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英语散文:The Five Boons of Life
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  • The Five Boons1 of Life

    In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket,and said:"Here are gifts. Take one, leave the others,And be wary,choose wisely!For only one of them is valuable."

    The gifts were five :Fame, Love ,Riches,Pleasure,Death.The youth,said,eagerly:"There is no need to consider";and he chose Pleasure.

    He went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth delights in . But each in its turn was short-liyed and disappointing,vain and empty;and each,departing,mocked him .In the end he said:"These years i have wasted.If i could but choose again, I would choose wisely."

    在生命之初,一位仙女带着篮子走来,对一位年轻人说道:"这里有几份礼物,你可以从中选一份,留下其它的.你要小心,做一个明智的选择;啊,你要明智地进行选择!因为这里面只有一份礼物是珍贵的."

    一共有五份礼物:名声,爱情,财富,快乐,还有死亡.年轻人迫不及待地说:"没有必要多想."他选了快乐.

    此后他就开始步入世界,追逐年轻人所喜爱的快乐.然而每一种快乐都是如此短暂,令人感到空虚和失望.每当一种快乐弃他而去时,还要把他嘲弄一番.最后,年轻人感叹道"这些年我都浪费了.如果我可以再选一次,我一定会做一个明智的选择."

    The fairy appeared,and said:"Four of the gifts remain.choose once more:and oh,remember--time is flying,and only one of them is precious."

    The man considered long,then chose Love;and did not mark the tears that rose in the fairy's eyes.

    After many,many years the man sat by a coffin,in an empty home.And he communed with himself,saying:"One by one they have gone away and leftme;and now she lies here,the dearest and the last.Desolation after desolation has swept over me;but each hour of happiness the treacherous2 trader,Love,sold me i have paid a thousand hours ofo grief!Out of my heart of hearts i curse him!"

    这时仙女又出现了,她说:"这里还有四份礼物.再选一次吧.噢,记住时间飞逝,而其中只有一件是珍贵的."

    他思考了很久,最终选择了爱情;他没有注意到仙女眼里泛起的泪光.许多许多年之后,这个人坐在一口棺材旁边,屋子里空荡荡的.他自言自语道:"他们一个一个地走了,只剩下我.现在,她就躺在这儿,我最亲爱的人儿,我最后的亲人.孤独一次又一次把我包围.都是因为爱情这个阴狡诈的商人,他出售给我的每个甜蜜的小时,我现在都要用数千个小时的悲伤来偿还!我从心底里诅咒他!"

    3

    "Choose again."It was the fairy speaking."The years have you wisdow-surely it must be so.There gifts remain.Only one of them has anyworth-remember it ,and choose warily3."

    The man reflected long,then chose Fame;and the fairy,sighing,went her way.

    Years went by and she came again,and stood behind the man where he sat solitary4 in the fading day,thinking.And she knew his thought:"My name filled the world,and its praiss were on every tongue,and it seemed well with me for a littlewhile.How little a while it was!Then came envy;then detraction;then hate;then persecution5.Then derision,which is the begining of the end.And last of all came pity,which is the funeral of fame.Oh ,the bitterness and misery6 of renown7!"

    "你在选一次吧."仙女又一次说话了.

    "这些年已经教予你智慧--也理当如此.这里还有三份礼物,其中只有一份是有价值的--切记,你好好挑吧."

    他想了很久,然而选择了名声.仙女叹了口气,径自离开了.岁月流转,仙女又回来了,站到他的身旁.已迈入迟暮之年的他孑然一身,心情重重.他在想些什么,她都了然于心.

    "我的名字传遍世界,每个人都争相赞颂,有一阵子好像让我心满足.可那是多么短暂的一阵子啊!随之而来的是妒忌;然后是诋毁;然后是憎恶;然后是迫害.之后是嘲讽,从些一切开始步入完结.最后便是怜悯,这也是我的名声的葬礼.啊,名声原来是这般苦涩和痛苦!"

    "Choose yet again."It was the fairy's voice. "Two gifts remain.And do not despair .In the begining there was but one that was precious,and it is still here.

    "Wealth-which is power!How blind i was!"said the man."Now,at last,life will be worth the living.I will spend.squander8.These mockers and despisers will crawl in the dirt before me,and i will feed my hungry heart with their envy,I will have all luxuries,all joys,all enchant-times of the spirit I will buy,buy,buy!I have lost much time,and chosen badly heretofore,but let that pass;I was ignorant then,and could but take for best what seemed so."

    Three short years went by,and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret;and he was gaunt and wan9 and hollow-eyed,and clothed in rags;and he was gnawing10 a dry crust and mumbling:"Curse all the world's gifts for mockeries and gilded11 lies!And miscalled,every one,They are not gifts,but merely lendings.Pleasure.Love,Fame.Riches:they are but temporary disguises for lasting12 realities-Pain,Grief,Shame,Poverty.The fairy said true;in all her store there was but one gift which was precious,only one that was not valueless,How poor and cheap and mean i know those others now to be,Bring it!I am weary.I would rest."

    "不过你还可以重新现挑一次."仙女的声音再度响起.

    "还剩下两份礼物.不要灰心丧气,从一开始就只有一份是宝贵的,而现在它还在那里啊."

    "财富--财富就是力量!我过去多盲目啊!"他说."现在,终于,我的生命将要变得有意义.我要纵情欢度此生,我要挥霍我的人生.那些对我冷嘲热讽,轻蔑诋毁我的人将要在我面前的泥土里挣扎,而我空乏的心也将因为他们的妒忌而得到满足.我将要享尽荣华富贵,所有欢乐和所有销魂的时光.我要买,买!以前我做错了选择,失去了许多时间,就让它过去吧;当时我很无知,我只能选我觉得最好的东西.

    短短的三年又过去了.到了这么一天,这个人蜷缩在一个简陋的小阁楼里,古瘦如柴,苍白无力,双眼深陷,身上裹着碎布衣衫,浑身颤抖不停.他一边啃着一块干面包皮,一边咕哝着:"该死的礼物,都是为了让我受人嘲笑和欺诈!每一样都叫错了!它们都不是礼物,根本只是租借品!快乐,爱情,名声还有财富-都只不过是长久现实的暂时伪装-它们其实是永远的痛苦,悲哀,耻辱和贫穷!那个仙女说的没错啊,她所有的东西里只有一样是珍贵的,只有那么一样不是毫无价值的.我现在才明白,其它礼物是多么低贱与卑劣!把它带来吧-那真正宝贵的礼物!我累了,我想休息了.

    The fairy came,bringing again four of the gifts,but Death was wanting.She said:"I gave it to a mother's pet, a little child.It was ignorant,but trusted me,asking me to choose for it.You did not ask me to choose."

    "Oh,miserable me!What is left for me ?"

    "What not even you have deserved:the wantoninsult of Old Age."

    仙女出现了,带着以前的那四件礼物,但惟独没有最后那一件-死亡.她说道:"我把它给了一位母亲的宠儿子:一个小孩子.他什么也不懂,但他相信我,让我来帮他挑选.而你并没有这么做."

    "啊,我多可悲啊!那还剩下什么给我呢?"

    "一件你也不配得到的东西:接受年老体衰的折磨.

     11级    英语散文 


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    1 boons [bu:nz] 849a0da0d3327cff0cdc3890f0d6bb58   第10级
    n.恩惠( boon的名词复数 );福利;非常有用的东西;益处
    参考例句:
    • Set against this are some less tangible but still worthwhile boons. 此外,还有一些优惠虽不这么实际,但也值得一看。 来自互联网
    2 treacherous [ˈtretʃərəs] eg7y5   第9级
    adj.不可靠的,有暗藏的危险的;adj.背叛的,背信弃义的
    参考例句:
    • The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers. 路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
    • The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on. 在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。
    3 warily ['weərəlɪ] 5gvwz   第11级
    adv.留心地
    参考例句:
    • He looked warily around him, pretending to look after Carrie. 他小心地看了一下四周,假装是在照顾嘉莉。
    • They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line. 他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。
    4 solitary [ˈsɒlətri] 7FUyx   第7级
    adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士
    参考例句:
    • I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country. 我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
    • The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert. 这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际,显得十分壮美。
    5 persecution [ˌpə:si'kju:ʃən] PAnyA   第7级
    n. 迫害,烦扰
    参考例句:
    • He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
    • Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。
    6 misery [ˈmɪzəri] G10yi   第7级
    n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦
    参考例句:
    • Business depression usually causes misery among the working class. 商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
    • He has rescued me from the mire of misery. 他把我从苦海里救了出来。
    7 renown [rɪˈnaʊn] 1VJxF   第10级
    n.声誉,名望
    参考例句:
    • His renown has spread throughout the country. 他的名声已传遍全国。
    • She used to be a singer of some renown. 她曾是位小有名气的歌手。
    8 squander [ˈskwɒndə(r)] XrnyF   第9级
    vt.&vi.浪费,挥霍
    参考例句:
    • Don't squander your time in reading those dime novels. 不要把你的时间浪费在读那些胡编乱造的廉价小说上。
    • Every chance is precious, so don't squander any chance away! 每次机会都很宝贵,所以不要将任何一个白白放走。
    9 wan [wɒn] np5yT   第10级
    (wide area network)广域网
    参考例句:
    • The shared connection can be an Ethernet, wireless LAN or wireless WAN connection. 提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网,无线局域网或无线广域网。
    10 gnawing ['nɔ:iŋ] GsWzWk   第9级
    a.痛苦的,折磨人的
    参考例句:
    • The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
    • These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。
    11 gilded ['gildid] UgxxG   第10级
    a.镀金的,富有的
    参考例句:
    • The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
    • "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们,这只不过是些镀金的铅饼! 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
    12 lasting [ˈlɑ:stɪŋ] IpCz02   第7级
    adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持
    参考例句:
    • The lasting war debased the value of the dollar. 持久的战争使美元贬值。
    • We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles. 我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

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