經典的英語美文欣賞 帶翻譯
經典的英語美文欣賞 帶翻譯
學習英語可以是一個枯燥的過程,也可以是一個有趣的過程。小編在此獻上經典英語美文,希望對大家喜歡。
英語經典美文:無知的快樂
It is impossible to take a walk in the country with an average townsman—especially, perhaps, in April or May-without being amazed at the vast continent of his ignorance. It is impossible to take a walk in the country oneself without being amazed at the vast continent of one's own ignorance. Thousands of men and women live and die without knowing the difference between a beech and an elm, between the song of a thrush and the song of a blackbird. Probably in a modern city the man who can distinguish between a thrush's and a blackbird's song is the exception. It is not that we have not seen the birds. It is simply that we have not noticed them. We have been surrounded by birds all our lives, yet so feeble is our observation that many of us could not tell whether or not the chaffinch sings, or the colour of the cuckoo.
和一個普通的城里人在鄉(xiāng)村漫步—特別是,可能在四五月份——你不可能不對他無知的領域之廣而感到驚訝。一個人去鄉(xiāng)間散步,你不可能不對自己無知的領域之廣而感到驚訝。成千上萬的男男女女活著然后死去,一輩子也不知道山毛櫸和榆樹之間有什么區(qū)別,不知道畫眉和黑鸝的啼鳴有什么不同?,F代都市中能辨別畫眉和黑鸝叫聲的人大概是極其罕見的。并非我們沒有見過這兩種鳥兒,僅僅是因為我們從不去注意它們。我們一生中都有鳥兒生活在我們周圍,然而我們的觀察力是如此微弱,以致我們中間許多人弄不清楚蒼頭燕雀是否全唱歌,說不出布谷鳥是什么顏色。
This ignorance, however, is not altogether miserable. Out of it we get the constant pleasure of discovery. Every fact of nature comes to us each spring, if only we are sufficiently ignorant, with the dew still on it. If we have lived half a lifetime without having ever even seen a cuckoo, and know it only as a wandering voice, we are all the more delighted at the spectacle of its runaway flight as it hurries from wood to wood conscious of its crimes, and at the way in which it halts hawk-like in the wind, its long tail quivering, before it dares descend on a hill-side of fir-trees where avenging presences may lurk.
然而,這種無知并不完全是不幸的。從無知中,我們能源源不斷地獲取發(fā)現帶來的喜悅。但愿我們真的一無聽知,那么每到春天,各種自然現象就會帶著清新的露珠呈現在我們眼前。如果我們已生活半生,甚至未曾見過一只布谷鳥,而僅僅把它當成一個四處飄蕩的聲音,那么.當我們親眼目睹它因為自知自己的罪惡在林木間匆匆逃離穿梭,看到它如何如鷹般在風中驟然停止鳴叫,擺動著瑟瑟發(fā)抖的長尾翼,不敢在小山旁的冷杉上停歇,擔心那里危機四伏時,我們一定會更加欣喜。
It would be absurd to pretend that the naturalist does not also find pleasure in observing the life of the birds, but his is a steady pleasure, almost a sober and plodding occupation, compared to the morning enthusiasm of the man who sees a cuckoo for the first time. And, as to that, the happiness even of the naturalist depends in some measure upon his ignorance, which still leaves him new worlds of this kind to conquer.He may have reached the very Z of knowledge in the books, but he still feels half ignorant until he has confirmed each bright particular with his eyes. Assuredly the men of science have no reason as yet to weep over their lost ignorance. There will always be a fortune of ignorance waiting for them under every fact they turn up.
如果假設博物學家在觀察鳥類的生活時發(fā)現不到樂趣,那是荒謬可笑的。和清晨有人第一次看到布谷鳥的興奮相比,博物學家的快樂是穩(wěn)固的,他們的工作是嚴肅和漫長的。為此,甚至是博物學家的幸福在某種程度上也取決他的無知,無知給他留下這類新天地讓他去征服。他的書本知識可能已經達到了頂峰,但是,在他親眼證實每一個光輝的細節(jié)之前,他仍然感到自己是半無知的,無疑,科學家們迄今沒有理由為他們錯過的無知而哭泣。在他們發(fā)掘出的每一個事實下面總將會有一筆無知的財富在等待著他們。
But your and my ignorance is not confined to cuckoos. It dabbles in all created things, from the sun and moon down to the names of the flowers, including nearly everything you and I have taken for granted. One of the greatest joys known to man is to take such a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge. The great pleasure of ignorance is, after all, the pleasure of asking questions. The man who has lost this pleasure or exchanged it for the pleasure of dogma, which is the pleasure of answering, is already beginning to stiffen. Do not forget that Socrates. was famed for wisdom not because he was omniscient but because he realised at the age of seventy that he still knew nothing. Once more I shall see the world as a garden through the eyes of a stranger, my breath taken away with surprise by the painted fields.
但是,你我的無知絕不僅僅局限于布谷鳥,它涉及所有的創(chuàng)造物,上到太陽和月亮,下到百花的名稱,幾乎包括所有你我認為是理所當然的事物。人類感受過的最大快樂之一就是迅速逃到無知中去追求知識。無知的巨大樂趣,歸根結底,是提問的樂趣。已經失去了這種快樂的人,或已經用這種快樂去換取教條的樂趣(即回答問題的樂趣)的人,已經開始僵化。不要忘記蘇格拉底之所以以智慧聞名于世,并不是因為他無所不知而是因為他在70歲的時候認識到他還什么都不知道.而我將再一次用陌生人的眼光來審視這個花園一樣的世界,每當我看到那如畫的田野,我都將驚嘆不已。
美文欣賞:同情心:學會理解別人的痛苦和掙扎
We've all heard the quote, 'Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.'
我們都聽過這句話:“要善良,因為你遇到的每個人都在經歷某種痛苦。”
My husband and son died within two years of each other. From my personal experience, I believe that if we aren't careful, grief can become a rather self-involved process in which we can become so focused on our own suffering that we miss the opportunity to connect with, and possibly bring comfort to, someone else who may be going through a similar experience.
我的丈夫和兒子兩年內相繼去世。從我的個人經驗來看,我相信我們一不小心就會被傷痛左右,以自己為中心,我們會變得過于關注自己的痛苦,而錯失和正經歷相似痛苦的人接觸的機會,也無法給予他們安慰。
Six months after my husband died, I was sinking in the quicksand of grief. I could not pull myself out of the misery.
那時,我真的認為自己的生活要比身邊任何人都不容易。生活給我上了完美的一課,通過這次不幸我認清了一個事實:顧影自憐使我看不到別人,只看到自己。
In that moment, I actually believed that my life was more difficult than anyone else around me. Life handed me a perfectly wrapped lesson that opened my eyes to the fact that through my suffering I had allowed myself to become blinded by my self-pity.
我在健康出現問題時吸取了這個教訓。我的外科手術引發(fā)了并發(fā)癥,最終住院4天。那段時期我極其痛苦,身體的疼痛和精神上的傷痛把我夾在中間,我的生活一團糟。
The lesson presented itself in a health crisis. I had complications from a surgical procedure and ended up being hospitalized for four days. I was in an extreme amount of pain during this time. Between the physical pain and the emotional pain of grief, I was an absolute mess.
我也應該告訴你我是一名注冊護士。對護士而言,很難接受自己成為病人并進行藥物治療這種事。
I should also tell you that I am a Registered Nurse. As a nurse, it is hard to be on the receiving end of medicine as the patient.
住院的前三個晚上同一位護士護理我。她挺年輕,可能快30歲。頭兩個晚上幾乎不怎么跟我說話,除了定期來給我送藥。很明顯她不知道我精神上有多痛苦。問問你的病人感覺怎么樣能有多難?我認定她是不合格的護士,缺乏同情心,而且我依然沉浸在自己精神和身體的痛苦中。
The first three nights that I was in the hospital, the same nurse took care of me. She was young, maybe in her mid to late 20s, and she hardly interacted with me at all the first two nights, other than to give my medications as scheduled. She obviously had no idea how much emotional pain I was in. How hard is it to ask your patient how she's feeling? I wrote her off as a bad nurse who had little empathy, and remained absorbed in my own emotional and physical pain.
第三天晚上這個年輕的護士開始打開了話匣子,她問我感覺怎樣(終于問了!)。我告訴她我正掙扎于沮喪和痛苦之中,因為我丈夫死于一場飛機事故。
The third night the young nurse was a little more talkative. She asked me how I was feeling (finally!). I told her that I was struggling with depression and grief because my husband had died in an airplane accident.
她看著我,跟我說她丈夫就在兩個月前剛剛去世。我有點不知所措,說不出話,我被驚到了!
She looked at me and told me that her husband had died too, just two months earlier. I was stunned. Speechless. Shocked.
Never, in any of the possibilities that my mind entertained of why this nurse was so stand-offish with me, did I even consider that she might be in the same pain I was. Not only was she grieving as I was, but she was having to take care of me, instead of caring for herself and her family.
我從未想過她對我如此冷淡會是因為這個,我甚至都沒想過她可能會有同樣的痛苦。她不僅和我一樣悲痛,而且還要照顧我,而不是照顧她自己和家人。
我們繼續(xù)討論分享我們丈夫和孩子的事,我覺著我們那天晚上都給了彼此一點幫助。
We went on to talk and share our stories about our late husbands and children. I like to think that we helped each other a bit that night.
我們之間的共同點比我想的要多,我們都成了單親媽媽,孩子都還小,而且都是護士。但也就這些了,她丈夫沒有保險,家里經濟來源很少,她就靠著一點工資養(yǎng)活家里的男孩兒們。我覺著自愧不如,我意識到自己該有多知足。坦白說,這次經歷改變了我對生活的看法。
We had much more in common than I would have believed. We were both widowed single moms with young children, and nurses. But, that was where the similarities ended. Her husband had no insurance policy. She had very little family support. She was working paycheck to paycheck to support her boys. I was humbled. I realized how much I had to be grateful for. And, frankly, I never saw life the same way after this experience.
這次的經歷改變了我的生活,之前我總是對自己的同情心引以為傲,但現在我意識到了我根本沒理解同情的真諦。
This experience was a life-changing event for me. I had always prided myself on being an empathetic person, but I realize now that I had not really understood what being empathetic meant.
想要具備真正的同情心,你的眼光必須超越你自己的傷痛,以局外人的角度看待自己的痛苦。從那之后,我看待別人的眼光也不一樣了。
To truly be empathetic, you must be able to see beyond your own pain to be witness to the pain. I never looked at another person in the same way after this experience.
雜貨店的收銀員結賬時有點粗魯,好像還很著急?誰知道他今天、或者這周、或者這一生發(fā)生了什么呢?可能他最近失去了愛人或孩子,可能他蒙受了很多損失,我無法知曉他經歷了什么。我是誰呀,怎么能去評判他呢?
The cashier checking me out at the grocery store who seemed rude and in a hurry? Who knows what was going on in his day, week, life? Maybe he recently lost a spouse or a child. Maybe he has experienced compounded losses. I had no way of knowing what this man was going through. Who was I to judge him?
有些事情我要感謝死亡,它教會了我同情身邊人,使我知道了我們都經受著某種痛苦,而有些是別人看不到的。這些都是死亡饋贈給我的,我會永遠心存感激。
I thank death for very few things. The gift of empathy for my fellow man, and understanding that we all suffer in ways that aren't always visible, are presents from death that I will always be grateful for.
Always take the time to be kind. Even when you're suffering with your own pain. And don't assume that someone else has it easier than you. You never know the battles someone else is fighting.
英語經典美文:孤獨
I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.To be in company,even with the best, is soon wearisome. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. 'The really diligent student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping,and not feel lonesome. beacause he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can "see the folks," and recreate, and,as he thinks. remunerate himself for his day's solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without ennui and "the blues"; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer ire his. and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.
大部分時候,我發(fā)現獨處都是有益于健康的。有人陪伴,即使是最好的同伴,不久也會心生厭煩,興致將消散。我愛獨處。我沒有遇見比孤獨更好的伴侶了。我們置身國外,立行人群之中,通常比獨處室內更加寂寞。一個思考著的或工作著的人總是孤獨的,就讓他去他想去的地方吧。孤獨不是以和同伴之間的距離里程來衡量的。真正勤奮的學生,在劍橋學院一個擁擠的蜂房里,就像沙漠中的苦行僧一樣孤單。農夫可以整日在田間或林中獨自工作,耕地或者伐木,卻并不感到寂寞,因為他有活兒干;可是當他晚上回到家中,卻不能在房間坐下獨自思考,而必須去“能看到鄉(xiāng)親”的地方消遣娛樂,正如他所想的,去補償他五天的孤寂;因此他不明白學生如何可以整日整夜地獨坐在家里,而不感到倦怠和“優(yōu)郁”;但他沒有意識到,學生雖然身處室內,卻依然在自己的田野上耕耘,在自己的森林中采伐.就像農夫在他的田地林間工作一樣,之后學生也和農夫一樣要去尋求消遣,山要去交朋結友,只是娛樂方式可能更加簡明一些。
Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old mushy cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war.We meet at the post office, and at the sociable,and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty communications. Consider the girls in a factory-never alone, hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live.The value of a man is not in his skin.
社會交際往往極其廉價。我們相聚的時間十分短暫,沒有足夠的時間讓彼此獲得任何有價值的新事物。我們在一日三餐的時候見面,我們就如陳腐的奶略,卻讓彼此相互品嘗出新味道。我們必須一致同意若干條規(guī)則,也就是我們所謂的禮節(jié)和禮貌,使這種經常的聚會相安無事,我們還要一致同意我們沒有爭吵的必要。我們在郵局碰面,在社交場合碰面,每天晚上在爐火邊碰面;我們生活得很擁擠,相互干擾,彼此牽絆,我想,我們因此失去了對彼此的尊重。當然,所有重要的、真誠的溝通,次數少一些就足夠了。想一想工廠里的女工——永遠不會獨處,甚至在夢中也難得是獨自一人。如果一平方英里只有一個居民,就像我這樣,那要好多了。一個人的價值不在于他的外在。