智慧背囊 品味人生-05-断弦的小提琴

[00:02.43]Playing a Violin with Three Strings¹断弦的小提琴
[00:06.70]On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert.
[00:14.00] If you have ever been to a Perlman concert,
[00:16.93]you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him.
[00:21.08]He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he walks with the aid of two crutches².
[00:26.88]The audience sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair and begins his play.
[00:33.54]But this time, something went wrong.
[00:36.26]Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke.
[00:42.07]We thought that he would have to stop the concert.
[00:45.10] But he didn’t.
[00:46.55] Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.
[00:53.02]The orchestra began and he played with such passion and such power and such purity
[00:59.57]as they had never heard before.
[01:02.07]Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a harmonious³ work with just three strings.
[01:09.08]I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.
[01:16.52]When he finished, there was an awesome⁴ silence in the room.
[01:20.78] And then people rose and cheered.
[01:23.41]There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium⁵.
[01:28.88]He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow and then he said
[01:33.03]——not boastfully, but in a quiet, sacred tone——
[01:36.64]"You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out
[01:40.91]how much music you can still make with what you have left."
[01:44.63]This powerful line has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it.
[01:49.11] And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life——not just for artists but for all of us.
[01:56.66]He has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings,
[02:01.91] but all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, he finds himself with only three strings;
[02:08.04] so he makes music with three strings,
[02:10.88]and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful,
[02:16.45] more sacred, more memorable⁶, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.
[02:24.22]So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing,
[02:28.61]bewildering world in which we live is to make music,
[02:32.25]at first with all that we have,
[02:34.63]and then, when that is no longer possible,
[02:37.69]to make music with what we have left.

1 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

2 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

3 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。

4 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

5 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

6 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。