给十年后的自己 A letter to myself

Gāozhōng zuìhòu yí gè xuéqī, yǔwén lǎoshī gěi wǒmen bùzhì le yí gè tèbié de zuòyè: gěi shí nián hòu de zìjǐ xiě yì fēng xìn. Lǎoshī shuō, tā huì bǎ xìn bǎocún hǎo, shí nián hòu zài jì gěi wǒmen.

高中最后一个学期，语文老师给我们布置了一个特别的作业：给十年后的自己写一封信。老师说，她会把信保存好，十年后再寄给我们。

In our last term of high school, our Chinese teacher gave us an unusual assignment: write a letter to yourself ten years from now. She said she would keep the letters safe and post them to us in ten years.

Dāngshí, dàjiā dōu juéde zhè zhǐshì yí gè yóuxì. Wǒ zài xìn lǐ xiě le hěn duō lǐxiǎng: yào kǎo shàng zuìhǎo de dàxué, yào dāng yì míng jìzhě, yào qù shìjiè gèdì lǚxíng. Xiě wán yǐhòu, wǒ hěn kuài jiù bǎ zhè jiàn shì wàng le.

当时，大家都觉得这只是一个游戏。我在信里写了很多理想：要考上最好的大学，要当一名记者，要去世界各地旅行。写完以后，我很快就把这件事忘了。

At the time we all thought it was just a game. In my letter I wrote down lots of dreams: get into the best university, become a journalist, travel all over the world. Once I’d finished, I quickly forgot about it.

Shàng gè xīngqī, wǒ tūrán shōudào le yì fēng xìn. Xìnfēng shàng de zì shì wǒ zìjǐ de, zhǐshì kàn qǐlái nàme mòshēng. Dǎkāi yǐhòu, wǒ yíxià zi shuō bù chū huà lái: shí nián qián de wǒ, jìngrán nàme zìxìn, nàme yǒnggǎn.

上个星期，我突然收到了一封信。信封上的字是我自己的，只是看起来那么陌生。打开以后，我一下子说不出话来：十年前的我，竟然那么自信，那么勇敢。

Last week I suddenly received a letter. The handwriting on the envelope was mine, yet it looked so unfamiliar. When I opened it, I was lost for words: the person I was ten years ago was so confident and so brave.

Shuō shíhuà, xìn lǐ de lǐxiǎng wǒ zhī shíxiàn le yí bùfen. Wǒ méiyǒu dāng shàng jìzhě, ér shì chéng le yì míng pǔtōng de zhōngxué lǎoshī; wǒ yě méi qù guò hěn duō guójiā. Kěshì dú dào xìn de zuìhòu yí jù, wǒ de yǎnjing shī le:"bùguǎn nǐ xiànzài zài zuò shénme, xīwàng nǐ háishi yí gè duì shēnghuó chōngmǎn hàoqí de rén."

说实话，信里的理想我只实现了一部分。我没有当上记者，而是成了一名普通的中学老师；我也没去过很多国家。可是读到信的最后一句，我的眼睛湿了：“不管你现在在做什么，希望你还是一个对生活充满好奇的人。”

To be honest, I’ve only achieved some of those dreams. I didn’t become a journalist; I became an ordinary secondary school teacher. And I haven’t been to many countries. But when I read the last line of the letter, my eyes filled with tears: “Whatever you’re doing now, I hope you’re still someone who is curious about life.”

Nà tiān wǎnshang, wǒ yě gěi xuéshēng men bùzhì le tóngyàng de zuòyè. Wǒ xiǎng, shí nián yǐhòu, tāmen dú dào zìjǐ de xìn shí, yěxǔ yě huì yǒu hé wǒ yíyàng de gǎnshòu.

那天晚上，我也给学生们布置了同样的作业。我想，十年以后，他们读到自己的信时，也许也会有和我一样的感受。

That evening I gave my own students the same assignment. I think that in ten years, when they read their letters, they might feel the same way I did.