英语名篇诵读 奇妙的世界

The Astonishing World

奇妙的世界

Wislawa Szymborska(维斯瓦娃·辛波丝卡)

The world — whatever we might think when terrified by its vastness and our own impotence

注 , or embittered¹ by its indifference² to individual suffering, of people, animals, and perhaps

even plants, for why are we so sure that plants feel no pain; and whatever we might think of its

expanses pierced by the rays of stars surrounded by planets we've just begun to discover,

planets already dead? still dead? we just don't know; whatever we might think of this measureless

theater to which we've got reserved tickets, but tickets whose lifespan is laughably short, bounded

注 as it is by two arbitrary dates; whatever else we might think of this world — it is

astonishing.

这个世界——当我们为它的浩瀚无边和我们自己的渺小无能而惶恐，当我们为它对人

类、动物或许甚至植物所遭受的痛苦无动于衷而愤然（因为我们怎么敢肯定植物感受不到

痛苦呢），无论我们怎么想；当我们看到广袤无涯的世界被我们刚刚才开始发现的星体包

围的星星的光辉所穿透（这些星体已经死寂？仍然死寂？我们不得而知），无论我们怎么

想；在世界这个无边无际的剧院里，我们拿到了预订的票，可有效期却短得可笑，为生卒

时日所限定，对此，无论我们怎么想；无论我们对这个世界还有什么别的想法——它终归

是奇妙的。

1 embittered   

v.使怨恨，激怒( embitter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• These injustices embittered her even more. 不公平使她更加受苦。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The artist was embittered by public neglect. 大众的忽视于那位艺术家更加难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。