稻子熟了，妈妈，我来看您了

作者：袁隆平

本来想一个人静静地陪您说会儿话，安江的乡亲们实在是太热情了，天这么热，他们还一直陪着，谢谢他们了。

I wanted to be alone with you for a while, but An Jiang’s folks were so warm. It was so hot, but they stayed with me. I cannot thank them enough.

妈妈，您在安江，我在长沙，隔得很远很远。我在梦里总是想着您，想着安江这个地方。

Mum, you are in An Jiang, but I am in Changsha, too far away. I think of you and An Jiang in my dreams.

人事难料啊，您这样一位习惯了繁华都市的大家闺秀，最后竟会永远留在这么一个偏远的小山村。

What a surprise! You, a lady who is used to the prosperous city life, will stay in such a remote village forever.

还记得吗？1957年，我要从重庆的大学分配到这儿，是您陪着我，脸贴着地图，手指顺着密密麻麻的细线，找了很久，才找到地图上这么一个小点点。

Do you remember it? In 1957, I was assigned here from the University of Chongqing. It's you who accompanied me, face close to the map, a finger along the thick thin line, looking for a long time, only to find such a small point on the map.

当时您叹了口气说：“孩子，你到那儿，是要吃苦的呀……”我说：“我年轻，我还有一把小提琴。”没想到的是，为了我，为了帮我带小孩，把您也拖到了安江。

At that moment, you sighed and said, “My son, if you insist, you are going to have a hard time there...”I replied, “I am young, and I have a violin (to kill time).”Unexpectedly, for me, to help me with the children, I dragged you to An Jiang.

最后，受累吃苦的，是妈妈您哪！您哪里走得惯乡间的田埂！我总记得，每次都要小孙孙牵着您的手，您才敢走过屋前屋后的田间小道。

In the end, you are the one who suffers a lot! How can you get used to the ridge in the countryside! I always remember that it was only when your grandson took your hand that you dared to walk along the paths around the house.

安江是我的一切，我却忘了，对一辈子都生活在大城市里的您来说，70岁了，一切还要重新来适应。

An Jiang was all I had, but I’ve forgotten that, while you, at the age of 70, after a lifetime in the big city, have to adjust everything again.

我从来没有问过您有什么难处，我总以为会有时间的，会有时间的，等我闲一点一定好好地陪陪您……哪想到，直到您走的时候，我还在长沙忙着开会。

I have never asked you what is difficult, and I always think there will be time, and that I will be a little leisure to accompany you... But even the day when you leave me forever, I am still busy in a conference in Changsha.

那天正好是中秋节，全国的同行都来了，搞杂交水稻不容易啊，我又是召集人，怎么着也得陪大家过这个节啊，只是儿子永远亏欠妈妈您了……其实我知道，那个时候已经是您的最后时刻。

That day happened to be the Mid-autumn Festival when all the counterparts from all over the country came. It's not easy to develop hybrid rice. I was also the convener. I had to accompany everyone at all times for this festival. Ah, mum, I, as a son, owe you too much. In fact, I know, it will be your last moment.

我总盼望着妈妈您能多撑两天。谁知道，即便是天不亮就往安江赶，我还是没能见上妈妈您最后一面。

I always hoped, mother, that you would wait for me two more days.  Unexpectedly, even if I hurried to An Jiang before dawn, I still failed to have the last sight our you, my dear mom.

太晚了，一切都太晚了，我真的好后悔。妈妈，当时您一定等了我很久，盼了我很长，您一定有很多话要对儿子说，有很多事要交代。

It’s too late, really too late. I’m so sorry. Mum, you must have been waiting for me for a long time, looking forward to seeing your own son, with lots of words to say to your son, and many things to explain...

可我怎么就那么糊涂呢！这么多年，为什么我就不能少下一次田，少做一次实验，少出一天差，坐下来静静地好好陪陪您。哪怕……哪怕就一次。

But how could I have been so stupid! After all these years, why can’t I just have one less time in the field, one less experiment in the lab, one less day on business, and only just sit down quietly with you. Just... just once.

妈妈，每当我的研究取得成果，每当我在国际讲坛上谈笑风生，每当我接过一座又一座奖杯，我总是对人说，这辈子对我影响最深的人就是妈妈您啊！

Mum, whenever my research results, whenever I talk in the International Forum, and whenever I received a cup after another, I always say to people, you, my mom, are the person who has the most profound impacts on me!

无法想象，没有您的英语启蒙，在一片闭塞中，我怎么能够阅读世界上最先进的科学文献，用超越那个时代的视野，去寻访遗传学大师孟德尔和摩尔根？

I can’t imagine how, without your English Enlightenment, I would have been able to read the world’s most advanced scientific literature and reach out to the genetic masters Gregor Mendel and Morgan with a vision that transcended that era?

无法想象，在那个颠沛流离的岁月中，从北平到汉口，从桃源到重庆，没有您的执著和鼓励，我怎么能获得系统的现代教育，获得在大江大河中自由翱翔的胆识？

I can’t imagine how I could have obtained a systematic modern education and the courage to swim freely in the rivers and lakes without your persistent encouragement from Bac Binh(Beijing) to Hankou, and Taoyuan to Chongqing?

无法想象，没有您在摇篮前跟我讲尼采，讲这位昂扬着生命力、意志力的伟大哲人，我怎么能够在千百次的失败中坚信，必然有一粒种子可以使万千民众告别饥饿？

I can’t imagine how I could have believed, in a thousand failures, that there must be a seed that would end hunger, without you telling me in my cradle about Nitze, the great philosopher of life and will?

他们说，我用一粒种子改变了世界。我知道，这粒种子，是妈妈您在我幼年时种下的！

People say I have changed the world with one seed. But I know, this seed was planted in my childhood by you, my dear mom.

稻子熟了，妈妈，您能闻到吗？安江可好？那里的田埂是不是还留着熟悉的欢笑？

The rice is ripe, mum. Can you smell it? How’s An Jiang? Are your familiar smiling faces still left along the ridges of fields?

隔着21年的时光，我依稀看见，小孙孙牵着您的手，走过稻浪的背影；我还要告诉您，一辈子没有耕种过的母亲，稻芒划过手掌，稻草在场上堆积成垛，谷子在阳光中毕剥作响，水田在西晒下泛出橙黄的味道。这都是儿子要跟您说的话，说不完的话啊…妈妈，稻子熟了，我想您了！

It has been 21 years, but I can still see the scene your little grandson holds your hand and walks behind you, with the hybrid rice waving aside. I also want to tell you that my mother, who had never tilled in her life, has a grain in her hand, with the paddy fields smelling fragrant in the orange west Sun. These are the words that I want to say to you, endless words... mum. Rice is ripe, mum, I miss you!