英語晨讀精華 Week 2 Day l Youth 青春

Youth

20 世紀(jì)初塞繆爾·厄爾曼寫的這篇不足500 字的短文《青春》一直為世人傾倒，過了這么多年它的魅力依舊。因?yàn)樗o予了一種啟示，教我們?nèi)绾蚊篮玫厣睢?/p>

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. 　

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. 　

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust. 　

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what’s next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.　

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.　

——　 Samuel Ullman 　

　
[注釋]：
rosy cheeks: 玫瑰花般的臉頰　
supple: readily bent; pliant 柔軟的　
vigor : physical or mental strength, energy, or force 精力，活力　
temperamental : excessively sensitive or irritable; moody 心情變化快的，喜怒無常的　
predominance : the state or quality of being predominant; preponderance 優(yōu)勢　
timidity : shy 膽怯的，害羞的　
appetite : 食欲，胃口，欲望，愛好　
desert : 放棄，遺棄　
wrinkle: to draw up into wrinkles; pucker 起皺　
enthusiasm : great excitement for or interest in a subject or cause 狂熱，熱心，積極性　
wireless : 無線的　
infinite : having no limits 無限的，無窮的　
aerial : 天線　
cynicism: a scornful, bitterly mocking comment or act 玩世不恭，冷嘲熱諷　
pessimism: a tendency to stress the negative or unfavorable possible view 悲觀，悲觀主義　
optimism: a tendency to expect the best possible outcome or dwell on the most hopeful aspects of
a situation 樂觀，樂觀主義　
　
塞繆爾·厄爾曼，1840 年生于德國，童年時移居美國。他在古稀之年才開始寫作，是一個了不起的人。（本文由于手抄流傳等多種原因，存在多個版本，這里采用作者原文。）