英语美文：没有过不去的坎

 Our tolerating ability is indeed may beyond our imagination. But not until the very critical moment will we realize our potential tolerating ability.

人的承受能力，其实远远超过我们的想象，就像不到关键时刻，我们很少能认识到自己的潜力有多大。

There was a woman in the countryside who got married at the age of 18 and had to escape with her two daughters and a son wherever she could at the age of 26 due to the Japanese army’s invasion. Many people in the village at that time could not bear the suffering of being a fugitive¹ and wanted to commit suicide. After she knew about it, she would come to those people and soothed² them by saying: “Don’t do that silly thing. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. The Japanese armies are bound to be foiled one day!”

有这样一位农村妇女，她18岁的时候结婚，26岁赶上日本人侵略中国，在农村进行大扫荡，她不得不经常带着两个女儿一个儿子东躲西藏。村里很多人受不了这种暗无天日的折磨，想到了自尽，她得知后就会去劝：“别这样啊，没有过不去的坎，日本鬼子不会总这么猖狂的。”

Finally she insisted until the day when all the Japanese armies were kicked out of China. Nonetheless, her son died of disease without sufficient medicine and nutrition in those days of hardships. Her husband, after knowing the death of his son, lay in bed for two days without eating and drinking anything. She teared to her husband and said, “We have a tough destiny, but however tough our lives will be, we should also persist. Though our son has passed away, we can have another. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome.”

她终于熬到了把鬼子赶出中国的那一天，可是她的儿子却在那炮火连天的岁月里，由于缺医少药，又极度缺乏营养，因病夭折了。丈夫不吃不喝在床上躺了两天两 夜，她流着泪对丈夫说：“咱们的命苦啊，不过再苦咱也得过啊，儿子没了，咱再生一个，人生没有过不去的坎。”

After giving birth to the second son, her husband died of edema, which almost blew her away. But eventually, she recovered and cuddled the three young children, saying, “My sweet hearts, don’t feel scared. You still have me, your dear mum!”

刚刚生了儿子，丈夫因患水肿病离开了人世。在这个打击下，她很长时间都没回过神来，但最后还是挺过来了，她把三个未成年的孩子揽到自己怀里，说：“娘还在呢，有娘在，你们就别怕。”

It took her painstaking³ efforts to raise her children up and the life of her family was getting better and better. Two daughters were married and so was his son finally. She said to everyone she met, “Look! What I said is absolutely right. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome! My life is so happy now!” She was aging gradually and could not do the farm work any more. So she stayed at home and did some stitching work.

她含辛茹苦地把孩子一个个拉扯大了，生活也慢慢好转起来。两个女儿嫁了人，儿子也结了婚。她逢人便乐呵呵地说：“我说吧，没有过不去的坎，现在生活多好啊。”她年纪大了，不能下地干活，就在家纳鞋底，做衣服，缝缝补补。

Nevertheless, the Heaven seemed to show no affection to her who had undergone a rough life. She got her leg broken accidentally when she was nursing her grandson. Due to her old age that posed a great risk to her operation, she did not receive operation and had to lie in bed all day long. Her children all cried heavily, while she merely said, “Why do you cry? I am still living.”

可是，上苍似乎并不眷顾这位一生坎坷的妇女，她在照看孙子时不小心摔断了腿，由于年纪太大做手术危险，就一直没有做手术，她每天只能躺在床上。儿女们都哭了，她却说：“哭什么，我还活着呢。”

Even though she could not rise from bed, she did not complain about anything and anybody. Instead, she sat on the bed and did some stitching work. She had learnt scarves-weaving, broidery, crafts-making, etc. All her neighbors spoke⁴ highly of her skills and came to learn from her.

即便下不了床，她也没有怨天尤人，而是坐在床上做针线活。她会织围巾，会绣花，会编手工艺品，左邻右舍的人都夸她手艺好，还来跟她学艺。

She lived until 86. Before she went to Heaven, she said to her children, “You all should live to your best. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome!”

她活到86岁，临终前，她对自己儿女们说：“都要好好过啊，没有过不去的坎。”

We will only get to realize our own iron will and strong tolerating ability after getting stricken heavily. Therefore, no matter what you are suffering from now, do not merely complain about the unfairness of our destiny and maintain low-spirited all the time. There are no such setbacks that we could not overcome. Only those who have no confidence and courage to overcome setbacks will be defeated at last!

人总是在遭遇一次重创之后，才会幡然醒悟，重新认识自己的坚强和坚忍。所以，无论你正在遭遇什么磨难，都不要一味抱怨上苍不公平，甚至从此一蹶不振。人生没有过不去的坎，只有过不去的人。

1 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

2 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 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。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。