英語美文朗讀 第530期 Live like a poem

I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem. It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay.

 

我認為，從生物學(xué)的觀點來說，人生品味起來就像一首詩。它有其自身的韻律和節(jié)拍，有其生老病死的內(nèi)在循環(huán)過程。

 

It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions; then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature.

它以天真爛漫的童年為序曲；接著便是青澀的青春期，帶著青年人的熱情和愚蠢、理想和抱負，羞澀、懵懂地邁向成人的世界；然后便進入一個活力充沛的成年時期，這個時期人們從閱歷中獲益，對社會及人性也有了更多了解。

 

At middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life;

到中年之時，壓力才稍為減輕，人的性格就像熟透的水果或醇厚的美酒一般，更為圓熟，這時候，對人生的態(tài)度也逐漸變得更寬容、更隨性、更仁慈。

 

Then in the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment. Finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again.

此后，便到了我們的遲暮之年，內(nèi)分泌腺的活動逐漸趨緩。如果我們對年老持一種真正的達觀態(tài)度，并以此來安排我們的生活方式，那么，這個時期對我們來說，就是安寧、穩(wěn)定、閑逸和滿足的時期；最終，生命的火光搖曳不定，之后人將永遠地長眠，不再醒來。

 

One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution.

人應(yīng)該能夠體會這種人生之韻的美，應(yīng)該能夠像欣賞盛大的交響樂那樣，去欣賞人生的主旋律，欣賞它的沖突片斷和最后的尾聲。

 

The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself. In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody. Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jumps into a river. But that is because his original leitmo-tif has been hopelessly over-shadowed through the lack of a good self-education. Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in a kind of dignified movement and procession.

這些循環(huán)過程的運動在每個常人的生命中并無二至，但是生命的樂曲須由我們每個人自己來譜寫。在有些人的靈魂之中，不和諧的音符變得愈加刺耳，到最后完全蓋過或是湮沒了生命的主旋律。有時候，這種不和諧的音符會如此強大以至于生命的樂曲不能繼續(xù)演奏，而使人飲彈自盡或者投河而亡。但那是由于缺乏良好的自我修養(yǎng)，人最初的主旋律就已投上了無望的陰影。否則，一t正常人的生活會以一種尊貴的方式演進而最后得贓常結(jié)束。

 

No one can say that a life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement; the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its sea-sons, and it is good that it is so. There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season. And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem.

沒有人能夠說，由童年、成年和老年組成的人生不是一種完美的安排；就像一天有早晨、中午和晚上，一年有四季，如此存在就是美好的。人生并沒有好壞之分，只要符合我們所處的階段，生活就都是人生的大好時光。而如果我們采納這種看待人生的生物學(xué)觀點，并且，盡量依照不同的階段來生活，那么，除了狂妄自大的蠢人或不可理喻的理想主義者之外，沒有人能夠否認：人生可以活得像一首詩。