Barditch High School decided to an All-School Reunion. Over 450 people came to the event. There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park. Several former teachers were on hands to tell stories about the old days. Ms. Mabel Yates, the English teacher for fifty years, was wheeled to the Park.
巴迪奇高中决定举行全校同学聚会，超过450人参加了这次活动。参观老校舍，并在邦联公园野餐。几位前任教师在现场讲述过去。梅布尔·叶茨女士，这位教了50年的英语老师，用轮椅推到了公园。
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans when Ms. Yates was about to speak. Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from and old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined.
当叶茨女士准备发言时，一些人四下打量，发出了几声低沉的嘟囔声。许多人开始看手表，找借口去其他地方，不打算听一个老妇人的讲座。老妇人对她的学生几乎没有什么好脸色，这让他们不得不努力学习，超过应对其他所有老师的努力。
Then Ms. Yates started to speak:
叶茨女士开始演讲：
"I can't tell you how pleased I am to be here. I haven't seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies. I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students. Although I haven't appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the birth your children, in my imagination."
“来这里我说不出的高兴。自从你们毕业后，很多人我都没有见过，但我关注你们的职业生涯，为你们的成功开心，也为你们的失败哭泣。我有一大堆学生的报纸照片，虽然我没有亲自出现，但在我的想象中我参加了你们的大学毕业典礼、婚礼，甚至见证了你们孩子的出生。”
Ms. Yates paused and started crying a bit. Then she continued:
叶茨女士停了下来，哭了一会儿，然后继续：
"It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me. Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in you chosen path."
“我相信，如果我尽我所能地推动你们，你们中的一些人会成功地让我开心，另一些人会成功地让我生气。无论我们的动机怎样，我可以看出你们都在自己选择的道路上取得了成功。”
"There is no greater comfort for an educator than to see the end result of his or her years of work. You have all been a great source of pleasure and pride for me and I want you to know I love you all from the bottom of my heart."
“对于一个教育者来说，看到多年工作的最终结果是最大的安慰。你们都是我快乐和自豪的源泉，我想让你们知道我从心底爱你们。”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping. The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar. Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown.
人群沉默了几秒钟，然后有人开始鼓掌。鼓掌声变成了欢呼，变成了震耳欲聋的呼喊。律师、卡车司机、银行家和模特们都在揉眼睛，或者无所顾忌地公开哭泣，这一切都是因为他们家乡一位早已被遗忘的英语老师的话。