触动心灵的英语幸福散文：我们为什么活着

 　　Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life, the longing¹ for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable² pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions like great winds, have blown me hither and thither³, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish⁴, reaching to the very verge⁵ of despair.

　　三种简单而强烈的情感支配着我的生活：对爱的渴望、对知识的追求和对受苦之人的同情?这些情感就像大风一样，把我随风卷起，飘忽不定地越过痛苦之海，来到了绝望的边缘。

　　I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy-ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness-that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim⁶ of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss .I have sought it finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life. This is what-at last-l have found.

　　我追寻过爱，首先，因为它给我带来了莫大的喜悦——这喜悦是如此的强烈，往往会让我牺牲生命中其他的一切只为了体验几个小时爱的喜悦j其次，它排遣了寂寞——在那种可怕的寂寞之中，一个颤抖的灵魂，越过世界的边际，进入那酷寒，深不可测而又了无生气的无底深渊，我追求过爱，最后是因为在爱的结合中我看过圣人和诗人所希冀的天堂的微缩景象这就是我所追寻的人生的境界，这似乎对人类而言太过美好，这是我最终所发现的。

　　With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished Lo understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend⁷ the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux⁸. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

　　我对于知识有着同样的渴望二我希望能了解人类的?心灵，我想知道为什么星星在夜空闪烁：我试图去理解毕达哥拉斯学派的力量即用数字去统治那些不理性二在这个方面，我有点小小的成就。

　　Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate⁹ in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness poverty and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate¹⁰ this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

　　如果爱和知识是可能的，那么他们能带我们到达天堂：但是人类的苦难又使我回到了人间。忍饥挨饿的孩子，被压迫的人民，无助的老人成了孩子的负担，还有满世界的孤独，贫困和痛苦对于人类生活的理想进行了无尽的嘲弄二我想远离这个恶魔，但是我无能为力，所以也我痛苦着。

　　This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

　　这就是我的生活。而且我觉得这样的生活很值得：如果能再给我一个机会，我会很高兴再活一次。

　　英语学习笔记:

　　1. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

　　英语点睛：使用动名词等使句子变得更加紧凑。

　　2. because it relieves loneliness-that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss.

　　英语点睛：使用了很多令人印象深刻的形容词。

　　3. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

　　英语点睛：这里用的是too的基本用法，但常常被初学者忽略。

　　学习更多：

　　1.Creating were the rejoicings when Peter reached the home under the ground almost as soon as Wendy, who had been carried hither and thither by the kite.

　　(Peter Pan里面的句子)彼得和温迪是差不多一起回到家的，温迪一直被风筝带着到处乱飞。当他回到家的时候，他高兴极了。

　　2.His feeling was confused and drifting, but deep and un-fathomable.

　　(描写心理感受)这思绪是散乱而飘浮的，又是幽深而莫测的。

　　3 .The onion has layers, and our monsters have layers, too.

　　(too在句尾的用法)洋葱是有层次的，我们怪兽也是有层次的。

1 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

2 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

3 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

4 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

5 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

6 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

7 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

8 flux   

n.流动；不断的改变

参考例句：

• The market is in a constant state of flux.市场行情在不断变化。
• In most reactors,there is a significant flux of fast neutrons.在大部分反应堆中都有一定强度的快中子流。

9 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。

10 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。