祖父教给我的真理

Truths my grandfather told me

祖父教给我的真理

My grandfather’s wise and optimistic views on things continues to inform my life 114 years after his birth and 25 years after his death.

在祖父89年的一生中，他对事物明智乐观的看法，即使在他去世25年后，也一直在指引着我。

For the past 25 years, my grandfather has been following me around, whispering in my ear. Not literally, of course, because that would be weird. But he’s the British-accented adviser in my head, giving me a nod of approval when I need it, and raising an eyebrow when he begs to differ with something I’m doing.

在过去的25年，祖父一直在我身旁，在我耳边耳语。当然不是字面意思，因为这样听起来很怪异。在我脑海中，他是有着英语口音的指导教师，在我需要的时候，点头表示赞许；不同意我的所作所为时，会挑起眉毛。

Of late, for instance, he has been smirking at me and the activity tracker I have clipped to my pocket (a few days ago, I swear to you, it said “HUG ME KATHRYN.” What?)

举个例子，最近，我把一个运动健身追踪器放在口袋里，他一直对着我笑（几天前，我向你发誓，他说，“凯瑟琳，抱抱我”。不可思议吧？

I am sure that my grandfather routinely walked what is now the recommended 10,000 steps every day and not because he had a $100 gadget urging him to do so. Instead of “exercising,” he dug and hoed and roamed the pathways of his garden, growing vegetables that kept our family of four in potatoes through many winters and roses that were the joy of many summers.

我确定，祖父以前每天行走10，000步，就行今天推荐的一样，并非因为$100的追踪器催促他这样做。相反，他每天翻土、锄地，在花园的小路上散布，冬天种植蔬菜和土豆，夏天种植玫瑰，乐趣无穷。

He was good to the environment in the way that people used to be before they had to be told it was the right thing to do; he never owned a car or learned to drive, so he walked everywhere he could and took a bus the rest of the time.

在人们倡导环保之前，他就以过去的一贯方式注重环保；他从不买车，也不学开车。因此，无论去哪，他尽可能走路，或乘坐公共汽车。

As a young teenager, after my grandmother died, I used to go and hang out with my grandfather on the weekends or in the summer. We walked around, chatted to the neighbours, went to the grocery store. Occasionally, I would bake him a little cake. At the end of the day, he’d turn out my light, and say “That was a good day. I enjoyed every minute of it.”

祖母去世后，我经常在周末或者暑假和祖父一起出去玩。我们四处走动，和邻居聊天，去杂货店买东西。有时，我会给他做蛋糕。一天结束后，他会把灯关掉，说，“今天是美好的一天，每一分钟，我都很开心。”

I never doubted for a moment that he meant it.

我坚信他说的是真的。

In the morning, I’d wake up to his whistling in the kitchen downstairs (usually it was “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” but he also liked opera). At the time, it irritated me — I am not a morning person — but now I’d give anything to hear that whistle one more time.

早上，我总会被他在楼下厨房的哨声吵醒（通常是“雨点不断落在我头上”，不过他也喜欢歌剧），让我很恼火——因为我不是早起的人——现在如果能再让我听一次他的哨声，我愿意放弃一切。