精美英文欣赏:What's your life?无论你的生活如何卑

However mean your life is,meet it and live it;do not shun¹ it and call it hard names.It is not so bad as you are.It looks poorest when you are richest.The fault-finder will find faults in paradise.Love your life,poor as it is.You may perhaps have some pleasant,thrilling,glorious hours,even in a poor-house.The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode²;the snow melts before its door as early in the spring.I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly³ there,and have as cheering thoughts,as in a palace.The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any.May be they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving⁴.Most think that they are above being supported by the town, but it often happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means.Which should be more disreputable.Cultivate poverty like a garden herb,like sage⁵.Do not trouble yourself much to get new things,whether clothes or friends,turn the old,return to them.Things do not change;we change.Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

无论你的生活如何卑微，要正视它，生活下去；不要躲避它，也不要恶语相加。你的生活不像你本人那么糟糕。你最富有的时候，你的生活看上去倒是最贫穷的。吹毛求疵的人即便在天堂也能挑出瑕疵。要热爱你的生活，尽管它可能是一贫如洗。即使身处贫民院，你也可能享受一段愉快、兴奋、辉煌的时光。西斜的落日映照在贫民院窗户上的余晖，与照射在富贵人家的豪宅上一样光芒万丈；门前的积雪一样在早春消融。我只看到，一个气定神闲的人在那里可以过着自得其乐的生活，抱着振奋乐观的思想，如同居住在皇宫里一般。依我之见，城镇的贫民倒是往往过着最独立的生活。也许他们十分伟大，对任何事情皆可坦然受之。大多数人认为他们不屑于接受城镇的施救；但是实际上他们经常使用不诚实的手段来维持自己的生计，这是更为不体面的。如同栽培花园中芬芳的花草一般在贫困中耕耘吧。犯不着千辛万苦以求获得新东西，无论是衣服还是朋友。把旧的翻新再回归其中。万事万物没有变，是我们在变。衣履可鬻，所思必存。

<无论你的生活如何卑微>亨利·戴维·梭罗（Henry David Thoreau，1817-1862），美国作家、哲学家
1.shun  vt. 避开, 规避, 避免

例句：

He should shun one-sidedness.
他应避免片面性。

2.abode  n. 住所, 住处

例句：

Welcome to our humble⁶ abode!
欢迎光临寒舍!

3.misgiving  n.疑虑, 担忧, 害怕

例句：

He looks with misgiving at the strange man in front of him.
他怀疑地望著眼前这奇怪的人

4.disreputable  adj.名誉不好的, 声名狼藉的；不体面的；破烂不堪的, 难看的

例句：

Soho is one of London's more disreputable areas.
索霍区是伦敦名声较差的街区.
 

1 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

2 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

3 contentedly   

adv.心满意足地

参考例句：

• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe.父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。
• "This is brother John's writing,"said Sally,contentedly,as she opened the letter.

4 misgiving   

n.疑虑，担忧，害怕

参考例句：

• She had some misgivings about what she was about to do.她对自己即将要做的事情存有一些顾虑。
• The first words of the text filled us with misgiving.正文开头的文字让我们颇为担心。

5 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

6 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。