Well, though my father died of a sudden heart attack when I was still in my 20s, before I had gotten married and had my three sons, I have passed his memory -- as well as his love of baseball -- on to my boys. Though when the Dodgers abandoned us to come to L.A., I lost faith in baseball until I moved to Boston and became an irrational Red Sox fan. And I must say, even now, when I sit with my sons with our season tickets, I can sometimes close my eyes against the sun and imagine myself, a young girl once more, in the presence of my father, watching the players of my youth on the grassy fields below: Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, and Duke Snider.
私が結婚して3人の息子が生まれる前の 20代の時に 父が突然 心臓発作で亡くなりましたが 父の思い出と野球熱は息子に受け継ぎました ドジャースがロスに移ったときは 野球への関心が薄れましたが ボストンに引っ越して レッドソックスの大ファンになりました 今でも シーズンチケットを買って 息子と共に座っているときに 時々 太陽に向かって目を閉じると 少女に戻り 父の存在を感じながら 芝の野球場にいる 当時の選手を見ている気分になります ジャッキー ロビンソン ロイ カンパネラ ピーウィー リース デューク スナイダー
I must say there is magic in these moments. When I open my eyes and I see my sons in the place where my father once sat, I feel an invisible loyalty and love linking my sons to the grandfather whose face they never had a chance to see, but whose heart and soul they have come to know through all the stories I have told. Which is why, in the end, I shall always be grateful for this curious love of history, allowing me to spend a lifetime looking back into the past. Allowing me to learn from these large figures about the struggle for meaning for life. Allowing me to believe that the private people we have loved and lost in our families, and the public figures we have respected in our history, just as Abraham Lincoln wanted to believe, really can live on, so long as we pledge to tell and to retell the stories of their lives. Thank you for letting me be that storyteller today. (Applause) Thank you.
魔法を感じる瞬間です 目を開け かつて父がいた場所に 息子たちを見ると 息子たちが会ったことのない父と 忠誠心や愛でつながっているのを感じます 私の話を通じて 父の心が分かるようになったのでしょう だから 過去を振り返るのに一生をかけさせてくれた― 歴史に対する好奇心に私はいつも感謝するのです このような偉人から人生の辛苦がもつ 意味を学ばさせてもらい 亡くなった愛する家族や 歴史上の尊敬する著名人を 信じさせてもらい リンカーンが望んだように 彼らの人生を何度も語る約束をすると 彼らは確かに生き続けるのです 今日はこの話をさせてもらえて光栄です (拍手) ありがとう