38 an exhausting struggle

An Exhausting¹ Struggle

Balzac once said artistic² creation³ was “an exhausting strug-gle”．He believed that only by tenacious⁴ work and fearing notafraid of difficulties could you show your talent．It was just likethe soldiers charging the fortress，not relaxing your effort foreven a moment．

Once Balzac wrote for hours on end， he was so tired that hecould not hold out any longer．He ran to a friend's home andplunged headlong on the sofa．He wanted to sleep，but he told hisfriend he must be woken up within an hour．His friend，seeinghim so tired，did not wake him up on time．After he woke up，Balzac got very angry at his friend．Fortunately his friend had anintimate understanding of him and did not quarrel with him．

Balzac did not smoke cigarettes，nor did he drink any alco－hol． But he got one habit：while he was writing he always drankvery strong coffee that could almost anaesthetize his stomach．Hedidn't add milk，nor did he add sugar in his coffee．It would notsatisfy him until it was made bitter．People generally did not liketo drink such bitter coffee．That had strange stimulus⁵ effect tohim，and could help him drive the sleepiness away，according to himself．

1 exhausting   

a.疲倦的

参考例句：

• an exhausting day at work 工作得筋疲力尽的一天
• This exhausting work is enough to run everyone down. 这项费力的工作足以使人精疲力竭。

2 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。

3 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

4 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。