I accepted his encouragement in the way he offered it and learned to play to a wider audience in public; it wasn’t his applause I was seeking, after all, because I knew I already had it. To him, I had nothing to prove.
我按照他的方式接受他的鼓励,并且学着表演给广大观众看;我寻找的不是他的掌声,毕竟,我知道我已经得到了他的鼓励。对于父亲 ,我没有什么要向他证明的。
I knew my father wouldn’t be disappointed in me unless I ended up 1. Married to a moron or 2. In jail. Those were the only deal-breakers. Everything else we could work through.
我知道我的父亲不会对我失望,除非我最后:1.和一个笨蛋结婚,或者2.进监狱。这就仅有的两个例外。我们也能渡过每一个难关。
Actually, not very many people can do it—at least, not all of the time; being a parent might not be the toughest job in the world but it’s certainly one of the least easily assessed. Not until generations have passed can you discover whether you’ve been good at your job.
实际上,大部分人都做不到(成为一个好父亲或母亲)——至少,做不到一直如此;作为一个父亲(母亲)可能不是世界上最难的工作,但这却是最难以评估的工作。直到很久之后,你才能发现自己是否擅长这个工作。
To those men who have, I want to raise a toast and say “Thank you, from the heart, for all you’ve given us and all you’ve done.”
对于能做到这些的男人,我想敬他们一杯,“谢谢你,真心的感谢,为你给我们的一切,和为你所做的一切。”