Run Your Own Race 和自己赛跑

     ——Foreword from The Right Words At The Right Time (Extract)

                                                                                   By Marlo Thomas

                                            两条鱼 译

人生总有许多低潮和挫折，他人的一句适时的鼓励就像黑暗中的一盏明灯，能为你驱除黑暗，指引方向。

想起了首位踏上地球三极的中国女性李乐诗说的一句话：“就像横渡维多利亚海峡，你向目标游去，但是海峡会冲走你，会让你偏离目标，想拐也拐不回来，人生也是这样。所以，当你年轻时要逆着水流，而且一旦下水，就不能回头。”很多时候，庸人与伟人的差别仅仅在于多一点点的坚持，多一点点的努力。

只要你愿意，永远不算迟。

Run Your Own Race，好好经营你的生活，你的梦想，只要沿着对的方向日夜兼程，你总会到达你想要到达的地方，实现你想要实现的高度。

启程吧，梦，离现实不远了。

                                                                              ——Lavender

When I was a child I loved to watch my father shave. I sat on the closed toilet seat and marveled at the sound of the 1)razor gliding over his face, pushing aside the 2)foamy soap like a shovel in the snow. I adored him, this grand figure who slapped 3)lotion on his cheeks every morning, buttoned his clean white shirt and hugged me good-bye.

Once, my father made a movie with 4)Margaret O'Brien and he often took me to the 5)set. I would 6)cue his lines as we drove to the 7)MGM studios with the windows open and the 8)heady mix of 9)Old Spice and a 10)Cuban cigar 11)swirling about us as we carried on a kind of 12)rehearsal in transit. On the set I played 13)jacks with Margaret between 14)takes, and when the bell rang, I would join the crew in their silence as the cameras rolled and the 15)boom 16)mike moved into position to record the dialogue I knew by heart.

I was 17)in awe of my father and sinfully envious of Margaret O'Brien. I wore 18)pigtails. I wanted 19)freckles. I wanted to be Margaret O'Brien. Ten years later, at age seventeen, I got my chance.

I played the lead in Gigi in a summer stock production at the 20)Laguna Playhouse south of Los Angeles. The excitement of finally being a real actress was painfully short-lived. All the interviews and all the reviews focused on my father.

Would I be as good as my father? Was I as gifted, as funny? Would I be as popular? I was devastated.

I loved my father; my problem was Danny Thomas.

"Daddy," I began, "please don't be hurt when I tell you this. I want to change my name. I love you but I don't want to be a Thomas anymore."

I tried not to cry during the long silence. And then he said, "I raised you to be a 21)thoroughbred. When thoroughbreds run they wear 22)blinders to keep their eyes focused straight ahead with no distractions, no other horses. They hear the crowd but they don't listen. They just run their own race. That's what you have to do. Don't listen to anyone comparing you to me or to anyone else. You just run your own race."

The next night as the crowd filed into the theater, the stage manager knocked on my dressing room door and handed me a white box with a red 23)ribbon. I opened it up and inside was a pair of old horse blinders with a little note that read, "Run your own race, Baby."

Run your own race, Baby. He could have said it a dozen other ways: "Be independent"; "Don't be influenced by others." But it wouldn't have been the same. He chose the right words at the right time. The old horse blinders were the right gift. And all through my life, I've been able to cut to the chase by asking myself, "Am I running my race or somebody else's?"

I thank my father for all his words that continue to live in my heart.

1) razor [5reIzE] n. 剃刀

2) foamy [5fEumi] adj. 全是泡沫的

3) lotion [5lEJFn] n. 润肤液

4) Margaret O'Brien 玛格丽特·奥布莱恩，美国1940s演艺界的著名童星

5) set [set] n. 摄影棚

6) cue [kju:] v. 提示

7) MGM abbr. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer （美国）米高梅电影制片公司

8) heady [5hedI] adj. 刺鼻的

9) Old Spice 欧德斯派斯须后水

10) Cuban [5kju:bEn] adj. 古巴的

11) swirl [swE:l] v. 弥漫

12) rehearsal [rI5h:sl] n. 排练

13) jacks [dVAks] n. 抓子游戏

14) take [teIk] n. 电影镜头

15) boom [bu:m] n. （照相机、摄影机、麦克风的）活动支架

16) mike [maIk] n. 麦克风

17) in awe of 敬畏

18) pigtail [5pI^teIl] n. 辫子

19) freckle [5frekl] n. 雀斑

20) Laguna Playhouse 拉古纳剧场，拉古纳位于美国加州洛杉矶南部

21) thoroughbred [5WQrEbred] n. 受过良好教养的人, 良种动物

22) blinder [blaInd] n. 眼罩

23) ribbon [5rIbEn] n. 缎带

翻译请转"Run Your Own Race 和自己赛跑之二"

              ——本文摘自《疯狂英语阅读版》06年9月月刊

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