精美英文欣赏:关于秘诀和落瓦

我热爱生命，但我不惧怕死亡。死亡不过是去另一个世界的过渡，就像朋友跨越海洋一样；他们依然活在另一个世界里。”我坚信，是死亡教会了我们永生。

 About Secrets and Falling Tiles

    by Carroll Binder¹

"We are all at the mercy of a falling tile," Julius Caesar reminds us in Thornton Wilder's Ides of March. None of us knows at what hour something we may love may suffer some terrible blow by a force we can neither anticipate nor control.

Fifty-five years of living, much of the time in trouble centers of a highly troubled era, have not taught me how to avoid being hit by falling tiles. I have sustained some very server blows. My mother died when I was three years old. My first-born son, a gifted and idealistic youth, was killed in the war. While I was still cherishing the hope that he might be alive, circumstance beyond my control made it impossible for me to continue work into which I had poured my heart's blood for twenty years.

I speak of such things here in the hope of helping² others to believe with me that there are resources within one's grasp which enable one to sustain such blows without being crushed or embittered³ by them.

I believe the best hope of standing⁴ up to falling tiles is through developing a sustaining philosophy and state of mind all through life. I have seen all sorts of people sustain all sorts of blows in all sorts of circumstances by all sorts of faiths, so I believe anyone can find a faith that will serve his needs if he persists in the quest.

One of the best ways I know of fortifying⁵ oneself to withstand the vicissitudes⁶ of his insecure and unpredictable era is to school oneself to require relatively⁷ little in the way of material possessions, physical satisfactions or the praise of others. The less one requires of such things the better situated⁸ one is to stand up to changes of fortune.

I am singularly rich in friendships. Friends of all ages have contributed enormously to my happiness and helped me greatly in times of need. I learned one of the great secrets of friendship early in life - to regard each person with whom one associates as an end in himself, not a means to one's own ends. That entails⁹ trying to help those with whom one comes in contact to find fulfillment in their own way while seeking one's own fulfillment in one's own way.

Another ethical¹⁰ principle that has stood me in good stead is: Know thyself! I try to acquaint myself realistically with my possibilities and limitations. I try to suit my aspirations¹¹ to goals within my probable capacity to attain¹². I may have missed some undiscovered possibilities for growth but I have spared myself much by not shooting for stars it clearly was not given me to attain.

I have seen much inhumanity, cheating, corruption¹³, sordidness¹⁴ and selfishness but I have not become cynical¹⁵. I have seen too much that is decent, kind and noble in men to lose faith in the possibility for a far finer existence than yet has been achieved. I believe the quest for a better life is the most satisfying pursuit of men and nations.

I love life but I am not worried about death. I do not feel that I have lost my son and a host of others dear to me by death. I believe with William Penn that "they that love beyond the World cannot be separated by it. Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas; they live in one another still." Death, I believe, teaches us the things of deathlessness.
在桑顿.怀尔德的《三月的爱德斯》中，朱利叶斯.恺撒这样提醒我们：“我们所有人都处在落瓦的掌控之下。”没有人知道，我们的所爱会在何时遭到难以估量与控制的力量的沉重打击。

55年来，我的绝大多数日子都是在多事的年月中度过，然而，我还是没有学会如何避免遭到落瓦的重击。我经历了好几次沉痛的打击。母亲在我3岁时离开人世。我的长子——一个拥有天赋的理想主义青年，在战争中阵亡。而我依然抱着他可能存活的希望，倾尽心血苦苦寻找了20年，最终，在无法控制的环境的逼迫下，我放弃了努力。

我之所以讲这些事情，是希望人们能够像我一样，坚信人一定要有精神依托，这样才能在遭受严重打击时，不致被打垮或是痛苦不堪。

我相信，人一生中若能信仰并保持一种哲学与思想状态，便拥有了能够承受起落瓦打击的最大希望。我看见过拥有各种信仰的形形色色的人们，在各种不同的环境中承受着各种不同的打击。因此我相信，只要坚持不懈地寻求，每个人都能找到需求的信仰。

对物质拥有、身体满足及他人的赞赏不予奢求，这是我所知道的最佳办法之一，它能使我们更坚强地承受不安全、难以预知的时代兴衰。人的所求越少，那他对命运变化的应对能力就越强。

友谊是我最大的财富。不同年龄段的朋友带给我莫大的愉悦，在我需要时给予我最大的帮助。孩提时，我便明白了维持友谊的最大秘诀之一——将每一位朋友都视为自己最重要的人，而不是利用他们来达到自己的目的。当我们在用自己的方式实现自我价值时，也应帮助身边的人通过他们的途径来实现自身的价值。

认知自己，这是令我颇为受益的另一个道德准则。我总是努力实事求是地了解自己的能力与局限，并在自己的能力范围之内树立目标。也许我会错过一些发展自我潜能的机会，但我并没有浪费精力去奢求遥不可及的事物。

我看到过无数的残暴、欺诈、腐败、肮脏与自私，但我并未因此变得愤世嫉俗。我看到过太多正直、善良与高尚的人们失去了创造更美好生活的信念。我相信，无论是对人类，还是国家而言，更美好的生活都是最令人满意的追求目标。

我热爱生命，但我不惧怕死亡。我并不认为，死亡让我失去了儿子与其他的许多亲人。我相信威廉.佩恩所说的话，“在那个世界中，死亡无法将那些有爱心的人分开。死亡不过是去另一个世界的过渡，就像朋友跨越海洋一样；他们依然活在另一个世界里。”我坚信，是死亡教会了我们永生。
 

1 binder   

n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder.这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。
• Purified water was used as liquid binder.纯净水作为液体粘合剂。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 embittered   

v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• These injustices embittered her even more. 不公平使她更加受苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The artist was embittered by public neglect. 大众的忽视于那位艺术家更加难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 fortifying   

筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 )； 筑堡于； 增强； 强化（食品）

参考例句：

• Fortifying executive function and restraining impulsivity are possible with active interventions. 积极干预可能有助加强执行功能和抑制冲动性。
• Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, fortifying himself against still another disappointment. 文戈不再张望，他绷紧脸，仿佛正在鼓足勇气准备迎接另一次失望似的。

6 vicissitudes   

n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废

参考例句：

• He experienced several great social vicissitudes in his life. 他一生中经历了几次大的社会变迁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A man used to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. 饱经沧桑，不易沮丧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

10 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

11 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

12 attain   

vt.达到，获得，完成

参考例句：

• I used the scientific method to attain this end. 我用科学的方法来达到这一目的。
• His painstaking to attain his goal in life is praiseworthy. 他为实现人生目标所下的苦功是值得称赞的。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 sordidness   

n.肮脏；污秽；卑鄙；可耻

参考例句：

15 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。