盼头

Something to Look Forward to

杨航

Yang Hang

细娃盼过年，大人盼开春。儿时，对于大人的盼是不能理解的，但过年，对我来说，可是一年的大盼头了。过年，不但好玩，且有肉吃，那气氛是迷人的。年一过，又盼日子快些流，好流来又一个春节。

Little children look forward to the arrival of lunar New Year, adults to that of spring. When a child I could't understand what the elders hoped for. But New Year's Day was always the greatest red-letter day of all the year, for it meant the nicest food as well as a lot of fun, which was really fascinating. As soon as the festival was over, another one was my dream and I wished time flew as fast as possible.

在盼中，日子真的流得飞快，转眼上了小学，继而初中，然后高中，最后大学；盼的欲望更加强烈，盼的内容也渐渐丰富了：盼有好成绩毕业，盼有一份好工作，盼事业有成，盼挣钱替父母分忧，盼有一个好爱人……不知不觉，天天踩着石阶而上，自己竟成了一个大男人，一个挣钱养家糊口的忙碌人了。

Days spent in expectation come and go really very fast. Very soon I finished primary school, went to junior and senior middle school, and finally to college; with ever greater desire for more varied things: for graduation with honours, for an ideal job, for a successful career, for more earnings to share my parents' burden, for a satisfactory life...Climbing the upward steps of hope I had become a fully grown man before I was aware of it, a busy breadwinner with a family on my hands.

生活开始变得复杂。然而，无论自己是否变得庸俗，变得伟大，盼头依然天天有：盼信件，盼稿件被采用，盼发奖金，盼某事满意结果，盼一次聚会、一次旅行……人就在盼中找到了依托。

Life began to show its various facets. Whether I have turned more vulgar or great, I have always something to look forward to. It may be arrival of a letter, publication of an article, the bonus-distributing day, a gratifying result of something, a get-together or a pleasure trip...Such expectations serve as a prop to a person's faith in life.

没有盼头的日子是苍白不可想象的。人，得天天有点什么盼头，生活才不至于暗淡。有了盼头，会觉得太阳每天都是新的。不管是望梅止渴，还是画饼充饥，它都会激励你不停手中的桨，去追逐哪怕是一星微小的火光。

A day without hope would be unimaginably pale. There must be something to look forward to each day to brighten one's life and keep it out of shadows. To a person cherishing hopes every morning rises a new sun. Even if it is a fantasy or an illusion, so long as it shows a ray of hope it still urges you on in pursuit of that little sparkle without letup.

土地去掉水份，就成了沙漠；人没有了盼，还剩什么？小盼头支撑人的一天，大盼头支撑人的一生。

人，是绝不能没有盼头的。

Deprived of moisture content, soil turns into desert. Deprived of hope, what is there left to a person? A small hope sustains a person for a day, a great one for a lifetime.

Human beings cannot do without something to look forward to.

（乔萍 瞿淑蓉 宋洪玮 编著）

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