President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers,members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates,
福斯特主席，哈佛公司和監察委員會的各位成員，各位老師、家長、全體畢業生們：
The first thing I would like to say is "thank you." Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honour, but the weeks of fear and nausea I’ve endured at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and convince myself that I am at the world’s largest Gryffindors' reunion.
首先請允許我說一聲謝謝。哈佛不僅給了我無上的榮譽，連日來為這個演講經受的恐懼和緊張，更令我減肥成功。這真是一個雙贏的局面。現在我要做的就是深呼吸幾下，眯著眼睛看看前面的大紅橫幅，安慰自己正在世界上最大的格蘭芬多(提示：以防有人沒看過《哈利波特》……格蘭芬多是小哈利所在的魔法學院的名字)聚會上。
Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.
發表畢業演說是一個巨大的責任，至少在我回憶自己當年的畢業典禮前是這麼認為的。那天做演講的是英國著名的哲學家 Baroness Mary Warnock，對她演講的回憶，對我寫今天的演講稿，產生了極大的幫助，因為我不記得她說過的任何一句話了。這個發現讓我釋然，讓我不再擔心我可能會無意中影響你放棄在商業，法律或政治上的大好前途，轉而醉心於成為一個快樂的魔法師(gay有快樂和同性戀的意思)。
You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals - the first step to self-improvement.
你們看，如果在若干年後你們還記得“快樂的魔法師”這個笑話，那就證明我已經超越了Baroness Mary Warnock。建立可實現的目標——這是提高自我的第一步。
Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.
實際上，我為今天應該和大家談些什麼絞盡了腦汁。我問自己什麼是我希望早在畢業典禮上就該瞭解的，而從那時起到現在的 21年間，我又得到了什麼重要的啟示。
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.
我想到了兩個答案。在這美好的一天，當我們一起慶祝你們取得學業成就的時刻，我希望告訴你們失敗有什麼樣的益處;在你們即將邁向“現實生活”的道路之際，我還要褒揚想象力的重要性。
These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but bear with me.
這些似乎是不切實際或自相矛盾的選擇，但請先容我講完。
Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
回顧21歲剛剛畢業時的自己，對於今天42歲的我來說，是一個稍微不太舒服的經歷。可以說，我人生的前一部分，一直掙扎在自己的雄心和身邊的人對我的期望之間。
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.
我一直深信，自己唯一想做的事情，就是寫小說。不過，我的父母，他們都來自貧窮的背景，沒有任何一人上過大學，堅持認為我過度的想象力是一個令人驚訝的個人怪癖，根本不足以讓我支付按揭，或者取得足夠的養老金。
I know the irony strikes like with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but…
我現在明白反諷就像用卡通鐵砧去打擊你，但...