英语美文背诵 给年轻人的忠告

Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice.

获悉人们希望我在这里讲几句时，我就问他们我该讲些什 么。他们希望我讲些适合年轻人的东西——一些教诲性、有教 育意义的东西，或是一些好的建议这太好了！

Very well. I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young;

我倒是一直想 给年轻人提点建议呢，为人在年轻时期，

for it is in one's tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First, then. I will say to you my young friends-and I say it beseechingly¹, urgingly.

好的建议极易在心 底扎根，并能终生受用。那么，首先，年轻朋友们——我要真 诚地告诫你们：

Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don't, they will make you.

一定要听父母的话 长远来讲这是最聪明的做法，如果 你不听话，他们就会逼着你听话

Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition² than you can by acting³ on your own better judgment⁴.

大多数父母认为他们知道得 比你们多，在这种情况下，与其基亍自己的判断行事，还不如 迎合他们的想法，这样你会收获更多。

Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional⁵ or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient.

如果你有上级的话，请尊重他们，对陌生人和他人也是如 此。如果某个人得罪了你，而你也不知道他是否是故意的，那就不要采用极端做法，而要等待时机，给他当头一棒，这就够 了

If you shall find that he had not intended any offense⁶, come out frankly⁷ and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didn't mean to.

如果发现他并非有意伤害你，那么，你就应该站出来，坦 白承认教训他的事；要像一个男子汉一样承认错误并说明自己 并非有意。还有就是，切勿使用暴力。

Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness⁸, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite⁹ to the low and unrefined.

在这个和平友好的年代， 暴力已经过时了。让我们谴责这些低俗的举止、粉碎暴力吧！

Go to bed early, get up early- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark¹⁰ is really the best thing to get up with.

早睡早起——这是十分明智的。有些人主动起床，也有些 人被迫起床。当然在百灵鸟的歌声中起床是最惬意不过了。

It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time-it's no trick at all.

当 人人都知道你与百灵鸟同迎清晨，你便会备受称赞，如果你得 到一只中意的百灵鸟，并按自己的意愿训练它，让他九点半， 甚至是任何时候起床都不是件难事——当然，这并不是说要耍 诡计。

Now as to the matter of lying, you want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before.

现在，我们来谈谈说谎吧。要说谎，就得小心谨慎，否则 很容易穿帮。一旦被揭穿，别人就不再认为你是善良的和纯洁 的，他们眼中的你就不是从前的你了。

Many a young person has injured himself permanently¹¹ through a single clumsy and ill finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young out not to lie at all.

很多年轻人就因为一个| 笨拙或并不圆满的谎言永远地伤害了自己，原因在于他们不够 谨慎且缺乏训练。有些人认为，年轻人不能撒谎。

That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate¹² in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance¹³, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment¹⁴ graceful¹⁵ and profitable.

当然，这有 些偏激。我不会这么偏激，而是始终相信自己是有道理的，我 认为，年轻人应适当运用这门伟大的艺术，通过训练和实践， 他们将变得自信、优雅和精确，而这些恰恰可以使他们完美出色地完成任务。

Patience, diligence, painstaking¹⁶ attention to detail-these are requirements; these in time, will make the student perfect; upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence¹⁷.

耐心、勤奋和对细节的认真揣摩-都是年轻人必须具备的条件。随着时间的流逝，这些要素将会使你们揉 于完美，而你们也只有仰仗这些要素才能成就日后的辉煌。

Think what tedious years of study, thought, practice, experience, went to the equipment of that peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world the lofty and sounding maxim¹⁸ that "Truth is mighty¹⁹ and will prevail the most majestic²⁰ compound fracture of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved.

想 想那位无可匹敌的大师吧,多年沉闷乏味的学习、思考、实践 和练习才使他得以在世人面前说出这样的经典语句一一 “真理 有着巨大的力量，并将战胜一切”——这是最伟大的悖论，是凡人所能达到的最高境界。

For the history of our race, and each individual's experience, are sewn thick with evidences that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie well told is immortal²¹. There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered anesthesia; many people are aware, in these latter days, that that man didn't discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is this truth mighty, and will it prevail? Ah no, my hearers, the monument is made of hardy²² material, but the lie it tells will outlast²³ it a million years.

历史和个人的经历都深刻地表明* 真理易被推翻，但绝妙的谎言却永远颠扑不破。波士顿立有一 座纪念麻醉术发明者的纪念碑。但后来，很多人发现，这个人 根本不是麻醉术的发明者，他不过是窃取了他人的成果。真理 的力量真的很强大吗？它能战胜一切吗？哦，不，朋友们，那 座纪念碑是用很坚固的材料做成，但它所昭示的谎言将比纪念 碑本身还要久一百万年。

An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid; such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it. A feeble, stupid, preposterous²⁴ lie will not live two years-except it be a slander²⁵ upon somebody.

笨拙、没有说服力和漏洞百出的谎言 是你应当通过不断学习去避免的，这样的谎言还不及一般真理 长久。为什么呢，你还是说出真相吧，现在就说。一个没有说 服力、可笑、荒谬的谎言不会存在两年——除非它是对某人的 诽谤。

It is indestructible, then of course, but that is no merit of yours. A final word: begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art early-begin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned how.

当然，这样的谎言牢不可破，但这对你的名誉没有什么 f好处。一句话：尽早练习这门高尚而美丽的艺术吧——现在就 开始。要是我当年入门早，现在就已经学会了。

Never handle firearms carelessly. The sorrow and suffering that have been caused through the innocent but heedless handling of firearms by the young! Only four days ago, right in the next farm house to the one where I am spending the summer, a grandmother, old and gray and sweet, one of the loveliest spirits in the land, was sitting at her work, when her young grandson crept in and got down an old, battered²⁶, rusty²⁷ gun which had not been touched for many years and was supposed not to be loaded, and pointed²⁸ it at her, laughing and threatening to shoot.

切不要随便玩弄枪械。年轻人因为无知和不小心摆弄枪 械而造成痛苦和伤害的例子太多了！就在4天前，我避暑的 农舍隔壁住着一位满头银发、和蔼可亲的老奶奶，她是世界 上最可亲的老人家之一了。当时，她正坐在那儿干活。她的 小孙子蹑手蹑脚溜了进来，还拿着一管旧的、变了形的、绣 迹斑斑的枪，这支枪好多年没用了，大家都以为里边没装子弹。 孙子用枪指着她，笑着威胁她。

In her fright she ran screaming and pleading toward the door on the other side of the room; but as she passed him he placed the gun almost against her very breast and pulled the trigger! He had supposed it was not loaded. And he was right-it wasn't.

她十分惊恐。惊叫着跑开了, 并在门的另一侧求饶。但当她从他身边走过时，他用枪几乎 顶着她的胸膛，并且扣动了板机！他以为枪膛里没子弹。的 确是——枪里确实没子弹，

So there wasn't any harm done. It is the only case of that kind I ever heard of. Therefore, just the same, don't you meddle²⁹ with old unloaded firearms; they are the most deadly and unerring hings that have ever been created by man. You don't have to take any pains at all with them; you don't have to have a rest, you don't have to have any sights on the gun, you don't have to take aim, even.

所以并没有造成什么伤害。这是 我听过的唯一一桩例外。因此，同样地，不要去碰没有装子 弹的枪。它们是人类制造出的最精确的夺命工具。不要在枪支上浪费精力，不要给枪装支架，不要装瞄准器，甚至不要 去瞄准。

No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get him. A youth who can't hit a cathedral at thirty yards with a Gatling gun in three quarters of an hour, can take up an old empty musket³⁰ and bag his grandmother every time, at a hundred.

不，你只要拿起一样类似的东西并且“砰砰”两下， 保证你会击中目标。^r?个在45分钟之内无法用加特林击中 30码远的教堂的年轻人，可能会用一支破旧的没装子弹的枪 在一百码处次次击中他的奶奶。

Think what Waterloo would have been if one of the armies had been boys armed with old muskets³¹ supposed not to be loaded, and the other army had been composed of their female relations. The very thought of it make one shudder³².

想想看，如果滑铁卢战役中 的一方是拿着没装子弹的枪的孩子们，另一方是他们的女性 亲戚，结果会如何呢？只要想想，就会让人不寒而栗，

There are many sorts of books; but good ones are the sort for the young to read. Remember that. They are a great, an inestimable, and unspeakable means of improvement. Therefore be careful in your selection, my young friends; be very careful; confine yourselves exclusively to Robertson's Sermons, Baxter's Saint's Rest, The Innocents Abroad, and works of that kind.

书有各种各样的，但好书才适合年轻人阅读。请记住，好 书能让你不断完善自身，这种作用力强大，不可估量且难以名 状。因此，年轻的朋友们，请谨慎选择你们的读物，要十分谨 慎。你们应该专门读罗伯逊的《道德启示录》、巴克斯特的《圣 徒的安息》和《傻瓜出国记》等作品。

But I have said enough. I hope you will treasure up the instructions which I have given you, and make them a guide to your feet and a light to your understanding. Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly³³ upon these precepts³⁴, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody else's.

我说得已经够多了。我希望你们能珍惜这些建议，让它们 成为你的向导，点燃你们思想的火花。按照这些建议去努力培 养自己的性格吧。慢悝地，一旦你塑造好了自己的性格，你将 惊喜而欣慰地发现，自己和他人是如此相似。

1 beseechingly   

adv. 恳求地

参考例句：

• She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来，几乎是恳求似地问丈夫：“我们现在就走吧？”
• Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来，乞求地盯着斯内普。

2 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

3 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

4 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。

5 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

6 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 kindliness   

n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为

参考例句：

• Martha looked up into a strange face and dark eyes alight with kindliness and concern. 马撒慢慢抬起头，映入眼帘的是张陌生的脸，脸上有一双充满慈爱和关注的眼睛。 来自辞典例句
• I think the chief thing that struck me about Burton was his kindliness. 我想，我对伯顿印象最深之处主要还是这个人的和善。 来自辞典例句

9 dynamite   

n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破)

参考例句：

• The workmen detonated the dynamite.工人们把炸药引爆了。
• The philosopher was still political dynamite.那位哲学家仍旧是政治上的爆炸性人物。

10 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

11 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

12 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

13 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。

14 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

15 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

16 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

17 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

18 maxim   

n.格言，箴言

参考例句：

• Please lay the maxim to your heart.请把此格言记在心里。
• "Waste not,want not" is her favourite maxim.“不浪费则不匮乏”是她喜爱的格言。

19 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。

20 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

21 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

22 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

23 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。

24 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

25 slander   

n./v.诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
• He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。

26 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

27 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

28 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

29 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

30 musket   

n.滑膛枪

参考例句：

• I hunted with a musket two years ago.两年前我用滑膛枪打猎。
• So some seconds passed,till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired.又过了几秒钟，突然，乔伊斯端起枪来开了火。

31 muskets   

n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The watch below, all hands to load muskets. 另一组人都来帮着给枪装火药。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• Deep ditch, single drawbridge, massive stone walls, eight at towers, cannon, muskets, fire and smoke. 深深的壕堑，单吊桥，厚重的石壁，八座巨大的塔楼。大炮、毛瑟枪、火焰与烟雾。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

32 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

33 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。

34 precepts   

n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They accept the Prophet's precepts but reject some of his strictures. 他们接受先知的教训，但拒绝他的种种约束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The legal philosopher's concern is to ascertain the true nature of all the precepts and norms. 法哲学家的兴趣在于探寻所有规范和准则的性质。 来自辞典例句