The Eighth Tuesday

第八个星期二

We Talk About Money

我们聊了聊金钱

I held up the newspaper so that Morrie could see it:

我举起报纸以便于莫瑞能够阅读：

I DON'T WANT MY TOMBSTONE TO READ " I NEVER OWNED A NETWORK."
我不希望我的墓碑上读起来会写着“我从未拥有过广播电视网”

Morrie laughed, then shook his head.

莫瑞笑了，然后摇了摇头。

The morning sun was coming through the window behind him, falling on the pink flowers of the hibiscus plant that sat on the sill.

清晨的阳光透过窗户照在莫瑞的身后，落在窗台上放着的木槿花盆栽粉色的花朵上。

The quote was from Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul, founder of CNN, who had been lamenting his inability to snatch up the CBS network in a corporate megadeal.

报纸上引用的那句话来自于泰德•特纳，一个亿万巨富的传媒大亨，CNN电视台的创始人，他曾对没能够通过特大交易夺取CBS电视网络而感到万分失望。

I had brought the story to Morrie this morning because I wondered if Turner ever found himself in my old professor's position, his breath disappearing, his body turning to stone, his days being crossed off the calendar one by one —— would he really be crying over owning a network?

今天早上我把泰德的故事讲给了莫瑞，因为我想知道如果泰德发现自己处在我的老教授如今所处的情景下，呼吸能力逐渐消失，身体逐渐石化，余生一天天的从日历上被划掉——那么他还真的会因为没拥有广播电视网而哭泣吗？

" lt's all part of the same problem, Mitch," Morrie said.

“这些都是同一个问题的一部分，米契，”莫瑞说道。

" We put our values in the wrong things. And it leads to very disillusioned lives. I think we should talk about that."

“我们将自身价值寄托于错误的事情上了。那就会引发幻想破灭的生活。我想我们应该聊聊这件事。”

Morrie was focused.

莫瑞开始集中精神。

There were good days and bad days now.

现在莫瑞开始时好时坏。

He was having a good day.

今天他的状态还不错。

The night before, he had been entertained by a local acappella group that had come to the house to perform, and he relayed the story excitedly, as if the Ink Spots themselves had dropped by for a visit.

前一天晚上，当地的一只阿卡贝拉人声组合来到莫瑞家表演，莫瑞感到非常开心，兴冲冲的转告这个故事给我，仿佛当年有名的墨水点乐队（30, 40年代著名的乐队）亲临拜访了似的。

Morrie's love for music was strong even before he got sick, but now it was so intense, it moved him to tears.

在生病之前，莫瑞就对音乐有着强烈的喜爱，但是现在这种喜爱因为太过激烈，反而会促使他流泪。

He would listen to opera sometimes at night, closing his eyes, riding along with the magnificent voices as they dipped and soared.

他有时会在晚上听一会儿歌剧，闭上眼睛，跟随着那宏伟声音的起落而心绪起伏。

" You should have heard this group last night, Mitch. Such a sound!"

“你也应该听一下昨晚那个组合的演唱，米契。多么棒的声音！”

Morrie had always been taken with simple pleasures, singing, laughing, dancing.

莫瑞总是会被一些简单的快乐吸引，诸如歌声，笑声，舞蹈。

Now, more than ever, material things held little or no significance.

现在，超出以前任何时候，物质的东西几乎很少有甚至没有了任何意义。

When people die, you always hear the expression "You can't take it with you."

当人们死亡的时候，你经常会听到这样的表达“生不带来，死不带去。”

Morrie seemed to know that a long time ago.
莫瑞似乎很早之前就懂得了这个道理。

" We've got a form of brainwashing going on in our country," Morrie sighed.

“在这个国家，在我们身上正发生着某种形式的洗脑，”莫瑞叹息道。

" Do you know how they brainwash people? They repeat something over and over. And that's what we do in this country. Owning things is good. More money is good. More property is good. More commercialism is good. More is good. More is good. We repeat it —— and have it repeated to us —— over and over until nobody bothers to even think otherwise. The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore."

“你知道他们怎么给人们洗脑吗？他们一遍又一遍没完没了重复某件事情。这就是我们这个国家做的事情。拥有物质是好的。更多钱是好的。更多财产是好的。更多商业主义是好的。多就是好。多就是好。我们不断重复着——并且是在对自己重复——一遍又一遍直到没有人愿意费心去思考别的事情。普通人被所有这一切如此蒙蔽，以至于他们再也不会对什么是真正重要的事情有任何自己的看法。”

" Wherever I went in my life, I met people wanting to gobble up something new. Gobble up a new car. Gobble up a new piece of property. Gobble up the latest toy. And then they wanted to tell you about it. 'Guess what I got? Guess what l got?'"

“不管我走到哪，我都会遇到想要迫不及待拥有最新东西的人们。迫不及待地买新款车。迫不及待地买一块新房产。迫不及待地买新玩具。然后他们还想要迫不及待地告诉你。‘猜猜我有了什么？猜猜我有了什么？’”

" You know how I always interpreted that? These were people so hungry for love that they were accepting substitutes. They were embracing material things and expecting a sort of hug back. But it never works. You can't substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship."

“你知道我一直是怎么解读这种现象的吗？这都是人们太过渴望爱所以在接受爱的替代品。他们拥抱物质主义以期待得到某种形式的回应。但这样从来都不奏效。你不可能用物质代替真正的爱，关心，柔情或者仅仅是某种同胞情谊。”

" Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness. I can tell you, as I'm sitting here dying, when you most need it, neither money nor power will give you the feeling you're looking for, no matter how much of them you have."

“钱不是柔情的代替品，权力也不是柔情的代替品。我可以告诉你，像我这样在这里坐着等死的时候，在最需要的时候，钱和权力都不能给你带来那些你在寻找的感受，不论你拥有何等之多的钱和权。”

I glanced around Morrie's study.

我瞅了一眼莫瑞的书房。

It was the same today as it had been the first day I arrived.

今天和我来这里的第一天看起来毫无二致。

The books held their same places on the shelves.

书仍然待在书架上原来的地方。

The papers cluttered the same old desk.

各种纸质文件依然杂乱地堆在同一张旧桌子上。

The outside rooms had not been improved or upgraded.

外侧的房间也没有修缮或者翻新。

In fact, Morrie really hadn't bought anything new —— except medical equipment ——in a long, long time, maybe years.

事实上，莫瑞在很长很长的时间里真的几乎没有买过什么新东西——除了医疗设备——可能有很多年了。

The day he learned that he was terminally ill was the day he lost interest in his purchasing power.

知晓他得了致命疾病的那天就是他彻底失去追逐物质能力的那天。

So the TV was the same old model, the car that Charlotte drove was the same old model, the dishes and the silverware and the towels —— all the same.

所以电视是同样的老旧型号，夏洛特开的车是同样的老旧款式，哪怕盘子，银餐具和毛巾——都是以前的同一个。

And yet the house had changed so drastically.

然而这座房子还是发生了如此剧烈的变化。

It had filled with love and teaching and communication.

它充满爱，讲授与交流。

It had filled with friendship and family and honesty and tears.

它充满友情与家人，真诚与泪水。

It had filled with colleagues and students and mediation teachers and therapists and nurses and acappella groups.

它充满同事与学生，冥想老师与治疗师，护士与阿卡贝拉演唱组合。

It had become, in a very real way, a wealthy home, even though Morrie's bank account was rapidly depleting.
这座房子，通过一种非常真切的方式，变成了一座富有的房子，即便莫瑞的银行账户正在快速地枯竭。

" There's a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need," Morrie said.

“这个国家对于我们想要什么和我们需要什么有种巨大的混淆。”莫瑞说道。

" You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself. You don't need the latest sports car, you don't need the biggest house."

“你需要的是食物，而你想要的是巧克力圣代冰激凌。你得对自己坦诚一点。你并不需要最新的跑车，你也并不需要最大的房子。”

" The truth is, you don't get satisfaction from those things. You know what really gives you satisfaction?"

“真相就是，你根本无法从这些东西中感到满足。你知道什么能够真的给你满足吗？”

What?
什么？

" Offering others what you have to give."

“给予别人你必定要给予的东西”

You sound like a Boy Scout.

你听起来像个美国童子军。

（此处是个小幽默，就是美国童子军训练营经常会有一个挨家挨户卖饼干锻炼孩子独立能力的任务，通常出于“给予别人”的善心大家都会买一点，此处莫瑞说的话和劝说买饼干的话无意间一致了，所以作者开玩笑说莫瑞听起来像个童子军。）

" I don't mean money, Mitch. I mean your time. Your concern. Your storytelling. It's not so hard. There's a senior center that opened near here. Dozens of elderly people come there every day. If you're a young man or young woman and you have a skill, you are asked to come and teach it. Say you know computers. You come there and teach them computers. You are very welcome there. And they are very grateful. This is how you start to get respect, by offering something that you have."

“我说的不是钱，米契。我是说你的时间。你的关心。你要怎么讲述你的故事。给予这些并没那么难。这里附近开了一个老年活动中心。很多老年人每天都去那里消遣。如果你是一个年轻男性或者女性并且具有某种技能，你就会被邀请去那里教授老年人技能。假设你懂电脑。你去了那里然后教老年人学电脑。你在那会非常受欢迎。并且那里的人们会充满感激。这才是你如何开始获得尊重的方法，通过给予一些你所拥有的东西。”

" There are plenty of places to do this. You don't need to have a big talent. There are lonely people in hospitals and shelters who only want some companionship. You play cards with a lonely older man and you find new respect for yourself, because you are needed."

“有很多地方都可以做这些。你也不需要有多么出众的才能。医院和庇护所有不少孤独的人们只想要一些陪伴。和孤独的老年人玩一会儿纸牌然后你会发现自己获得了新的尊重，因为你是被需要的。”

" Remember what I said about finding a meaningful life? I wrote it down, but now I can recite it: Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

“还记得我说过的关于发现人生意义的那些话吗？我把它写了下来，不过现在我要重新引用：投身于爱他人，投身于服务周边社区，还要投身于创造那些能够给予你目标和意义的事情。”

" You notice," he added, grinning, "there's nothing in there about a salary."

“你注意到了，”他补充道，一边嘿嘿笑着，“这里面可不关薪水的什么事。”

I jotted some of the things Morrie was saying on a yellow pad.

我匆匆把一些莫瑞正说着的话记录在一张黄色便签纸上。

I did this mostly because I didn't want him to see my eyes, to know what I was thinking, that I had been, for much of my life since graduation, pursuing these very things he had been railing against —— bigger toys, nicer house.

我这么做多半是因为不想让莫瑞看到我的眼睛，不想让他知道我在想什么，那就是自从毕业后我我绝大多数的生活就是在追求这些他所斥责的东西——更大的玩具，更好的房子。

Because I worked among rich and famous athletes, I convinced myself that my needs were realistic, my greed inconsequential compared to theirs.
因为我在很多富有且出名的运动员之中工作，所以我说服自己和他们比起来我的需求很现实，我那点贪婪也微不足道。

This was a smokescreen.

这无非是个掩耳盗铃的烟雾弹。

Morrie made that obvious.

莫瑞让这个事实更明显了。

" Mitch, if you're trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at you anyhow. And if you're trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone."

“米契，如果你试图在最顶端的人们面前显摆，实在大可不必。他们无论如何都会鄙视你。而如果你又试图在最底层的人们面前显摆，也更没有必要。他们只会嫉妒你。身份地位无法带你走向任何地方。唯有一颗开放的心能够让你在任何人之中平等的流动。”

He paused, then looked at me.

他停下来，看着我。

" I'm dying, right?"

“我快要死了，对吗？”

Yes.
是的。

" Why do you think it's so important for me to hear other people's problems? Don't I have enough pain and suffering of my own?"

“不然你觉得为什么对我来说倾听他人的问题是这么的重要？难道我承受我自己的苦难还不够多吗？”

" Of course I do. But giving to other people is what makes me feel alive. Not my car or my house. Not what I look like in the mirror. When I give my time, when I can make someone smile after they were feeling sad, it's as close to healthy as I ever feel."

“我当然吃尽了苦头。但为别人付出能够让我感到自己仍然还活着。不是我的车子或者房子。也不是我在镜子里看起来是什么样子。当我付出自己时间的时候，当我可以在别人伤心之后让他们再笑起来的时候，那才是我比以往任何时候都感觉自己最为接近健康的时候。”

" Do the kinds of things that come from the heart. When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overwhelmed with what comes back."

“去做那些发自内心深处的事情吧。当你这么做的时候，你一定不会感到不满足的，你也不会感到嫉妒，你也不会渴望别人的东西。相反，你会被这么做带来的回馈感到应接不暇。”

He coughed and reached for the small bell that lay on the chair.

他咳嗽着，一边伸手去够那个放在椅子上的小铃铛。

He had to poke a few times at it, and I finally picked it up and put it in his hand.

他伸手够了几次，最终我还是拿起铃铛放在了莫瑞的手里。

" Thank you," he whispered.

“谢谢，”他轻声说着。

He shook it weakly, trying to get Connie's attention.
他虚弱地摇晃着铃铛，试图引起康妮的注意。

" This Ted Turner guy," Morrie said, "he couldn't think of anything else for his tombstone?"

“这个叫泰德•特纳的人，”莫瑞问道，“他就真的想不出什么其他内容往墓碑上写了？”

" Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn."

“每天晚上，当我睡觉的时候，我死了。而第二天清晨，当我醒来的时候，我又重生。”

—— MAHATMA GANDHI
——圣雄甘地

原著：Mitch Albom