英语名篇诵读 论理性与情感

On Reason and Passion

论理性与情感

Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment¹ wage war

against your passion and your appetite . Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that

I might turn the discord² and the rivalry³ of your elements into oneness and melody. But how

shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay⁴, the lovers of all your elements?

Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul. If either

your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in

mid-seas. For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended , is a flame that

burns to its own destruction.

Therefore let your soul exalt⁵ your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing; and let

it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection

, and like the phoenix⁶ rise above its own ashes.

I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved

guests in your house. Surely you would not honor one guest above the other; for he who is more

mindful of one, loses the love and the faith of both.

Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and

serenity⁷ of distant fields and meadows,  — then let your heart say in silence, “God rests in reason.”

And when the storm comes, and the mighty⁸ wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning

proclaim the majesty⁹ of the sky,  — then let your heart say in awe,“God moves in passion.”

And since you are a breath in God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in

reason and move in passion.

你的心灵常常是一个战场，你的理性与判断和你的情感与欲望在上面交锋。愿我成为

你心灵的和平使者，将各方的冲突与对抗变成和谐的旋律。然而，除非你自己也是和平使

者，甚至深爱这交战各方，否则，我怎能担当此重任呢？

你的理性与情感是你远航之魂的舵与帆。如果你的帆或舵断了，你只能颠簸漂流，要

么滞留在海中央动弹不得。理性独掌大权，是一种限制自我的力量；情感不加控制，则是

焚毁自我的烈焰。

所以，让你的灵魂将理性升华至情感的极致，这样理性可以高歌；让你的灵魂用理性

引导情感，这样，你的情感才会历经每日的复活，宛如凤凰涅槃。

我希望你对待你的理性和欲望，就像你招待来家中做客的亲爱朋友那样，一视同仁。

你肯定不能厚此薄彼，因为更多地关照一个，会失去两者的爱和信任。

深山中，当你坐在白杨凉爽的树荫下，享受着远处田野和草地的宁静——那么，就让

你的心静静地说：“上帝憩于理性。”

当暴风雨来临，狂风摇撼着森林，天空雷电交加，大显神威——那么，就让你的心敬

畏地说：“上帝行于情感。”

既然你只是上帝领地中的一丝气息，上帝森林中的一片树叶，你也应该憩于理性，行

于情感。

1 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

2 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

3 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

4 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

5 exalt   

v.赞扬，歌颂，晋升，提升

参考例句：

• She thanked the President to exalt her.她感谢总统提拔她。
• His work exalts all those virtues that we,as Americans,are taught to hold dear.他的作品颂扬了所有那些身为美国人应该珍视的美德。

6 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

7 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

8 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。

9 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！