評論
打印
If Canada had a second hockey league for those children born in the last half of the year, it would have twice as many adult hocky stars.
如果加拿大為那些出生在下半年的孩子再來一次曲棍球聯賽，現在成人曲棍球明星就會翻倍。
Now, multiply that last potential to every field and profession. The world we could have is so much richer than the world we had settled for.
如果我們將各個領域和專業所失去的潛力相乘，這個世界會比我們現在所處的世界更加富裕。
Marita doesn't need a brand new school with acres of playing fields and gleaming facilities.
瑪麗塔并不需要一個有很大操場和嶄新設施的全新的學校，
She doesn't need a laptop, a smaller class, a teacher with a Ph.D, or a bigger apartment.
她也并不需要一個筆記本電腦，或小班授課，博士學位的老師，大的公寓；
She doesn't need a higher IQ or a mind as quick as Chris Langan's. All those things would be nice, of course. But they miss the point.
她也并不需要更高的智商或像克里斯漢一樣快的思維。當然，能擁有這些當然更好。但是，他們錯過了這一點，
Marita just needs a chance, because people in her world rarely even get one chance at true success. And look at the chance she was given!
瑪麗塔只需要一個機會，因為，在她的世界里，人們甚至很少會得到一個能夠真正成功的機會。看看她所得到的機會！
Someone brought a little bit of the rice paddy to South Bronx and explained to the miracle of the meaningful work.
有人把稻田豐收的秘訣帶到南布朗克斯，并向她解釋了這個秘訣會產生的奇跡。
EPILOGUE A Jamaican Story
后 記 一個牙買加人的故事
"If a progeny of young colored children is brough forth, these are emancipated."
“一個年輕的有色人種的孩子一出生, 就是自由平等的。”
On September 9th 1931, a young woman named Daisy Nation gave birth to twin girls.
1931年9月9日, 一個名叫戴西·納森的年輕女人，生了一對雙胞胎女兒。
She and her husband, Donald, were school teachers in tiny village called Harewood, in the central Jamaica parish of Saint Catherine's.
她和她的丈夫唐納德在一個叫做海厄烏德的小村莊當老師, 小村坐落在牙買加中部圣凱瑟琳教區。
They named their daughters Faith and Joyce.
他們給他們的女兒分別取名為費思和喬伊思。
When Donald was told that he had fathered twins, he sank down on his knees and gave responsibility for their lives over to God.
當唐納德得知有了兩個雙胞胎女兒時,他雙膝跪在地上，向上帝承諾會對她們的生活負起責任。
The Nations lived in a small cottage on the grounds of Harewood's Anglican church.
他們居住在海厄烏德那種英國教堂式的小別墅里面，
The schoolhouse was next door, a long, single-room barn of a building, raised on concrete stilts.
學校就在隔壁，一個由混凝土支柱撐起的長形單門小房子。
On some days, there might be as many as 300 children in the room, and on others, less than two dozen.
最多的時候，那里曾經有300多個學生，最少的時候則不到20多個。
The children would read out loud or recite their times tables. Writing was done on slates.
孩子們會一遍又一遍地大聲閱讀或背誦他們的時間表格，并在石板上寫字。
Whenever possible, the classes would move outside, under the mango trees.
無論何時，只要可能，所有學生都會到外面的芒果樹下面。
When things got out of control, Donald Nation would walk from one end of the room to the other, waving a strap from left to right as the children scrambled back to their places.
如果孩子們不聽話，唐納德就會從屋的一端走到另一端，揮舞著帶子示意孩子們回到他們自己的位置。
