双语有声阅读：生活的艺术

The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go.For life is a paradox¹: it enjoins² us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains³ their eventual⁴ relinquishment⁵. The rabbis of old put it thisway: “A man comes to this world with his fist clenched⁶, but when he dies, his hand is open.”Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous⁷, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God’s own earth. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned⁸. But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered,that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.

 

A recent experience re-taught me this truth. I was hospitalized following a severe heart attack and had been in intensive care for several days. It was not a pleasant place.One morning, I had to have some additional tests. The required machines were located in a building at the opposite end of the hospital, so I had to be wheeled across the courtyard on a gurney.As we emerged from our unit, the sunlight hit me.That’s all there was to my experience. Just the light of the sun. And yet how beautiful it was—how warming, how sparking, how brilliant! I looked to see whether anyone else relished⁹ the sun’s golden glow, but everyone was hurrying to and fro，most with eyes fixed¹⁰ on the ground. Then I remembered how often I, too, had been indifferent to the grandeur¹¹ of each day, too preoccupied¹² with petty and sometimes even mean concerns to respond from that experience is really as commonplace as was the experience itself:life’s gifts are precious，but we are too heedless of them.

 

Here then is the first pole of life’s paradoxical demands on us: never too busy for the wonder and the awe¹³ of life. Be reverent¹⁴ before each dawning day. Embrace each hour. Seize each golden minute.Hold fast to life, but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life’s coin, the opposite pole ofits paradox: We must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.This is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the fullforce of our passionate¹⁵ being can，nay will be ours. But then life moves along to confront with realities,and slowly but surely this truth dawns upon us.At every stage of life we sustain losses，and grow in the process.

 

We begin our independent lives only when we emerge from the womb and lose its protective shelter. We entera progression of schools, then we leave our mothers and fathers and our childhood homes. We get married and have children and then have to let them go. We confront the death of our parents and our spouses¹⁶. We face the gradual or not so gradual waning¹⁷ of our strength. And ultimately, as the parable¹⁸ of the open and closed hand suggests, we must confront the inevitability¹⁹ of our own demise²⁰， losing ourselves as it were, allthat we were or dreamed to be.

 

生活的艺术是要懂得如何取舍。因为生活本身自相矛盾：它一面告诫我们珍惜它所赐予的诸多恩惠，一面又注定最终将其全部收回。古时犹太教的拉比对此这样诠释：“一个人初降人世时手紧握成拳，撒手人寰时却手掌张开。”我们当然应该牢牢抓住生活，因为它奇妙无比、美不胜收，渗透了上帝的每一寸土地。我们明白这一点，但往往是在忆及往事、蓦然回首却发现好景不再时才有所感触。我们记得凋零的美，消褪的爱。但我们更痛楚地忆起，在美丽绽放时没有欣赏那份美丽，在情意绵绵时没有回应那份爱意。

 

最近的经历让我重新认识到这个真理。在严重心脏病发作后，我被送进医院，在重症室住了好几天。那可不是令人愉快的地方。一天早晨，我不得不再做些其它检查。所需的器械在医院对面尽头的一幢楼里，因此我必须被推着从院子经过。检查完出来时，阳光照在我身上。那是我当时感受到的一切。和煦的阳光，多么美丽，多么温暖，多么耀眼，多么灿烂！环顾四周，想看其他人是否也在欣赏这金灿灿的阳光，但来来去去的每个人都行色匆匆，眼睛大都盯着地面。这时，我忆起我也经常因被琐碎、有时甚至毫无意义的事占据头脑而每天对这样壮观的景色熟视无睹。就在那一刻，我突然意识到生活的馈赠是多么珍贵，而我们却忽视了它们。

 

这就是生活自相矛盾要求我们的第一极：不要因生活过于忙碌而忽略了它的奇妙和庄严。在每个黎明到来之前心怀敬意。拥抱每一小时。抓住珍贵的每分钟。抓住生活，但不要抓得太紧，以致于无法放弃。这是生活硬币的另一面，也是其矛盾的另一极：我们必须接受失去，并且学会放弃。要学会这一课并非易事，尤其当我们年轻气盛时，自认为是世界的主宰，认为用充满激情的躯体全力追求的东西能够，而且最终将会是我们的。但光阴荏苒，面对现实，我们才渐渐明白并非如此。在人生的每个阶段我们都会蒙受损失，并在此过程中成长。

 

我们只有脱离母体、失去庇护所时才开始独立生活。我们进入各级学校，然后离开父母。我们结婚生子，然后再放飞子女。我们面对父母和配偶的离世。我们逐渐或很快变得衰弱。最终，如同张开和握紧的手的寓言，我们必须面对不可避免的死亡，失去原来的自 我，失去我们原有的或梦想的一切。

1 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

2 enjoins   

v.命令( enjoin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Accordingly, Council enjoins concerned branch undertook nervous investigation, argumentation works further. 据此，国务院责成有关部门进一步进行了紧张的调查、论证工作。 来自互联网
• Humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic arts. 基于人道精神我们乃教导他们农业与持家之道。 来自互联网

3 ordains   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的第三人称单数 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• The festival ordains the Jains to observe the ten universal supreme virtues in daily practical life. 盛典命令耆那教徒日常遵守十大美德。 来自互联网

4 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

5 relinquishment   

n.放弃；撤回；停止

参考例句：

• One kind of love is called relinquishment. 有一种爱叫做放手。
• Our curriculum trains for the relinquishment of judgment as the necessary condition of salvation. 我们的课程则训练我们把放弃判断作为得救的必需条件。

6 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 wondrous   

adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地

参考例句：

• The internal structure of the Department is wondrous to behold.看一下国务院的内部结构是很有意思的。
• We were driven across this wondrous vast land of lakes and forests.我们乘车穿越这片有着湖泊及森林的广袤而神奇的土地。

8 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 relished   

v.欣赏( relish的过去式和过去分词 )；从…获得乐趣；渴望

参考例句：

• The chaplain relished the privacy and isolation of his verdant surroundings. 牧师十分欣赏他那苍翠的环境所具有的幽雅恬静，与世隔绝的气氛。 来自辞典例句
• Dalleson relished the first portion of the work before him. 达尔生对眼前这工作的前半部分满有兴趣。 来自辞典例句

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

12 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

14 reverent   

adj.恭敬的，虔诚的

参考例句：

• He gave reverent attention to the teacher.他恭敬地听老师讲课。
• She said the word artist with a gentle,understanding,reverent smile.她说作家一词时面带高雅，理解和虔诚的微笑。

15 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

16 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

17 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

19 inevitability   

n.必然性

参考例句：

• Evolutionism is normally associated with a belief in the inevitability of progress. 进化主义通常和一种相信进步不可避免的看法相联系。
• It is the tide of the times, an inevitability of history. 这是时代的潮流，历史的必然。

20 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。