Many people often look back at some point in life, and try to think of what earlier years were particularly formative for them….. Continuing from A

许多人会回顾过往的人生，试图思考哪些过往的岁月形塑了他的们的性格……接续A

At the very fine high school that so affected me, music instrument competition, choirs, and orchestra were all part of the normal program at school, even winning lots of top prizes in the colony. You might have noticed in part A that the current Headmaster was previously the Music Director, which sounds like a statement. What I thought was particularly fun for me were even elocution competitions, which I joined with some enthusiasm. My mother, being American born, and formerly an English teacher, would often emphasize that my diction in English speech should be as perfect as possible, and coached me personally for the competitions. Mother was a very quiet person, barely saying a word at times, but she seemed really eager to coach me in this, and I think that it set the stage for my lifelong interest in teaching and speaking clearly. I’m not sure that elocution competitions are popular today, but I’m very glad I had that great opportunity then.

我在一所非常好的中学求学，这阶段影响我深远。乐器竞赛、合唱团、管弦乐团等这些都是学校经常得奖的项目、并名列前茅。你也许注意到了，在前一篇文章里提到，这所中学的校长，过去是音乐主任，由此可知音乐是这所学校的重点 。但我觉得，最有趣的是演讲比赛，这也是我特别热衷的。我的母亲在美国出生，她过去是位英文老师。她经常强调我的发音，应该要尽可能完美，她也亲自指导我参加比赛。我的母亲是个非常安静的人，她鲜少说话，但她在指导我参加演讲比赛上，却似乎非常热切。我认为这为我打下了基础，使我终生对于清楚的教学与演说深感兴趣。我不知道现今演讲比赛是否受还到欢迎，但我非常高兴过去能有这样好的演说机会。

There was also drama, which I found fascinating, and which I joined, and grew to like the stress of performing on stage. I did not have major roles, but the roles were good enough to stimulate me to think about important stage skills, such as throwing my voice to the last row of the room, something I put to good use in many later indoor and outdoor class teaching sessions (like in packed classrooms in village towns of China, or the mountains of Thailand), where the acoustics was highly variable. The skills of elocution and drama, combined with my beginning to teach Sunday school, in the Chaozhou language(!) at our Swatow church, and the usual involvement, like many other church raised youth, in church drama performances, also in Chaozhou language, were imprinted deeply in my mind and actions. The best time to learn communication and teaching skills, I am convinced, is in the formative years of one’s development, and I instantly clicked, and picked up many later intuitive skills that made me the enthusiastic teacher that I became, in my careers of teaching at the medical school, hospital, and church.

这其中还有戱剧演出，让我深感兴趣。我加入了戱剧表演，并逐渐喜欢在舞台上表演的压力。我从来没有演过主角，但我的角色都好到足以刺激我思考重要的舞台技巧，比如说，将我的声音传到室内的最后一排坐席。我将这点善加利用在往后音效差异大的室内、室外的敎学，像是中国小鎭里拥挤的敎室，或是泰国的山区。演讲以及戱剧的技巧，加上我开始用潮洲话在我们名为汕头的敎会（但教会其实不在汕头）敎授主日学课程，以及日常在敎会的投入，如同许多其他敎会培养靑少年的方式，我在敎会的戱剧表演也是用潮洲话，这些都深刻的烙印在我脑海以及行动里。我确信，学习沟通以及敎学技巧的最佳时机，是在人成长过程中的形塑的阶段。这个阶段使我我能立即明白、轻松的学会许多的直觉的演说技巧。也是这些技巧，让我在医学院、医院、敎会的敎学生涯中成为成为一名有热忱的老师。

A big event occurred when I was about 15 years of age. I remember it was at a church retreat, and the minister was a scholarly lay preacher, Dr. Philip Teng, who later went on to be a very distinguished seminary professor and president in Hong Kong. I remember being very alert in the service, and deciding then and there to make a deliberate decision to follow Jesus, as Lord and Savior: in our church tradition, you could make a public decision by walking forward to the altar, which I did.

在我大约十五岁时，发生了一件大事。我记得那是在教会的退休会，牧者是一位带职事奉的学者传道人–腾近辉博士，他后来也成为香港一名卓越的神学教授与校长。我记得我在布道会时非常警醒，并且谨慎决定要追随耶稣，接受祂成为救主。按我们教会的传统，走向大堂的台前，就代表你公开决定追随耶稣，我就是这么做的。

Up to that point, can you believe, I was a very quiet introverted boy, and didn’t much talk to people! But, once I became a believer, I remember vividly the teaching that it was a wonderful thing to let others know about the “good news.” I came to a logical decision, that I really could not remain quiet, since I had now received such a great gift. So, to many people’s surprise, I began to open up, and start talking with others, and at times to “share my faith” with others, with variable results. Today, you might find it hard to believe I was originally not a talkative person, but in reality, I still have my secret desire, to hide and not talk at all! Which might be why my last phase of life, “writing and hiding,” could be a reversion to my secret introvert life.

你是否相信，我当时是个安静内向的男孩，并且很少与人说话! 但是当我成为基督徒后，我清楚的记得，对人传扬”好消息”是一件美好的事情。我做了个逻辑判定，就是我实在不能继续这样安静，因为我已经接受了最棒的礼物。所以，接下来让许多人非常惊讶，因为我开始敞开心胸与别人谈话，分享我的信仰，尽管结果都不尽相同。今天你可能很难相信，我原本是个不太说话的人。但实际上，我心中仍有个隐藏的渴望，就是过着隐居生活，不与人接触。这也是我人生最后阶段“隐居并专心写作”，这使我回复到我隐藏许久，也就是内向的那一面。

Actually, I think, for my subsequent life path, a most important practical skill I learned from the school was teambuilding and organization. Supposedly the model for the school itself was the legendary Eton School for British aristocracy, in England, transplanted to the colonies. In fact, the British Headmaster of my initial years went on to be Headmaster at one of the second-tier aristocratic schools back in the “home country.”

我认为，对我接下来人生的道路中，最重要的技能，是在学校里所学的团队合作与组织能力。这所学校的模式，按理来说，应是将英国一流的伊顿贵族学校，转植到殖民地。事实上，这所学校的英国籍校长，后来回到英国后成为一所二线贵族学校的校长。

The tradition of British elite schools was clearly to train up a new generation of leaders for society. Elitism is a is a dirty word today, since we think, especially in America, that we should be an egalitarian society, but for those fortunate enough to be trained to lead, it was a great gift. I guess any snobbery that comes with such an elitist system, might have to be unlearned, and which I have tried to temper consciously. I think my new-found faith, and my Swatow church training, helped keep me closer to my non-elitist roots. However, I did have to struggle with pride issues, which you might sense from some of my uncle Reggie stories, like the “Cockroach story.”

英式贵族学校的传统，明显地是要将新的的世代培养成社会的领导者。菁英主义，在现代是个肮脏的字眼，特别是在美国这个强调平等主义的社会。但是对那些有幸被训练成领导者的，这是一份宝贵的礼物。我猜想，任何从这种菁英系统来的势利态度，是我极力且刻意要避免的 。我认为我的信仰，以及在汕头教会的训练，帮助我立足在非菁英的根基上。不过，我过去确实在骄傲上有所挣扎，你可能已经从我其他的故事里意识到这一点，比如说“蟑螂与谦卑”Cockroaches and Humility的故事。

Commonly, in the British school system at the time, high school was considered over, after Form 5, or grade 11 in the American system, when “matriculation courses” were then taken for entrance into college. In Form 6, which is a kind of pre-university, or transition to college year, or even first year college, some teenagers were selected as prefects, which meant that we were given significant responsibility for the discipline of the lower grades. Usually each prefect was assigned to supervise one class of students, and all prefects had the authority to punish misbehavior. The penalties given, of 100 “lines,” or 200 “lines” were like, “I will not fight in the hallways,” or “I will not throw chalk at my classmates.” Simple stuff by today’s standards!

一般来说，当时的英国学校体系，在第五阶段（也就是美国学制的十一年级）之后，高中的教育就算就完成了（注：英国中学不分初中、高中. 中学一共有六阶段） 。学生完成此阶段教育后，能修习大学预科，为接下进入的本科做准备。第六阶段是所谓的大学预科、或者称为进入大学前的过渡期，甚至是大学的第一年。在这阶段，有些学生被点选成为“级长（prefect）”。这些级长，被赋予一项重要的责任，那就是管教低年级的学生。通常一名级长被分配监督一个班级，而且级长们有权力处罚品行不端的学生。处罚的方式是罚写一百遍、或是两百遍“我不会在走廊上打架了”，或是“我不会再对同学丢粉笔了”，这些行为在现今的标准来看相当轻微！

Prefectural law enforcement, though somewhat oppressive, resulted in the law enforcers becoming extremely well disciplined and responsible, and it worked remarkably well, especially in terms of on-the-job leadership training. Also of course, the prefects system works in taking potential misbehaving students out of the pool. It was basically understood also that “it takes a thief to catch a thief.” This was said to be the highly successful British model for the colonies, since locals were always trained and expected to serve and lead their own people. Local leaders would certainly know much better how to handle the underlying culture, much more than the ruling Brits. Good colonial management principles, and the prefect system definitely used a similar logic.

实施这样的管教，虽然听起来有点压迫性，但却使得执行人成为非常守规矩、且负责的人，而且效果出奇的好，尤其是训练领导能力。当然，这个级长制度的运作，除了正常管教的理由之外，也把潜在调皮的学生来挑出来。这也是一般我们了解的“以贼擒贼”。这方式是英国使用在殖民地上的成功模式，因为本地人总是被选出受训，且被期待要服务并且带领他自己的人民，并且，本地的领导者必定比英国的统治者更知道如何处理基层文化。这是个好的殖民管理原理，而级长制度也运用了类似的逻辑。

We had “exotic” discipline problems, since the school attracted international students because of its caliber, including many students from sophisticated Thai parents. The expatriate youth often “boarded” at the school also, under relatively strict supervision. However, supposedly because these Thai students came from rather wealthy backgrounds, they often got into trouble, and became famous for their Thai boxing style fights, meaning bare fists, and legs and feet were freely used. The Thai kids had fights behind the bushes at the periphery of the unusually vast territory of the school, but prefects, who only a year earlier may have hidden in the same bushes, were ready to find them out. Certainly, the younger kids definitely could not outsmart the older ones; whereas, they could have easily outsmarted the teachers. A “great system” indeed.

我们有过非寻常的异国纪律问题， 因为这间学校的水准，吸引了国际学生，里面包括许多双亲来自上流社会的泰国学生。这些移居国外的青少年通常寄宿在学校，并且被严格管教。然而，据说这些泰国的学生，都来自富裕的家庭，因著名的泰拳，也就是一种自由运用空拳搭配腿足的打斗方法，使他们经常惹上麻烦。这些泰国的孩子，经常在辽阔学校土地外围的树丛里打斗，而那些级长，前一年他们可能也躲在同一个树丛中，早就准备好在那边逮人了，那些年幼的孩子当然无法智取年长的，尽管他们能轻易的用计谋胜过老师。这个级长制度的确是个伟大的制度。

Formative years are truly formative. Their impact and imprint stay with us consciously and unconsciously. I believe, personally, the teen years are among the most important for life……. To be continued in part C

那些形塑性格的岁月，确实塑造了人们的性格。这个阶段的影响有意识、无意识的跟随我们。我个人相信，青少年岁月是人生中最重要的阶段之一。未完待续C。