Mandela's Garden(曼德拉的菜园)

Mandela's Garden

Nelson Mandela

1. In early 1977, the authorities announced the end of manual labor and arranged

some type of work for us to do in the courtyard, so we could spend our days in our section. The end of manual labor was liberating. I could now spend the day reading, writing letters, discussing issues with my comrades, or preparing legal documents. The free time also allowed me to pursue what became two of my favorite hobbies on Robben Island: gardening and tennis.

2. To survive in prison, one must develop ways to take satisfaction in one's daily

life. One can feel fulfilled by washing one's clothes so that they are particularly clean, by sweeping a hallway so that it is empty of dust, by organizing one's cell to save as much space as possible. Just as one takes pride in important tasks

outside of prison, one can find the same pride in doing small things inside prison.

3. "Almost from the beginning of my sentence on Robben Island, I asked the

authorities for permission to start a garden in the courtyard. For years, they

refused without offering a reason. But eventually they gave in, and we were able to cut out a small garden on a narrow patch of earth against the far wall.

4. The soil in the courtyard was dry and rocky. The courtyard had been

constructed over a garbage dump, and in order to start my garden, I had to

remove a great many rocks to allow the plants room to grow. At the time, some of my comrades joked that I was a miner at heart, for I spent my days in a wasteland and my free time digging in the courtyard.

5. The authorities supplied me with seeds. I at first planted tomatoes, chilies, and

onions—hardy plants that did not require rich earth or constant care. The early harvests were poor, but they soon improved. The authorities did not regret giving permission, for once the garden began to flourish, I often provided the warders with some of my best tomatoes and onions.

6. While I have always enjoyed gardening, it was not until I was behind bars that I

was able to tend my own garden. My first experience in the garden was at Fort Hare where, as part of the university's manual labor requirement, I worked in one of my professors' gardens and enjoyed the contact with the soil as an alternative to my intellectual labors. Once I was in Johannesburg studying and then working, I had neither the time nor the space to start a garden.

7. I began to order books on gardening. I studied different gardening techniques

and types of fertilizers. I did not have many of the materials that the books

discussed, but I learned through trial and error. For a time, I attempted to grow peanuts, and used different soils and fertilizers, but finally I gave up. It was one of my few failures.

8. A garden was one of the few things in prison that one could control. To plant a

seed, watch it grow, to tend it and then harvest it, offered a simple but enduring satisfaction. The sense of being the owner of the small patch of earth offered a small taste of freedom.

9. In some ways, I saw the garden as a metaphor for certain aspects of my life.

Leaders must also look after their gardens; they, too, plant seeds, and then watch, cultivate, and harvest the results. Like gardeners, leaders must take responsibility for what they cultivate; they must mind their work, try to drive back enemies,

save what can be saved, and eliminate what cannot succeed.

10. I wrote Winnie two letters about a particularly beautiful tomato plant, how I

made it grow from a tender seedling to a strong plant that produced deep red fruit. But then, either through some mistake or lack of care, the plant began to wither and decline, and nothing I did would bring it back to health. When it finally died, I removed the roots from the soil, washed them, and buried them in a corner of the garden.

11. I told her this small story at great length. I do not know what she read into that

letter, but when I wrote it I had a mixture of feelings: I did not want our

relationship to go the way of that plant, and yet I felt that I had been unable to nourish many of the most important relationships in my life. Sometimes there is nothing one can do to save something that must die. 曼德拉的菜园

1 1977年初，当局宣布解除集体劳动，给我们安排了一些院内的工作，因此我们可以在自己的这片区域里打发时间了。结束了体力劳动就像解放了一样。现在我每天可以读书、谢辛和我的狱友讨论问题，或者准备法律文件。时间上的自由还得以让我继续从事在罗本岛上培养起来的两大爱好：园艺和网球。

2 为了在狱中生存，你必须使自己在日常生活中得到满足。你可以通过把衣服洗的特别干净，把门前过道打扫得一尘不染，或把自己的牢房整理出尽可能大的空间这些方法使自己感到充实。同一个在监狱外的人为自己完成重要任务而感到骄傲一样，监狱的人也可以完成未完成一件小事而同样感到自豪。

3 几乎刚在罗本岛被判刑时起，我就向当局提出申请，我在院子里开垦一块菜园。多年来，他们没有给出任何原因，却一直拒绝我的请求。但最终他们

让步了，这样我们能够在远处墙根下一块狭长的地面上划出小片面积的地方做菜园。

4 院子里的土壤很干，而且石头很多。这个院子在建起来之前是个垃圾场，因此为了开辟这个园子，我的清除掉大量的石头，给植物留出生长的空间。当时，一些狱友开玩笑说我骨子里是个矿工，整天呆在一片荒地里，把自己的空闲时间都花费在挖院子里的地了。

5 狱方给我提供了种子。开始时，我种了番茄、辣椒和洋葱——都是些不需要肥沃的土壤或经常照料的生命力很强的植物。早期的收成不好，但很快状况就有了改善。狱方不会后悔允许我开辟菜园种菜的，因为菜园的蔬菜长的好起来后，我就经常给看守们一些最好的番茄和洋葱。

6 虽然我一直喜爱园艺，但直到入狱后我才得到一片属于自己的菜园。在园艺方面的第一次经历是在海尔堡，那是大学时作为体力劳动要求的一部分，我在一位教授家的院子里干活，在那里我享受着脑力劳动之余和土地之间的接触。但自从我到约翰内斯堡学习并工作以后，就在没有时间和没有地方种菜了。

7 我开始订阅一些关于园艺方面的书籍。从中学习了不同的园艺技术和不同种类的肥料。书中提及的许多材料我都没有，但经历了尝试和失败以后，我学到了很多东西。我曾用不同的土壤和化肥来试着种花生，但最终都失败了。这是我很少的几次失败之中的一次。

8 菜园是一个人在监狱中所能控制的仅有的几件事情之一。播下种子，看着它生长，照料它，然后收获果实，这一过程是人得到一种简单却持久的满足感。作为一小片土地的主人是我感到一丝的自由。

9 在某些方面，我把这个菜园当作自己一些侧面生活的暗喻。领袖人物也必须照料他们的菜园；我们也一样要播种，然后看管、培育、收获果实。像园丁一样，领袖人物也必须为他们培育的一切负有责任；他们必须致力于自己的工作，努力击退敌人，挽救所能挽救的一切，并去除不能获得成功的事情。

10 在写给温妮的两封信中我讲述了一株非常美丽的番茄，告诉她我是怎样把它从一颗娇嫩的幼苗培育成杰出深红色果实的强壮的植物。但是后来，也许是因为出了什莫错，也许是因为缺少养料，这棵番茄开始枯萎、凋谢，而我不论做什莫都无法挽回它了。当它最终死去的时候，我把它的根从土中挖了出来，洗干净后埋在菜园的一角。我用了很长的篇幅给她讲这样的一个小故事。至于她从信中体会到了什莫言外之意，我不得而知，但我当时是怀着非常复杂的心情来写这封信的：我不希望我们的关系向那株植物一样结束，然而我感觉到我已不能维持我生活中许多最为重要的关系，有时，一个注定要死去的东西任凭你如何去设法挽救都是徒劳的。