英語(yǔ)經(jīng)典的優(yōu)美文章欣賞
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生活的藝術(shù)
The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go. For life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way: “A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open.”
生活的藝術(shù)在于懂得什么時(shí)候追求，什么時(shí)候放棄。因?yàn)樯罹褪且粋€(gè)矛盾體：它要我們緊緊抓住它賜予我們的生命之禮，然后最終又讓它們從我們手中跑掉。老先生們說(shuō)：“人們緊握著拳頭來(lái)到這個(gè)世界上，離開(kāi)這個(gè)世界時(shí)卻攤開(kāi)了雙手。”
Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God’s own earth. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.
當(dāng)然我們應(yīng)該緊緊把握生活，因?yàn)樗烂畹貌豢伤甲h，充滿了從上帝的每個(gè)毛孔里蹦出來(lái)的美。我們都清楚這一點(diǎn)，但我們常常只有在回首往事時(shí)才會(huì)想去過(guò)去，才會(huì)突然意識(shí)到過(guò)去永遠(yuǎn)地消逝了，才會(huì)承認(rèn)這個(gè)道理。
We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned. But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.
我們都記得美的褪去，愛(ài)的老去。但我們更痛苦地記得美正艷時(shí)，我們卻沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)，愛(ài)正濃時(shí)，我們卻沒(méi)有回應(yīng)。
Here then is the first pole of life’s paradoxical demands on us: Never too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. Be reverent before each dawning day. Embrace each hour. Seize each golden minute.
這就是生活對(duì)我們自己自相矛盾要求的第一步：永遠(yuǎn)不要因?yàn)槊β刀雎粤怂钠婷詈颓f嚴(yán)。對(duì)即將到來(lái)的每一天，我們都要心懷敬意，擁抱沒(méi)一小時(shí)，抓住每一分鐘。
Hold fast to life... but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life’s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.
抓住生活，但不要抓得太緊，以至你放不下手。這就是生活像硬幣一樣也有另一面，也是生活矛盾的另一極：我們必須接受放棄，并且學(xué)會(huì)怎樣讓它過(guò)去。
This is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the full force of our passionate being can, nay, will, be ours. But then life moves along to confront us with realities, and slowly but surely this truth dawns upon us.
學(xué)會(huì)這些并非易事。特別是年少輕狂的時(shí)候，我們自認(rèn)為是世界的主宰者，認(rèn)為只要充滿激情地全力追求，就可以得到一切。然而，事實(shí)并非如此。只有在面對(duì)種種現(xiàn)實(shí)時(shí)，我們才會(huì)漸漸沒(méi)明白這個(gè)道理。
At every stage of life we sustain losses—and grow in the process. We begin our independent lives only when we emerge from the womb and lose its protective shelter. We enter a progression of schools, then we leave our mothers and fathers and our childhood homes. We get married and have children and then have to let them go. We confront the death of our parents and our spouses. We face the gradual or not so gradual waning of our strength. And ultimately, as the parable of the open and closed hand suggests, we must confront the inevitability of our own demise, losing ourselves as it were, all that we were or dreamed to be.
在人生的各個(gè)階段，我們都會(huì)蒙受損失——并且在這一過(guò)程中成長(zhǎng)。只有在脫離母體.失去庇護(hù)所時(shí)，我們才會(huì)開(kāi)始獨(dú)立的生活。我們不斷地升學(xué)，接著又離開(kāi)父母，離開(kāi)兒時(shí)的故鄉(xiāng)。繼而，我們結(jié)婚生子，然后又放手讓自己的子女出去闖蕩。隨著父母和配偶的相繼離世，我們也逐漸或者很快衰老。最終，正如雙手張開(kāi)與緊握這一寓言所說(shuō)，我們必須面對(duì)自身的死亡，失去原來(lái)的自我，失去我們擁有過(guò)或者憧憬過(guò)的一切。
勤勞的意義
The significant inscription found on an old key "If I rest, I rust" would be an excellent motto for those who are afflicted with the slightest taint of idleness. Even the most industrious might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.
在一把舊鑰匙上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一則意義深遠(yuǎn)的銘文——如果我休息，我就會(huì)生銹。對(duì)于那些懶散而煩惱的人來(lái)說(shuō)，這將是至理名言。甚至最為勤勉的人也以此作為警示：如果一個(gè)人有才能而不用，就像廢棄鑰匙上的鐵一樣，這些才能就會(huì)很快生銹，并最終無(wú)法完成安排給自己的工作。
Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture --- every department of human endeavor.
有些人想取得偉人所獲得并保持的成就，他們就必須不斷運(yùn)用自身才能，以便開(kāi)啟知識(shí)的大門(mén)，即那些通往人類(lèi)努力探求的各個(gè)領(lǐng)域的大門(mén)，這些領(lǐng)域包括各種職業(yè)：科學(xué)，藝術(shù)，文學(xué)，農(nóng)業(yè)等。
Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness. Had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer
勤奮使開(kāi)啟成功寶庫(kù)的鑰匙保持光亮。如果休米勒在采石場(chǎng)勞作一天后，晚上的時(shí)光用來(lái)休息消遣的話，他就不會(huì)成為名垂青史的地質(zhì)學(xué)家。著名數(shù)學(xué)家愛(ài)德蒙斯通如果閑暇時(shí)無(wú)所事事，就不會(huì)出版數(shù)學(xué)詞典，也不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)開(kāi)啟數(shù)學(xué)之門(mén)的鑰匙。如果蘇格蘭青年弗格森在山坡上放羊時(shí)，讓他那思維活躍的大腦處于休息狀態(tài)，而不是借助一串珠子計(jì)算星星的位置，他就不會(huì)成為著名的天文學(xué)家。
Labor vanquishes all --- not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directed labor, but faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success.
勞動(dòng)征服一切。這里所指的勞動(dòng)不是斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的，間歇性的或方向偏差的勞動(dòng)，而是堅(jiān)定的，不懈的，方向正確的每日勞動(dòng)。正如要想擁有自由就要時(shí)刻保持警惕一樣，要想取得偉大的，持久的成功，就必須堅(jiān)持不懈地努力。
木匠的故事
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurel life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week ,but he wanted to retire. They could get by.
有個(gè)老木匠準(zhǔn)備退休，他告訴老板，說(shuō)要離開(kāi)建造行業(yè)，回家與妻子兒女享受天倫之樂(lè)。雖然老板給他的工資很高，可是，他更想享受退休生活。生活總能維持下去。
The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes,but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.
老板很不舍得他的好工人離開(kāi)，問(wèn)他是否能幫忙再建一座房子。老木匠答應(yīng)了。但是大家后來(lái)都看得出來(lái)，他的心已不在工作上，他使用的是次料，做工也很粗糙。這真是一種令人遺憾的結(jié)束自己全心全意所從事的事業(yè)的方式。
When the carpenter finished his work ,his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said,"This is your house. . . my gift to you. "
房子建好的時(shí)候，老板前來(lái)視察，然后把大門(mén)的鑰匙遞給他，說(shuō)道：“這是你的房子……是我送給你的禮物。”
The carpenter was shocked!
老木匠驚呆了!
What a shame!If he had only known he was building his own house,he would have done it all so differently.
真是丟臉啊!如果他早知道是在給自己建房子，他一定不會(huì)這么應(yīng)付了事的。
So it is with us . We build our lives, a day at a time,often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock;we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over,we would do it much differently.
我們又何嘗不是這樣。我們漫不經(jīng)心地“建造”自己的生活，不是積極行動(dòng)，而是消極應(yīng)付，凡事不肯精益求精，在關(guān)鍵時(shí)刻不能盡最大努力。等我們驚覺(jué)自己的處境，早已深困在自己建造的“房子”里了。如果能夠重新來(lái)過(guò)，我們一定不會(huì)這么做。
But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter,and everyday you hammer a nail,place a board ,or erect a wall,Someone once said,"Life is a do-it-yourself project. "Your attitude and the choices you made today,help build the "house"you will live in tomorrow. Therefore,build wisely!
但是，你永遠(yuǎn)也無(wú)法回到過(guò)去。你就是那個(gè)木匠，在建造“生活”這所房子，每天敲進(jìn)去一顆釘，加上去一塊板，或者砌起一面墻。有人曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)：“生活就是一項(xiàng)DIY的工程”。你今天的態(tài)度與選擇決定了你明天會(huì)住在什么樣的“房子”里。因此，用你的智慧去建造你的"房子"吧!
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