Be the Best Whatever You Are

做最好的自己

By Douglas Malloch

道格拉斯·馬洛赫

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill

be a scrub in the valley- but be the best little scrub

by the side of the rill;

Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,

and some highway some happier make;

if you can't be a muskie1 then just be a bass—

but the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,

there's something for all of us here.

There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,

and the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,

if you can't be the sun be a star;

it isn't by size that you win or you fail—

Be the best of whatever you are!

如果不能成為山頂的一棵青松，

就做谷中的一棵矮樹——但一定是最好的一棵矮樹，

生長在小溪邊。

如果不能做一棵樹，就做一株灌木，

如果不能做一株灌木，就做一片青草，

如果不能做一條狗魚就做一條鱸魚——

做湖塘里最快活的一條鱸魚。

不可能每個人都是船長，一定要有人做船員，

每個人都有機會各盡其用。

有轟轟烈烈的大事業，也有微不足道的小事情，

我們要做的就是做好眼前該做的。

如果你不是高速公路，就做一條悠然小徑，

如果你不是太陽，可以做一顆星星;

成與敗不是由外在的規模決定，

無論你是誰，做最好的自己!