英语励志美文精华 51

The Greeks Had an Answer

by Gilbert Murray

In trying to say what I really believe, I cannot recite one of the traditional creeds¹, Christian², Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist³, or the like. Most of us are born into one of them, and which it is depends simply on what country and what parents we come from. A great mystery surrounds us, in which the human mind can at best catch glimpses and express itself in metaphors⁴.

For myself, I come on my mother’s side from a family of teachers, almost of schoolmarms, and grew up occasionally—accordingly—a good, obedient little boy who kept all the rules. On my father’s side, however, I came of a line of Irish rebels, always suspicious of authorities and deeply prejudiced in favor of the underdog. I loved new ideas and poetry; so naturally in my teens, I fell deeply under the influence of Shelley. “Prometheus Unbound” was for some years to me almost a sacred book. Such poetry and such a religion, proclaiming a rejection⁵ of all the oppressors who misrule the world, all the superstitions⁶ that cripple man’s mind and prevent his going straight as the crow flies towards perfection. An illusion, of course. Perhaps I was rather slow in growing out of it.

The other main influence that has gone to forming my beliefs was that of ancient Greece. I could hardly have escaped it, having been a professor of Greek most of my life, from twenty-three to seventy. It got hold of me first, I suppose, by the charm of its poetry. Then, it seemed to me that the great Greek thinkers were mostly facing the same problems as ourselves, but facing them more freely and frankly⁷, not hampered⁸ by all the complexities⁹ and inherited conventions that confuse us today. They did sincerely and simply try to understand truth and justice and the good life.

Then, at last, in 1914 came the shock of the Great War, bringing for me, as for so many people, not any change of belief but a great change of focus. The prevention of war became the thing that mattered most in the world. I took part in the founding of the League of Nations, and for thirty years now, I have been working in that cause, learning, I think, a good deal by the way. It needed more than enthusiasm. It needed patience and experience and commonsense¹⁰. It needed day by day far more knowledge than I possessed¹¹. But I found good guides and companions. I learned to think less of abstract principles and less still of party catchwords and slogans. I have found among all parties, and all religions, men inspired by the great movement that leads toward peace, outward and inward. And I feel much truth in an old Greek philosopher’s saying: “The helping¹² of man by man is God.”

1 creeds   

（尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• people of all races, colours and creeds 各种种族、肤色和宗教信仰的人
• Catholics are agnostic to the Protestant creeds. 天主教徒对于新教教义来说，是不可知论者。

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

5 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

6 superstitions   

迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Old superstitions seem incredible to educated people. 旧的迷信对于受过教育的人来说是不可思议的。
• Do away with all fetishes and superstitions. 破除一切盲目崇拜和迷信。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

9 complexities   

复杂性(complexity的名词复数)； 复杂的事物

参考例句：

• The complexities of life bothered him. 生活的复杂使他困惑。
• The complexities of life bothered me. 生活的杂乱事儿使我心烦。

10 commonsense   

adj.有常识的；明白事理的；注重实际的

参考例句：

• It is commonsense to carry an umbrella in this weather.这种天气带把伞是很自然的。
• These results are no more than a vindication of commonsense analysis.这些结果只不过是按常理分析得出的事实。

11 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。