美国作家舍伍德·安德森写个儿子的人生忠告
admin 04-03 次遇见
Sherwood Anderson : A Letter of Advice to His Teenage Son
The quest to find one's purpose and live the creative life boldly is neither simple nor easy, especially for a young person trying to make sense of the world and his place in it.
“想要找到自己的人生目标并且勇敢地过一种创造性的生活，这样的追求既不简单，也不容易。尤其是对于一个竭力想要了解这个世界并从中找到自身位置的年轻人来说，更是如此。”
In the spring of 1926, Sherwood Anderson sent his seventeen-year-old son John a beautiful addition to history's most moving and timeless letters of fatherly advice. Found in Posterity: Letters of Great Americans to Their Children, the missive offers insight on everything from knowing whose advice not to take to the false allure of money to the joy of making things with your hands:
1926年春，舍伍德·安德森给17岁的儿子约翰寄去一封信，为历史上父亲写给孩子的最感人肺腑、经久不衰的忠告信增添了动人的一笔。这封信后来被收录在《后人：伟大的美国人写给子女们的信》一书中。从要了解哪些人的建议不能听从，到金钱蛊惑人心的魅力，再到自己动手制作东西的乐趣，信中给出了安德森对各个方面的真知灼见。
The best thing, I dare say, is first to learn something well so you can always make a living. Bob seems to be catching on at the newspaper business and has had another raise. He is getting a good training by working in a smaller city. As for the scientific fields, any of them require a long schooling and intense application. If you are made for it nothing could be better. In the long run you will have to come to your own conclusion.
我敢说，最棒的事情就是首先要掌握某种技能，让你始终可以借此谋生。鲍勃(编注：安德森的大儿子)似乎在报纸行业渐渐得到认可，已经又加了一次薪。他通过在一个小一点儿的城市里工作，接受着良好的训练。而对于科学领域来说，其中的任一领域都需要参与者接受长期的在校教育并进行高强度的应用实践。如果你天生适合做这行，那再好不过。从长远来看，你终究要得出自己的结论。
The arts, which probably offer a man more satisfaction, are uncertain. It is difficult to make a living.
艺术行业或许能给人带来更多满足感，但充满了不确定性，靠此谋生并不容易。
If I had my own life to lead over I presume I would still be a writer, but I am sure I would give my first attention to learning how to do things directly with my hands. Nothing gives quite the satisfaction that doing things brings.
如果我能够重新再活一次，我想我还是会当一名作家。但是我确信，我首先要考虑的是学会怎样直接用双手制作东西。用双手制作东西所能带来的那种满足感是其他任何事情都无法给予的。
Above all avoid taking the advice of men who have no brains and do not know what they are talking about. Most small businessmen say simply-'Look at me.' They fancy that if they have accumulated a little money and have got a position in a small circle they are competent to give advice to anyone.
最重要的是，不要去听从那些没有脑子、不知道自己在说什么的人给出的建议。大多数小商人都只会说：“看看我你就知道了。”他们自负地以为，只要自己积累了一些财富，在一个小圈子获得了一席之地，自己就够格给其他人忠告了。
Next to occupation is the building up of good taste. That is difficult, slow work. Few achieve it. It means all the difference in the world in the end.
排在工作之后的是培养好的品位。这是一件既难做又费时的事情， 很少有人做得到。最终，有品位意味着你的世界截然不同。
I am constantly amazed at how little painters know about painting, writers about writing, merchants about business, manufacturers about manufacturing. Most men just drift .
让我常常深感诧异的是，画家对于绘画艺术、作家对于写作、商人对于生意、制造商对于生产的了解竟如此贫乏。大多数人不过是在随波逐流罢了。
There is a kind of shrewdness many men have that enables them to get money. It is the shrewdness of the fox after the chicken. A low order of mentality often goes with it.
很多人都有一种精明，人生中所拥有的一切纯净都源自我对文字的感受。那些报道我的傻瓜们以为，我就是某一天早上突然决定写作，然后就开始写出很多大 作。不论是写作还是绘画，都没有特别的技巧。我坚持不懈地写了15年之后才写出了有内涵的作品。
The thing of course, is to make yourself alive. Most people remain all of their lives in a stupor . The point of being an artist is that you may live.
当然，绘画是为了让你保持活力。大多数人一生都在麻木不仁地活着，而作为一名艺术家的意义就在于你可以“活着”。
I write as though you were a man. Well, you must know my heart is set on you. It isn't your success I want.
我给你写信时是把你当成一个成年人来看待的。那么，你一定明白我对你的良苦用心。我想要的并不是你的成功。
There is a possibility of your having a decent attitude toward people and work. That alone may make a man of you."
或许你对他人与工作的态度都很合宜，仅是这一点可能就足以让你成为一个真正的男子汉。”
(By Maria Popova)