16歲的你每天都在做些什么呢？埋頭于書堆試卷當中，為高考和個人前途拼命掙扎？對于那時的你、甚至現在的你而言，公益是一個遙遠模糊的詞匯。本文作者是一位16歲的少年，7歲時他就決定用自己的音樂才華去幫助重癥兒童，通過音樂找到了回饋社會、關懷他人的方式。

By Jourdan U

熙凡 選 溫純譯

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“我們都陷入了一個無法逃脫的相互依靠的網絡，拴在命運織成的衣襟之中。” ——馬丁?路德?金博士

Those words captured my imagination eight years ago as a wake-up call for me to act on a great vision of reciprocity and responsibility - a vision of caring.[1] With dedication, and purposeful and direct use of my talents, I learned that I could sound an alarm to cause people to pay attention to the plight of children extremely ill with neurological diseases.[2]

八年前，這句話抓住了我的思想，像警鐘一樣敦促我去踐行關于互助和責任的偉大理念。我意識到自己可以通過奉獻以及有意地、直接地利用我的才華，敲響警鐘讓人們關注神經疾病重癥兒童的痛苦。

I realized that I didn’t need to wait until medical school to make a difference in their lives. I could put my talents as a violinist to work by performing concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, in halls across the country and the globe, and raise money for these children.

我意識到我不需要等到去念醫學院后才去改變他們的生活，我可以利用自己作為小提琴手的才華，在卡內基音樂廳、林肯中心和全國及世界各地的表演廳演奏音樂會，為這些兒童籌集資金。

I have tried to be vocal about the things that matter to me. And so I have made it my life goal to raise funds for medical organizations, hospitals, and cutting-edge research targeting neurological diseases, and to inspire and empower young philanthropists[3] and musicians to participate in benefit concerts for a cure all across the globe - saving lives through music.

我常對與自己有關的事情直言不諱。所以為醫學機構、醫院、神經疾病尖端研究籌集資金，激勵和促使青年慈善家和音樂家能夠參加全球各地的康復公益音樂會，成為我的人生目標。也就是，用音樂拯救生命。

I spend time each month speaking at medical conferences to provide visibility for the plight of desperately ill children. My colleagues and I have spent many weekends performing room to room in hospitals after full days at Juilliard[4].

每個月我都會花時間在各種醫學會議上做演講，讓更多的人看到重病兒童的痛苦。我和同事在朱利亞學院呆上整整幾天之后，很多周末都會去醫院的每個病房進行表演。

I remember a meeting I had when I was seven with a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Fred Epstein resulted in a personal epiphany for me.[5] He took me on a tour of the pediatric ICU[6] that exposed me for the first time to children suffering from incurable diseases. I left determined to bring them some measure of peace, enjoyment, a little contagious enthusiasm, and a reminder of what’s outside that ICU.

記得七歲時，我拜會了世界知名的小兒神經外科醫生弗雷德?艾普斯坦醫生，這次經歷讓我個人有了深刻的領悟。他帶我參觀了兒科重癥監護病房，我第一次接觸到患有絕癥的兒童。離開的時候，我就下定決心，要為他們帶去一些平和、歡樂和一絲具有感染力的熱情，讓他們了解重癥監護病房外面的世界。重病會讓人很快產生被遺棄感，同情心讓我們伸出了援手。如果不抓住機會以自己的綿薄之力去回饋他人，我們又如何能安然自處呢？

Extraordinary things can happen if the arts and medicine join forces. A life can be saved somewhere in the world with the purchase of tickets to a Concert for a Cure, or funding cutting-edge research, supplying musical therapy services, the purchase of medical equipment, providing home-care services. In these ways, the young entrepreneurial philanthropists of our generation, along with the great prodigies of our time, can come together and create a youthquake: changes in the field of health care that we have only dreamt about.

如果藝術和醫學聯手，就能發生意想不到的事情。購買一場康復音樂會的門票，或贊助前沿研究項目，提供音樂療法服務，購買醫療設備，提供家庭保健服務，就能拯救世界某地一個人的生命。通過這些方法，我們這一代青年慈善企業家以及這個時代的偉大天才，可以一起創造一場“青年運動”，為醫療保健領域帶來改變，而這之前只存在我們的夢想之中。

I have a mission to demonstrate that the humanity of charitable works is not something reserved for adults. Through medicine and music, I attempt to say: I am 16 years old and I am responsible for my peers. What happens to one of us affects us all. I’ve only just begun to learn how to care.

我懷著這樣一個使命：展示人類的慈善事業并非只屬于成年人。通過醫藥和音樂，我想說：作為一名16歲的少年，我對我的同齡人負有責任。發生在我們當中任何一個人身上的事情都會影響到我們大家。我才剛剛開始學會如何關懷。

Vocabulary

1. reciprocity: 相互性，互惠；wake-up: 警示，警鐘。

2. plight: 境況，困境；neurological: 神經學的，神經病學的。

3. philanthropist: 慈善家。

4. Juilliard: 朱利亞學院，紐約市一所享有國際聲譽的表演藝術學院。

5. pediatric neurosurgeon: 小兒神經外科醫生；epiphany:（對某事本質、意義等突然的）洞察，領悟。

6. ICU: Intensive Care Unit，重癥監護病房，即醫院里治療重病患者或受重傷人員的部門。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：丹妮）