双语有声阅读：艰辛的人生

A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which springs merely from lack either of desire or of power to strive after great things, is as little worthy² of a nation as an individual.

 

We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies³ victorious⁴ efforts,

the man who never wrongs his neighbor, who is prompt to help a friend, but who has those virile⁵ qualities necessary to win in the stern strife⁶ of actual life. It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. In this life we get nothing save by effort. Freedom from effort in the present merely meansthat there has been effort stored up in the past. A man can be freed from the necessity of work only by the fact that he or his fathers before him have worked to good purpose. If the freedom thus purchased is used aright, and the man still does actual work, though of a different kind, whether as a writer or a general, whether in the field of politics or in the field of exploration and adventure,

he shows he deserves his good fortune.

 

But if he treats this period of freedom from the need of actual labor⁷ as a period, not of preparation, butof mere¹ enjoyment⁸, even though perhaps not of vicious enjoyment, he shows that he is simply a cumberer on the earth’s surface; and he surely unfits himself to hold his own place with his fellows, if the need to do so should again arise. A mere life of ease is not in the end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultimately unfits those who follow it for serious work in the world.

 

As it is with the individual, so it is with the nation. It is a base untruth to say that happy is the nation that has no history. Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorious history. Far better it is to dare mighty⁹ things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered¹⁰ by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much,because they live in the gray twillight that knows neither victory nor defeat.

 

一种怠惰安逸的生活，一种仅仅是由于缺少追寻伟大亊物的渴望或能力而导致的悠闲生活，这对国家与个人都是毫无价值的。

 

我们不欣赏那种怯懦安逸的人。我们钦佩那种表现出奋力向上的人，那种永不屈待邻人，能随时帮助朋友，但是也具有那些刚健的品质，足以在现实生活的严酷斗争中获取胜利的人。失败是难以忍受的，但更为糟糕的是从来不去努力争取成功。在人的这一生中，任何的收获都要通过努力去得到。目前不作任何的努力，只不过意味着在过去有过努力的积储。一个人不必工作,除非他或其先辈们曾经努力工作过，并取得了丰厚的收获。假如他能够把获得的这种自由加以正确地运用，仍然做些实际的工作，尽管那些工作是属于另一类的，不论是做一名作家还是将军,不论是在政界还是在探险和冒险方面做些亊情，都表明了他没有事负自己的好运。

 

但是,假如他未将这段需要从亊实际工作的自由时期用于准备，而仅仅是用于享乐（即使他所从亊的或许并非不良的享乐），那也就表明了他只是地球表面上的一个赘疣；而且如果那种需要再度出现的话，他肯定无法在间僚之中维持自己的地位。一种纯粹安逸的生活终究并不是一种令人很满意的生活，而且，最主要的是，过那种生活的人最终肯定没有能力担当起世上之重任。

 

对于个人是如此，对于国家也是这样。有人说一个没有历史的国家是得天独厚的，这是根本错误的。一种得天独厚的优越感来源于一个国家所具有的光荣历史。敢于挑战非比寻常的事物，去贏得光辉的胜利，即使其中掺杂着失败，那也远胜子与那些既没有享受多大快乐也没有道受多大痛苦的平庸之辈为伍，因为他们生活在一个既享受不到胜利也不会道遇挫败的灰暗的境界中。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

5 virile   

adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的

参考例句：

• She loved the virile young swimmer.她爱上了那个有男子气概的年轻游泳运动员。
• He wanted his sons to become strong,virile,and athletic like himself.他希望他的儿子们能长得像他一样强壮、阳刚而又健美。

6 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

9 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

10 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。