伟大的第一夫人芭芭拉：我就是美人鱼

芭芭拉：我就是美人鱼

美国前总统老布什夫人芭芭拉·布什2018年4月17日去世，享年93岁。

芭芭拉·布什的葬礼当地时间4月21日在休斯敦圣马丁church内举行，除了老布什和小布什外，还有前总统克林顿和奥巴马参加的葬礼，各界政要1500人参加了葬礼。圣马丁church内用黄玫瑰等鲜花装点。葬礼仪式中，老布什和芭芭拉的次子、佛罗里达州前州长杰布·布什诵读悼词。

93岁的老布什乘坐轮椅和陪伴他73年的妻子做最后道别。老布什当天选择穿着一双印有书本图案的袜子，以纪念妻子一生为普及教育所做的努力。在亡妻棺木前，坐在轮椅上的老布什凝望灵柩长达15分钟。

仪式结束后，芭芭拉·布什的遗体被送上灵车，前往得克萨斯农工大学校园内的乔治·布什总统图书馆安葬，与她早夭的女儿比邻长眠。

芭芭拉的丧礼共出现了四位前总统，除了老布什和小布什外，前总统克林顿夫妇和奥巴马夫妇也都出席。

为悼念芭芭拉·布什的辞世，下面转发刘植荣翻译的二战期间美国海军最年轻的飞行员乔治·布什写给芭芭拉·布什的一封情书以及芭芭拉·布什的一篇演讲稿。

 

 

你爱我意味着我的生命

（乔治·布什写给芭芭拉·布什的情书）

 

我亲爱的芭：

这应该是一封很容易写的信——词句很容易写出，总之，当我从报纸上看到我们的订婚公告后，告诉你我感到是多么幸福，这很简单，但不知何故，我竟不能在一封信里说出我想说的一切。

宝贝，我用整个身心来爱你，同时知道你爱我意味着我的生命。我经常展望我们未来生活的无限快乐。我们的孩子有像你这样的母亲，该是多么幸运呀——

随着时光的流逝，重逢的日子离我们也越来越近了。一直以来，我期待着早日登上轮船驶向大洋彼岸。我这段时间的惟一渴望，似乎就是要到达那个目标。但是，芭，你改变了这一切。如果我说不想出征，那是撒谎。我们很久以来的努力就是为了一个目的：武装起来迎击并击败我们的敌人。我确实想出征，因为那是我的义务。现在看来，分离并非意味着一次冒险，倒像一项我希望很快就会结束的任务。甚至现在，我们长期被大海分离，我在想回家。这听上去有些伤感，但倘若如此，这也只是说出我心里话而已。芭，你让我的生命充满了我所梦想的一切——我爱你意味着我的所有幸福。

星期三举行授衔仪式，我多么希望你会到场。我明天就给妈妈打电话，告诉她我的打算。我的很多伙伴没让他们的父母或妻子来，所以，你可以冒充一位夫人。就说你丢了邀请函，报上你的名字，他们就会核对名单，这样你就能来了。如果你能到场，我该是多么自豪呀。

以后我会告诉你我们最近的一次飞行训练。我们有很多工作要做，这些工作要在很短的时间内完成，这虽有时让人感到为难，但对这些工作的认真态度收到了效果。我被任命为炮击指挥官助理，当霍尔少尉离开后，我就任炮击指挥官。尽管我担心自己不能胜任，但我还是对能担任此职感到兴奋。关于此事的详情，我以后会告诉你的。

这里最近一直狂风怒吼，我们的飞行不得不减少到了最低限度。我的飞机，现在是2号，正在机库里装照相机。我给它命名为“芭2号”，但这只是我心目中的命名，因为大西洋舰队允许在我们的飞机上标注名字。

晚安，我的美人。每次我都说你的美丽几乎要征服我，但你必须接受我这样说——

我有望星期四休息。亲爱的，把我所有的爱献给你——

罂粟花（指军人）

从1943年12月12日起的公开未婚夫

1943年12月12日

（摘自《美国总统情书精选50封（英汉对照）》第236-240页）

Dec. 12， 1943

My darling Bar，

This should be a very easy letter to write—words should come easily and in short it should be simple for me to tell you how desperately happy I was to open the paper and see the announcement of our engagement， but somehow I can’t possibly say all in a letter I should like to.

I love you， precious， with all my heart and to know that you love me means my life. How often I have thought about the immeasurable joy that will be ours some day. How lucky our children will be to have a mother like you—

As the days go by the time of our departure draws nearer. For a long time I had anxiously looked forward to the day when we would go aboard and set to sea. It seemed that obtaining that goal would be all I could desire for some time， but， Bar， you have changed all that. I cannot say that I do not want to go—for that would be a lie. We have been working for a long time with a single purpose in mind， to be so equipped that we could meet and defeat our enemy. I do want to go because it is my part， but now leaving presents itself not as an adventure but as a job which I hope will be over before long. Even now， with a good while between us and the sea， I am thinking of getting back. This may sound melodramatic， but if it does it is only my inadequacy to say what I mean. Bar， you have made my life full of everything I could ever dream of—my complete happiness should be a token of my love for you.

Wednesday is definitely the commissioning and I do hope you’ll be there. I’ll call Mum tomorrow about my plan. A lot of fellows put down their parents or wives and they aren’t going so you could pass as a Mrs.—Just say you lost the invite and give your name. They’ll check the list and you’ll be in. How proud I’ll be if you can come.

I’ll tell you all about the latest flying developments later. We have so much to do and so little time to do it in. It is frightening at times. The seriousness of this thing is beginning to strike home. I have been made asst. gunnery officer and when Lt. Houle leaves I will be gunnery officer. I’m afraid I know very little about it but I am excited at having such a job. I’ll tell you all about this later too.

The wind of late has been blowing like mad and our flying has been cut to a minimum. My plane， #2 now， is up at Quonset， having a camera installed. It is Bar #2 but purely in spirit since the Atlantic fleet won’t let us have names on our planes.

Goodnite， my beautiful. Everytime I say beautiful you about kill me but you’ll have to accept it—

I hope I get Thursday off—there’s still a chance. All my love darling—

Poppy

Public fiancé as of 12/12/43

我就是美人鱼

演 讲 者：芭芭拉·布什（1925.6.8—2018.04.17，第一夫人）

时间地点：1990年6月1日，美国马萨诸塞州韦尔斯利女子学院

演讲背景：在韦尔斯利女子学院毕业典礼上的演讲

 

我今天感到非常激动和兴奋，我知道，你们也一定和我一样激动和兴奋，因为戈尔巴乔夫夫人（前苏联领导人戈尔巴乔夫和夫人正在美国访问）光临今天的毕业典礼。

当今局势另人兴奋不已（指冷战结束），他们在华盛顿兴奋（指戈尔巴乔夫和布什在华盛顿举行苏美首脑会谈）我却一直渴望来韦尔斯利兴奋，因为我认为这会很快乐，但我从未梦想会如此快乐，这要感谢你们对我的邀请。

十年以前，当我应邀来这里谈论我们在中华人民共和国的感受时，我对你们风景如画的校园和表现出来的精神赞叹不已。韦尔斯利，不仅是一个地方，更是一种理念，那就是精益求精、兼收并蓄。去年，你们一个姊妹学院的学生会主席在演讲中把这种精神实质阐述得淋漓尽致，那是她一次感人至深的关于宽容的演讲，她在演讲中引述了作家罗伯特·福尔格姆关于一个年轻牧师的故事：他自己在照看几个活泼可爱的孩子，忽然想起一个叫“巨怪、男巫和侏儒”的游戏。牧师对孩子们说：“你们必须现在就作出决定，一个巨怪、一个男巫、一个侏儒，你们要扮演哪个角色？”一个女孩拉着他的裤腿问道：“美人鱼应该站在什么地方呀？”牧师告诉她：“游戏里没有美人鱼。”女孩说：“有的，有美人鱼，我就是美人鱼。”

这个小姑娘知道自己是什么，她既不想放弃自己的个性，也不想放弃那个游戏。她想让自己在适合美人鱼的环境中扮演一个角色。“美人鱼应该站在什么地方？还有所有那些不适合游戏里的盒子和鸽棚的孩子呢？”福尔格姆写道：“知道如何回答那些问题，你就可以创建一个学校，一个国家，或一个世界。”正像那个聪明的年轻姑娘在演讲中所说：“多样性，就像任何值得拥有的东西一样，需要努力，努力去理解和尊重不同的观念，彼此仁慈友爱，在珍惜我们自己个性的同时，无条件地接受别人的个性。”

这就是韦尔斯利精神，你们应该为之而骄傲。我知道，你们今天的第一选择是爱丽丝·沃克（1944.2.9—，美国著名作家，曾获普立兹奖）。猜猜我是怎么知道的！我是从紫颜色里知道的。这可不是我头发的颜色，而是爱丽丝的书（指爱丽丝的代表作《紫色姊妹花》）在这里引起了共鸣。在韦尔斯利，每个班级都有自己的颜色，1990届的学生在4年的大学生活里一直用紫色，今天，你们就要告别母校，和紫色说再见，在属于自己的新的征程上，去寻找属于自己的颜色。

在等待着你们的世界里，在华班湖畔，没有人能告诉你们人生的颜色会是怎样的。但我对这一点深信不疑：由于你们在一流院校里接受了一流的教育，你们的人生必将丰富多彩。一个决定并非覆水难收，人生总有时来运转。当你们就要从韦尔斯利启程的时候，我希望你们考虑作出一下三项重要的选择。

首先要超越自我，投身于我们时代的伟大信念之中。我选择扫盲事业，因为我相信，如果有更多的人能够阅读、书写和理解，我们彼此就更容易互相理解，解决我们国家和社会所面临的许多问题。

在较早的时候，我还作了另一项选择，我希望你们也作出这样的选择。不管你们谈论教育、职业，还是谈论服务，你们都在谈论生活。生活是愉快的，必须让生活充满乐趣。我嫁给乔治·布什是我一生中最重要的选择，我之所以要嫁给他，是因为他能逗我笑。这是真的，我们有的时候都笑出眼泪来。共同的笑声是我们紧密结合的最牢固的纽带。我们要在生活中寻找乐趣，正如弗瑞斯·巴勒（美国电影《春天不是读书天》中男主角）在逃学的那天所说：“世界如此精彩，人生又如此短暂，如果你不懂得停下来欣赏一下，那么你就会错过很多风景。”（我不会告诉乔治，你们给弗瑞斯的掌声要比给乔治的多。）

第三项必须作的选择就是要珍惜你们的各种人际关系：和家庭及朋友的关系。几年来，你们已把奉献和勤奋对人生的重要性铭记在心，那当然是正确的。但即使你们的责任像医生、律师和企业家那样重大，可你们首先是一个人，与配偶、孩子和朋友的关系将是你们未来最重要的投资。当你们走到人生尽头，你们不会为没通过一次考试、没赢一场官司、没多作一笔交易而后悔，但你们会为没陪伴丈夫、孩子、朋友和父母而懊丧。

我们现在正处于历史的转折时期，现在是另人心旷神怡的时刻，我们在学着如何去适应这种改变，我们也学着怎样面对选择。一次，我的一个女友告诉我，当她听到她丈夫抱怨他不得不当保姆时，她立即纠正他说：“孩子是你自己的，那怎么叫保姆？”

我们也许适应得快些，也许适应得慢些。但不管是在20世纪，还是在什么年代，有一件事情亘古不变，那就是任何一个父母都舐犊情深。如果你们有自己的孩子，也会把他们放在第一位。你们必须给孩子多读些东西听，抱抱他们，当然，你们必须要爱他们。你们家庭的成功，我们社会的成功，不是取决于白宫里发生了什么，而是取决于你们家里发生了什么。

人们说，在过去50多年期间，韦尔斯利学院一年一度的呼啦圈比赛冠军总是最早结婚。现在他们说，呼啦圈比赛冠军将是最早成为总执行官的。对那些想知道美人鱼站在什么地方的人来说，这两种说法都不够宽容。所以，我要给大家一个新的说法：呼啦圈比赛冠军将第一个实现自己的梦，不是社会的梦，而是她自己的梦。谁能实现自己的梦？在听众席上也许就有一位，在将来的某一天和我一样，成为白宫的女主人，我祝愿她走运。

我的演讲虽然就要结束了，但我们的对话刚刚开始，这是一个很有价值的对话。所以，当你们今天离开韦尔斯利的时候，请深刻思考一下我和戈尔巴乔夫夫人对你们的殷切希望和美好的祝愿。

谢谢大家。愿上帝保佑你们。祝愿你们有一个值得梦想的未来。

（摘自《美国20世纪经典演讲100篇·社会卷》第141-143页）

Thank you very， very much， President Keohane. Mrs. Gorbachev， Trustees， faculty， parents， and I should say， Julia Porter， class president， and certainly my new best friend， Christine Bicknell -- and， of course， the Class of 1990.

I am really thrilled to be here today， and very excited， as I know all of you must be， that Mrs. Gorbachev could join us.

These -- These are exciting times. They're exciting in Washington， and I have really looked forward to coming to Wellesley. I thought it was going to be fun. I never dreamt it would be this much fun. So， thank you for that.

More than ten years ago， when I was invited here to talk about our experiences in the People's Republic of China， I was struck by both the natural beauty of your campus and the spirit of this place. Wellesley， you see， is not just a place but an idea -- an experiment in excellence in which diversity is not just tolerated， but is embraced. The essence of this spirit was captured in a moving speech about tolerance given last year by a student body president of one of your sister colleges. She related the story by Robert Fulghum about a young pastor， finding himself in charge of some very energetic children， hits upon the game called "Giants， Wizards， and Dwarfs." "You have to decide now，" the pastor instructed the children， "which you are -- a giant， a wizard， or a dwarf?" At that， a small girl tugging at his pants leg， asked， "But where do the mermaids stand?" And the pastor tells her there are no mermaids. And she says， "Oh yes there are -- they are. I am a mermaid."

Now this little girl knew what she was， and she was not about to give up on either her identity， or the game. She intended to take her place wherever mermaids fit into the scheme of things. "Where do the mermaids stand? All of those who are different， those who do not fit the boxes and the pigeonholes?" "Answer that question，" wrote Fulghum， "And you can build a school， a nation， or a whole world." As that very wise young woman said， "Diversity， like anything worth having， requires effort -- effort to learn about and respect difference， to be compassionate with one another， to cherish our own identity， and to accept unconditionally the same in others.

You should all be very proud that this is the Wellesley spirit. Now I know your first choice today was Alice Walker -- guess how I know! -- known for The Color Purple. Instead you got me -- known for the color of my hair. Alice Walker's book has a special resonance here. At Wellesley， each class is known by a special color. For four years the Class of '90 has worn the color purple. Today you meet on Severance Green to say goodbye to all of that， to begin a new and a very personal journey， to search for your own true colors.

In the world that awaits you， beyond the shores of Waban -- Lake Waban， no one can say what your true colors will be. But this I do know: You have a first class education from a first class school. And so you need not， probably cannot， live a "paint-by-numbers" life. Decisions are not irrevocable. Choices do come back. And as you set off from Wellesley， I hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.

The first is to believe in something larger than yourself， to get involved in some of the big ideas of our time. I chose literacy because I honestly believe that if more people could read， write， and comprehend， we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.

And early on I made another choice， which I hope you'll make as well. Whether you are talking about education， career， or service， you're talking about life -- and life really must have joy. It's supposed to be fun.

One of the reasons I made the most important decision of my life， to marry George Bush， is because he made me laugh. It's true， sometimes we've laughed through our tears， but that shared laughter has been one of our strongest bonds. Find the joy in life， because as Ferris Bueller said on his day off， "Life moves pretty fast; and ya don't stop and look around once in a while， ya gonna miss it." （I'm not going to tell George ya clapped more for Ferris than ya clapped for George.）

The third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. For several years， you've had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work. And， of course， that's true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor， a lawyer， a business leader will be， you are a human being first. And those human connections --- with spouses， with children， with friends -- are the most important investments you will ever make. At the end of your life， you will never regret not having passed one more test， winning one more verdict， or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband， a child， a friend， or a parent.

We are in a transitional period right now -- We are in a transitional period right now， fascinating and exhilarating times， learning to adjust to changes and the choices we， men and women， are facing. As an example， I remember what a friend said， on hearing her husband complain to his buddies that he had to babysit. Quickly setting him straight， my friend told her husband that when it's your own kids， it's not called babysitting.

Now maybe we should adjust faster; maybe we should adjust slower. But whatever the era twenty -- whatever the era， whatever the times， one thing will never change: fathers and mothers， if you have children， they must come first. You must read to your children， and you must hug your children， and you must love your children. Your success as a family， our success as a society， depends not on what happens in the White House， but on what happens inside your house.

For over fifty years， it was said that the winner of Wellesley's annual hoop race would be the first to get married. Now they say， the winner will be the first to become a C.E.O. Both -- Both of those stereotypes show too little tolerance for those who want to know where the mermaids stand. So -- So I want to offer a new legend: the winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream -- not society's dreams  -- her own personal dream. And who -- Who knows? Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps， and preside over the White House as the President's spouse -- and I wish him well.

Well， the controversy ends here. But our conversation is only beginning. And a worthwhile conversation it has been. So as you leave Wellesley today， take with you deep thanks for the courtesy and the honor you have shared with Mrs. Gorbachev and with me.

Thank you. God bless you. And may your future be worthy of your dreams.