Paving A Brilliant Way 铺就辉煌之路

李星玥

每天读一点英文之那些美好而忧伤的记忆英语美文

01：Paving A Brilliant Way

01：铺就辉煌之路

Tonight is a particular honor for me, let's face it; my presence on stage is pretty unlikely.

今晚对我而言颇不寻常，我们得承认，我能站在这里本身就已意义非凡。

My father was a foreign student, born and raised in a small village in Kenya. He grew up herding goats, and went to school in a tin-roof shack. His father, my grandfather, was a cook, a domestic servant to British.

我父亲是一个外国留学生，他原本生于肯尼亚的一个小村庄，并在那里长大成人。他小的时候还放过羊，上的学校简陋不堪，屋顶上仅有块铁皮来遮风挡雨。而他的父亲，也就是我的祖父，不过是个普通的厨子，还做过家佣。

But my grandfather had lager dreams for their son. Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place: America that shone as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.

但祖父对父亲抱以厚望。凭借不懈的努力和坚忍不拔的毅力，父亲荣获赴美留学的机会，而且还拿到奖学金。美国这片神奇的土地，对于很多踏上这片国土的人而言，意味着自由和机遇。

While studying here, my father met my mother. She was born in a town on the other side of the world. Her father was an oil rigs and a farm worker through most of the depression. The day after Pearl Harbor, my grandfather joined Patton's army, marching across Europe.

还在留学期间，父亲与母亲不期而遇。母亲来自完全不同的另一个世界，她生于堪萨斯的一个小镇。大萧条时期，外祖父为谋生计，曾在石油钻井打工，还曾在农场务农。日军偷袭珍珠港后的第二天，他就自愿应征入伍，在巴顿将军麾下，转战南北，横扫欧洲。

Back home, my grandmother raised a baby and went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the GI Bill, bought a house through FHA, and later moved to west, all the way to Hawaii, in search of opportunity.

在后方的家中，外祖母含辛茹苦，抚养子女，并在轰炸机装配线上找了份活计。战后，依据士兵福利法案, 他们通过联邦住宅管理局购置了一套房子，并举家西迁，谋求更大发展。

And they, too, had big dreams for their daughter, a common dream, born of two continents. My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation.

他们对自己的女儿也寄予厚望，两家人虽然身在不同的非洲和美洲大陆，却有着共同的梦想。我的父母不仅不可思议地彼此相爱，而且还对这个国家有了不移的信念。

They would give me a African name, Barack, or “blessed，” believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success.

他们赐予我一个非洲名字，巴拉克，意为“上天福佑”, 因为他们相信，在如此包容的国度中，这样的名字不应成为成功的羁绊。

They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to achieve your potential.

尽管他们生活并不宽裕，还是想方设法让我接受当地最好的教育，因为在这样一个富足的国度中，无论贫富贵贱，都同样有机会发展个人的潜力。

They are both passed away now. Yet, I know that, on this night, they look down on me with great pride.

现在他们都已不在人世，不过，我知道，他们的在天之灵，此时此刻正在骄傲地关注着我。