時差N小時:希望的一代

I recently read an article in which one of myfavorite columnists, William Safire, explores the useof "generation" in a litany of literary references toAmerican writers. He begins with Hemingway'squotation of "lost generation" and then exploresother references throughout recent history.

最近,我在最喜歡的作家William Safire的專欄里看到一篇文章，他擅長研究“generation”一詞在美國冗長文學(xué)史上的含義。William Safire以海明威的《垮掉的一代》為開始進(jìn)行研究，然后又探索近代其它文獻(xiàn)。

This massive amount of repetition of "generation" in the column by Mr. Safire ought tohave already driven home the point. We all belong to specific generations, and cultures anderas tend to identify, mark and classify us according to our age and time on this planet.

在William Safire的專欄里“generation”一詞大量重復(fù)得出現(xiàn)，強(qiáng)烈突出了其觀點(diǎn)。我們正處在一個特殊的時代，只有根據(jù)人類在地球上的年代和時間，才能給我們的文化、時代加以定義和標(biāo)記，從而將我們分類。

What about my generation? I am a baby-boomer. I grew up in the light of Dr. Martin LutherKing and the Kennedys, and under the shadow of the Vietnam War. I have always believed inhope. If asked, I would say that I belong to the Generation of Hope.

我們這一代是什么樣的呢?我出生于人口高峰期。我在馬丁·路德金和肯尼迪的光環(huán)下成長，同樣也經(jīng)受了越戰(zhàn)的陰霾。我一直相信希望。如果被問到，我會說我屬于希望的一代。

When I was young, I was convinced there was more good in the world than evil. I stillbelieve that. I thought then and still think that one person can make a difference.

我小的時候就相信世界上有比罪惡更美好的東西。不管是過去還是現(xiàn)在，我仍然相信人們可以創(chuàng)造奇跡。

Hope is taking some very hard knocks these days. Hope may be down at the moment, but itis far from out. Many of us are hopers. We know to which generation we belong.

懷有希望的日子是痛苦的。希望也許會在某一刻消失，但希望不會離我們而去。我們當(dāng)中大部分人都有過希望。我知道我們屬于哪一代。