登陆注册
7606600000054

第54章 故事永远不会结束(1)

Remember That the Story Is Never Over

演讲人:Conan O"Brien柯南·欧布莱恩

I"d like to thank the Class Marshals for inviting me here today.The last time I was invited to Harvard it cost me $110,000,so you"ll forgive me if I"m a bit suspicious.I"d like to announce up front that I have one goal this afternoon:to be half as funny a s t o m or r ow"s C o m menc e ment S p e a ker,Mor a l Philosopher and Economist,Amartya Sen.Must get more laughs than seminal wage/price theoretician.

Students of the Harvard Class of 2000,fifteen years ago I sat where you sit now and I thought exactly what you are now thinking:What"s going to happen to me?Will I find my place in the world?Am I really graduating a virgin?I still have 24hours and my roommate"s Mom is hot.I swear she was checking me out.

Being here today is very special for me.I miss this place.I especially miss Harvard Square-it"s so unique.No where else in the world will you find a manwith a turban wearing a Red Sox jacket and working in a lesbian bookstore.Hey,I"m just glad my dad"s working.

It"s particularly sweet for me to be here today because when I graduated,I wanted very badly to be a Class Day Speaker.Unfortunately,my speech was rejected.So,if you"ll indulge me,I"d like to read a portion of that speech from fifteen years ago:

"Fellow students,as we sit here today listening to that classic Ah-ha tune which will definitely stand the test of time,I would like to make several predictions about what the future will hold:

I believe that one day a simple Governor from a small Southern state will rise to the highest office in the land.He will lack political skill,but will lead on the sheer strength of his moral authority.

I believe that Justice will prevail and,one day,the Berlin Wall will crumble,uniting East and West Berlin forever under Communist rule.

I believe that one day,a high speed network of interconnected computers will spring up world-wide,so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chit chat and pornography.

And finally,I believe that one day I will have a television show on a major network,seen by millions of people a night,which I will use to re-enact crimes and help catch at-large criminals."

And then there"s some stuff about the death of Wall Street which I don"t think we need to get into….

T he point is that,a lthough you see me as a celebrity,a member of the cultural elite,a kind of demigod,I was actually a student here once much like you.I came here in the fall of 1981and lived in Holworthy.I was,without exaggeration,the ugliest picture in the Freshman Face book.When Harvard asked me for a picture the previous summer,I thought it was just for their records,so I literally jogged in the August heat to a passport photo office and sat for a morgue photo.To make matters worse,when the Face Book came out they put my picture next to Catherine Oxenberg,a stunning blonde actress who was accepted to the class of 85s,but decided to defer admission so she could join the cast of"Dynasty."My photo would have looked bad on any page,but next to Catherine Oxenberg,I looked like a mackerel that had been in a car accident.

You see,in those days I was six feet four inches t a l l a nd I weig hed 150pounds.Recent ly,I had some structural engineers run those numbers into a computer model and,according the computer,I collapsed in 1987,killing hundreds in Taiwan.

After freshman year I moved to Mather House.Mather House,incidentally,was designed by the same firm that built Hitler"s bunker.In fact,if Hitler had conducted the war from Mather House,he"d have shot himself a year earlier.

A lot has happened in fifteen years.When you think about it,we come from completely differentworlds.When I graduated,we watched movies starring Tom Cruise and listened to music by Madonna.I come from a time when we huddled around our TV sets and watched"The Cosby Show"on NBC,never imagining that there would one day be a show called"Cosby"on CBS.In 1985we drove cars with driver"s side airbags,but if you told us that one day there"d be passenger side airbags,we"d have burned you for witchcraft.

But of course,I think there is some common ground between us.I remember well the great uncertainty of this day.Many of you are justifiably nervous about leaving the safe,comfortable world of Harvard Yard and hurling yourself headlong into the cold,harsh world of Harvard Grad School,a plum job at your father"s firm,or a year abroad with a gold Amex card and then a plum job in your father"s firm.

But let me assure you that the knowledge you"ve gained here at Harvard is a precious gift that will never leave you.Take if from me,your education is yours to keep forever.Why,many of you have read the Merchant of Florence,and that will inspire you when you travel to the island of Spain.Your knowledge of that problem they had with those people in Russia,or that guy in South America-you know,that guy-will enrich you for the rest of your life.

There is also sadness today,a feeling of loss that you"re leaving Harvard forever.Well,let me assure you that you never really leave Harvard.The Harvard Fundraising Committee will be on your ass until the day you die.Right now,a member of the Alumni Association is at the Mt.Auburn Cemeter y sha king dow n t he cor pse of Henry Adams.They heard he had a brass toe ring and they aims to get it.

同类推荐
  • 日常生活英语口语看这本就够

    日常生活英语口语看这本就够

    全书分6大类:生活、学习、工作场景等,共涵盖148个话题,如下:生活口语30个情景话题;旅游口语16个情景话题;休闲口语24个情景话题;交际口语20个情景话题;职场口语29个情景话题;商务口语29个情景话题。另外本书诚邀资深外教为每个句子进行了朗读配音。
  • Stories by English Authors in London

    Stories by English Authors in London

    Frequently I have to ask myself in the street for the name of the man I bowed to just now, and then, before I can answer, the wind of the first corner blows him from my memory.
  • 一语多译英语

    一语多译英语

    本书内容丰富,分类明朗。内容涉及日常生活,求职工作,休闲娱乐,出门旅行,友好交际,情感表达等。表达灵活,语言地道。多种灵活的表达,易于吸引读者的学习兴趣,多种表达源于大量英文作品,避免汉语式的英语,是说一口流利、地道英语的最佳选择。形式活泼,易学易用。让读者的学习变得轻松愉快,易于接受。
  • 从零开始学英语,“袋”着走

    从零开始学英语,“袋”着走

    这是一本简单易学,同时也能带给你成就感的英语口语入门书!100%从零开始,不论你的英语目前处于什么水平,只要你有信心,随时都可以拿起本书开始从零学起!长期以来,对于英语初学者,尤其是对于自学者来说,都期望拥有一本好的英语学习书。学了十几年英语的人有成百上千万,但是真正能将英语学以致用的人却是凤毛麟角。因此,一本比较切合中国英语学习者实际需要的英语学习书就显得尤为重要。
  • Sense and sensibility(理智与情感)(英文版)

    Sense and sensibility(理智与情感)(英文版)

    小说的情节围绕着两位女主人公的择偶活动展开,着力揭示出当时英国社会潮流中,以婚配作为女子寻求经济保障、提高社会地位的恶习,重门第而不顾女子感情和做人权利的丑陋时尚。小说中的女主角均追求与男子思想感情的平等交流与沟通,要求社会地位上的平等权利,坚持独立观察、分析和选择男子的自由。在当时的英国,这几乎无异于反抗的呐喊。
热门推荐
  • 希特勒性格分析报告

    希特勒性格分析报告

    希特勒是谁:他从不喝酒,不吸烟,是个素食主义者,有绝高的绘画天赋。他生活俭朴,一条衬衫,从啤酒馆暴动时一直穿到1945年,他一般只穿军装和西服,为的是不让别人看到他衬衫上的补丁。他平易近人,除了在军事会议上,他从没发火。平日里甚至司机、厨师跟他开多大的玩笑他都不在乎……
  • 傲剑圣枪耀苍穹

    傲剑圣枪耀苍穹

    异界之傲剑圣枪耀苍穹。一场意外的穿越,改变了一群少年的人生路。从平平凡凡的世界来到这个万族林立,群众荟萃的世界。一位位天之骄子追寻那无尽的巅峰。少年自天澜城而出,傲剑圣枪,闯向那精彩绝伦的纷纭。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 超能可乐

    超能可乐

    他是学校里独树一帜的大魔王他还是朋友们公认的酷爱刺激的怪人这一天,神奇的异能与他结缘这一天,世界濒临颠覆他究竟选择拯救还是,毁灭?
  • 怎样搞外销

    怎样搞外销

    本书分十个话题介绍外销的工作过程。包括:“开启外销大门——取得进出口经营权”、“寻找出口市场——联系贸易伙伴”、“进行讨价还价——争取满意的价格”、“商定外销合同——确定贸易法律基础”等。
  • 覆眸

    覆眸

    贞观元年,太宗以佛宗、道宗、儒宗三宗为主宗,大唐长安修士武者多如狗。元宵之夜悬柱伫与朱雀大街之上。三人巧遇修士踏上了武僧、道修之路。预测的人魔之战究竟会在何时开启、又究竟会是谁赢。
  • 师姐难为

    师姐难为

    生命不止,修行不息。哪怕只能呆在五岁的身体里哪怕出现一只天才外加毒蛇属性的小师弟哪怕眼前天天飘着一位美到没朋友的师父哪怕这样的小师弟再来一打哪怕这样的师傅让你再也拿不出镜子这......都不是问题
  • 为你,钟情

    为你,钟情

    情牵一世,白首相依。终此一生为你钟情,真心痴爱为妳一人。情窦初开,她爱上自己的堂哥,辍学离家兜兜转转只为他...他是堂哥,见证她从女童到女孩的成长,女孩到女人的蜕变,他不仅对自己的堂妹起了觊觎之心,更将‘魔手’伸向她...
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 岐鼎

    岐鼎

    乱世纷纭,或许百年前的那一天就早已注定。纠葛在一起的命盘,错综复杂,是往生的轮回,还是不甘的执念,仿佛冥冥之中自有定数。诸侯鼎立下是谁的推波助澜,乱世华章又是谁的精心谋划?成王败寇,了结的又是谁和谁的百年恩怨。“康武华变,血脉交错,英庄始故,御龙在天”十六字的惊天之谜,惑世之乱,终将亡于一人之手!巨变在即,那人笑得云淡风轻:“是非自有后人评述,但后世流传的传说定会有我们辉煌一世!”