3.Mandela's Garden(779)

Passage Three

Nelson Mandela, born in 1918, was a brave South African leader who fought against apartheid. He spent 27 years in jail for his beliefs. In 1993, he and President Frederic de Klerk won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending apartheid. Mandela is loved globally for promoting unity and forgiveness in South Africa.

纳尔逊·曼德拉出生于1918年，是一位勇敢的南非领导人，他反对种族隔离制度。他因为自己的信仰在监狱里呆了27年。1993年，他和总统弗雷德里克·德克勒克因结束种族隔离而获得诺贝尔和平奖。曼德拉因在南非倡导团结和宽恕而受到全球爱戴。

Mandela's Garden

Nelson Mandela

【1】In early 1977, the authorities announced the end of manual labor and arranged work for us to do in the courtyard, so we could spend our days in our section. The end of manual labor was liberating.

【2】I could now spend the day reading, writing letters, discussing issues with my comrades, or preparing legal documents. The free time also allowed me to pursue what became two of my favorite hobbies on Robben Island: gardening and tennis.

【3】To survive in prison, one must develop ways to take satisfaction in one's daily life. One can feel fulfilled by washing one's clothes so that they are particularly clean, by sweeping a hallway so that it is empty of dust, by organizing one's cell to save as much space as possible. Just as one takes pride in important tasks outside of prison, one can find the same pride in doing small things inside prison.

【4】Almost from the beginning of my sentence on Robben Island, I asked the authorities for permission to start a garden in the courtyard. For years, they refused without offering a reason. But eventually, they gave in, and we were able to cut out a small garden on a narrow patch of earth against the far wall.

【5】The soil in the courtyard was dry and rocky. The courtyard had been constructed over a garbage dump, and in order to start my garden, I had to remove a great many rocks to allow the plants room to grow. At the time, some of my comrades joked that I was a miner at heart, for I spent my days in a wasteland and my free time digging in the courtyard.

【6】The authorities supplied me with seeds. I at first planted tomatoes, chilies, and onions—hardy plants that did not require rich earth or constant care. The early harvests were poor, but they soon improved. The authorities did not regret giving permission, for once the garden began to flourish, I often provided the warders with some of my best tomatoes and onions.

【7】While I have always enjoyed gardening, it was not until I was behind bars that I was able to tend my own garden. My first experience in the garden was at Fort Hare, where, as part of the university's manual labor requirement, I worked in one of my professors’ gardens and enjoyed the contact with the soil as an alternative to my intellectual labors. Once I was in Johannesburg studying and then working, I had neither the time nor the space to start a garden.

【8】I began to order books on gardening. I studied different gardening techniques and learned through trial and error. For a time, I attempted to grow peanuts, and used different soils and fertilizers, but finally, I gave up. It was one of my few failures.

【9】A garden was one of the few things in prison that one could control. To plant a seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of being the owner of the small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom.

【10】In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life. Leaders must also look after their gardens; they, too, plant seeds, and then watch, cultivate, and harvest the results. Like gardeners, leaders must take responsibility for what they cultivate, they must mind their work, try to drive back enemies, save what can be saved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.

【11】I wrote Winnie two letters about a particularly beautiful tomato plant, how I made it grow from a tender seedling to a strong plant that produced deep red fruit. But then, either through some mistake or lack of care, the plant began to wither and decline and nothing I did would bring it back to health. When it finally died, I removed the roots from the soil, washed them, and buried them in a corner of the garden.

【12】I told her this small story at great length. I do not know what she read into that letter, but when I wrote it, I had a mixture of feelings. I did not want our relationship to go the way of that plant, and yet I felt that I had been unable to nourish many of the most important relationships in my life. Sometimes there is nothing one can do to save something that must die.

第三课

曼德拉的花园

【1】1977年初，当局宣布结束体力劳动，安排我们在院子里干活，这样我们就可以在我们的区域里度过我们的日子。体力劳动的结束是一种解放。

【2】我现在可以整天看书，写信，和同志讨论问题，或者准备法律文件。空闲时间也让我在罗本岛上追求我最喜欢的两个爱好:园艺和网球。

【3】要在监狱里生存下去，一个人必须设法从日常生活中获得满足。把自己的衣服洗得特别干净，把走廊扫得没有灰尘，把自己的房间整理得尽可能节省空间，这些都能让人感到满足。就像在监狱外完成重要任务会让人感到自豪一样，在监狱里做一些小事也会让人感到自豪。

【4】几乎从我在罗本岛服刑之初，我就请求当局允许我在院子里开辟一个花园。多年来，他们没有给出任何理由就拒绝了。但最终，他们让步了，我们在靠墙的一小块土地上开辟了一个小花园。

【5】院子里的泥土干燥多石。院子建在一个垃圾堆上，为了开始我的花园，我不得不移走许多石头，让植物有生长的空间。当时，我的一些战友开玩笑说，我骨子里是个矿工，因为我每天都在荒地上度过，空闲时间就在院子里挖土。

【6】当局给我提供种子。起初，我种了西红柿、辣椒和洋葱，这些耐寒的植物不需要肥沃的土壤，也不需要经常照料。早期的收成很差，但很快就好了。当局并不后悔给了许可，因为一旦花园开始茂盛起来，我经常把我最好的西红柿和洋葱提供给狱吏。

【7】虽然我一直很喜欢园艺，但直到入狱后，我才有机会打理自己的花园。我在花园里的第一次经历是在福特哈尔，在那里，作为大学体力劳动要求的一部分，我在我的一位教授的花园里工作，享受与土壤的接触，作为我智力劳动的另一种选择。当我在约翰内斯堡学习和工作的时候，我既没有时间也没有空间去种植一个花园。

【8】我开始订购园艺方面的书籍。我研究了不同的园艺技术，并在反复试验中学习。有一段时间，我尝试种植花生，并使用不同的土壤和肥料，但最后，我放弃了。这是我为数不多的失败之一。

【9】花园是监狱里为数不多的可以控制的东西之一。种下一粒种子，看着它成长，照料它，然后收获它，这是一种简单而持久的满足感。作为这一小块土地的主人，这种感觉让我尝到了一点自由的滋味。

【10】在某种程度上，我把花园看作是我生活某些方面的隐喻。领导者还必须照顾好自己的花园;他们也种下种子，然后观察、培育和收获结果。像园丁一样，领导者必须对自己培育的东西负责，他们必须专注于自己的工作，努力击退敌人，拯救能拯救的，消灭不能成功的。

【11】我给温妮写了两封信，讲述了一株特别漂亮的番茄，我是如何使它从一株嫩嫩的幼苗长成一株结实的、结出深红色果实的植物的。但后来，要么是由于一些错误，要么是由于缺乏照料，这棵植物开始枯萎和衰落，我无论做什么都无法使它恢复健康。当它最终死去时，我把它的根从土里拔出来，洗干净，埋在花园的一个角落里。

【12】我详细地给她讲了这个小故事。我不知道她从这封信中读出了什么，但当我写这封信的时候，我的心情很复杂。我不希望我们的关系像那棵植物一样枯萎，但我觉得我无法滋养我生命中许多最重要的关系。有时候，我们无法挽救那些必须死去的东西。