英語美文欣賞帶翻譯大全
英語美文欣賞帶翻譯大全
現(xiàn)代社會隨著經(jīng)濟全球化的發(fā)展,在我們的生活中交際變得越來越重要了,英語在日常的交際中擔當著更加重要的角色。下面是學習啦小編帶來的英語美文欣賞帶翻譯,歡迎閱讀!
英語美文欣賞帶翻譯篇一
伯•羅素:論老之將至
In spite of the title,this article will really be on how not to grow old,which,at my time of life,is a much more important subject. My first advice would be to choose your ancestors carefully. Although both my parents died young,I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. My maternal grandfather,it is true,was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven,but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty. Of remote ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age,and he died of a disease which is now rare,namely,having his head cut off. A great-grandmother of mine,who was a friend of Gibbon,lived to the age of ninety-two,and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants. My maternal grandmother,after having nine children who survived,one who died in infancy,and many miscarriages,as soon as she became a widow devoted herself to women‘s higher education. She was one of the founders of Girton College,and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women. She used to relate how she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad. She inquired the cause of his melancholy and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren.“Good gracious,”she exclaimed,“I have seventy-two grandchildren,and if I were sad each time I parted from one of them,I should have a dismal existence!”“Madre snaturale,”he replied. But speaking as one of the seventy-two,I prefer her recipe. After the age of eighty she found she had some difficulty in getting to sleep,so she habitually spent the hours from midnight to 3 a.m. in reading popular science. I do not believe that she ever had time to notice that she was growing old. This,I think,is the proper recipe for remaining young. If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective,you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived,still less of the probable brevity of your future.
As regards health,I have nothing useful to say since I have little experience of illness. I eat and drink whatever I like,and sleep when I cannot keep awake. I never do anything whatever on the ground that it is good for health,though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.
Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories,in regrets for the good old days,or in sadness about friends who are dead. One‘s thoughts must be directed to the future,and to things about which there is something to be done. This is not always easy;one’s own past is a gradually increasing weight. It is easy to think to oneself that one‘s emotions used to be more vivid than they are,and one’s mind more keen. If this is true it should be forgotten,and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.
The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of sucking vigor from its vitality. When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives,and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young,you are likely to become a burden to them,unless they are unusually callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them,but one‘s interest should be contemplative and,if possible,philanthropic,but not unduly emotional. Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves,but human beings,owing to the length of infancy,find this difficult.
I think that a successful old age is easier for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful,and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes,both because they will not believe you,and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests,you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and grandchildren. In that case you must realize that while you can still render them material services,such as making them an allowance or knotting them jumpers,you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.
Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in a battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows,and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do,the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it——so at least it seems to me——is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal,until bit by bit the walls of the the ego recede,and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river——small at first,narrowly contained within its banks,and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider,the banks recede,the waters flow more quietly,and in the end,without any visible break,they become merged in the sea,and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who,in old age,can see his life in this way,will not suffer form the fear of death,since the things he cares for will continue. And if,with the decay of vitality,weariness increases,the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work,knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do,and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.
論老之將至
雖然有這樣一個標題,這篇文章真正要談的卻是怎樣才能不老。在我這個年紀,這實在是一個至關(guān)重要的問題。我的第一個忠告是,要仔細選擇你的祖先。盡管我的雙親皆屬早逝,但是考慮到我的其他祖先,我的選擇還是很不錯的。是的,我的外祖父六十七歲時去世,正值盛年,可是另外三位祖父輩的親人都活到八十歲以上。至于稍遠些的親戚,我只發(fā)現(xiàn)一位沒能長壽的,他死于一種現(xiàn)已罕見的病癥:被殺頭。我的一位曾祖母是吉本的朋友,她活到九十二歲高齡,一直到死,她始終是讓子孫們?nèi)几械骄次返娜?。我的外祖母,一輩子生了十個孩子,活了九個,還有一個早年夭折,此外還有過多次流產(chǎn)??墒鞘毓岩院?,她馬上就致力于婦女的高等教育事業(yè)。她是格頓學院的創(chuàng)辦人之一,力圖使婦女進入醫(yī)療行業(yè)。她總好講起她在意大利遇到過的一位面容悲哀的老年紳士。她詢問他憂郁的緣故,他說他剛剛同兩個孫兒女分手。“天哪!”她叫道,“我有七十二個孫兒孫女,如果我每次分手就要悲傷不已,那我早就沒法活了!”“奇怪的母親。”他回答說。但是,作為她的七十二個孫兒孫女的一員,我卻要說我更喜歡她的見地。上了八十歲,她開始感到有些難以入睡,她便經(jīng)常在午夜時分至凌晨三時這段時間里閱讀科普方面的書籍。我想她根本就沒有功夫去留意她在衰老。我認為,這就是保持年輕的最佳方法。如果你的興趣和活動既廣泛又濃烈,而且你又能從中感到自己仍然精力旺盛,那么你就不必去考慮你已經(jīng)活了多少年這種純粹的統(tǒng)計學情況,更不必去考慮你那也許不很長久的未來。
至于健康,由于我這一生幾乎從未患過病,也就沒有什么有益的忠告。我吃喝均隨心所欲,醒不了的時候就睡覺。我做事情從不以它是否有益健康為依據(jù),盡管實際上我喜歡做的事情通常都是有益健康的。
從心理角度講,老年需防止兩種危險。一是過分沉湎于往事。人不能生活在回憶當中,不能生活在對美好往昔的懷念或?qū)θナ赖挠讶说陌钪?。一個人應當把心思放在未來,放到需要自己去做點什么的事情上。要做到這一點并非輕而易舉,往事的影響總是在不斷增加。人們總好認為自己過去的情感要比現(xiàn)在強烈得多,頭腦也比現(xiàn)在敏銳。假如真的如此,就該忘掉它;而如果可以忘掉它,那你自以為是的情況就可能并不是真的。
另一件應當避免的事是依戀年輕人,期望從他們的勃勃生氣中獲取力量。子女們長大成人以后,都想按照自己的意愿生活。如果你還想象她們年幼時那樣關(guān)心他們,你就會成為他們的包袱,除非她們是異常遲鈍的人。我不是說不應該關(guān)心子女,而是說這種關(guān)心應該是含蓄的,假如可能的話,還應是寬厚的,而不應該過分地感情用事。動物的幼子一旦自立,大動物就不再關(guān)心它們了。人類則因其幼年時期較長而難于做到這一點。
我認為,對于那些具有強烈的愛好,其活動又都恰當適宜、并且不受個人情感影響的人們,成功地度過老年決非難事。只有在這個范圍里,長壽才真正有益;只有在這個范圍里,源于經(jīng)驗的智慧才能得到運用而不令人感到壓抑。告誡已經(jīng)成人的孩子別犯錯誤是沒有用處的,因為一來他們不會相信你,二來錯誤原本就是教育所必不可少的要素之一。但是,如果你是那種受個人情感支配的人,你就會感到,不把心思都放在子女和孫兒女身上,你就會覺得生活很空虛。假如事實確是如此,那么你必須明白,雖然你還能為他們提供物質(zhì)上的幫助,比如支援他們一筆錢或者為他們編織毛線外套的時候,決不要期望他們會因為你的陪伴而感到快樂。
有些老人因害怕死亡而苦惱。年輕人害怕死亡是可以理解的。有些年輕人擔心他們會在戰(zhàn)斗中喪身。一想到會失去生活能夠給予他們的種種美好事務,他們就感到痛苦。這種擔心并不是無緣無故的,也是情有可原的。但是,對于一位經(jīng)歷了人世的悲歡、履行了個人職責的老人,害怕死亡就有些可憐且可恥了??朔@種恐懼的最好辦法是——至少我是這樣看的——逐漸擴大你的興趣范圍并使其不受個人情感的影響,直至包圍自我的圍墻一點一點地離開你,而你的生活則越來越融合于大家的生活之中。每一個人的生活都應該象河水一樣——開始是細小的,被限制在狹窄的兩岸之間,然后熱烈地沖過巨石,滑下瀑布。漸漸地,河道變寬了,河岸擴展了,河水流得更平穩(wěn)了。最后,河水流入了海洋,不再有明顯的間斷和停頓,而后便毫無痛苦地擺脫了自身的存在。能夠這樣理解自己一生的老人,將不會因害怕死亡而痛苦,因為他所珍愛的一切都將繼續(xù)存在下去。而且,如果隨著精力的衰退,疲倦之感日漸增加,長眠并非是不受歡迎的念頭。我渴望死于尚能勞作之時,同時知道他人將繼續(xù)我所未竟的事業(yè),我大可因為已經(jīng)盡了自己之所能而感到安慰。
Bertrand Russell
英語美文欣賞帶翻譯篇二
垂釣者(The Fishermen )
There was a group called“The Fisherman‘s Fellowship”。They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish,and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing!!
在一個河湖密布魚蝦成群的地方成立了一個“釣魚者協(xié)會”,協(xié)會的每個成員都是釣魚的熱衷者,他們時常聚在一起暢談釣魚的心得和釣魚所帶來的種種歡樂。
Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing,so they carefully defined and redefined fishing,and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman,and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world?How does the fisherman appear to the fish?What do fish eat,and when?These are all good things to know. So they began research studies,and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to far away places to study different kinds of fish,with different habits. Some got PhD‘s in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing.
其中還有人提出應該對釣魚形成一套理論,因此,他們謹慎地對釣魚和釣魚的目的進行了反復的定義,甚至還得出了關(guān)于釣魚的戰(zhàn)略和戰(zhàn)術(shù)。但很快他們又意識到這樣去研究釣魚其實是一個倒退,因為他們?nèi)匀皇菑臐O夫的角度而不是從魚本身的角度來探討釣魚這一行為的。世界在魚的眼里究竟是怎么樣的?漁夫的出現(xiàn)對魚又意味著什么?魚吃什么,何時進食?這些才是需要弄懂的問題,于是他們又開始了新的調(diào)查研究,參加各種各樣的關(guān)于釣魚的討論會,有些人還不辭千里到各地研究不同種類、不同習性的魚,甚至有些還成為了研究魚類的理論博士,但是他們當中沒有一個真正去釣過魚。
So a committee was formed to send out fishermen. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fishermen,the committee needed to determine priorities.
考慮到可供釣魚的地方多而釣魚者少,協(xié)會為此還專門成立了一個委員會來評估各種釣魚場所,并給這些場所先后排名。
A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still,no one was fishing. A survey was launched,to find out why…Most did not answer the survey,but from those that did,it was discovered that some felt called to study fish,a few to furnish fishing equipment,and several to go around encouraging the fisherman.
于是,協(xié)會各個大廳的公告欄上都貼了一份名冊表注明哪些地方可以優(yōu)先釣魚,但結(jié)果還是沒有誰去釣。為什么會出現(xiàn)這樣的現(xiàn)象呢?協(xié)會又發(fā)起了問卷調(diào)查,大部分人沒有反應,但從那些填寫了問卷的人可以得知,有些人是在忙著研究魚類,有些是在忙著完善釣魚的裝備,還有一些正在忙著到處發(fā)動人們?nèi)メ烎~。
What with meetings,conferences,and seminars,they just simply didn‘t have time to fish.
太多的聚會,太多的研討會要開,使得他們根本就沒有時間去釣魚。
Now,Jake was a newcomer to the Fisherman‘s Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship,Jake went fishing. He tried a few things,got the hang of it,and caught a choice fish. At the next meeting,he told his story,and he was honored for his catch,and then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it. Now,because of all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fisherman’s Fellowship,Jake no longer has time to go fishing.
杰克是協(xié)會里的一名新人,在開完一次激動人心的會議后,他就跑去釣魚了。在試過好多方法之后,他掌握了其中的竅門,釣上了一條上等大魚。在接下來的一次會議上,杰克的釣魚經(jīng)驗引起了大家的興趣,跟著在協(xié)會的所有會議上,都要邀請杰克談一番他是如何釣上那條魚的。如今,因為要忙著去應付演講,已成為協(xié)會董事的杰克再抽不出時間可以去釣魚了。
But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking,he resigned from the board,and he said to a friend,“Let‘s go fishing.”They did,just the two of them,and they caught fish.
很快的杰克開始覺得不安和空虛了,他渴望能再次體會到魚上鉤收線時的那種感覺,所以他決定不再演講了并辭去了董事一職,他對一個朋友說:“我們釣魚去吧!”于是他們兩個人就去釣魚去了,而且還釣到了魚。
The members of the Fisherman‘s Fellowship were many,the fish were plentiful,but the fishers were few.
釣魚者協(xié)會的會員很多,水里的魚也很多,但真正的釣魚者卻沒有幾個。
英語美文欣賞帶翻譯篇三
希•白洛克:對貓一席話
he other day I went into the bar of a railway station and,taking a glass of bear,I sat down at a little table by myself to meditate upon the necessary but tragic isolation of the human soul. I began my meditation by consoling myself with the truth that something in common runs through all nature,but I went on to consider that this cut no ice,and that the heart needed something more. I might by long research have discovered some third term a little less hackneyed than these two,when fate,or some fostering star,sent me a tawny silky,long-haired cat.
If it be true that nations have the cats they deserve,then the English people deserve well in cats,for there are none so prosperous or so friendly in the world. But even for an English cat this cat was exceptionally friendly and fine——especially friendly. It leapt at one graceful bound into my lap,nestled there,put out an engaging right front paw to touch my arm with a pretty timidity by way of introduction,rolled up at me an eye of bright but innocent affection,and then smiled a secret smile of approval.
No man could be timid after such an approach as not to make some manner of response. So did I. I even took the liberty of stroking Amathea(for by that name did I receive this vision),and thought I began this gesture in a respectful fashion,after the best models of polite deportment with strangers,I was soon lending it some warmth,for I was touched to find that I had a friend;yes,even here,at the ends of the tubes in S.W. 99. I proceeded(as is right)from caress to speech,and said,“Amathea,most beautiful of cats,why have you deigned to single me out for so much favor?Did you recognize in me a friend to all that breathes,or were you yourself suffering form loneliness(though I take it you are near your own dear home),or is there pity in the hearts of animals as there is in the hearts of some humans?What,then,was your motive?Or am I,indeed,foolish to ask,and not rather to take whatever good comes to me in whatever way form the gods?”
To these questions Amathea answered with a loud purring noise,expressing with closed eyes of ecstasy her delight in the encounter.
“I am more than flattered,Amathea,”said I,by way of answer:“I am consoled. I did not know that there was in the world anything breathing and moving,let alone so tawny-perfect,who would give companionship for its own sake and seek out,through deep feeling,some one companion out of all living kind. If you do not address me in words I know the reason and I commend it;for in words lie the seeds of all dissension,and love at its most profound is silent. At least,I read that in a book,Amathea;yes,only the other day. But I confess that the book told me nothing of those gestures which are better than words,or of that caress which I continue to bestow upon you with all the gratitude of my poor heart.”
To this Amathea made a slight gesture of acknowledgement——not disdainful——wagging her head a little,and then settling it down in deep content.
“Oh,beautiful-haired Amathea,many have praised you before you found me to praise you,and many will praise you,some in your own tongue,when I am no longer held in the bonds of your presence. But none will praise you more sincerely. For there is not a man living who knows better than I that the four charms of a cat lie in its closed eyes,its long and lovely hair,its silence,and even its affected love.”
But at the word affected Amathea raised her head,looked up at me tenderly,once more put forth her paw to touch my arm,and then settled down again to a purring beatitude.
“You are secure,”said I sadly:“mortality is not before you. There is in your complacency no foreknowledge of death nor even of separation. And for that reason,Cat,I welcome you the more. For if there has been given to your kind this repose in common living,why,then,we men also may find it by following your example and not considering too much what may be to come and not remembering too much what has been and will never return. Also,I thank you,for this,Amathea,my sweet Euplokamos”(for I was becoming a little familiar through an acquaintance of a full five minutes and from the absence of all recalcitrance),“that you have reminded me of my youth,and in a sort of shadowy way,a momentary way,have restored it to me. For there is an age,a blessed youthful age(O my Cat)even with the miserable race of men,when all things are consonant with the life of the body,when sleep is regular and long and deep,when enmities are either unknown or a subject for rejoicing and when the whole of being is lapped in hope as you are now lapped on my lap,Amathea. Yes,we also,we of the doomed race,know peace. But whereas you possess it from blind kittenhood to that last dark day so mercifully short with you,we grasp it only for a very little while. But I would not sadden you by the mortal plaint. That would be treason indeed,and a vile return for your goodness. What!When you have chosen me out of seven London millions upon whom to confer the tender solace of heart,when you have proclaimed yourself so suddenly to be my dear,shall I introduce you to the sufferings of those of whom you know nothing save that they feed you,house you and pass you by?At least you do not take us for gods,as do the dogs,and the more am I humbly beholden to you for this little service of recognition——and something more.”
Amathea slowly raised herself upon her four feet,arched her back,yawned,looked up at me with a smile sweeter than ever and then went round and round,preparing for herself a new couch upon my coat,where on she settled and began once more to purr in settled ecstasy.
Already had I made sure that a rooted and anchored affection had come to me from out the emptiness and nothingness of the world and was to feed my soul henceforward;already had I changed the mood of long years and felt a conversion towards the life of things,an appreciation,a cousinship with the created light——and all that through one new link of loving kindness——when whatever it is that dashes the cup of bliss from the lips of mortal man(Tupper)up and dashed it good and hard. It was the Ancient Enemy who put the fatal sentence into my heart,for we are the playthings of the greater powers,and surely some of them are evil.
“You will never leave me. Amathea,”I said:“I will respect your sleep and we will sit here together through all uncounted time,I holding you in my arms and you dreaming of the fields of Paradise. Nor shall anything part us. Amathea;you are my cat and I am your human. Now and onwards into the fullness of peace.”
Then it was that Amathea lifted herself once more,and with delicate,discreet,unweighted movement of perfect limbs leapt lightly to the floor as lovely as a wave. She walked slowly away form me without so much as looking back over her shoulder;she had another purpose in her mind;and as she so gracefully and so majestically neared the door which she was seeking,a short,unpleasant man standing at the bar said“Puss,Puss,Puss!”and stooped to scratch her gently behind the ear. With what a wealth of singular affection,pure and profound,did she not gaze up at him,and then rub herself against his leg in token and external expression of a sacramental friendship that should never die.
前些日子,我走進火車站一家酒吧,買了一杯啤酒便獨自在一張小桌旁坐下,默想孤獨的靈魂雖屬必然卻也可悲。開始想時還以為萬物總有某種相同之處,尚可聊以自慰,不過繼而一想,這不解決問題,人心還需要更多的東西。正當我可能通過長期研究發(fā)現(xiàn)不象靈魂、人心二詞那么陳腐的第三個術(shù)語時,忽然,命運或福星給我送來一只毛光如絲的茶色長毛貓。
各國的人都有值得他們稱道的貓,如果此話不假,那么英國人則應當好好稱道他們的貓,因為世上沒有如此順遂如此友善的貓。但即便就英國貓而言,我這只貓格外友善聰明——尤其是友善。它輕輕一跳,跳到我的懷里,舒舒服服安頓下來,伸出可愛的右前爪,非常小心地碰碰我的胳膊,算是做了介紹,那眼光里充滿乖巧然而天真的友愛,打量我,然后暗暗一笑,表示認可了。
經(jīng)過這般親近之后,誰也不會膽小得不作某種回答。我作了回答。我甚至冒昧地撫摩阿瑪西亞(我正因這名字才有這番幻想);雖然我以尊重的方式開始作此表示,完全以最佳的對待陌生者的有禮態(tài)度為典范,但很快就增加了幾分親熱,因為我發(fā)現(xiàn)我有了一個朋友而感動不已;是的,即便在這里,西南99路的地鐵終點站。我繼而(作法是得當?shù)?由撫摩轉(zhuǎn)入說話,說道:“阿瑪西亞,美麗之極的貓,你為了得到寵愛為何偏偏挑中了我呢?是你看出我是一切有生命之物的朋友,還是你自己也因孤獨而痛苦(盡管我相信你離你自己心愛的家很近),還是因為動物之心如同某些人的心一樣有憐憫之情?那么,你的動機是什么?我這樣問實在是蠢,天神以任何方式賜給我的任何幸福難道我反而不愿接受了?”
對這些問題,阿瑪西亞都已很響的咕嚕聲作了回答,以欣喜的緊閉的眼睛表示它對這次邂逅相逢感到高興。
“我無比榮幸,阿瑪西亞,”我說,算是回答:“我得到了安慰。我原先不知道世上有生命能活動的東西,當然更不用說有如此完美的茶色貓了,會為了自身起見愿意獻出友誼,而且以奧妙的感情從各種有生之物當中尋求某一個同伴。如果你不用言語跟我交談,我知道是何原因并且表示稱贊;因為一切分歧的根源就在于言語,而最意味深長的友愛總是無言的。至少,這是我從一本書上讀到的,阿瑪西亞;是啊,就在前些日子。但是我承認,我這勝過言詞的表示不是這本書告訴我的,我以我脆弱的心靈的感激之情繼續(xù)向你表示的愛撫也不是這本書告訴我的。”
阿瑪西亞對此略表謝意——并無輕蔑之意——微微地搖搖頭,然后稱心如意地安頓下來。
“啊,美麗的阿瑪西亞,你發(fā)現(xiàn)我贊美你之前已有許多人贊美過你了,當我不再隸屬于你時,將要贊美你的還會多得很,有的會用你的語言贊美你。但是不會有人比我更真誠地贊美你。因為,世上沒有一個活著的人比我更了解貓的四大魅力就在于它那緊閉的眼睛,漂亮的長毛,無言,甚至還在于它那種假情假意的友愛。”
阿瑪西亞聽到“假”這個字時,抬起頭,敏感地仰望著我,又伸出右前爪碰碰我的胳膊,然后又安頓下來,咕嚕咕嚕,好不幸福。
“你是安全的啊,”我哀傷地說,“你面前不存在人終有一死的問題。你自得其樂,對生離死別都無先見之明。唯其如此,貓啊,我才越發(fā)歡迎你。因為,如果你們貓類樂于在塵世悠然自得,那么,我們?nèi)祟愐苍S能通過效法你們,不過多考慮將來,也不過多回憶以往那早已逝去而且永不再回來的一切,從而悠然自得。還有我還要感謝你,阿瑪西亞,我可愛的尤普洛卡謨(相識已有整整五分鐘,也未見有何不順從的表示,所以我變得親熱些了)。”你使我想起了我的青年時代,你夢幻般地、瞬息間地把我的青年時代歸還給了我。因為,(哦,我的貓啊!)就連不幸的人類也有過一個時代,一個幸福的青年時代。那時候,萬物皆與肉體生活協(xié)調(diào)一致,睡眠有規(guī)律而且睡得久,睡得熟;仇恨或是無從知曉或是成了尋樂的話題;整個生命躺在希望的懷抱中,就象你現(xiàn)在安睡在我膝上一樣,阿瑪西亞。是的,我們,我們這受詛咒的人類也懂得安寧平和。不過,你們從懵懵懂懂、活蹦亂跳的幼年到幸好極其短暫的那個倒霉的末日,都保持著安寧而不變,而我們把握住安寧而不變,而我們把握住安寧的時間卻極其短暫。但我不愿以生命必有終結(jié)的哀嘆使你悲傷。那樣做實在是不忠,是以惡行回報你的善意。什么!既然你從倫敦七百萬大眾中挑中我是為了給我以好心的安慰,既然你如此突然的表示要做我的愛畜,那么我能不能把一些人——你只知道他們給你吃讓你住或從不過問你,此外你對他們一無所知——的苦難對你講一講,行不行?狗是把我們看作偶像的,至少你不把我們看作偶像,因而我越發(fā)感激你的這般賞識——以及其他種種。“
阿瑪西亞慢慢地站起來,弓弓背,打個哈欠,帶著比剛才更美妙的微笑望著我,然后走來走去,已想好把我的上衣當作它的新床榻,在上衣上安頓下來,又開始咕嚕咕嚕,好不愜意。
我早就確信,從那空虛無聊的人世,我已得到根深蒂固的愛心,并將從此安慰我的心;我已改變了長年的心緒,對萬物的生命的看法有了轉(zhuǎn)變,開始有了一種鑒賞,有一種跟福祉很親密的關(guān)系——這一切都通過新的慈愛之環(huán)而來——忽然,不是什么東西這時撞翻凡人嘴邊的至福之杯,并把它撞得粉碎。那時惡魔撒旦把致命的判決進了我心里,因為我們是權(quán)力更大者的玩物,而有些權(quán)力更大者當然是邪惡的。
“你永遠不離開我,阿瑪西亞,”我說,“我要關(guān)懷你的安睡,我們要永無盡期地一起坐在這里,我抱著你,你夢到樂園的田野。也不會有什么把我們分開,阿瑪西亞;你是我的貓,我是你的人。我們永不分離,從現(xiàn)在起一直到彼此都沉浸在無限的安寧之中。”
就在此時,阿瑪西亞又站了起來,輕輕一跳,跳到地上,那四腳熟練,動作優(yōu)雅、謹慎、輕飄,美如波浪。它慢慢離我而去,甚至不回頭看看我;它心里另有打算;當它風度優(yōu)雅、大搖大擺的快到它找的門時,站在酒吧柜臺旁的一個令人討厭的矮個子說:“小貓咪,小貓咪,小貓咪!”接著彎下腰輕輕地搔它的后頸。它抬頭注視他,那種神情充滿無比的愛,即純樸又奧妙,然后在那人的腿上擦一擦,算是象征了并從外表上表示了神圣的友誼是永存的。
H.Belloc
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