DO THINGS FOR HIMSEIF

佚名/Anonymous

小时候，我最喜欢在爷爷的农场里度过每一个星期天的下午，爷爷家在宾夕法尼亚州的西部。农场四周都围上了石墙，绵延数十里。房子和谷仓给我这个来自城市的男孩带来了无尽的乐趣。我早习惯了城里整洁如一的客厅，似乎在肃然警告：“不许乱碰！”

记得我八岁那年，第一次去农场，就非常希望能爬农场周边的石墙。但我知道，父母是绝对不会同意的。这些墙年深日久，有些石头都不见了，还有些已经松动或崩塌。但是，我渴望爬这些墙的欲望如此强烈，终于在一个春天的下午，我鼓足勇气，走进客厅，大人们午餐后都会聚集在这里。

“我，呃，我想爬那些石墙。”我犹犹豫豫地说。大家都抬起头来。“我可以去爬那些石墙吗？”屋内的女士们立即异口同声地说道，“天哪，不可以！”她们惊慌地叫道，“你会伤着自己的！”我并不十分失望，这是我意料之中的结果。但就在我要离开客厅时，爷爷低沉的声音让我停了下来，“等一会儿，”我听见他说，“让孩子去爬石墙吧，他必须学会自己去做事。”

“快走吧，”他对我眨了眨眼，说道，“回来后找我。”接下来的两个半小时里，我爬这些古老的石墙，开心极了。后来，我把自己的历险告诉了爷爷。我永远也不会忘记他对我说的话，“弗雷德，”他笑着说，“你让这个日子非常特别，只是因为你做了一回自己。永远记住，整个世界只有一个你，我喜欢真实的你。”

许多年过去了，如今，我主持的电视节目《罗杰斯先生的街坊》，全美国有数以百万计的儿童在收看。随着时间的推移，节目发生了一些变化，但有一点始终没变——每期节目之后，我都会传递给孩子这样一个信息，“这个世界只有一个你，”孩子们总会听我说，“人人都喜欢真实的你。”

As a little boy， there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of winding stonewalls， the house and barn provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me. I was used to neat as a pin parlors that seemed to whisper， "Not to be touched！"

I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. Since my first visit to the farm， I'd wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stonewalls surrounding the property. My parents would never approve. The walls were old； some stones were missing， others loose and crumbling. Still， my yearning to scramble across those walls grew so strong that finally， one spring afternoon， I summoned all my courage and entered the living room， where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.

"I， uh， I want to climb the stonewalls，" I said hesitantly. Everyone looked up. "Can I climb the stone walls？" Instantly a chorus went up from the women in the room. "Heavens， no！" they cried in dismay， "You'll hurt yourself！" I wasn't too disappointed； the response was just as I'd expected. But before I could leave the room， I was stopped by my grandfather's booming voice. "Now hold on just a minute，" I heard him say， "Let the boy climbs the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself."

"Scoot，" he said to me with a wink， "and come and see me when you get back." For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old， walls and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventure. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred，" he said， grinning， "you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember， there's only one person in this whole world like you， and I like you exactly as you are."

Many years have passed since then， and today I host the television program Mister Rogers'Neighborhood， seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years， but one thing remains the same：my message to children at the end of almost every visit. "There's only one person in this whole world like you，" the kids can count on hearing me say， "and people can like you exactly as you are."