I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.
星期二一大早就開始下雨，而且還很冷。只是我答應了女兒，所以就開車去了。我終于踏進了女兒卡羅琳的家門，在與外孫擁抱問候之后，我對女兒說：“卡羅琳，忘掉水仙花吧！外面陰云密布，又下起了霧，路根本看不清楚。在這個世界上，要不是為了看你和這幾個孩子，我才不會開車過來。”
But first Dad, we're going to see the daffodils, it just a few blocks.
Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this weather."
卡羅琳回答道，“我來開車，我習慣了?！?/div>
"Carolyn," I said, "please turn around."
“卡羅琳，”我厲聲說道，“請你調頭。”
"It's all right, Dad, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
“好啦，爸爸，我敢保證，如果錯過這個機會，你會后悔的。”
After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that said, “Daffodil Garden.”
差不多20分鐘后，我們拐上了一條石子路面，我看到一座小教堂。在教堂的對面，有一個手寫的標牌：“水仙花園”。
We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns — great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
下了車，我和女兒一人拉著一個孩子。我跟著女兒沿著這條小路走去。轉一個彎后，我舉目望去，不由大吃一驚。在我面前呈現的是最燦爛的景色。就好像是有人拿了大桶大桶的金子撒在了山頂上，山坡上。這些花朵被種成了壯麗的旋渦狀——深橙色，白色，檸檬黃，橙紅色，金黃色和棕黃色的水仙或排成帶狀，或排成一列一列的。顏色不同的水仙形成一片片獨特顏色的花海。這里有5英畝的水仙花。
"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn.
“這些水仙都是誰種的？”我問卡羅琳。
"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home."
“只是一個女人?！笨_琳答道，“她就住在這，那是她的房子。”
Carolyn pointed to a well kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.
卡羅琳指向一座A字構架的屋子，在周圍壯觀的景象的之下，這座房子顯得矮小而又簡陋。我們朝那間屋子走去，在門前的露臺上看到一張海報，標題是：我知道你們要問什么，這就是答案。
The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman with two hands, two feet, and one brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."
第一個答案比較簡單：“5萬株?！钡诙€答案是：“一次栽一株，一個女人所植，用兩只手，兩條腿，一點智慧。”第三個答案是：“開始于1958年。”
For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.
對我來說，這次經歷改變了我的一生。
I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun — one bulb at a time — to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.
我想，這位素昧平生的女人，早在40多年前就——一次一株水仙——把自己對于美和快樂的理解帶給了這座無名小山的山頂。每次僅僅栽種一株，年復一年，卻改變了世界。這位未知姓名的女人永遠改變了她所居住的世界。她做的事情雄偉壯觀，美妙絕倫，而又鼓舞人心。
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time — often just one baby — step at a time — and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
水仙花園給我們揭示偉大的禮贊法則之一。那就是學會朝著目標努力，每次只要求一步——哪怕是嬰兒的步伐——一步接一步這樣做——并且學會樂在其中，學會積累時間。當我們利用瑣碎的時間，每天都努力一點，那么我們會發現自己也可以完成大事。我們可以改變世界。
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time 'through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
“這多少讓我有點難過。”我向卡羅琳坦承，“如果35年前或者40年前，我也想到一個絕妙的計劃，這些年來‘一次一株'地努力，我可能能做成什么事情呢。想一想，我會取得多大的成就啊?！?/p>
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said.
女兒以她慣常直率的方式總結今天所得的經驗說：“那就從明天開始吧?！?/p>
She was right. It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays.
她說得對?？傁胫^去逝去的時光沒有意義。
The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask,
學會從過去的經驗教訓中變得開心而不是去悔恨的方法就是去問：
"How can I put this to use today?"So you, you use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....
我怎樣把學到的派上用場？所以你，你可以去用水仙花法則，不要再等待了······
Stop waiting until your car or home is paid off. Stop waiting until you get a new car or home.Until your kids leave the house,
不要再等了除非你的汽車，房子的貸款還清了。不要再等了直到你有了新的汽車和家，直到你的孩子長大離開了家，
or until you go back to school or until you finish school. Stop waiting until you clean the house or organize the garage. Until you clean off your desk. Stop waiting until you lose 10 lbs or to gain 10 lbs.
或者直到你重新回到學校，畢業。不要再等了除非你打掃了房屋，分類了垃圾。直到你清理了你的桌面。停止等待除非你失去了10磅或者得到了10磅。
Until you get married. Until you get a divorce. Until you have kids. Until the kids go to school.
直到你結了婚，或者直到你離了婚，直到你有了孩子，直到孩子上了學。
Stop waiting until you retire.
不要再等了除非你退休了。
Stop waiting until summer.Until spring. Until winter. Until fall.
等到春天，夏天，冬天，秋天，
Stop waiting until you die.
除非你死去了。
There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
現在就去做幸福的人吧。幸福在路上，而不是在終點。
So work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt.
所以像你不需要金錢那樣去工作吧，像你從未受過傷那樣去愛吧！
Dance like no one's watching. Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
像沒有人在一樣盡情舞蹈吧！希望你過著美麗的像水仙花一樣的日子！
評論
打印
