by David McCullough

Arony 譯

老師讀懂了學(xué)生

When a Teacher Finally Understands a Student

by David McCullough

Arony 譯

Let me tell you about a recent student of mine. We’ll call him Jack. He’s a quiet boy, our Jack,1)self-possessed, responsible enough generally,2)amply courteous,3)eminently likable. In my4)normative-level senior literature class, he was attentive and receptive but disinclined to push himself. He found a comfortable pace and stuck with it. The5)snarky might be tempted to condemn him as undistinguished, B?/C+, just another kid—any of these6)tantamount, in the current climate, to pretty heavy condemnation. More and more of late, I find myself compelled to defend kids like Jack.

我來告訴你最近我一個(gè)學(xué)生的故事。我們就管他叫杰克吧。他是個(gè)文靜的男孩，我們的杰克，沉著冷靜，通常來說，很有責(zé)任心，很有禮貌，十分討人喜歡。在我的規(guī)范性高級(jí)文學(xué)課上，他很專心，學(xué)得也不錯(cuò)，但不太愿意刻苦學(xué)習(xí)。他遵循著一套自己覺得舒適的學(xué)習(xí)方式。一些尖刻之人也許會(huì)說他是個(gè)平庸之輩，成績大概在C+到B?之間，不過是個(gè)普通孩子而已—這在現(xiàn)在看來已是很嚴(yán)厲的批評(píng)。最近，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己越來越禁不住想保護(hù)像杰克這樣的孩子。

1) self-possessed [selfp??zest] adj. 有自制力的，沉著的，泰然自若的

2) amply [??mpl?] adv. 充足地，豐富地

3) eminently [?em?n?ntl?] adj. 不尋常地

4) normative [?n??m?t?v] adj. 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的，規(guī)范的

5) snarky [snɑ?k?] adj. 尖刻的，諷刺挖苦的

6) tantamount to 等價(jià)于，無異于

Through the year, Jack ambled along at about three-quarters speed. Over the first few months, I waited for signs of7)ignition. When he handed me a sub-mediocre paper as the last of the autumn leaves were skittering down the street, I deemed it reason for a sit-down. We had a pleasant talk. He agreed he could be doing better, acknowledged he had it in him, said he recognized the benefts of working hard; cause enough, I thought, for cautious optimism. We parted pals. But nothing changed. A nudge here, a prod there, even a mild8)remonstration or two…nothing. Fair enough, I thought. A student, particularly a senior, is allowed to govern his own engagement, to deem my class not his bag. As long as something is. I left him to his own recognizance.

這一年，杰克以大概四分三的速度緩進(jìn)。在最初的幾個(gè)月，我等待著燃燒的苗頭。秋天最后的黃葉飄落在大街上時(shí)，杰克交給我一份中等偏下的論文，我認(rèn)為該和他坐下聊聊了。我們的談話很愉快。他承認(rèn)可以做得更好，他知道自己有能力做到，他說意識(shí)到了努力學(xué)習(xí)的重要性；我想，這樣情況還算樂觀。我們結(jié)束了談話，成為了朋友。然而沒什么改變。我不時(shí)給他一些提醒、一些激勵(lì)，甚至試過給他一兩個(gè)溫和的忠告—仍然無濟(jì)于事。我想這也很合理。一個(gè)學(xué)生，尤其是一個(gè)高年級(jí)的學(xué)生，應(yīng)該讓他自己決定學(xué)習(xí)的投入程度，或判斷我的課并不適合他。只要有適合他的就行。我讓他自己去發(fā)現(xiàn)。

But across a long and mild winter came evidence of nothing from our Jack in the way of bags, no bag in any direction. Spring eased in—9)nary a whiff of fervor regarding anything.

然而，度過了一個(gè)漫長而溫和的冬天，還是沒有一點(diǎn)跡象表明杰克的興趣愛好在哪里，沒有任何方向。春天悄悄地來了—沒有一丁點(diǎn)熱烈的氣息。

Then in May, a new generation of leaves greening the trees, with the effect of a revelation, I happened to learn that10)reticent Jack did have a passion after all…h(huán)appened to learn because he mentioned it. He had, as it turns out, a big bag, a let-the-world-go-on-without-me bag, a calling. I even liked that he hadn’t bothered to tell me about it until our time together was almost over; it was, after all, his. And it served, as far as he knew—or would at least let on—no useful purpose beyond the gratification of doing it, which he articulated poorly, which bothered him not in the least. He wasn’t being coached or spurred or assessed by an adult.

到了五月，樹上長滿了綠油油的新葉子，或許是受到這萌芽的啟發(fā)，我偶然得知這個(gè)沉默寡言的杰克總算找到了自己的興趣所在……我偶然得知是因?yàn)樗艺f起這件事。終于，他找到了自己最大的興趣愛好，為了它可以放棄全世界，他的天賦。我們一起相處的時(shí)間快要結(jié)束時(shí)他才告訴我，我覺得挺好的，畢竟，這是他的興趣。但據(jù)他所知（或至少他是這么說的），那沒什么用途，除了做這件事帶來的滿足感外。他對(duì)此說得模糊不清，這也讓他很苦惱。沒有成人指導(dǎo)他、鼓勵(lì)他，或?qū)λM(jìn)行評(píng)價(jià)。

No competition awaited for which he was preparing. He’d had no special training for it; nor did it play even an oblique role, as far as I know, in any of his college aspirations. The pleasure and satisfactions were his alone and for themselves, and more than enough.

他不需要準(zhǔn)備什么比賽，也沒有什么特別的訓(xùn)練，據(jù)我所知，那興趣對(duì)他的學(xué)術(shù)抱負(fù)更是毫無幫助，其中的樂趣和滿足感是屬于他自己的，屬于他和他的興趣的，這樣就足夠了。

In May, I learned that Jack draws.

在五月份，我得知杰克會(huì)畫畫。

7) ignition [?ɡ?n??（?）n] n. 點(diǎn)火，燃燒

8) remonstration [?r?m?ns?tre?t?（?）n] n. 抗議，規(guī)勸

9) nary [?ne?r?] adj. 一個(gè)也沒有

10) reticent [?ret?s?nt] adj. 沉默的，寡言的

But it’s more than that: Jack draws pictures of three dimensions. He creates detailed paper models, sculptures really, with ordinary printer paper, pencils and pens, scissors and Scotch tape. He does it purely because he enjoys it. From the Hogwarts Castle to the Statue of Liberty to a life-size, wearable baseball cap, and on and on, some no bigger than a deck of cards, some as big as a11)collie. Something strikes his fancy, he sits down and makes a model. If it takes a week, it takes a week. If the phone rings, he lets it. If the homework gets short shrift, so be it. And they are exquisite, these Jack originals. They are beautifully, masterly done. You should see them. Everyone should see them—the12)Fabergé eggs of paper sports cars and13)Millennium Falcons. On that note, though, Jack doesn’t seem to care much either way. It’s nice that people like them, but that’s not why he does it. The fun, the satisfaction, is in the doing.

但不僅如此：杰克畫的畫是三維的。他創(chuàng)造出精致的紙模型，其實(shí)就是雕塑，材料是普通的打印紙、鉛筆、鋼筆、剪刀和透明膠帶。他做這些完全是出于熱愛。他的作品包括了霍格沃茨城堡、自由女神像、跟實(shí)物一般大小，可以戴在頭上的棒球帽等等，有些只有一副撲克牌大小，有些則有牧羊犬那么大。要是有了靈感，他就會(huì)坐下來做模型。如果需要一星期來完成，那他就會(huì)花一星期的時(shí)間來完成。電話響了，他也不管；如果因此落下了功課，他也不在乎。這些杰克的原創(chuàng)作品很精致，很漂亮，手工精湛。你應(yīng)該看看這些作品，所有人都該看看—紙跑車上的法貝熱彩蛋和千年隼號(hào)。但在這一點(diǎn)上，杰克似乎也不太在意。別人喜歡固然很好，但那不是他做這些模型的原因，其中的樂趣和滿足感才是真正的原因。

It began a few years earlier. His family was on vacation at the14)Jersey Shore. Time ran short at an amusement park, if I have it right, and Jack was unable to go on a ride he’d been eager to try. The family headed for the car with a15)crestfallen kid in tow—which, I’ll point out, is a kid for you: Fun all day at an amusement park, and he’s glum about the one ride he didn’t get to go on. Well, thinks the parent, too bad. But, thinks the kid, I really, really, really wanted to go on that ride. Mid-mope, Jack gets back to wherever it is they’re staying and, not knowing why, reaches for pencil and paper and creates a meticulously detailed drawing of the ride, a longing drawing, a demonstration of frustrated ardor. A love letter. And, he realized at the end, it came out great. It was fun to do. Time and the world had vanished. Finished, he looked at the picture. Felt a measure of pride in his handiwork. Realized sitting there that the itch was not entirely scratched. Realized that the ride had a left side and a right and a back, so he drew them too. When he was done, there they lay on the table, four sheets of paper with drawings on them. Then he had an idea, a delighted little16)zing: The ride doesn’t lie fat on a table. It stands upright. It has three dimensions. He went for scissors and tape.

這一切始于幾年前。杰克一家到澤西海岸度假。在游樂場(chǎng)玩耍的時(shí)間過得飛快，我沒搞錯(cuò)的話，杰克當(dāng)時(shí)很想嘗試一項(xiàng)機(jī)動(dòng)游戲，但他玩不了。家人拖著這個(gè)垂頭喪氣的小孩上車。我要說清楚的是，這個(gè)小孩跟別的小孩無異—在游樂場(chǎng)開心地玩了一整天，卻因?yàn)橐豁?xiàng)沒機(jī)會(huì)玩的游戲而難過。哎，父母覺得真糟糕；而小孩真的很想、很想、很想玩。杰克悶悶不樂地回到他們住的地方，不知道是什么原因，他拿起鉛筆和畫紙，細(xì)致地畫出了那個(gè)機(jī)動(dòng)游戲，一幅充滿渴望的畫，表達(dá)了一份受挫的熱愛。一份寫給機(jī)動(dòng)游戲的情書。最后，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這幅畫太棒了，而且這過程很有趣。仿佛時(shí)間和整個(gè)世界都消失了。完成后，他看著畫，為自己的手工作品感到自豪。他覺得這幅畫平鋪在那里好像還差點(diǎn)什么，他想到這個(gè)機(jī)動(dòng)游戲還有左、右、后三個(gè)面，因此他把那三個(gè)面都畫出來了。他畫完后，把這些畫都放在桌子上，四張畫了畫的紙。突然，他有一個(gè)想法，既興奮又激動(dòng)：這個(gè)機(jī)動(dòng)游戲不應(yīng)該平鋪在桌子上，應(yīng)該豎立起來，應(yīng)該是立體的，于是他拿來剪刀和膠帶。

Bliss does not have to be big and important. Nor must it bring one17)accolades of any luster to matter. Bliss is more than its own reward.

喜悅不必是大而重要的，也不需要有榮譽(yù)的光環(huán)才顯得有意義。喜悅關(guān)乎的不僅是得到的獎(jiǎng)賞。

Whether Jack goes on to become an artist or an architect or an engineer or anything else directly consequent to his enthusiasm for model making does not matter. He has learned something about passion, about focus, about clearing a space in his life and doing what he does purely because he loves and believes in it. He has18)honed a set of abilities too. In choosing and doing for himself, he earns his confidence and self-worth. Very good things, these, and, I hope, lifelong.

不管杰克將來是成為藝術(shù)家、建師、工程師，還是從事其他與模型建造愛好相關(guān)的職業(yè)，都不重要。他已經(jīng)知道什么是熱情，如何專注，怎樣在生活中留出空間做自己喜歡和相信的事。他還練就了一套本領(lǐng)。杰克通過為自己選擇、為自己而做，獲得了自信心，實(shí)現(xiàn)了自我價(jià)值。這是多么美好的事，我希望這一切可以伴隨杰克一生。

11) collie [?k?l?] n. 牧羊犬

12) Fabergé egg 法貝熱彩蛋，指俄國著名珠寶首飾工匠 彼得·卡爾·法貝熱所制作的類似蛋的作品，這些蛋雕由 珍貴的金屬或是堅(jiān)硬的石頭混合琺瑯與寶石來裝飾

13) Millennium Falcons 千年隼號(hào)，《星球大戰(zhàn)》系列作品中一艘 虛構(gòu)的宇宙飛船

14) Jersey Shore 澤西海岸

15) crestfallen [?krestf??l?n] adj. 垂頭喪氣的，失望的

16) zing [z??] n. 熱情，興趣，活力

17) accolade [??k?le?d] n. 表揚(yáng)，推崇，嘉獎(jiǎng)

18) hone [h??n] v. 磨練