The great words of the year? 'Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.'
今年最感人的一句话是？"哦。哦。哦。"
They are the last words of Steve Jobs, reported by his sister, the novelist Mona Simpson, who was at his bedside. In her eulogy, a version of which was published in the New York Times, she spoke of how he looked at his children 'as if he couldn't unlock his gaze.' He'd said goodbye to her, told her of his sorrow that they wouldn't be able to be old together, 'that he was going to a better place.' In his final hours his breathing was deep, uneven, as if he were climbing.
这可是史蒂夫•乔布斯（Steve Jobs）的临终之言。我们是听乔布斯弥留之际在病榻前陪伴他的莫娜•辛普森（Mona Simpson）说的。辛普森是乔布斯的妹妹，她是一位小说家。在辛普森所写的悼词中，她谈到乔布斯久久地凝视自己的孩子，就好像目光无法从他们身上转移开来一样。在这之前，他和辛普森道别，告诉她自己因无法和她一同慢慢变老而感到悲恸，并告诉她自己将去一个更好的地方。在乔布斯临终前的几个小时，他的呼吸深沉但不均匀，就好像他在爬上一样。辛普森写的这篇悼词发表在《纽约时报》（New York Times）上。
'Before embarking, he'd looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life's partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. Steve's final words were: 'OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.''
弥留之际，乔布斯先是看着妹妹贝蒂（Patty），然后长时间凝视自己的孩子，最后望着他一生的伴侣劳伦（Laurene）。此后乔布斯的目光穿越了所有人。去世前他所说的最后一句话是，哦，哦，哦。
The caps are Simpson's, and if she meant to impart a sense of wonder and mystery she succeeded. 'Oh wow' is not a bad way to express the bigness, power and force of life, and death. And of love, by which he was literally surrounded.
上面的三个字被辛普森写成了大写字母。如果她想传递出一种惊奇和神秘的感觉，那么她成功做到了。"哦"是表达生与死的重大、力量和影响力的一个不错的方式。当然还有爱，从上面的文字看，乔布斯临终前是被爱所包围的。
I wondered too, after reading the eulogy, if I was right to infer that Jobs saw something, and if so, what did he see? What happened there that he looked away from his family and expressed what sounds like awe? I thought of a story told by a friend, whose grown son had died, at home, in a hospice. The family was ringed around his bed. As Robert breathed his last an infant in the room let out a great baby laugh as if he saw something joyous, wonderful, and gestured toward the area above Robert's head. The infant's mother, startled, moved to shush him but my friend, her mother, said no, maybe he's just reacting to . . . something only babies see.
读过悼词之后，我很像知道以下推断是否正确：乔布斯在弥留之际是否看到了什么。如果真是这样，他又会看到什么呢？当他的目光从家人身上转移开并发出一种类似敬畏的感叹词时，那间病房里又发生了什么？我想起朋友告诉我的一个故事。这位朋友的成年儿子是在家里善终的。临终前他的家人围绕在他的床前。罗伯特（即朋友的儿子）咽下最后一口气时，房里的一个婴儿突然笑出了声，就好像看到了一些令人欢快和精彩的东西。婴儿手指着罗伯特头顶上方。婴儿的母亲吃了一惊，让婴儿安静下来。但我的朋友（即婴儿的外祖母）制止了她，说或许是婴儿看到了只有他们才能看到的东西，并有所反应。
Anyway I sent Ms. Simpson's eulogy to a number of people and spoke to some of them, and they all had two things in common in terms of their reaction. They'd get a faraway look, and think. And if they had a thought to share they did it with modesty. No one said, 'I think I can guess what he saw,' 'I know who he saw,' or 'Believe me, if he saw anything it was the product of the last, disordered sparks of misfiring neurons.'
我曾把辛普森的悼词给很多人看过，也同部分人交谈过，他们的反应有两点是共通的：他们先是展露出一种恍惚的表情，然后陷入沉思。如果他们有想法要和我分享，他们也是很谨慎地表达出来。没有人会直接说出下面的话："我认为自己能猜出他看到了什么"；"我知道他看到了谁"；"相信我，如果他看到了什么，那也是他搭错线的神经元在最后一刻闪耀出的奇异火花。"
They were always modest, reflective. One just said, 'Wow.'
每个人都很内敛，都在沉思，其中一个人只说了一句：哦。
Modesty when contemplating death is a good thing.
思考与死亡有关的问题时，内敛是一件好事。
When words leave people silent and thinking they are powerful words. Steve Jobs' last words were the best thing said in 2011.
如果语言令人沉默并沉思，那么他们就是强大的语言。史蒂夫•乔布斯的临终之言是2011年最有力量的一句话。
PEGGY NOONAN
- novelist [´nɔvəlist]
n.小说家 (初中英语单词) - partner [´pɑ:tnə] n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
- mystery [´mistəri] n.神秘；秘密；故弄玄虚 (初中英语单词)
- reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
- infant [´infənt] n.&a.婴(幼)儿 (初中英语单词)
- reaction [ri´ækʃən] n.反应(力) (初中英语单词)
- modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
- impart [im´pɑ:t] vt.传授；赋予；告知 (高中英语单词)
- literally [´litərəli] ad.逐字地；实际上 (高中英语单词)
- joyous [´dʒɔiəs] a.充满快乐的 (高中英语单词)
- bedside [´bedsaid] n.床边 a.护理的 (英语四级单词)
- version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
- unlock [ʌn´lɔk] vt.开锁；开启；池露 (英语四级单词)
- uneven [ʌn´i:vən] a.崎岖的；不匀的 (英语四级单词)
- modesty [´mɔdisti] n.谨慎；端庄；羞怯 (英语四级单词)
- ringed [riŋd] a.带环的；戴戒指的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:乔布斯
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