精美英文欣赏:人在旅途

We Are on a Journey

By Henry Van Dyke¹

Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just alike,at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence.We are not at rest; we are on a journey. Our life is not a mere² fact; it is a movement, a tendency, a steady, ceaseless progress towards an unseen goal.

We are gaining something, or losing something, every day. Even when our position and our character seem to remain precisely³ the same, they are changing. For the mere advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the child are childish in the man.Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept — the other alternative.

Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, — you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life you have never been still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause until you come into port.

人在旅途

亨利.凡.戴克

无论你身在何处，也无论你是何人，此时此刻，有一件事于你我而言都是相同的，而且只要我们活着，这个共同点就存在。那就是，我们并非停留不前，而是人在旅途。我们的生命是一种运动，一种趋势，是向一个看不见的目标无休止地奋进。

每天，我们都有所得，也有所失。即便我们的位置和角色看似与原来无异，但实际上也是时时变化的。因为时间的推移本身就是一种变化。对于同一片荒地来说，在一月和七月是截然不同的，季节造成了这种差异。能力的局限在孩子身上被视为天真烂漫，而在大人身上则是幼稚的的表现。我们所做的每件事情都是朝着某个方向迈进了一步。即使是失败本身，也是有所得的，失败可以催人奋进，也可以让人一蹶不振。磁针负极的作用与正极的作用都是一样真实的。 拒绝也是一种接受，只不过是另一种选择罢了。

你今天比昨天更接近你的港口了么？是的，你肯定离某个港口更近了。因为自从你的航船从生命的海洋上启航的那一刻开始，你没有哪一刻是静止的。大海如此深邃，即便你想停泊，也找不到地方；只有当你驶入自己的港口，你才能停止下来。

1 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。

2 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

3 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。