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一千個彈珠
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英文作者不詳
豐筌中文翻譯
隨著年齡的增長，我越來越喜愛星期六早晨。或許是因為第一個起身，能夠安靜獨
處﹔或許是不必上班的極大樂趣﹔ 總之，星期六早上的最初幾個鐘頭，對我來說，
是最享受的。
幾個星期以前，我一手拿著熱氣騰騰的咖啡，一手拿著早報，慢吞吞地走向地下室
的小房間。一個典型星期六早晨的開始，卻轉變成為一個生活中﹐似乎經常有意無意
留給你的教誨。讓我慢慢道來。我調整著我的業餘無線電收發機的波段轉鈕﹐以便
收聽星期六早晨同好們的交換網。在調動時﹐聽到一個發送信號很強､金嗓子般聲
音的老漢在說話。你知道﹐是那種聽起來就應該從事廣播業者的聲音。
他在跟聽者說有關“一千個彈珠”的事情。我被這話題吸引了﹐就停下來聽他有什
麼要說的。
“嗯﹐湯姆﹐聽起來你的工作確實很忙﹐我確信他們給你的薪水很高﹐但是可惜﹐
你必須經常離家﹐遠離你的家人。實在很難相信﹐一個年輕人每個禮拜要工作六十､
七十個小時來維持生計。你錯過了女兒的獨舞表演﹐真是糟糕。”
他接著說﹐“讓我告訴你一件事﹐湯姆﹐一件幫我保持‘事有先後､輕重緩急’的
良好處事方針的事情。”就這樣﹐他開始闡述“一千個彈珠” 的理論。
“是這樣的﹐有一天我坐下來做了一點算術。每個人平均活到七十五歲。我知道﹐
有的人活長些﹐有的人活短些。但是平均來說﹐人大概活七十五年。那麼﹐我把75乘
上52﹐得到3900﹐也就是一個平均壽命的人的整個一生中﹐可以擁有的星期六的天
數。”
“現在﹐繼續聽我說﹐湯姆﹐我快講到要點了。我一直到55歲時﹐才仔細地想到這
些細節。”他繼續說﹐“那個時候我已經渡過了兩千八百個星期六。我當時想﹐如果
我活到七十五﹐我只剩下一千個左右的星期六可以享受了。”
“所以﹐我去玩具店﹐買下了他們所有的每一顆彈珠。最後走了三家玩具店﹐才買
齊了一千個彈珠。我拿回來﹐把它們放進一個透明的大塑料罐裏﹐就在這兒﹐我這套
設備旁邊的袋子裏。從那時候開始﹐每個星期六﹐我都拿出一個彈珠來﹐丟掉。”
“我發現﹐當我看著彈珠消失﹐我就更能專注於我生活中真正重要的事情。沒有什
麼比看著你的時間在這個地球上消失﹐更能夠真正的幫你安排事情的先､後､緩､急
了。”
“現在﹐在跟你結束通訊帶我可愛的老婆去吃早餐前﹐讓我再告訴你最後一件事。
今早﹐我從塑料罐裏拿出了最後的那顆彈珠。我想﹐如果我下星期六還在的話﹐老
天就賜給了我一些額外的時間。我們大家都用得著的﹐就是那一點點多餘的時間。”
“很高興遇到你﹐湯姆。我希望你有更多的時間跟家人在一起﹐我也希望我能再在
這個頻道上遇到你。七十五歲的老頭﹐這裏是K9NZQ﹐ QRT高頻速效終端要掛線了﹐
早安﹗”
當這傢伙掛線的瞬間﹐你在頻道上幾乎可以聽到一根針掉落。我想﹐他給大家都留
下了許多事情思考。那天早上﹐我本來計劃要裝修收發天線﹐然後跟幾個同好會面﹐
策劃我們俱樂部的下一期會刊。我改了計劃﹐到樓上吻著老伴﹐把她吵醒。
“甜心﹐醒了吧﹐我帶妳和孩子們去吃早餐。”
“這是什麼來由﹖”她笑著問。
“噢﹐沒什麼特別的﹐只是我們很久沒跟孩子們﹐星期六在一起了。還有﹐出去時﹐
可不可以到玩具店停留一會兒﹖ 我想買一些彈珠”。
“如果你活到一百歲﹐我要能夠活到一百歲少一天﹐那麼我永遠不會沒有你而活著。”
— 快樂熊(英國著名兒童讀物作家﹐米爾恩﹐1926年虛創的故事熊 Winnie-the-Pooh)
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A Thousand Marbles
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Chinese Translation by Feng Quan
English Author Unknown
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet
solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded
joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday
morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming
cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began
as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life
seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it. I turned the
dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen
to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding
chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he
sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business.
He was telling whomever he was talking with something about "a thousand
marbles. I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they
pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family
so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy
hours week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital.
He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped
me keep a good perspective on my own priorities. " And that's when he began
to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did little arithmetic. The average person
lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less,
but on average, folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied
75 by 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the
average person has in their entire lifetime."
"Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me
until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail";
he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred
Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had
about a thousand of them left to enjoy.
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended
up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them
home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here
in the sack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one
marble out and thrown it away. "
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on the really
important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here
on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight. "
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take
my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble
out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then
I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is
a little more time. "
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family,
and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man, this is
K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off.
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the
antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to
work on the next club newsletter. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife
up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.”
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday
together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out?
I need to buy some marbles... ”
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day,
so I never have to live without you.” - Winnie-the-Pooh
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