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I have a vivid memory of what happened, and it was not what I expected.
我清晰地记得接下来发生的事，是我意料之外的。
I expected to be applauded for my cleverness and arithmetic skills.
凭借聪明的大脑和算术技巧，我期待赢来夸赞：
“Jeff, you’re so smart. You had to have made some tricky estimates, figure out the number of minutes in a year and do some division.”
“杰夫，你真聪明。你应该做一些更需要技巧的算术，比如一年有多少分钟，以及做些除法。”
That’s not what happened.
我的期待并没有发生。
Instead, my grandmother burst into tears.
相反，祖母突然哭泣起来。
I sat in the backseat and did not know what to do.
我坐在后座茫然无措。
While my grandmother sat crying, my grandfather, who had been driving in silence, pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway.
祖父一直在默默开车，听到祖母的哭声，把车停在高速路边。
He got out of the car and came around and opened my door and waited for me to follow.
祖父走下车来，打开车门，等我跟他下车。
Was I in trouble?
我惹麻烦了吗？
My grandfather was a highly intelligent, quiet man.
祖父是一个智慧而安静的人。
He had never said a harsh word to me, and maybe this was to be the first time?
他从来没有对我说过严厉的话，难道这会是第一次？
Or maybe he would ask that I get back in the car and apologize to my grandmother.
还是他会让我回到车上给祖母道歉？
I had no experience in this realm with my grandparents and no way to gauge what the consequences might be.
我以前从未遇到过这种状况，无从知晓会有什么后果发生。
We stopped beside the trailer. My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said,
我们在房车旁停下来，祖父注视着我，沉默片刻，然后轻轻地、平静地说：
“Jeff, one day you’ll understand that it’s harder to be kind than clever.”
“杰夫，有一天你会明白，善良比聪明更难。”
What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices.
今天我想对你们说的是，天赋和选择的不同。
Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.
聪明是一种天赋，而善良是一种选择。
Gifts are easy -- they’re given after all.
天赋得来容易 —— 毕竟与生俱来。
Choices can be hard.
而选择颇为不易。
You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you’re not careful, and if you do, it’ll probably be to the detriment of your choices.
一不小心，你可能会被天赋所诱惑，而这可能会损害到你的选择。
This is a group with many gifts.
在座各位都拥有众多天赋。
I’m sure one of your gifts is the gift of a smart and capable brain.
我确信你们的天赋之一就是拥有精明能干的头脑。
I’m confident that’s the case because admission is competitive and if there weren’t some signs that you’re clever, the dean of admission wouldn’t have let you in.
之所以如此确信，是因为入学竞争如此激烈，如果你们不聪明，便不会有资格进入这所学校。
