第699期:英语美文-悲观者和乐观者

 

当拿到一个半成品的圈饼时，悲观的人看到的是一个不完整的面包，总会为中间没有面饼的洞不高兴，想强迫性把把这个圈饼补成一块完整的饼。而乐观的人，看到这个圈饼时，看到了它可以做成各种颜色，各种口味甜甜圈的可能。今天分享一个英语小故事，摘选自蔡志忠的漫画。讲述的就是悲观者和乐观者在面对同样的人和事时完全不同的反应。

New Words:

merchant n. 商人; 批发商;

make a fortune 发财;

tattoo¹ n. 文身; (在皮肤上刺的) 花纹;

viewpoint n. 观点; 看法; 角度;

pessimism² n. 悲观主义;

optimism n.乐观; 乐观主义;

A long time ago, when China was divided into many small countries, there was a merchant who lived in Song, a country in northern China. He brought men's hats and shirts to the country of Yue in southern China, thinking that he would make a great fortune...

有一个宋国人,带着帽子和衣服到南方的越国去贩卖,他以为可以大赚一笔。

Come! Buy new clothing here! I have shirts and hats that are handsome and fashionable!

买衣服哦!漂亮又新潮的衣帽呀!

However, the fashion in the Yue area was for men to keep their hair short and tattoo the naked upper body. They didn't wear shirts or hats at all.

但是,越人的风俗是留短头发,文身,赤裸着胸膛,都不穿衣戴帽。

于是,他写信给他的老婆说:

Therefore, the merchant wrote to his wife:

This was a total disaster. No man here wears any shirts or hats. They keep their upper bodies naked. I am coming right home.

很惨,这儿的人全都赤身不穿衣戴帽,我马上回去…

There was another merchant from Zheng (another country in northern China) who also brought

men's shirts and hats to do business in the country of Yue...

又有一郑国人也同样带着衣帽来到越国做生意…

He also discovered that the custom of Yue men was to keep the upper body naked.

他也发现了越人的习俗是赤身不穿衣戴帽的。

-We guys here never wear shirts or hats.

咱们这里的从来都不穿衣戴帽的。

-That’s exactly why I came here.

这也是我来这里的原因。

Therefore, he also wrote a letter back to his wife in Zheng.

于是,他也写一封信回郑国给他的老婆。

No man here wears shirts or hats. It's the best market! Please send a large quantity of shirts and hats to Yue by mail.

这里没有人穿衣戴帽,是个最佳的市场,速寄大批衣帽到越国来。

Under the same situation, the viewpoint from pessimism and optimism are extreme opposites.

Things usually are not absolutely good or bad, nice or evil. How do we perceive? What do we do? It entirely³ depends upon ourselves.

相同的状况,悲观和乐观的看法却是两极。事情没有绝对的好坏.善、恶,要怎么想?要怎么做?完全在于自己!

1 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

2 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。