楊艾吉的部落格

麥帥為子祈禱文  General MacArthur's Prayer For His Son

Build me a son, O Lord,
主啊，請陶冶我的兒子，

who will be strong enough to know when he is weak,
使他成為一個堅強的人，能夠知道自己什麼時候是軟弱的；

and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid;
使他成為一個勇敢的人，能夠在畏懼的時候認清自己；

one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat,
使他在誠實的失敗之中，能夠自豪而不屈，

and humble and gentle in victory.
在獲得成功之際，能夠謙遜而溫和。

Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds;
請陶冶我的兒子，使他不要以願望代替實際作為；

a son who will know Thee-and what to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
使他能夠認識主---並且曉得自知乃是知識的基石。

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort,
我祈求你，不要引導他走上安逸舒適的道路，

but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.
而要讓他遭受困難與挑戰的磨鍊和策勵。

Here let him learn to stand up in the storm;
讓他藉此學習在風暴之中挺立起來，

here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
讓他藉此學習對失敗的人加以同情。

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high;
請陶冶我的兒子，使他的心地純潔，目標遠大；

a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men;
在企圖駕馭他人之前，先能駕馭自己；

one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
對未來善加籌畫，但是永不忘記過去。

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor,
在他把以上諸點都已做到之後，還請賜給他充分的幽默感，

so that he may always be serious, yet never take him too seriously.
使他可以永遠保持嚴肅的態度，但絕不自視非凡，過於拘執。

Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness,
請賜給他謙遜，使他可以永遠記住真實偉大的樸實無華，

the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.
真實智慧的虛懷若谷，和真實力量的溫和蘊藉。

Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain."
然後，作為他的父親的我，才敢輕聲說道：「我已不虛此生！」