英语励志美文精华 48

The Debt of the Artist

by Dimitri Mitropoulos

Very early in my life, an important event took place: in my impressionable and youthful years, I discovered the personality of St. Francis. Since that time, my main ambition has been canalized into a strong desire to serve my neighbor by putting at his disposal the fruits of my knowledge, the results of my studying, the development of my innate¹ talent, and the development of my skill as a performer; plus, my love!

My dream has always been to master myself for the sake of serving better and being of more use to my fellow man. My concern and love for him made me realize an additional responsibility, which my fame as an artist brought to me, and that is my responsibility as a human being towards those of my fellow men who might look to me for guidance. Soon after I had the privilege to come to this country, I realized how important it was to become an example, and I will mention two events which have reinforced this, my belief.

Some years ago, during the war, I heard that the Blood Bank of the Red Cross, which served in Minneapolis and its vicinity, needed badly assistance. Naturally, they were not able to pay for all that they needed, so I decided² to take my vacation by accepting this responsible job of blood custodian³. I was driving in a truck to various towns within a hundred miles of Minneapolis and taking charge of setting up the Mobile Unit in each town. The Red Cross administration thought it advisable to advertise the fact that I was working for them, in order to attract public interest. It went to the point where some people probably thought that I was going to entertain them with music during the bleeding, which I certainly would not have refused to do, in spite of the amount of work I had to do, if the doctors hadn’t forbidden such an enjoyable treatment because they wouldn’t be able to hear the pulses of the patients.

Now, the next event was during the time I was conducting the Robin⁴ Hood⁵ Dell Orchestra in Philadelphia, also during the war. There was a terrific scandal of misguided youths in the high schools mistreating and insulting Jewish boys. Nobody seemed to be able to stop this tragic⁶ epidemic⁷, either the teachers in the schools or the preachers in the churches. Finally, Mr. Samuels, at that time the mayor, had the inspired idea of bringing a popular movie star to speak to the various schools, an event which stopped, like a miracle, all those tragedies.

From that I developed the theory that all people who have the chance to enjoy the responsibility of being famous, regardless for what reason or in what profession, can be of a terrific help in this confused world of today—and in general, I would say—by setting an example of sound moral thinking and integrity, as human beings, as well as in their profession. I came even to the point of realizing that any skill of any kind, physical or mental, or any artistic⁸ achievement, unless it is based on a moral purpose, cannot claim to have any value or any plausible⁹ reason to exist.

1 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。

4 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

5 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

6 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

7 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

9 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。