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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor1, and a keenness of appreciation2 which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant panorama3 of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of course, who would adopt the Epicurean motto of "Eat, drink, and be merry," but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending4 death.
In stories the doomed5 hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. he becomes more appreciative6 of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It hasoften been noted7 that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow8 sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless vista9. So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties10 and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings12 that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily13, without concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing11 if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would tech him the joys of sound.
Now and them I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friends who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed…"Nothing in particular, "she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such reposes14, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.
How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy15 of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere16 touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud the first sign of awakening17 Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful18, velvety19 texture20 of a flower, and discover its remarkable21 convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me. Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the happy quiver of a bird in full song. I am delighted to have the cool waters of a brook22 rush thought my open finger. To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more welcome than the most luxurious23 Persian rug. To me the page ant of seasons is a thrilling and unending drama, the action of which streams through my finger tips.
At times my heart cries out with longing24 to see all these things. If I can get so much pleasure from mere touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. Yet, those who have eyes apparently25 see little. the panorama of color and action which fills the world is taken for granted. It is human, perhaps, to appreciate little that which we have and to long for that which we have not, but it is a great pity that in the world of light the gift of sight is used only as a mere conveniences rather than as a means of adding fullness to life.
If I were the president of a university I should establish a compulsory26 course in "How to Use Your Eyes". The professor would try to show his pupils how they could add joy to their lives by really seeing what passes unnoticed before them. He would try to awake their dormant27 and sluggish28 faculties.
Perhaps I can best illustrate29 by imagining what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say, for just three days. And while I am imagining, suppose you, too, set your mind to work on the problem of how you would use your own eyes if you had only three more days to see. If with the on-coming darkness of the third night you knew that the sun would never rise for you again, how would you spend those three precious intervening days? What would you most want to let your gaze rest upon?
I, naturally, should want most to see the things which have become dear to me through my years of darkness. You, too, would want to let your eyes rest on the things that have become dear to you so that you could take the memory of them with you into the night that loomed30 before you.
1 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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2 appreciation | |
n.评价;欣赏;感谢;领会,理解;价格上涨 | |
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3 panorama | |
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
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4 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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5 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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6 appreciative | |
adj.有鉴赏力的,有眼力的;感激的 | |
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7 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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8 mellow | |
adj.柔和的;熟透的;v.变柔和;(使)成熟 | |
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9 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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10 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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11 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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12 blessings | |
n.(上帝的)祝福( blessing的名词复数 );好事;福分;因祸得福 | |
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13 hazily | |
ad. vaguely, not clear | |
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14 reposes | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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16 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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17 awakening | |
n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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18 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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19 velvety | |
adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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20 texture | |
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
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21 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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22 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
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23 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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24 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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25 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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26 compulsory | |
n.强制的,必修的;规定的,义务的 | |
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27 dormant | |
adj.暂停活动的;休眠的;潜伏的 | |
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28 sluggish | |
adj.懒惰的,迟钝的,无精打采的 | |
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29 illustrate | |
v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
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30 loomed | |
v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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