Treasure Yesterday
——《收藏昨天》節選譯文

宿鑫

（北京航空航天大學，北京 100000）

經常有年輕朋友來信詢問一些有關人生的大問題，我總是告訴他們，你其實已經有了一位最好的人生導師，那就是你自己。

Some young friends frequently write to me for numerous significant problems of life and my invariable answer is that”Actually，you already have the best mentor—yourself.”

這并非搪塞之言。人生的過程雖然會受到社會和時代的很大影響，但貫穿首尾的基本線索總離不開自己的個體生命。個體生命的完整性、連貫性會構成一種巨大的力量，使人生的任何一個小點都指向著整體價值。一個人突然地沮喪絕望、自暴自棄、挺而走險，常常是因為產生了精神上的“短路”，如果在那個時候偶然翻檢出一張自己童年時代的照片或幾頁做中學生時寫下的日記，細細凝視，慢慢誦讀，很可能會心情緩釋、眉宇舒展，返回到平靜的理性狀態。其間的力量，來自生命本身，遠遠大于旁人的勸解。

The answer above is not perfunctory because although the process of life is greatly influenced by society and times，the basic thread throughout it is never inseparable from your own individual life.In general，the wholeness and coherence of individual lives can constitute tremendous power that enables a small part of life to correspond with the entirety of it.For instance，the reason why you suddenly feel a twinge of depression，self-abandonment and desperation is that a mental“short circuit” happens to you.However，when you come across a photo of childhood or several pages of the diary during middle school and then gaze at it subtly and read it slowly，you may relax your mind totally rather than frown deeply，returning to a state of tranquility gradually.Hence，the power within it originates from life itself and far outweighs other consolations.

拿起自己十歲時候的照片，不是感嘆韶華易逝，青春不再，而長久地逼視那雙清澈無邪的眼睛，它提醒你，正是你，曾經有過那么強的光亮，那么大的空間，那么多的可能，而這一切并未全然消逝；它告訴你，你曾經那么純凈，那么輕松，今天讓你苦惱不堪的一切本不屬于你。這時，你發現，早年自己的眼神發出了指令，要你去找回自己的財寶，把不屬于自己的東西放回原處。除了照片，應該還有其它更多的信號，把我們的生命連貫起來。

Picking up photos taken at ten，you have no intention of sighing for the passage of time and the disappearance of youth.Instead，you just stare at those pure eyes for a long time which are a reminder that you are the one that once dazzled others and demonstrated so much space and potential，while these glories never disappear completely.Moreover，your eyes show that you were so innocent and carefree once，while you should not have undergone anything distressing now.Meanwhile，you come to realize that those pure eyes tell you to retrieve your own treasures and replace what you don’t possess.In addition to these photos，there should be more signals that connect our lives.

為此，真希望世間能有更多的人珍視自己的每一步腳印，勤于記錄，樂于重溫，敢于自嘲，善于修正，讓人生的前前后后能夠互相灌溉，互相滋潤。其實，中國古代顯赫之家一代代修續家譜也是為了前后之間互相灌溉、互相滋潤，你看在家譜中呈現出來的那個清晰有序的時間過程是那么有力，使前代為后代而自律，使后代為前代而自強，真可謂生生不息。個人的生命也是一個前后互濟的時間過程，如能留住記憶，定會產生一種回蕩激揚的動力循環，讓人長久受益。一個人就像一個家族一樣，是不是有身份、有信譽、有責任，就看是否能把完整的演變脈絡認真留存……

It is thus my sincere hope that more people in the world will cherish every step of life.In other words，they can keep recording precious moments and relish reminiscing about them，have the courage to ridicule themselves and correct errors in time so that parts of life can penetrate and complement each other.That’s in fact why generations of dignitaries in ancient China have been expanding their family trees，too.In particular，the orderly process of time presented in family trees is so profound that previous generations can discipline themselves for the prosperity of future ones and future generations can also exert themselves for the continuity of previous ones，which eventually contributes to their perpetual families.Likewise，one’s individual life can be regarded as a process of time where the early part and the later one of life are interwoven.If one bears these parts in mind，he will surely review them repeatedly and benefit from them permanently.Similarly，whether one is respectable，credible and responsible hinges on whether he can preserve the continuous process of his life carefully