英语名篇诵读 命运之舟

The Boat of Destiny

命运之舟

We ordinary people in our bittersweet middle age between maturity¹ and seniority

seem inevitably² hesitant about what to do when we have experienced all the gains and losses of

life. Everything appears so ambiguous that black and white may not be mutually exclusive .

Nor anything can be absolutely defined as right or wrong. That's why they say people's life begins

at 40, and instead of declining towards the end, rather, it opens the way to a second maturity.

It will do better if one spares time to do some meditation³ — think hard and calmly:What is

fate?What is luck?Never mind time and tide. Let bygones be bygones. What really matters is the

present and future. Yes, there are things in life that are destined⁴ , such as the country, the family

where you were born. It's beyond your power to choose. That is fate.

As for luck when you're grown up, whether it is good or bad depends entirely⁵ on yourself.

You and nobody else can “turn the tide”. Is any fortune teller⁶ able to do that for you?None

whosoever. Your life is yours. You are your own master. If you deny yourself the role, how can

fate favor you?

As a rule bad things come suddenly and you are caught unawares . In contrast, good things

are long coming. What is important in life is not your birth but your way of living. Why not take

your destiny for a boat and be the helmsman of it, trim the sail to the wind and travel to the vast

sea of life to enjoy “riding the wind and cleaving⁷ the waves”?

Life begins with the comedy of birth and ends up in the tragedy of death. You can change

your luck if you make the best of your fate. There is no telling what befalls you is fortune or

misfortune. But how you take it — with pleasure or in grief — is your own choice. Look forward.

Never look back. Forget destiny. Create the conditions for good luck. Once the tide is turned, good

luck is around the corner.

芸芸众生如我们：一旦步入成熟与衰老之间的“哀乐中年”，沧桑得失之后，踟蹰之感

油然而生。一切都显得如此模棱两可，黑与白也可能不相互排斥，任何事情也不能绝对地

定义为正确或错误。正因为如此，人们才说人生始于四十，不是自此每况愈下，而是开启

了通往第二次成熟期之路。

一个人如果花些时间沉思冥想会很有益处——冷静地深思：命运是什么？运气是什

么？别感伤岁月无常，过去的就让它过去吧。真正要紧的是现在和将来。是的，人生中有

些东西是命定的，如你诞生的国家，你出生的家庭。这超出了你选择的能力。这就是命

运。

至于你长大以后的运气，是好是坏，完全取决于你自己。能够“扭转局势”的是你，而

非任何别人。有哪个算命先生能为你改变命运吗？根本没有。你的生命是你自己的，你是

自己的主人。如果你否认自己的主人角色，命运怎么会青睐你呢？

通常情况是，噩运突然降临，你措手不及。相反，好事多磨。生活中，真正重要的不

是你的出身，而是你的生活方式。为什么不就驾着这只与生俱来的命运小船，自当命运之

船的舵手，扬帆起航，遨游于人生的浩瀚大海上，“直挂云帆济沧海，乘风破浪会有时”！

生命始于诞生的喜剧，终于死亡的悲剧。如果你充分利用自己的命运，把握好，就能

改变运气。人生福祸无门，说不准，但如何面对——快乐还是悲伤，却是你自己的选择。

向前看，莫回首，忘了命，造好运，局势变，福自来，运亨通。

1 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

2 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

3 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

4 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

7 cleaving   

v.劈开，剁开，割开( cleave的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The freighter carrying pig iron is cleaving through the water. 装着生铁的货船正在破浪前进。 来自辞典例句
• IL-10-cDNA fragment was obtained through cleaving pUC-T-IL-10cDNA by reconstriction enzymes. 结果：pcDNA3.1-IL-10酶切鉴定的电泳结果显示，pcDNA3.1-IL-10质粒有一个560bp左右的插入片断，大小和IL-10cDNA大致符合。 来自互联网