英文自修129：当孩子离开了你（20140723）
本系列内容英文原文取自BBC Thought for the Day节目网站，朋友们也可以下载节目录音收听。
译者：王宥轩
审读：武太白
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Thought for the Day 20140723 - Rhidian Brook
I’ve just seen the film Boyhood, a remarkable piece of cinema that charts the development of a boy called Mason from the age of 6 through to 18. What really makes this coming-of-age movie unique is the fact that, it was shot over a period of 12 years, using the same actors. We literally see the cast aging before our eyes. And in just a few hours, Mason goes from being a boy playing in the yard on a bike, to a man leaving home in his car.
我刚看了《少年时代》，这是一部很杰出的电影。片中详细记录了一个叫梅森的男孩从6岁到18岁的成长过程。这部成长片的独特之处就在于，其拍摄过程历经12年，且片中的演员都没有换过。我们亲眼见证了演员们的衰老。就在几个小时内，梅森从一个在院子里骑自行车玩耍的小男孩，长成了一个开着车子离开家的男人。
影片《少年时代》正式海报（美国）
影片主人公梅森的成长
Boyhood is as much about the changing stages of parenthood as it is about growing up. I watched the film with friends who were nearly all parents of children, who’d reached the film’s inevitable end point. And it made for an emotional evening. Mason’s mother suddenly being caught out by 发现；意识到 the realization that her son was finally, actually leaving, was a bit too close to home 即将发生的 for most of those watching.
《少年时代》既描述了父母经历的阶段变化，也展现了孩子成长的不同阶段。我和朋友们一起看了电影，他们几乎都已经为人父母，也几乎都到了电影中无法阻挡的终点。当晚，我们都百感交集。梅森的母亲突然意识到，最终她的儿子还是要离开；很快大部分观众很快也会体悟到这一点。
I recently saw my own son (just 3 days shy of his 18th birthday) off on his travels, and what should have been a simple summer holiday farewell was freighted with heavier implication and intimation. His journey to life’s next stage was well and truly underway. He was setting off a boy, and would be coming back a man. And the moment caught me out: I knew this day would come, but when it came I was totally blindsided by it. ‘Oh boy, he really is leaving home.’
最近，儿子（还差3天就18岁生日了）出发去旅行，我去送行。本来只是个简单的暑假旅行前的告别，却交织着沉重的意味和暗示。他真的完全进入了人生的下一阶段。出发的时候，他还是个男孩，等他回来的时候，一定是个男人了。那一刻，我意识到：这一天总会来的，但它真的到了，我又完全始料未及。“哦，我的孩子，他真的离开家了。”
I tried to pull myself together 振作起来. This is all good, and as it should be. He’s a man now. Let him go. Millions of people are going through the same, and have been throughout time. Be grateful for the years you’ve had. Some don’t get to enjoy the privilege. Besides: he’ll be back and your daughter won’t be leaving for a few more years. But none of it was working. By the time I got home I was a heavy-chested wreck. His empty bedroom triggered more waves. From now on, even the mundane would be invested with reminders: no more switching off the left-on light every morning. No more grumbling at 抱怨 the rumble and thrum of band practice. Pretty soon we’d be taking down the blue-tacked posters, and choosing paint to make his room into a guest room. Ah, stop!
我努力想要振作起来。这完全是好事，而且也应该这样。他现在已经是大人了。让他走吧。无数的人正在经历这样的过程，或者已经度过了这一阶段。我们要感激已经拥有的时光。因为有人还享受不到这样的回忆。再说：他还会回来，你还有女儿，几年后她才会离开家。但这些说法都不管用。等我回到家时，已经觉得心口沉重到快要崩溃。看到他空荡荡的房间，我更觉得心里无法平静。从现在起，即便是再平凡的事物，也像是在提醒我：再也没机会每天早上关掉他未熄的灯。再也没有机会抱怨乐队练习的隆隆声和敲打声。不久，我们就会撕下钉着蓝色大头针的海报，漆上油漆，把他的房间改装成客厅。哦，不说了！
Seeking solace for this existential wobble, I turned to one of the great leaving-home stories - The Prodigal Son. At first I wasn’t sure if the parallel applied. I’m not expecting my son to fall into a dissolute despond and end up eating pigswill 猪食; nor am I expecting him to return home in disgrace. But that isn’t the point. The picture of a father letting his son go when he’s old enough, and then receiving him back unconditionally, with open arms, contains true encouragement for any parent with a child about to leave home: for the love that lets them go is also the love that brings them back.
为了抚平内心的阵痛，我找来最棒的离家故事之一——圣经故事《浪子回头》。起初，我并不确定故事和现实有什么可比性。我不期望儿子将来陷入放荡的绝望，最后沦落到吃猪食；我也不希望他带着耻辱回家。但这都不重要。儿子长大了，父亲就该放手让他走，最后无条件地敞开怀抱，欢迎他回家。这样一个场景，对那些孩子快要离家的父母而言，都是一种鼓励：因为，是爱让父母舍得孩子离开，也是爱让孩子们回到父母身边。