残疾，就这么来了，从此不走。其实哪里是刚刚来呀，你一出生它跟着就到了，你之不能（不止是不能走）全是它的业绩呀，这一次不过是强调一下罢了。 Disability came just like this and has never left since. Actually, it didn't just arrive now. It was there right from the moment you were born. All the things you can't do (not just walking) are its "achievements". This time, it's just being emphasized a bit more. 对某一铁生而言是这样，对所有的人来说也是这样，人所不能者，即是限制，即是残疾，它从来就没有离开过。 它如影随形地一直跟着我们，徘徊千古而不去，它是不是有话要说？ It's the same for a certain Shi Tiesheng and for all people. What one can't do is a limitation, is disability. It has never left us. It has been following us like a shadow, lingering for thousands of years. Does it have something to say?它首先想说的大约是：残疾之最根本的困苦到底在哪儿？ 还以史铁生所遭遇的为例：不，它不疼，也不痒，并没有很重的生理痛苦，它只是给行动带来些不便。 Probably the first thing it wants to say is: Where exactly lies the most fundamental hardship of disability? Take what Shi Tiesheng encountered as an example: No, it doesn't hurt, nor does it itch. There isn't severe physical pain. It just brings some inconvenience to movement. 但只要你接受了轮椅（或者拐杖和假肢、盲杖和盲文、手语和唇读），你一样可以活着，可以找点事做，可以到平坦的路面上去逛逛。But as long as you accept a wheelchair (or crutches and prosthetics, a white cane and Braille, sign language and lip reading), you can still live, find something to do, and go for a stroll on a flat road. 但是，这只证明了活着，活成了什么还不一定。像一头勤勤恳恳的老黄牛，像风摧不死沙打不枯的一棵什么草，几十年如一日地运转就像一块表…… However, this only proves that you are alive. It's not certain what kind of life you'll lead. Like a diligent old ox, like some grass that can't be killed by the wind or withered by the sand, operating day in and day out for decades like a watch... 我怀疑，这类形容肯定是对人的恭维吗？人，不是比牛、树和机器都要高级很多吗？“栗子味儿的白薯”算得夸奖，“白薯味儿的栗子”难道不是昏话？I doubt whether such descriptions are definitely compliments to people. Aren't people much more advanced than oxen, trees, and machines? "Sweet potatoes with the flavor of chestnuts" might be a compliment, but "chestnuts with the flavor of sweet potatoes" surely sounds absurd. 人，不能光是活着，不能光是以其高明的生产力和非凡的忍受力为荣。比如说，活着，却没有爱情，你以为如何？ People can't just live. They can't just take pride in their high productivity and extraordinary endurance. For example, what do you think of living without love?当爱情被诗之歌之，被看得比生命还重要的时候（生命诚可贵，爱情价更高），却有一些人活在爱情之外，这怎么说？When love is praised in poems and songs and regarded as more important than life ("Life is precious, but love is more so"), there are some people living outside of love. What can we say about this? 而且，这样的“之外”竟常常被看作正当，被默认，了不起是在叹息之后把问题推给命运。 所以，这样的“之外”，指的就不是尚未进入，而是不能进入，或者不宜进入。Moreover, such "outside" is often regarded as legitimate, taken for granted. At most, after a sigh, the problem is pushed onto fate. So, this "outside" doesn't mean not having entered yet, but being unable to enter, or not supposed to enter. “不能”和“不宜”并不写在纸上，有时写在脸上，更多的是写在心里。常常是写在别人心里，不过有时也可悲到写进了自己的心里。 "Unable" and "not supposed to" aren't written on paper. Sometimes they are written on faces, but more often in hearts. Often they are written in other people's hearts, but sometimes, sadly, they are even written in one's own heart. 我记得，当爱情到来之时，此一铁生双腿已残，他是多么地渴望爱情呵，可我却亲手把“不能进入”写进了他心里。 I remember when love came, Shi Tiesheng's legs were already disabled. How much he longed for love! But I myself wrote "unable to enter" into his heart. 事实上史铁生和我又开始了互相埋怨，睡不安寝食不甘味，他说能，我说不能，我说能，他又说不能。 In fact, Shi Tiesheng and I started blaming each other again, unable to sleep or eat well. He said it was possible, I said it wasn't; I said it was possible, and he said it wasn't. 糟心的是，说不能的一方常似凛然大义，说能的一对难兄难弟却像心怀鬼胎。The annoying thing was that the one who said it wasn't possible often seemed to be upholding great righteousness, while the two who said it was possible seemed to have ulterior motives. 不过，大凡这样的争执，终归是鬼胎战胜大义，稍以时日，结果应该是很明白的。 However, in most such disputes, the ulterior motives usually prevail over the great righteousness. Given a little time, the result should be quite clear. 风能不战胜云吗？山能堵死河吗？现在结果不是出来了？——史铁生娶妻无子活得也算惬意。 Can't the wind defeat the clouds? Can't the mountains block the rivers? Now the result is out, isn't it? — Shi Tiesheng got married but had no children and lived a rather comfortable life. 但那时候不行，那时候真他娘见鬼了，总觉着自己的一片真情是对他人的坑害，坑害一个倒也罢了，但那光景就像女士们的长袜跳丝，经经纬纬互相牵连，一坑就是一大片。But it wasn't like that back then. It was really hellish back then. I always felt that my sincere feelings were harming others. It would be okay if it was just harming one person, but it was like a run in a lady's stocking, with threads intertwined, and one harm led to a whole bunch. 这是关键：“不能”写满了四周！这便是残疾最根本的困苦。 这不见得是应该忍耐的、狭隘又渺小的困苦。This is the key point: "Unable" was written all around! This is the most fundamental hardship of disability. This isn't necessarily a hardship that should be endured, a narrow and insignificant one. 失去爱情权利的人，其人的权利难免遭受全面的损害，正如爱情被贬抑的年代，人的权利普遍受到了威胁。 People who lose the right to love will inevitably suffer comprehensive damage to their rights. Just as in the years when love was belittled, people's rights were generally threatened. 说残疾人首要的问题是就业，这话大可推敲。就业，若仅仅是为活命，就看不出为什么一定比救济好；所以比救济好，在于它表明着残疾人一样有工作的权利。The statement that the primary problem for the disabled is employment is open to question. If employment is just for survival, it's not clear why it must be better than receiving relief. The reason it's better than relief is that it shows that the disabled also have the right to work. 既是权利，就没有哪样是次要的。一种权利若被忽视，其它权利为什么肯定有保障？倘其权利止于工作，那又未必是人的特征，牛和马呢？ Since it's a right, none of them is secondary. If one right is ignored, why should other rights be guaranteed? If their rights stop at work, that may not be a characteristic of human beings. What about oxen and horses? 设若认为残疾人可以（或应该，或不得不）在爱情之外活着，为什么不可能退一步再退一步认为他们也可以在教室之外、体育场之外、电影院之外、各种公共领域之外……而终于在全面的人的权利和尊严之外活着呢？If it's assumed that the disabled can (or should, or have to) live outside of love, why can't we take a step back and then another step back to assume that they can also live outside of classrooms, stadiums, cinemas, various public areas... and finally outside of the comprehensive rights and dignity of human beings? 是的是的，有时候是不得不这样，身体健全者有时候也一样是不得不呀，一生未得美满爱情者并不只是残疾人呵！Yes, yes, sometimes it has to be like this. Even able-bodied people sometimes have to do the same. People who haven't had a fulfilling love in their lives aren't just the disabled! 好了，这是又一个关键：一个未得奖牌的人，和一个无权参赛的人，有什么不一样吗？Alright, here's another key point: What's the difference between a person who didn't get a medal and a person who has no right to participate?
