我知道我是不自量力啦，但是我真的好喜歡這致詞，所以就不管了，如果有翻譯不好的，麻煩指教一下，我也多學一些。

＝＝＝＝＝＝ 以下是致詞本文與翻譯 ＝＝＝＝＝＝

Thank you very much.

謝謝⋯⋯ （這句就別翻了吧）

Rain, somebody said, is like confetti from heaven. So even the heavens are celebrating this morning, joining the rest of us at this wonderful commencement ceremony. Before we go any further, graduates, you have an important task to perform because behind you are your parents and guardians. Two or three or four years ago, they drove into Cardigan, dropped you off, helped you get settled and then turned around and drove back out the gates. It was an extraordinary sacrifice for them. They drove down the trail of tears back to an emptier and lonelier house. They did that because the decision about your education, they knew, was about you. It was not about them. That sacrifice and others they made have brought you to this point. But this morning is not just about you. It is also about them, so I hope you will stand up and turn around and give them a great round of applause. Please.

雨是來自天堂的彩帶，跟我們一起慶祝今天的畢業典禮。  今天不只是屬於你們畢業生的，更是屬於您們的父母，他們幾年前，幫你們搬入這裡後，默默的，沿著淚徑，回到一個更空更孤單的房子，他們不為了他們自己，是為了你的教育而犧牲，成就了你們的今天，所以，今天不只是屬於你們的，也是他們的，讓我們一起起身，轉向他們，給他們一個最大的感謝鼓掌。

Now when somebody asks me how the remarks at Cardigan went, I will be able to say they were interrupted by applause. Congratulations, class of 2017. You’ve reached an important milestone. An important stage of your life is behind you. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you it is the easiest stage of your life, but it is in the books. While you’ve been at Cardigan, you have all been a part of an important international community as well. And I think that needs to be particularly recognized.

所以，以後有人問我這場畢業致詞如何時，我可以說我被掌聲打斷了！（很幽默啊）恭喜各位2017畢業生，你們到達了一個人生重要的里程碑，人生重要的舞台緊接在後，但，我很抱歉地要告訴各位：這是最簡單的階段。 （其他跳過）

[Roberts gave brief remarks in other languages.]

（秀一下外文能力）

Now around the country today at colleges, high schools, middle schools, commencement speakers are standing before impatient graduates. And they are almost always saying the same things. They will say that today is a commencement exercise. ‘It is a beginning, not an end. You should look forward.’ And I think that is true enough, however, I think if you’re going to look forward to figure out where you’re going, it’s good to know where you’ve been and to look back as well. And I think if you look back to your first afternoon here at Cardigan, perhaps you will recall that you were lonely. Perhaps you will recall that you were a little scared, a little anxious. And now look at you. You are surrounded by friends that you call brothers, and you are confident in facing the next step in your education.

今天，所有的畢業致詞應該都會說：「這是一個開始，不是結束，你們要往前看。」但是我想你們也要往回看，我想如果你們回想剛到這時，你們應該會記得那種孤單、有點害怕與擔心的心情，但是看看現在，你被一群你稱為「兄弟」的朋友包圍。

It is worth trying to think why that is so. And when you do, I think you may appreciate that it was because of the support of your classmates in the classroom, on the athletic field and in the dorms. And as far as the confidence goes, I think you will appreciate that it is not because you succeeded at everything you did, but because with the help of your friends, you were not afraid to fail. And if you did fail, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, you got up and tried again. And if you failed again, it might be time to think about doing something else. But it was not just success, but not being afraid to fail that brought you to this point.

這值得各位去思考，當你回想為什麼時，你會感激你的同學在課堂、宿舍與田徑場上對你的幫助，我想，你會感激的不是你在各方面的成功，而是因爲你朋友支持，你不再害怕失敗，失敗再起，再失敗再起，再再失敗，你可能就要想做別的了（笑⋯⋯) 。  現在，重點不是成功，而是你不再害怕失敗。

（下面這段說的真好）
Now the commencement speakers will typically also wish you good luck and extend good wishes to you. I will not do that, and I’ll tell you why. From time to time in the years to come, I hope you will be treated unfairly, so that you will come to know the value of justice. I hope that you will suffer betrayal because that will teach you the importance of loyalty. Sorry to say, but I hope you will be lonely from time to time so that you don’t take friends for granted. I wish you bad luck, again, from time to time so that you will be conscious of the role of chance in life and understand that your success is not completely deserved and that the failure of others is not completely deserved either. And when you lose, as you will from time to time, I hope every now and then, your opponent will gloat over your failure. It is a way for you to understand the importance of sportsmanship. I hope you’ll be ignored so you know the importance of listening to others, and I hope you will have just enough pain to learn compassion. Whether I wish these things or not, they’re going to happen. And whether you benefit from them or not will depend upon your ability to see the message in your misfortunes.

接下來，各畢業致詞的人都會開始祝福各位，但是我不會，讓我來告訴各位為什麼。  從現在起，我希望你們不會被公平的對待，這樣你們才會知道正義的價值；  我希望你們會被背叛，這樣你們才會知道忠誠的可貴；  更抱歉的說，我希望你們會常常孤獨，這樣你們才不會把友情視為當然；  我希望你們常常運氣不好，這樣您們才會意識到人生中機會的意義，才會知道你的成功，不見得是你應得的，別人的失敗，也不一定是他們自己的問題。  當你失敗時，我喜望你的對手會恥笑你，這樣你才會知道運動家精神的重要；  我希望你常被忽視，這樣你才能學會凝聽；  我希望你有夠多的痛苦，這樣你會學到同情。  其實，不管我希不希望這些事發生，這些都會發生，你們能不能在這些不幸中收穫，就要看你們能不能看透這生命的訊息了。（這段真是好！）

（下面這段說是說給台灣年畢業生的？）
Now commencement speakers are also expected to give some advice. They give grand advice, and they give some useful tips. The most common grand advice they give is for you to be yourself. It is an odd piece of advice to give people dressed identically, but you should — you should be yourself. But you should understand what that means. Unless you are perfect, it does not mean don’t make any changes. In a certain sense, you should not be yourself. You should try to become something better. People say ‘be yourself’ because they want you to resist the impulse to conform to what others want you to be. But you can’t be yourself if you don't learn who are, and you can’t learn who you are unless you think about it.
The Greek philosopher Socrates said, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ And while ‘just do it’ might be a good motto for some things, it’s not a good motto when it’s trying to figure out how to live your life that is before you. And one important clue to living a good life is to not to try to live the good life. The best way to lose the values that are central to who you are is frankly not to think about them at all.

再接下來，各畢業致詞的人都會開始給些建議了，最常聽到的大建議就是「做自己」，對著一群穿著一樣衣服的人說這話，真的很奇怪。  你是應該要「做自己」，但是你更要知道這句話的意義，除非你是完美的，「做自己」不是要你不改變，在有些情況下，你不應該做自己，你應該要做更好，人們說的「做自己」，是要你有主見，不要只會順從，但是如果你不學會知道自己，你如何「做自己」？ 你如果不去思考「你的自己」，你又如何能學會知道自己？（好像繞口令，但是真對，要耐心看啊） 蘇格拉底說：「沒檢視過的人生不值得活著」，是的，「去做就對了」是個美麗的格言，但絕不適用在檢驗你過去的人生；  一個要過好生活的好方法，就是不要嘗試去過好的生活。  你如果不檢視你的核心價值，你一定很快就失去它。（好難翻譯啊，有請高手來教我啊！）

So that’s the deep advice. Now some tips as you get ready to go to your new school. Other the last couple of years, I have gotten to know many of you young men pretty well, and I know you are good guys. But you are also privileged young men. And if you weren’t privileged when you came here, you are privileged now because you have been here. My advice is: Don’t act like it.

好了，這就是一些大的建議，現在來一些小的建議，這幾年我剛好有機會認識你們一些人（他的兒子是畢業生），我知道你們都是好人，但是你們都是有特權的人，如果你們以前沒有，現在也有了，我的建議是：千萬不要像有特權的人。

When you get to your new school, walk up and introduce yourself to the person who is raking the leaves, shoveling the snow or emptying the trash. Learn their name and call them by their name during your time at the school. Another piece of advice: When you pass by people you don’t recognize on the walks, smile, look them in the eye and say hello. The worst thing that will happen is that you will become known as the young man who smiles and says hello, and that is not a bad thing to start with.

當你到下一個學校時，去跟那些剷雪、倒垃圾跟登記遲到的人談談，自己介紹自己，記住他們的名字，也要用他們的名字打招呼。  另一個建議是：當你路上遇到不認識的人時，看著他們的眼睛、微笑著說：「你好」，最差的後果就是，你被大家知道是個會跟大家微笑打招呼的年輕人，這其實也不錯。

止筆於此: 接下來我就不翻譯了，John 接下來就是恭喜畢業生離開純男校，回到有女生的世界，也希望大家寫信回來給這所高中的師長，再接下來我就真的沒能力翻譯了，John Robert 用 Bob Dylan 的 《Forever Young》做結尾，John 介紹這首歌是 Bob Dylan 因思念他兒子而寫的，歌詞寫著滿滿的父母無我的愛，無盡的給予⋯⋯ 永遠的年輕，卻是父母的嘆昔。  我真的建議，感謝網路的方便，查一下「Forever Young by Bob Dylan」，聽一下這首歌，歌詞簡單，心意無限，很有感觸。  也可以看一下這演講的原始影片，對比一下，英文說的很好，難得的美式英文男生發音清楚，又有字幕，影片有些字幕跟本文不同，Model or Motto…. that’s a question…. 

You’ve been at a school with just boys. Most of you will be going to a school with girls. I have no advice for you.

The last bit of advice I’ll give you is very simple, but I think it could make a big difference in your life. Once a week, you should write a note to someone. Not an email. A note on a piece of paper. It will take you exactly 10 minutes. Talk to an adult, let them tell you what a stamp is. You can put the stamp on the envelope. Again, 10 minutes, once a week. I will help you, right now. I will dictate to you the first note you should write. It will say, ‘Dear [fill in the name of a teacher at Cardigan Mountain School].’ Say: ‘I have started at this new school. We are reading [blank] in English. Football or soccer practice is hard, but I’m enjoying it. Thank you for teaching me.’ Put it in an envelope, put a stamp on it and send it. It will mean a great deal to people who — for reasons most of us cannot contemplate — have dedicated themselves to teaching middle school boys. As I said, that will take you exactly 10 minutes a week. By the end of the school year, you will have sent notes to 40 people. Forty people will feel a little more special because you did, and they will think you are very special because of what you did. No one else is going to carry that dividend during your time at school.

Enough advice. I would like to end by reading some important lyrics. I cited the Greek philosopher Socrates earlier. These lyrics are from the great American philosopher, Bob Dylan. They’re almost 50 years old. He wrote them for his son, Jesse, who he was missing while he was on tour. It lists the hopes that a parent might have for a son and for a daughter. They’re also good goals for a son and a daughter. The wishes are beautiful, they’re timeless. They’re universal. They’re good and true, except for one: It is the wish that gives the song its title and its refrain. That wish is a parent’s lament. It’s not a good wish. So these are the lyrics from Forever Young by Bob Dylan:

May God bless you and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
And may you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
And may you stay forever young
Thank you.