神马文学网一封感人至深的信
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您好，
这是一位朋友连夜翻译出来的一篇文章。我深受感动。肯定会有更多的中国人因此而感动，请发给需要的人。多谢。
A VERY MOVING LETTER
一封感人至深的信
Among the many letters I have received since I wrote Diet for a New America, there is one that I would like to share with you. I received it in the mid-1990s, from a man in San Francisco, California. It represents, for me at least, a statement of hope for us all. — John Robbins
自从写了《新世纪饮食》这本书，我收到了很多信件，其中有一封我特别想和你们分享。这封信我是90年代中期收到的，寄自一位加利福尼亚旧金山的一位男士之手。至少对我来讲，它为我们所有人带来了希望——约翰•罗宾逊
Mr. Robbins,
罗宾逊先生，
Your book Diet for a New America has had quite an influence on my family. About two years ago, I would have liked to have killed you for it. Let me explain.
您写的书《新世纪饮食》曾对我的家庭产生了巨大的影响。大约两年前，我还恨不得要杀了您。让我来说给您听吧。
I am an extremely successful man. I am used to getting my way. When my daughter, Julie, was a teenager, she announced that she wanted to become a vegetarian. She had read your book. I thought this was ridiculous, and insisted that she stop this nonsense. When she did not obey, I became angry. “I am your father,” I told her, “and I know better than you.”
我是一位成功人士。已经习惯于以自我为中心。当我的女儿，还是一个十几岁的孩子的时候，宣布她想成为一个素食主义者。她是读了您的书以后决定这么做的。我深感荒唐，要她停止这种无聊的行动。但是她拒绝服从，我大发雷霆：“我是你的父亲，”我对她讲，“你懂的太少了。”
“I am your daughter,” she replied, “and it’s my life.”
“我是你的女儿，”她反击道，“我有我自己的生活。”
We had many fights over this. We weren’t getting along very well, and there were tensions between us, but they seemed always to come to a head over the never-ending vegetarian debates. It drove me crazy. As far as I saw it, she was being disrespectful and willful, and just wanted to get her way. She said the same about me.
在这个问题上我们争吵无数。我们一直相处都不好，时有矛盾，但是一到永不止息的素食争论时，矛盾似乎都白热化了。这简直要把我逼疯了。就我当时的感受而言，她对我真是非常无礼，甚至是存心要一意孤行。她对我的感受也是如此。
At first, my wife and I forced her to eat meat, but she made such a stink about it that meal times were completely ruined. So eventually, resenting it, we caved in and allowed her to eat her vegetarian meals. But I let her know how I felt about it. It’s okay to be an idealist, I told her, but you’ve got to keep your feet on the ground. It’s okay to be a lawyer, she told me, but you’ve got to keep your heart open. It was terribly aggravating.
起初，我和我的妻子强迫她吃肉，但是她反抗如此强烈，我们根本无法就餐。所以，最后，愤怒无比，但是我们还是让步了，允许她行她素。但是我告诉了她我的感受。要追求自己的理想没错，我告诉她，但是你必须实际些。做律师也没错，她告诉我，但是你必须打开心扉。这简直太糟糕了。
For my birthday, one year, she made me breakfast in bed. But there was no bacon, no sausage, not even any eggs. It just turned into another bad situation.
有一年我过生日，她做了床边早餐给我。但是没有培根，没有香肠，甚至连鸡蛋都没有。这让我火冒三丈。
I reminded her that it was my birthday, not hers. She set about telling me about how the pigs and chickens were treated, quoting chapter and verse from your book. This was not what I wanted to hear, first thing in the morning, on my birthday.
我提醒她这是我的生日，不是她的。她就开始告诉我那些猪和鸡是如何被虐待的，都是引用的您书里的章节。在我生日的时候，我可不希望一大早听到的第一件事居然是这个。
After she graduated from high school, Julie moved out. I was glad, actually, because I was sick and tired of it. Every meal it was an issue. I wanted her to eat meat, and she wouldn’t. She wanted me to stop eating meat, and I wouldn’t. There was no peace. But after she left, I missed her. Not the arguments, I didn’t miss them, but I missed her a lot more than I thought I would.
朱莉高中毕业后就搬出去住了。我竟然很高兴，因为我已经厌倦了这样的争吵。每顿饭都伴随着争吵。我想让她吃肉，她不吃。她想让我停止吃肉，我也不听。永无宁日。但是她走后我又开始想她。我可不想念那些争吵，可是我对她的想念真的超乎寻常。
Several years later, Julie found herself a husband, and a short while after that she became pregnant. When our grandchild was born, I was on top of the world. But of course it didn’t last. Sure enough, Julie wanted to raise her son, our grandson, as a vegetarian. This time, I put my foot down. “You can ruin your own life if you want to,” I told her, “but you cannot ruin the health of this innocent boy.” As far as I was concerned, what she was doing was child abuse. I even considered calling the Department of Children’s Services. I believed they would either force her to feed our grandson properly, or remove him from her clutches. It was only because my wife prevented me that I didn’t take that step.
几年以后，朱莉结婚，不久就怀孕了。当我们的外孙出世时，我欣喜若狂。当然这并没有持续几天。当然地，朱莉想把她的儿子，我们的外孙，也养育成一个素食主义者。这次，我坚决反对。“你想的话，你可以毁掉你自己的生命，”我告诉她，“但是你不能毁掉这么纯洁的孩子的健康。”就我当时所知而言，她的作为就是虐童。我甚至都想到打电话到儿童服务中心了。我认为他们要么会强迫她给我们的外孙合理膳食，要么把他从她身边带走。只是因为我的妻子挡住了我，我才没有走那一步。
While I had found I could (barely) tolerate Julie being a vegetarian, I simply could not accept her doing this to our grandson. Eventually, it got so bad that she stopped seeing me entirely. Not only had this stupid vegetarian obsession of hers cost me my relationship with my daughter, it had also cost me my relationship with my grandson, because now she wouldn’t bring him by, nor would she let me visit. I was completely cut off.
但是我发现我虽然勉强能够容忍朱莉吃素，我就是不能接受她也让我们的外孙如此。最后，我们闹得太僵了，她完全不来看我了。她这种愚蠢对素食的狂热不止毁掉了我和我女儿的感情，也毁掉了我和我外孙的感情，因为现在她根本就不带他过来了，而且她也不让我去看他。我被彻底隔绝。
I thought I should at least try to keep the door open, though, so through my wife (Julie wouldn’t even speak to me by then) I asked her what she wanted for her next birthday. She said what she most wanted was for me to read your book, Diet for a New America. I told her this would be impossible, because it would be too time consuming. She told me that if I would actually read it, for every hour it took me, she would let me see my grandson for an equal number of hours. She’s a smart one. She knows where my soft spots are.
我想我至少应该努力打破僵局，所以透过我的妻子（朱莉那时甚至都拒绝和我讲话）我问她她生日的时候想要什么。她说她最想要的是要我去读您的书，《新世纪饮食》。我告诉她这是不可能的，因为太费时间了。她告诉我如果我读的话，我花费的每一小时，都会是她让我看外孙的时间。她很聪明，知道我的死穴。
So, Mr. Robbins, I read your book. I read the whole thing, every word. What impacted me the most was your description of how animals are raised nowadays. I had no idea it was so severe. It’s ghastly, and I totally agree with you that it must not be allowed to continue. I know cruelty when I see it, and this is extreme.
所以，罗宾逊先生，我开始读您的书了。我全部读完，一字不落。最让我刻骨铭心的是您对当今动物养殖的描述。我不知道竟然如此残忍。太恐怖了。我完全赞同你的说法，这应当被禁止。当我看完后我才知道残忍之中，此为极限。
I’m sure you’ve heard this all before, but no book I have ever read has impacted me in this manner. I was overwhelmed.
我相信您肯定已经听过这样的反应，但是没有哪本书像这样影响过我。我无敌震撼。
I called her, when I was done reading. “I told you not to call me,” she said as soon as she knew it was me. “Yes,” I said, “but I’ve read the book, and I want you to come over for dinner and bring the boy.”
看完书后我打电话给她。“我告诉过你不要打电话给我，”一听出是我她立马说道。“是的，”我说，“但是我已经读完这本书，我想让你过来共进晚餐，把孩子也带着。”
Mr. Robbins, I am a proud man, and what I said next did not come easily to me. But I knew what I must do, and so I did it. “Dearest Julie,” I said, “please forgive me. There won’t be a fight if you come over. I have made a terrible mistake, and I understand that, now. If you come, there will be no meat served, to anyone.”
罗宾逊先生，我是多么骄傲的一个人啊，接下来我说的话对我来说太不容易了。但是我知道必须得说，所以我就说了。“最亲爱的朱莉，”我说，“请原谅我吧。你过来了不会再有争吵。我犯了严重的错误，我现在已经知道了。如果你来的话，谁也不会再吃到肉。”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. I learned later that she was crying, but I didn’t know it at the time. I only knew there was something else I had to say. “And there won’t be any meat served ever again in this house,” I told her, “that comes from factory farms.”
电话那头是沉默。后来我才知道她哭了，但是当时我还不知道。我只知道我还得再说。“而且在这个房子里以后都不会再有肉，”我告诉她说，“就是那些从动物农场里出来的肉。”
“Are you joking?” she asked in disbelief.
“你在开玩笑吗？”她表示不相信。
“I’m not joking,” I said. “I mean it.” “We’re coming,” she said.
“我没有开玩笑，”我说。“我是认真的。”“我们去，”她说。
And I did mean it. There has been no meat served here since then. We simply don’t buy it. Julie is teaching us how to eat vegetable burgers, tofu, and a variety of other things I used to mock. I don’t mind a bit. I look upon it as a kind of adventure.
我确实说到做到。从那以后我家里再没有肉。我们压根就不买了。朱莉一直教我们怎样做蔬菜汉堡，豆腐，还有很多其他我过去懒得理的素食。我一点也不介意了。我把它视为一种探险。
Since then, they have come over for many happy dinners, and many other happy times, too. Mr. Robbins, can you understand what this means to me? I’ve got my daughter back, and my grandson, too. My daughter is a wonderful human being. And our grandson has not yet had a single cold or ear infection or any of the other ailments children often have. She says it’s because he eats so well. I say it’s because he’s got the best mother in the world.
从那以后，他们过来共进很多愉快的晚餐，还有很多欢乐时光。罗宾逊先生，您能理解这对我意味着什么吗？我找回了女儿，还有我的外孙。我的女儿是人类中的佼佼者。我的外孙从来没感冒过，也没有过耳部感染，或任何儿童易患的其他病症。她说这是因为他饮食非常合理。我说这是因为他有世界上最好的妈妈。
What’s being done to these animals is wrong, terribly and horribly wrong. You are right. Animals should never be treated like that. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never.
对这些动物实施的暴行是错误的，彻彻底底地错了。您是对的。动物从不应受此虐待。从不。从不。从不。从不。从不。
I pledge to you what I have pledged to Julie. I will never again let a bite of flesh cross my lips that comes from an animal that has been treated like that.
就像对朱莉发誓，我对您发誓。我以后再也不会进食一口肉，惨遭虐待的动物身上的肉。
Now, when Julie says that animals are her friends, and she doesn’t eat her friends, I don’t argue, as I used to. I just smile, happy to know that I am no longer at odds with such a special person. And glad that I can look my grandson in the eye, and know I am helping to make the world a better place for him.
现在，当朱莉说动物是她的朋友，她不会吃她的朋友时，我不再像以往争论不休。我只是微笑，很高兴我不再和如此一个可人儿过不去了。很高兴我能够随时看到我的外孙。很高兴了解我正在帮助创建一个更美好的世界给他。
Yours with great respect,
献上我的敬重，
(Name withheld by request)
（按照作者的要求，姓名不予公布）
这是一位朋友连夜翻译出来的一篇文章。我深受感动。肯定会有更多的中国人因此而感动，请发给需要的人。多谢。
A VERY MOVING LETTER
一封感人至深的信
Among the many letters I have received since I wrote Diet for a New America, there is one that I would like to share with you. I received it in the mid-1990s, from a man in San Francisco, California. It represents, for me at least, a statement of hope for us all. — John Robbins
自从写了《新世纪饮食》这本书，我收到了很多信件，其中有一封我特别想和你们分享。这封信我是90年代中期收到的，寄自一位加利福尼亚旧金山的一位男士之手。至少对我来讲，它为我们所有人带来了希望——约翰•罗宾逊
Mr. Robbins,
罗宾逊先生，
Your book Diet for a New America has had quite an influence on my family. About two years ago, I would have liked to have killed you for it. Let me explain.
您写的书《新世纪饮食》曾对我的家庭产生了巨大的影响。大约两年前，我还恨不得要杀了您。让我来说给您听吧。
I am an extremely successful man. I am used to getting my way. When my daughter, Julie, was a teenager, she announced that she wanted to become a vegetarian. She had read your book. I thought this was ridiculous, and insisted that she stop this nonsense. When she did not obey, I became angry. “I am your father,” I told her, “and I know better than you.”
我是一位成功人士。已经习惯于以自我为中心。当我的女儿，还是一个十几岁的孩子的时候，宣布她想成为一个素食主义者。她是读了您的书以后决定这么做的。我深感荒唐，要她停止这种无聊的行动。但是她拒绝服从，我大发雷霆：“我是你的父亲，”我对她讲，“你懂的太少了。”
“I am your daughter,” she replied, “and it’s my life.”
“我是你的女儿，”她反击道，“我有我自己的生活。”
We had many fights over this. We weren’t getting along very well, and there were tensions between us, but they seemed always to come to a head over the never-ending vegetarian debates. It drove me crazy. As far as I saw it, she was being disrespectful and willful, and just wanted to get her way. She said the same about me.
在这个问题上我们争吵无数。我们一直相处都不好，时有矛盾，但是一到永不止息的素食争论时，矛盾似乎都白热化了。这简直要把我逼疯了。就我当时的感受而言，她对我真是非常无礼，甚至是存心要一意孤行。她对我的感受也是如此。
At first, my wife and I forced her to eat meat, but she made such a stink about it that meal times were completely ruined. So eventually, resenting it, we caved in and allowed her to eat her vegetarian meals. But I let her know how I felt about it. It’s okay to be an idealist, I told her, but you’ve got to keep your feet on the ground. It’s okay to be a lawyer, she told me, but you’ve got to keep your heart open. It was terribly aggravating.
起初，我和我的妻子强迫她吃肉，但是她反抗如此强烈，我们根本无法就餐。所以，最后，愤怒无比，但是我们还是让步了，允许她行她素。但是我告诉了她我的感受。要追求自己的理想没错，我告诉她，但是你必须实际些。做律师也没错，她告诉我，但是你必须打开心扉。这简直太糟糕了。
For my birthday, one year, she made me breakfast in bed. But there was no bacon, no sausage, not even any eggs. It just turned into another bad situation.
有一年我过生日，她做了床边早餐给我。但是没有培根，没有香肠，甚至连鸡蛋都没有。这让我火冒三丈。
I reminded her that it was my birthday, not hers. She set about telling me about how the pigs and chickens were treated, quoting chapter and verse from your book. This was not what I wanted to hear, first thing in the morning, on my birthday.
我提醒她这是我的生日，不是她的。她就开始告诉我那些猪和鸡是如何被虐待的，都是引用的您书里的章节。在我生日的时候，我可不希望一大早听到的第一件事居然是这个。
After she graduated from high school, Julie moved out. I was glad, actually, because I was sick and tired of it. Every meal it was an issue. I wanted her to eat meat, and she wouldn’t. She wanted me to stop eating meat, and I wouldn’t. There was no peace. But after she left, I missed her. Not the arguments, I didn’t miss them, but I missed her a lot more than I thought I would.
朱莉高中毕业后就搬出去住了。我竟然很高兴，因为我已经厌倦了这样的争吵。每顿饭都伴随着争吵。我想让她吃肉，她不吃。她想让我停止吃肉，我也不听。永无宁日。但是她走后我又开始想她。我可不想念那些争吵，可是我对她的想念真的超乎寻常。
Several years later, Julie found herself a husband, and a short while after that she became pregnant. When our grandchild was born, I was on top of the world. But of course it didn’t last. Sure enough, Julie wanted to raise her son, our grandson, as a vegetarian. This time, I put my foot down. “You can ruin your own life if you want to,” I told her, “but you cannot ruin the health of this innocent boy.” As far as I was concerned, what she was doing was child abuse. I even considered calling the Department of Children’s Services. I believed they would either force her to feed our grandson properly, or remove him from her clutches. It was only because my wife prevented me that I didn’t take that step.
几年以后，朱莉结婚，不久就怀孕了。当我们的外孙出世时，我欣喜若狂。当然这并没有持续几天。当然地，朱莉想把她的儿子，我们的外孙，也养育成一个素食主义者。这次，我坚决反对。“你想的话，你可以毁掉你自己的生命，”我告诉她，“但是你不能毁掉这么纯洁的孩子的健康。”就我当时所知而言，她的作为就是虐童。我甚至都想到打电话到儿童服务中心了。我认为他们要么会强迫她给我们的外孙合理膳食，要么把他从她身边带走。只是因为我的妻子挡住了我，我才没有走那一步。
While I had found I could (barely) tolerate Julie being a vegetarian, I simply could not accept her doing this to our grandson. Eventually, it got so bad that she stopped seeing me entirely. Not only had this stupid vegetarian obsession of hers cost me my relationship with my daughter, it had also cost me my relationship with my grandson, because now she wouldn’t bring him by, nor would she let me visit. I was completely cut off.
但是我发现我虽然勉强能够容忍朱莉吃素，我就是不能接受她也让我们的外孙如此。最后，我们闹得太僵了，她完全不来看我了。她这种愚蠢对素食的狂热不止毁掉了我和我女儿的感情，也毁掉了我和我外孙的感情，因为现在她根本就不带他过来了，而且她也不让我去看他。我被彻底隔绝。
I thought I should at least try to keep the door open, though, so through my wife (Julie wouldn’t even speak to me by then) I asked her what she wanted for her next birthday. She said what she most wanted was for me to read your book, Diet for a New America. I told her this would be impossible, because it would be too time consuming. She told me that if I would actually read it, for every hour it took me, she would let me see my grandson for an equal number of hours. She’s a smart one. She knows where my soft spots are.
我想我至少应该努力打破僵局，所以透过我的妻子（朱莉那时甚至都拒绝和我讲话）我问她她生日的时候想要什么。她说她最想要的是要我去读您的书，《新世纪饮食》。我告诉她这是不可能的，因为太费时间了。她告诉我如果我读的话，我花费的每一小时，都会是她让我看外孙的时间。她很聪明，知道我的死穴。
So, Mr. Robbins, I read your book. I read the whole thing, every word. What impacted me the most was your description of how animals are raised nowadays. I had no idea it was so severe. It’s ghastly, and I totally agree with you that it must not be allowed to continue. I know cruelty when I see it, and this is extreme.
所以，罗宾逊先生，我开始读您的书了。我全部读完，一字不落。最让我刻骨铭心的是您对当今动物养殖的描述。我不知道竟然如此残忍。太恐怖了。我完全赞同你的说法，这应当被禁止。当我看完后我才知道残忍之中，此为极限。
I’m sure you’ve heard this all before, but no book I have ever read has impacted me in this manner. I was overwhelmed.
我相信您肯定已经听过这样的反应，但是没有哪本书像这样影响过我。我无敌震撼。
I called her, when I was done reading. “I told you not to call me,” she said as soon as she knew it was me. “Yes,” I said, “but I’ve read the book, and I want you to come over for dinner and bring the boy.”
看完书后我打电话给她。“我告诉过你不要打电话给我，”一听出是我她立马说道。“是的，”我说，“但是我已经读完这本书，我想让你过来共进晚餐，把孩子也带着。”
Mr. Robbins, I am a proud man, and what I said next did not come easily to me. But I knew what I must do, and so I did it. “Dearest Julie,” I said, “please forgive me. There won’t be a fight if you come over. I have made a terrible mistake, and I understand that, now. If you come, there will be no meat served, to anyone.”
罗宾逊先生，我是多么骄傲的一个人啊，接下来我说的话对我来说太不容易了。但是我知道必须得说，所以我就说了。“最亲爱的朱莉，”我说，“请原谅我吧。你过来了不会再有争吵。我犯了严重的错误，我现在已经知道了。如果你来的话，谁也不会再吃到肉。”
There was silence on the other end of the phone. I learned later that she was crying, but I didn’t know it at the time. I only knew there was something else I had to say. “And there won’t be any meat served ever again in this house,” I told her, “that comes from factory farms.”
电话那头是沉默。后来我才知道她哭了，但是当时我还不知道。我只知道我还得再说。“而且在这个房子里以后都不会再有肉，”我告诉她说，“就是那些从动物农场里出来的肉。”
“Are you joking?” she asked in disbelief.
“你在开玩笑吗？”她表示不相信。
“I’m not joking,” I said. “I mean it.” “We’re coming,” she said.
“我没有开玩笑，”我说。“我是认真的。”“我们去，”她说。
And I did mean it. There has been no meat served here since then. We simply don’t buy it. Julie is teaching us how to eat vegetable burgers, tofu, and a variety of other things I used to mock. I don’t mind a bit. I look upon it as a kind of adventure.
我确实说到做到。从那以后我家里再没有肉。我们压根就不买了。朱莉一直教我们怎样做蔬菜汉堡，豆腐，还有很多其他我过去懒得理的素食。我一点也不介意了。我把它视为一种探险。
Since then, they have come over for many happy dinners, and many other happy times, too. Mr. Robbins, can you understand what this means to me? I’ve got my daughter back, and my grandson, too. My daughter is a wonderful human being. And our grandson has not yet had a single cold or ear infection or any of the other ailments children often have. She says it’s because he eats so well. I say it’s because he’s got the best mother in the world.
从那以后，他们过来共进很多愉快的晚餐，还有很多欢乐时光。罗宾逊先生，您能理解这对我意味着什么吗？我找回了女儿，还有我的外孙。我的女儿是人类中的佼佼者。我的外孙从来没感冒过，也没有过耳部感染，或任何儿童易患的其他病症。她说这是因为他饮食非常合理。我说这是因为他有世界上最好的妈妈。
What’s being done to these animals is wrong, terribly and horribly wrong. You are right. Animals should never be treated like that. Never. Never. Never. Never. Never.
对这些动物实施的暴行是错误的，彻彻底底地错了。您是对的。动物从不应受此虐待。从不。从不。从不。从不。从不。
I pledge to you what I have pledged to Julie. I will never again let a bite of flesh cross my lips that comes from an animal that has been treated like that.
就像对朱莉发誓，我对您发誓。我以后再也不会进食一口肉，惨遭虐待的动物身上的肉。
Now, when Julie says that animals are her friends, and she doesn’t eat her friends, I don’t argue, as I used to. I just smile, happy to know that I am no longer at odds with such a special person. And glad that I can look my grandson in the eye, and know I am helping to make the world a better place for him.
现在，当朱莉说动物是她的朋友，她不会吃她的朋友时，我不再像以往争论不休。我只是微笑，很高兴我不再和如此一个可人儿过不去了。很高兴我能够随时看到我的外孙。很高兴了解我正在帮助创建一个更美好的世界给他。
Yours with great respect,
献上我的敬重，
(Name withheld by request)
（按照作者的要求，姓名不予公布）