2010-03-13

名人教英文﹕Dream the impossible dream

http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/100310/4/gyc6.html

(明報)2010年3月11日 星期四 05:10

【明報專訊】上星期我介紹了自創的An Idea a Day Keeps Alzheimer's Away(一日一新意,癡呆不會至)的意念,很多同齡的朋友打電話給我表示贊同及喜歡這簡單的「金句」。更有從西雅圖回來參加校慶的同學鄧文怡(Myra)提醒我︰"The past is history. The future is a mystery. But today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.",這亦是鼓勵大家要把握及珍惜好時光(seize the day),好好利用目前的時機。我欣賞simple messages,希望這些簡單的信息可以對我們「50前」(生於戰後的Baby Boomers)及「80後」的青年有同一樣的效果,大家都要積極面對每一天的「驚」與「喜」(life's little ups and downs),不要只作白日夢。歸根究柢,老師以前常提醒我們,"An idle mind is the devil's workshop."(游手好閒是萬惡之源)。

談到老師,我又想起一篇簡單的英文詩Why God Made Teachers,作者是Kevin Huff:

"When God created teachers

He gave us special friends

To help us understand His world

And truly comprehend

The beauty and the wonder

Of everything we see

And become a better person

With each discovery."

謹以這首詩感謝在瑪利諾修院學校多年來教導及啓發我的所有修女及老師!不過,無論年紀多小或是多大,也要繼續有夢想。記得17歲那年,一位好朋友從波士頓寄信給我,介紹了一首歌詞簡單但震撼力很大的歌曲,就是關於夢想的:

"To dream the impossible dream,

to fight the unbeatable foe.

To bear the unbearable sorrow,

to run where the brave dare not go...

This is my quest, to follow that star,

no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.

To fight for the right, without question or pause.

To be willing to march into Hell

for a Heavenly cause..."

來自著名的音樂劇Man of la Mancha(《夢幻騎士》),這首歌跟隨我一生,亦令我有時天真(naive)地繼續「發夢」,繼續抱著理想做人。當然,現今的商業廣告Impossible is Nothing告知大家impossible dreams可以用努力及堅毅變成真,所以繼續做夢也不怕!只要看去年在Britain's Got Talent比賽中唱了一首I Dreamed a Dream而名噪一時的英國女歌手Susan Boyle的故事,就知道信心、毅力及機會可以令夢想成真。

我以上所舉的幾個例子,也證實了往往simple English is the best English,我始終覺得懂得多用簡單的字去表達意思的作家及作曲家,通常都是最會用英文的人。

文:李麗娟

No comments:

Post a Comment

Search This Blog

About Me

A tiny dust in the universe.