With saddened heart, I went to Storvassdal for the last time, found that large boulder, placed my boat in a hollow space under its base, piled stones to hide it and resolved to return one day to recover my treasure.

I said good-by to my grandfather, not knowing I would never see him again. “Farewell,” he said, as he clasped my hand tightly.

In the summer of 1964, I went to Norway with my parents and my wife and children. 

One day I left the family farmhouse and hiked up to Storvassdal, looking for the large boulder. There were plenty around. My search seemed hopeless.

I was about to give up when I saw a pile of small stones jammed under a boulder. I slowly removed the stones and reached into the hollow space beneath the boulder. My hand touched something that moved. I pulled the boat out and held it in my hands. For 34 years it had been resting there, waiting for my return. The rough, bare-wood hull and mast were hardly touched by age; only the cloth sail had disintegrated.

我怀着悲伤的心情，最后去了一次斯托瓦斯代尔湖。我找到一块大圆石，把小船放到石头下面凹进去的地方，外面堆上石块把船藏好。我下决心有一天要回来找回我的珍宝。

我跟外公说再见，我不知道再也见不到他老人家了。“别了。”外公紧紧抓住我的手说。

1964年夏天，我同父母、妻子、孩子去挪威。一天，我离开农场住处上山去斯托瓦司戴尔湖，寻找那块大圆石，到处都有大石头，我的搜寻似乎希望渺茫。

我正打算放弃寻找，忽然间我看见了一堆小石头塞在一块大圆石下。我慢慢搬开小石头，把手伸进大石头下面凹进去的地方。我摸到一样松动的东西。我拽出小船，捧生手中。34年来它一直呆在那儿，等待我归来。没有上漆的粗糙船身和桅杆竟然如故，惟有布帆已经破碎。

I shall never forget that moment. As I cradled the boat, I felt my grandfather’s presence. He had died 22 years before, and yet he was there. We three were together again – Grandfather and me and little boat, the tangible link that bound us together.

I brought the boat back to the farm for the others to see and carved “1930” and “1964” on its side. Someone suggested I take it home to America. “No”, I said. “Its home is under that boulder at Storvassdal.” I took it back to its resting place.

I returned to the lake in 1968, 1971, 1977 and 1988. Each time as I held the little boat and carved the year on its side, my grandfather seemed near.

我永远也忘不了那一刻。我抱着小船，觉得外公就在身旁。他22年前就已经去世，然而他还在我身旁。我们三个又相聚了——外公、我还有小船，实实在在的纽带又将我们连在一块儿。

我把小船带回农场给其他人看，并在舷侧刻上了“1930”和“1964”的字样。有人建议我把小船带回美国去。“不,”我说.“斯托瓦司戴尔湖畔那块石头下面才是它的家”我把它放回它安息的地方。

1968年、1971年、1977年和1988年我都去了斯托瓦可戴尔湖。每次我捧着小船，在舷侧刻上年代，外公好像就在旁边。

My last trip to Storvassdal was in 1991. This time I brought two of my granddaughters from America: Catherine, 13, and Claire, 12. As we climbed the mountain, I thought of my grandfather and compared his life with that of my granddaughters. Catherine and Claire are made of the same stuff as their ancestors. They are determined and independent – I see it in the way they carry themselves at work and play. And yet my grandfather seemed to have so little to work with, while my granddaughters have so much.

Usually the things we dreamed of, then work and struggle for, are what we value most. Have my granddaughters, blessed with abundance, been denied life’s real pleasures?

我最近一次去斯托瓦斯代尔湖是在1991年。这次我从美国带了两个孙女去：13岁的凯瑟琳和12岁的克莱尔。爬山的时候，我想起了外公，把他的一生同我的孙女作了比较。凯瑟琳和克菜尔跟他们的先辈都是一样的禀性。她们果敢坚定，独立不羁一一我是从她们做事玩耍的表现看出来的。然而，外公手里的东西似乎太少了，而我的孙女东西又太多。

我们梦寐以求以及后来又为之努力奋斗的东西，往往正是我们最珍视的。我的两个孙女有幸过上了丰裕的生活，但她们是否没享受到生活的真正乐趣呢？

Working tirelessly on that isolated farm, my grandfather taught me that we should accept and be grateful for what we have – whether it is much or little. We must bear the burdens and relish the joys. There is so much we cannot control, but we must try to make things better when we are able. We must depend upon ourselves to make our own way as best we can.

Growing up in a comfortable suburban home, my granddaughters have been presented with a different situation. But I hope – I believe – they will in their own way be able to cope as well as my grandfather coped, and learn the lesson my grandfather taught me all those years ago. On the day I took them to Storvassdal, I hoped they would somehow understand the importance of the little boat and its simple message of self-reliance.

High in the mountain, I hesitated to speak lest I disturb our tranquility. Then Claire looked up and broke my reverie as she said softly, “Grandpa, someday I’ll come back.” She paused. “And I’ll bring my children.”

外公在那个偏僻的农场孜孜不倦地干活，他教导我应该随遇而安，知足常乐——不论是多是少。我们必须吃苦耐劳，乐观快活。许多事我们都无法把握，不过我们必须尽力改善一切。一定要依靠自己竭尽全力走自己的路。

我的两个孙女是在市郊的舒适住宅里长大的，她们面临一个迥然不同的环境。不过我希望——我相信——她们能够像我外公一样以自己的方式应付一切，而且领会到多年前外公对我的教益。那天我带她们去斯托瓦斯代尔湖，就是希望她们会悟出小船的重要性以及它所表达的简明道理：自力更生。

在高高的山上，我迟迟不说话，唯恐搅乱了我们的宁静。后来，克莱尔抬起头来打断了我的沉思，她轻轻地说：“爷爷，总有一天我要回来。”她顿了顿又说：“我还要带上我的孩子。”

责任编辑：admin