Looking back at the 21 year old that I was at graduation， is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42 year old that she has become.
回顾21岁刚毕业时的自己，对于今天42岁的我来说，是一个稍微不太舒服的经历。
Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself， and what those closest to me expected of me.
可以说我人生的前一部分，一直挣扎在自己的雄心和身边的人对我的期望之间。
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do ，ever ，was write novels.
我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情就是写小说。
However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college.
不过，我的父母他们都来自贫穷的背景，没有任何一个人上过大学。
Took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage， or secure a pension.
坚持认为我过度的想象力是一个令人惊讶的个人怪癖，根本不足以让我支付按揭或是获得足够的养老金。
Now I would like to make it clear， in parenthesis， that I do not blame my parents for their point of view.
我想澄清一下，我不会因为父母的观点而责怪他们。附带说一下。
There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction.
埋怨父母给你指错方向，是有一个时间段的。
The moment you are old enough to take the wheel ，responsibility lies with you.
当你成长到可以控制自我方向的时候，你就要承担自己的责任了。
What is more ，I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty.
尤其是我不会因为父母希望我不要过穷日子而责怪他们。
They had been poor themselves ，and I have since been poor ，and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.
他们一直很贫穷，我后来也一度贫穷，所以我很理解他们，贫穷并不是一种高贵的经历。
Poverty entails fear， and stress， and sometimes depression, it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.
它带来恐惧压力有时还有绝望，它意味着许多的羞辱和艰辛。
Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts. That is something on which to pride yourself. But poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.
靠自己的努力摆脱贫穷确实可以引以为豪，但贫穷本身只是对傻瓜而言才是浪漫的。
网友评论