英語美文朗讀 第332期 The Value of Time

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"Time"says the proverb, "is money" .This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets.

俗話說“時(shí)間就是金錢”。這就意味著，每分每秒只要善加利用，都會(huì)在我們的口袋里添一些錢。

If our time is usefully employed,it will either turn out some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. There can thus be no doubt that time is convertible into money. Let those who think nothing of wasting time, remember this;let them remember that all hour misspent is equivalent to the loss of a bank-note;and that an hour utilized is tantamount to so much silver or gold ; and then they will probably think twice before they give their consent to the loss of any part of their time.

如果我們的時(shí)間使用得當(dāng)，就能生產(chǎn)出有用和重要的東西，在市場上賣得一定的價(jià)錢；或者它能豐富我們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)，增長我們的才干，使我們?cè)跁r(shí)機(jī)適當(dāng)時(shí)能掙到錢。因此，毫無疑問時(shí)間可以轉(zhuǎn)化為金錢。讓那些對(duì)浪費(fèi)時(shí)間不以為然的人記住這一點(diǎn)。讓他們記住，浪費(fèi)一小時(shí)等于丟了一張鈔票，而利用一小時(shí)就等于得到許多金銀。這樣，在他們同意浪費(fèi)時(shí)間之前或許會(huì)三思而后行。

Moreover, our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains,no trouble, and no expense to preserve life. But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day, forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live. A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited. Let us bear this in mind,and waste of time will appear to us in the light of a crime as culpable as suicide itself.

此外，我們的生命無非就是我們的時(shí)間，因此消磨時(shí)間也就是一種自殺。一想到死我們會(huì)感到震撼，因而不遺余力、不怕麻煩、不惜代價(jià)以求保全生命?？墒俏覀儏s往往認(rèn)為損失一個(gè)鐘頭或者一天時(shí)間是無關(guān)緊要的，而忘記了生命就是我們生活的每一小時(shí)、每一天的總和。因此，浪費(fèi)一天或一個(gè)小時(shí)就是喪失一天或一小時(shí)的生命。讓我們記住這一點(diǎn)，這樣就會(huì)把浪費(fèi)時(shí)間看作一種罪過，跟自殺一樣應(yīng)該受到譴責(zé)。

There is a third consideration which will also tend to warn us against loss of time. Our life is a brief span measuring some sixty or seventy years in all,but nearly one half of this has to be spent in sleep;some years have to be spent over our meals;some over dressing and undressing; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea;some in merry-making,either on our own account or for the sake of others; some in celebrating religious and social festivities; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives. Now if all these years were to be deducted from the term over which our life extends we shall find about fifteen or twenty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life. "It is astonishing",says Lord Chesterfield,"that anyone can squander away in absolute idleness one single moment of that portion of time which is allotted to us in this world. Know the true value of time;snatch,seize,and enjoy every moment of it!"

還有第三層考慮，也會(huì)使我們警醒，不至于浪費(fèi)時(shí)間。人生短暫，總共不過六七十年，可是將近一半時(shí)間得花在睡眠上，還有幾年時(shí)間得用于吃飯，幾年用于穿衣脫衣，幾年用于陸上和海上的旅行，再加上幾年用于娛樂一不論是為自己還是為別人，幾年用來慶祝宗教節(jié)曰和社會(huì)節(jié)曰，倘使我們摯愛的親人病了，看護(hù)病人也得幾年工夫。如果從我們的壽命中扣除所有這些歲月，我們將發(fā)現(xiàn)，只有十五或二十年的時(shí)間可以真正由我們支配，用于活躍的工作。任何記住了這一點(diǎn)的人，都不會(huì)情愿浪費(fèi)他生命中的片刻光陰。切斯特菲爾德伯爵說過：“對(duì)于上帝分配給我們每一個(gè)人的時(shí)間，即使有人在游手好閑中浪費(fèi)一時(shí)片刻，也是令人吃驚的。要真正認(rèn)識(shí)時(shí)間的價(jià)值，要爭分奪秒，享受每一片刻的樂趣。”

All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our faculties and capacities. If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away unutilized, we shall never be able to recoup the loss. As we grow older, our power of acquisition gets blunted,so that the art or science which is not acquired in childhood or youth will never be acquired at all. Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used,will yield us incalculable advantages. "Every moment you lose," says Lord Chesterfield," is so much character and advantage lost; as on the other hand,every moment you now employ usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest."

所有的時(shí)間都是寶貴的，而童年和青年時(shí)期的時(shí)間比一生的其他階段更為寶貴，因?yàn)槲覀冎挥性谶@兩個(gè)階段才能學(xué)習(xí)知識(shí)、增長才干。如果我們?nèi)斡蛇@生命的黃金歲月從指縫間滑走而不加利用，我們將永遠(yuǎn)無法彌補(bǔ)這損失。等我們長大了，學(xué)習(xí)能力變得遲鈍了，就再也無法學(xué)到在童年和青年時(shí)期沒有學(xué)到的知識(shí)或技能。正如把金錢用于投資以獲取利息，到時(shí)候就會(huì)收獲兩倍或者三倍，童年和青年時(shí)期的寶貴光陰，如果用法得當(dāng)，將產(chǎn)生無可估量的利。切斯特菲爾德伯爵又說：“浪費(fèi)每一片刻就等于喪失了與之相當(dāng)?shù)拿屠悻F(xiàn)在有效地利用每一時(shí)刻就等于用這時(shí)間做明智的投資，將來定會(huì)獲取巨額的利息。”