主席台上的校领导身着礼袍站起身。
他沉稳的致辞声透过扩音设备,随风漫过整片草坪。
Good morning, dear graduates, faculty, and beloved families.
(各位毕业生、各位师长、各位亲友,上午好。)
Today we gather within these stone walls of the Main Quadrangle, beneath the summer sun, not to celebrate an end— but to honor the beginning of a lifelong journey.
(今日,我们相聚在主方庭的青石楼宇之间,沐浴在初夏阳光之下。我们在此庆祝的,从不是一段旅程的终点,而是一场漫长求索的启程。)
For these past years, you have wrestled with hard ideas, kept watch through countless quiet nights in our libraries, and stood firm in rigorous debate.
You have learned to sit with doubt, to challenge assumptions, and to resist the lure of simple, convenient answers. That is the spirit of this university.
(过去数年,你们与艰深的命题对峙,在图书馆无数寂静长夜中坚守,在激烈严谨的思辨里站稳立场。
你们学会与疑惑共处,敢于挑战固有成见,拒绝轻易接纳那些廉价、浅显的答案——这正是芝大的精神内核。)
What you take away from this place is far more than a parchment degree.
(你们从这里带走的,远不止一纸证书。)
You carry a habit of independent thought; you carry the discipline to question, and the humility to keep learning, even when answers remain out of reach.
(你们带走的,是独立思考的本能,是敢于发问的定力,以及即便寻不到答案,依旧保持求索的谦卑。)
Beyond this quadrangle lies a wide, restless world.
(方庭之外,是广阔而动荡的世界。)
It will offer you opportunities, and it will bring you trials.
(它会赠予你们机遇,也会送来考验;)
It will praise your insights, and it will test your resilience.
(它会赞许你们的洞见,也会试炼你们的韧性。)
Wherever your path may lead, hold fast to the strength you forged here, in these courtyards and reading rooms.
(无论前路将你引向何方,请守住你在庭院与书斋之中淬炼出的力量。)
Do not fear the unknown. The greatest growth always lives within uncertainty.
(不必畏惧未知。所有最珍贵的成长,本就诞生于不确定之中。)
Today you cross this threshold as graduates. But learning does not end here. It merely changes form.
(今日,你们跨过门槛,成为毕业生。但学习不会就此落幕,它只是换了一种模样继续。)
Congratulations, class of 1986. Go forward with wisdom, with calm, and with courage, for every unwritten chapter ahead.
(祝贺1986届全体毕业生,愿你们携智慧而行,怀从容立身,秉勇气前行,奔赴每一段尚未落笔的人生篇章。)
致辞落下,草坪上响起绵长而克制的掌声。
仪式尾声,钟声再次回荡在哥特楼宇之间。
·
毕业生队伍有序解散,人群渐渐活络起来。
江砚之望着姜安安与相熟的同学彼此握手,与要好的好友短暂相拥。
或和朋友搭着肩膀凑在一起,对着胶卷相机的镜头合影。
他也拿出相机。
同学之间留念完,便各自迎着亲友走了过去。
姜安安穿过人群,快步走向观众席,去找江砚之。
她见江砚之静静地站在原地望着她,便笑着道:
“爸,你还没有祝贺我呢。”
她指旁边或捧脸、或拥抱贴面的学生和家长,
“你听,他们都说了‘Congratulations, my dear’”(恭喜你,我亲爱的孩子)
“不过,我更喜欢‘Congratulations, my girl’这个说法。”(恭喜你,我的女儿)
江砚之:“……”
风掠过主方庭的草坪,校旗在廊柱边轻轻晃动。
风拂的温柔,阳光正好,一切似乎充满希望。
青石古楼衬着夏日的日光,把这一刻稳稳定格。
包括江砚之浅淡的眸子里略带无奈的浅笑。
他微微俯身,给了姜安安一个克制而温暖的拥抱,短短数秒便松开。
姜安安高兴了,没有立刻退开。
她微微侧过头,轻轻将脸颊贴了贴江砚之的面颊,是方才她看见旁人那种浅淡的贴面礼,声音很轻很柔软:
“谢谢你,爸爸。”
谢谢他没有放弃她,给了她第二条命。
让她有机会见识更加丰富多彩的世界、体验到了不同的人生。
江砚之一顿,眼底添了几分柔和,轻轻抚了抚她的后背。