Closing the gap全文翻译

Closing the gap缩小代沟Until late in the 20th century, most Americans spent time with people of different generations. Now middle-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves.That's because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes. Why? 在20世纪下半叶之前，绝大多数美国人都把时间花在与不同年龄段人的身上。

现在美国的许多中年人都不太和他们的长辈联系了，直到他们自己也老了。

这是因为我们都按照年龄来建立我们自己的交际圈。

我们把3岁的孩子们放在幼儿园里，13所的孩子在学校，我们80岁的老人们在养老院。

为什么要这么做呢？We live away from the old for many reasons. Young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears of aging and dying. It is much harder to watch someone we love dis-appear before our eyes. Sometimes it's so hard that we stay away from the people who need us the most. Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young. 我们有许多原因不和老人住在一起。

年轻人远离老人是想摆脱因衰老和死亡所带来的恐惧。

亲眼经历亲人的去世是很难接受的事情。

离开最需要我们的人时也是非常痛苦的事情。

A reporter moved her family onto a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter baked banana bread for the neighbours and had her children deliver it and visit. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. "My children have never been less lonely," the re-porter said. 一名记者把他的家搬到了一所养老院里。

起初他的孩子们都相当失望。

但这名记者给老人们烤香蕉面包并且让他的子女们送到老人们的手上。

不久之后这些孩子有了很多新朋友，与他们分享食物，故事和节目。

"我的孩子从来没有感到如此充实和热闹。

“这名记者说。

The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home when a visitor showed up with a baby, she was immediately surrounded. People who hadn't gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep woke 'up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and heal.年轻人反过来帮着老年人。

有一次，当我在养老院的时候，一名来探望老人的人带来一个女婴，她立即被人们团团围绕着。

他在床上一周没有起来的老人，突然起身要求坐上轮椅去看看那孩子。

甚至是那些似乎已经在睡梦中的人都突然醒过来要看看孩子。

婴儿有惊人的安慰和治疗的作用。

Grandparents are a special case. They give their grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it, "My grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end." Grandchildren speak of attention they don't get from worried parents. "My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and mygrandparents told me to slow down," one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have rela-tionships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer and more trusting. 祖父母们是一个十分特殊的例子。

他们给自己的孙辈们带来安全和长寿的感觉。

我丈夫说："我的爷爷奶奶给了我深刻的感受，那就是一切事物在最后都会变好的" 。

孙辈的发言，让那些担心他们的家长送了口气。

我一个朋友说："我的父母总是告诉我要抓紧时间，但我的爷爷奶奶告诉我不要急功近利。

"一位老师告诉我他可以区分出哪些学生与他们的爷爷奶奶关系密切：这些学生更加安静，冷静，更能让人信赖。

There was an artist I’ll call Mauve who sought truth far from home in ashrams and workshops. Just as Mauve was leaving for Europe one summer, her grandmother fell ill, and the family asked Mauve to care for her. She protested, but there was no one else. Mauve moved in with her grandmother for six months — handling her medical needs, cooking for her and bathing her —until she died. For the first time in Mauve’s life, her concern for another person became as great as her concern for herself. The experience changed her life more than her therapy and gurus.从前有一位艺术家（以下我称之为Mauve），远离家乡静修讲习。

一个夏天，Mauve即将前往欧洲时，她的祖母生病了，家里人让她留下来照顾祖母。

她内心很不情愿，但是除她之外别无人选了，于是她搬去祖母家住了半年——伺候吃药打针，帮忙做饭洗澡，直至祖母去世。

这段经历，是人生中头一次像关心自己一样关爱他人，这改变了她的人生，比心理治疗和大师古鲁更有影响。

My life is richer, too, because of the time that I’ve spent with my elders. Over the past three years I’ve interviewed my five aunts, listened to family stories, looked at photos and eaten home-cooked meals. As a result I better understand my own parents and our history. I’ve also learned the art of ageing. I’ve come away feeling more accepting, more grateful. And I have witnessed the incredible calculus of old age: as more is taken there is more love for what remains.我的人生也因为与长辈的相处更加丰满了。

过去三年，我跟五个阿姨进行了交流，听她们道家长里短，看了很多照片，品尝各色家常饭菜。

经历了这些，我更理解父母还有我们家的故事，还领会了成长的艺术。

离开这些阿姨时，我学会了包容感恩，更神奇的是，我看见了不可思议的老年逻辑：随着年岁带走的越来越多，留下的记忆也蕴含了更多的爱。

To learn from the old, we must love them — not just in the abstract but in the flesh beside us in our homes, businesses and churches. We must work together to build the kinds of communities that allow us to care for one another.先敬老爱老，后从老人身上学习——不仅是那些抽象形象，更应该向我们周围的老人学习，那些邻居老人，生意中的老人，教堂里的老人。

我们要同心协力打造美好社区家园，人人相互关怀。