Even as we grieve, we grow.

 

-- Amanda Gorman

 

下雪，从周六夜里开始悄悄地下，等到周日早上我醒来的时候，看后院凉台上的积雪已经颇有点雪乡的味道了。

丫丫还在享受她周末难得的补觉，谁知道会补到下午什么时候，于是点燃了已经很久没用的壁炉，再去手磨一把咖啡豆子，煮上一壶咖啡，享受这难得的悠闲。

 

很多人和我一样，认为几周前的总统就职典礼上的最大亮点是献诗的年轻非裔女诗人阿曼达·戈尔曼（Amanda Gorman，诗歌和译文列在本文的结尾）。她的The Hill We Climb这首诗歌里有很多响亮的句子，譬如：

 

For while we have our eyes on the future history has its eyes on us.

 

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

 

A nation that isn't broken just unfinished…… a country that is bruised not broken……

 

There is always light if we are brave enough to see it, brave enough to be it

 

But while democracy can be periodically delayed，it can never be permanently defeated.

 

尽管如此，我最喜欢的还是下面三行句子：

 

That even as we grieved, we grew （即使悲伤，我们依旧成长）

 

That even as we hurt, we hoped （即使被伤害，我们依旧充满希望）

 

That even as we tired, we tried （即使已经疲惫不堪，我们依旧不放弃努力）

 

我觉得过去的几年、甚至在美国的二十几年，这三行句子其实就是我生活的真实写照，也是大多数美国人生活的写照，当然更是写出和朗诵这首诗的阿曼达生活的真实写照。阿曼达年仅22岁，出生在洛杉矶西区的一个非裔的单亲家庭，母亲在拉美裔和非裔聚居的瓦茨（Watts）地区学校教书，那里的学生每天都要面对穷人地区各种生活上的艰难甚至生命的安危，加上她的孪生姐妹一贯积极参加社会活动，影响到她也以其诗歌天赋为美国底层特别是少数族裔面临的各种社会不公出声呐喊。在这次被拜登夫人遴选为新总统就职做诗歌朗诵之前，阿曼达已经获得首届美国青年桂冠诗人的荣誉，目前她大学还没有毕业。

我曾经和丫丫交谈过阿曼达和她的诗歌，想看看她对一些社会问题的看法，结果丫丫第一次给我看了她准备的大学申请文书散文的一些片段，其中讲到她2019年参加杜克大学举办的国际Moot Court竞赛在毫无经验的背景下意外进入半决赛的经历和感受：

 

「After the conference, I lost a little bit of hope in our legal system, and I realized I did not want to be a part of a society where the outcome of a trial is dependent on who has the best lawyer. Thus, I stopped pursuing the idea of lawyer as a possible career choice. I also stopped participating in my school's Moot Court team, but I will never stop remembering that experience where I learned a lot about myself in just a short two-day International Duke Moot Court Competition. 」

 

（竞赛过后，我对我们的法律体系突然有了一点失望，我意识到我不想成为一个诉讼的结局往往取决于谁能请得起最好的律师这种社会的一部分，我放弃了想成为律师的最后一丝念头，我甚至退出了学校Moot Court队，但我永远不会忘记那场竞赛给我的感受和经历）。

 

看后我的感受可以用震惊来形容，当我把她当个小孩子来看的时候，她已经悄悄地长大了，不只是简单地去做一项课外活动，参加竞赛，取得名次，而是在竞赛过程中从对一个案子代理正反两面的反复诉讼辩论的不同outcome中严肃地思考法律系统存在的不完美一面，进而上升到对社会问题的认知，可以说，美国的孩子真的很厉害， 套用那句诗就是Even she grieved, she grew.

 

下面是这个周末一些积雪的照片：

最后是阿曼达的诗歌和译文。

 

The Hill We Climb

 

When day comes we ask ourselves,

 

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

 

The loss we carry,

 

a sea we must wade

 

We've braved the belly of the beast

 

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace

 

And the norms and notions

 

of what just is

 

Isn't always just-ice

 

And yet the dawn is ours

 

before we knew it

 

Somehow we do it

 

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

 

a nation that isn't broken

 

but simply unfinished

 

We the successors of a country and a time

 

Where a skinny Black girl

 

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

 

can dream of becoming president

 

only to find herself reciting for one

 

And yes we are far from polished

 

far from pristine

 

but that doesn't mean we are

 

striving to form a union that is perfect

 

We are striving to forge a union with purpose

 

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

 

conditions of man

 

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

 

but what stands before us

 

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

 

we must first put our differences aside

 

We lay down our arms

 

so we can reach out our arms

 

to one another

 

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

 

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

 

That even as we grieved, we grew

 

That even as we hurt, we hoped

 

That even as we tired, we tried

 

That we'll forever be tied together, victorious

 

Not because we will never again know defeat

 

but because we will never again sow division

 

Scripture tells us to envision

 

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

 

And no one shall make them afraid

 

If we're to live up to our own time

 

Then victory won't lie in the blade

 

But in all the bridges we've made

 

That is the promise to glade

 

The hill we climb

 

If only we dare

 

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

 

it's the past we step into

 

and how we repair it

 

We've seen a force that would shatter our nation

 

rather than share it

 

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

 

And this effort very nearly succeeded

 

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

 

it can never be permanently defeated

 

In this truth

 

in this faith we trust

 

For while we have our eyes on the future

 

history has its eyes on us

 

This is the era of just redemption

 

We feared at its inception

 

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

 

of such a terrifying hour

 

but within it we found the power

 

to author a new chapter

 

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

 

So while once we asked,

 

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

 

Now we assert

 

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

 

We will not march back to what was

 

but move to what shall be

 

A country that is bruised but whole,

 

benevolent but bold,

 

fierce and free

 

We will not be turned around

 

or interrupted by intimidation

 

because we know our inaction and inertia

 

will be the inheritance of the next generation

 

Our blunders become their burdens

 

But one thing is certain:

 

If we merge mercy with might,

 

and might with right,

 

then love becomes our legacy

 

and change our children's birthright

 

So let us leave behind a country

 

better than the one we were left with

 

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

 

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

 

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

 

we will rise from the windswept northeast

 

where our forefathers first realized revolution

 

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

 

we will rise from the sunbaked south

 

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

 

and every known nook of our nation and

 

every corner called our country,

 

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

 

battered and beautiful

 

When day comes we step out of the shade,

 

aflame and unafraid

 

The new dawn blooms as we free it

 

For there is always light,

 

if only we're brave enough to see it

 

If only we're brave enough to be it

 

我们攀登的山

 

当那一天来临，我们扪心自问，我们能在何处觅得光明，在这永不消失的阴影中？

 

我们承受的失去。我们必须涉过的海洋。

 

我们曾直面野兽之腹。

 

我们知悉沉默并非总是和平，所谓的规范和信念并非总是公正。

 

然而黎明属于我们，在我们意识到它之前。

 

我们设法为之奋斗。

 

我们以某种方式安然渡过，见证了一个国家，它没有破碎，仅仅只是未完成。

 

我们，一个国家和时代的继任者，在这里，一个干瘦的

 

黑人女孩，奴隶的后裔，被一位单亲妈妈抚养长大，她可以梦想成为总统，竟然发现自己在为总统朗诵。

 

是的，我们远非完美，也远非处于原始状态，但那不意味着我们力求组成一个完美的联盟。

 

我们力求结成一个有目标的联盟。

 

构建一个忠于人类所有文化，肤色，个性和处境的国家。

 

因此我们举目凝视，不是为了横亘你我之间的事物，而是为了我们面临的事物。

 

我们弥合分歧，因为我们知道，要把未来置于首位，我们必须首先抛开分歧。

 

我们放下双臂，这样我们就能伸出双臂，向着彼此。

 

我们不伤害任何人，只寻求和谐共处。

 

如果没有别的，就让整个世界，说这是真的。

 

即使悲伤，我们依旧成长。

 

即使受到伤害，我们依旧充满希望。

 

即使已经疲惫不堪，我们依然不会放弃努力。

 

我们将永远紧密相连，获得胜利。

 

不是因为我们再也不会失败，而是因为我们再也不会制造对立。

 

《圣经》告诉我们去展望，每个人都将坐在自己的葡萄藤和无花果树下，不再有人使他们恐惧。

 

如果我们都不负光阴，那么胜利就不会躺在刀刃中，而是在所有我们建筑的桥梁中。

 

那就是对林中空地，对我们攀登的山的承诺，只要我们敢于去做。

 

因为成为美国人不仅意味着我们继承的自豪。

 

更意味着我们曾踏入的过往，以及我们该如何修复它。

 

我们看到一种会使我们的国家破碎，而非分担的力量。

 

倘若它想推迟民主，它就摧毁我们的国家

 

这种企图几乎成功。

 

但即使民主可以偶尔被推迟，它无法被永远打败。

 

我们信赖这样的事实，这样的信仰，因为当我们放眼未来，历史也在注视我们。

 

这是救赎的时代。

 

我们恐惧它的开端。

 

我们没有准备好去继承这样一个可怕的时刻。

 

但我们在其中找到力量去书写新的篇章，给自己带来希望和笑声。

 

所以，一旦有人问，我们怎可能战胜灾难？现在我们肯定，灾难怎可能战胜我们？

 

我们不会再返回曾经，而将迈向未来：一个受伤但完整，仁慈但勇敢，激情而自由的国家。

 

我们不会被恐吓，调转方向或打断，因为我们知道我们的无作为或保守将会成为下一代人的遗产。我们愚蠢的错误会成为他们的负担。

 

但有一件事确定无疑。

 

如果我们将仁慈与可能融合，将可能与正义融合，那么爱会成为我们的遗产，改变我们的孩子们与生俱来的权利。

 

那么让我们留下一个更好的国家，相比于被留给我们的那个国家。

 

我青铜敲击的胸膛呼出的每一缕呼吸，我们会使这个受伤的世界变成一个美丽的世界。

 

我们将从西方那些金色山丘站起来。

 

我们将从大风侵袭的东北部站起来，在那里我们的祖先最先实现了革命。

 

我们将从中西部各州的湖畔城市站起来。

 

我们将从太阳炙烤的南方站起来。

 

我们将重建、调和和恢复。

 

我们国家所有能找到的角落以及所有称为国家的角落，我们丰富多彩和美丽的人民将会出现，千疮百孔却美丽。

 

当那一天来临，我们走出阴影，激动不已，无所畏惧。

 

我们释放新的黎明，它绽放。

 

因为那里总有光，只要我们足够勇敢去看它。

 

只要我们足够勇敢去成为它。