So I was trained to become a gymnast for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s. When I was in the first grade, the government wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes, all expenses paid. But my tiger mother said, "No." My parents wanted me to become an engineer like them. After surviving the Cultural Revolution, they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness: a safe and well-paid job. It is not important if I like the job or not.
七十年代,我曾經喺中國湖南省 接受咗兩年嘅體操運動員訓練 到小學一年級嘅時候 當地政府想將我轉去一間體育學校就讀 全部公數 但係我嘅虎媽唔肯 我爸爸媽媽都希望我 可以好似佢哋咁做工程師 佢哋經歷過文化大革命 於是堅定認為 要得到幸福只有一個途徑 就係搵到一份又穩定又高收入嘅工作 佢哋覺得我鍾唔鍾意份工根本唔重要 但係我當時嘅夢想係成為中國歌劇家
But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer. That is me playing my imaginary piano. An opera singer must start training young to learn acrobatics, so I tried everything I could to go to opera school. I even wrote to the school principal and the host of a radio show. But no adults liked the idea. No adults believed I was serious. Only my friends supported me, but they were kids, just as powerless as I was. So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained. My dream would never come true. I was afraid that for the rest of my life some second-class happiness would be the best I could hope for.
哩幅相係我想像緊彈緊鋼琴 一個歌劇家要從細細個開始訓練 學體操技巧 我千方百計令自己入到歌劇學校 甚至乎我寫信畀校長 同埋一個電台節目主持人 但係,無一個大人接受我嘅諗法 無人相信我係認真嘅 只有我嘅朋友支持我 但係佢哋始終都係細路 都係無話事權嘅 等到我 15 歲 我知道我年紀太大,唔再適合訓練 而我嘅夢想永遠都唔會成真 當時我驚喺我嘅餘生裡面 我只能夠爭取唔係我最想要嘅幸福
But that's so unfair. So I was determined to find another calling. Nobody around to teach me? Fine. I turned to books.
一切一切,實在太唔公平喇! 於是乎,我決定再為自己確立一個夢想 身邊無人可以教我? 無問題,我自己喺書本度學
I satisfied my hunger for parental advice from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]
我喺《傅雷家書》搵到 我想要嘅父母意見 哩本書收錄身為作家嘅父母 同身為音樂家嘅兒子之間來往嘅信件
I found my role model of an independent woman when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]
喺《簡愛》裏面 我搵到獨立自強嘅女性模範 而唔係孔子儒家所要求嘅三從四德
And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]
由《兒女一籮筐》哩本書
And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.
我學識點樣提高工作效率
["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]
讀咗哩兩本書之後,我立志出國讀書 ︰
I came to the U.S. in 1995, so which books did I read here first? Books banned in China, of course. "The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life. That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it. The Bible is interesting, but strange. (Laughter) That's a topic for a different day. But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany: "You shall honor your father and mother." "Honor," I said. "That's so different, and better, than obey." So it becomes my tool to climb out of this Confucian guilt trap and to restart my relationship with my parents.
[ 三毛《三毛流浪記》、 南懷瑾《歷史的經驗》] 1995 年,我嚟到美國 我諗喺度我應該讀咩書先? 答案肯定係中國嘅禁書啦 《大地》講嘅係中國農民嘅故事 所以不利於中國政府嘅思想教育 聖經幾有趣,但係始終有啲奇怪 (笑聲) 我哋可以擇日再講聖經 但係十誡嘅第五誡令我明白到一點: 「 你應該以你嘅父母為榮。 」 我當時諗「為榮」同「順從」好唔同 「為榮」要比「順從」仲好 哩本書幫我走出儒家道德嘅規條 亦都幫我同父母之間建立新關係 美國嘅新文化亦都令我養成 比較閱讀嘅習慣
Encountering a new culture also started my habit of comparative reading. It offers many insights. For example, I found this map out of place at first because this is what Chinese students grew up with. It had never occurred to me, China doesn't have to be at the center of the world. A map actually carries somebody's view. Comparative reading actually is nothing new. It's a standard practice in the academic world. There are even research fields such as comparative religion and comparative literature.
比較閱讀令我睇到好多 例如,當我第一次見到哩幅地圖 就覺得唔順眼 因為哩幅係中國學生 由細睇到大嘅世界地圖 我從來都無睇過呢幅地圖 中國唔一定要喺世界嘅中心 地圖往往反映主觀嘅睇法 事實上,比較閱讀並唔係乜嘢新鮮 學術世界裡面,比較閱讀係家常便飯 甚至已經自成一個研究領域 例如比較宗教、比較文學
Compare and contrast gives scholars a more complete understanding of a topic. So I thought, well, if comparative reading works for research, why not do it in daily life too? So I started reading books in pairs. So they can be about people -- ["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] -- who are involved in the same event, or friends with shared experiences. ["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder] I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter) [Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] -- or similar stories from different cultures, as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell] For example, both the Christ and the Buddha went through three temptations. For the Christ, the temptations are economic, political and spiritual. For the Buddha, they are all psychological: lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.
比較同對比可以令學者 對某個話題有更全面嘅理解 所以我諗,既然比較閱讀對研究有用 點解唔可以用喺日常生活度? 所以我每次睇書 都會擺第二本書做比較 哩啲書可以係有關人物 [ 沃爾特 · 以撒森《本傑明 · 佛蘭克林》、 大衛 · 麥考夫《約翰 · 亞當》] 而哩啲人物都經歷過同樣嘅事件 或者做過朋友,共過患難 [ 凱薩琳 · 格雷厄姆《個人歷史》、 愛麗絲 · 施羅德《滾雪球:巴菲特自傳》] 我亦都會比較相同情節 但唔同敍事手法嘅文學作品(笑聲) [ 金 · 詹姆斯版本《聖經》、 克里斯多夫 · 摩爾《羔羊》] 又或者嚟自唔同文化但相似內容嘅故事 就好似約瑟夫 · 坎貝爾 喺佢嗰本書《神話嘅力量》中提到 例如,耶穌同佛陀 兩個人都曾經遇到過三種誘惑 對耶穌嚟講,誘惑都係 經濟、政治、精神上嘅 對於佛陀嚟講,誘惑都係心理嘅: 情慾、恐懼、社會責任 ——都幾有趣
So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun to read your favorite books in two languages. ["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts] Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain. For example, it's through translation that I realized "happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh! "Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh. (Laughter)
所以如果你識得一門外語 咁將原文同譯文一齊讀都極有意思 [ 湯瑪斯 · 梅頓翻譯嘅《莊子》、 艾倫 · 華特斯譯嘅《道德經》] 有人覺得翻譯會令文字嘅意藴損失 但我反而覺得有收穫 例如,通過翻譯 我意識到中文嘅 「 快樂 」 字面上可以理解成 「短暫嘅愉悅」。嗯! 中文「新娘」字面上解 「新嘅媽媽」。哦!
Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people of the past and the present. I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again. Having a dream shattered really is nothing compared to what many others have suffered. I have come to believe that coming true is not the only purpose of a dream. Its most important purpose is to get us in touch with where dreams come from, where passion comes from, where happiness comes from. Even a shattered dream can do that for you.
(笑聲) 書本係我哋同古人、現代人 溝通聯繫嘅一個神奇通道 我知道我唔應該再覺得寂寞或者弱小 相較於其他人經歷過嘅嘢 一個夢想破碎其實都唔係啲乜 我開始相信夢想並唔剩係用嚟實現 佢最重要嘅一個意義就係 可以畀我哋嚟到夢想來源嘅地方 熱情嘅源頭、同快樂嘅根源 就算一個已經破碎嘅夢想 都可以有咁嘅意義 因為書本
So because of books, I'm here today, happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity, most of the time. So may books be always with you.
我今日大部分時間先可以開心咁生活 我嘅生命先可以有返目標同埋變得清晰 但願書籍永遠陪伴著你
Thank you.
多謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you. (Applause)
多謝
Thank you. (Applause)
(掌聲)