英语名篇诵读 时光

Time

时光

Joseph Addison(约瑟夫·艾迪生)

The hours of a wise man are lengthened¹ by his ideas as those of a fool are by his passions .

The time of the one is long, because he does not know what to do with it; as is that of the other,

because he distinguishes every moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts, or in other

words, because the one is always wishing it away, and the other always enjoying it.

How different is the view of past life, in the man who is grown old in knowledge and

wisdom, from that of him who is grown in ignorance and folly²? The latter is like the owner of a

barren country, that fills his eye with the prospect³ of naked hills and plains, which

produce nothing either profitable or ornamental⁴ ; the other beholds⁵ a beautiful and spacious⁶

注 landscape , divided into delightful⁷ gardens, green meadows, fruitful fields, and can scarce

cast his eye upon a single spot of his possessions , that is not covered with some beautiful plant

or flower.

聪明人的时光得以延长在于思想，蠢人的时光得以延长在于激情。蠢人的时光漫长，

因为他不知如何打发时光；聪明人用有益或有趣的想法突出每寸光阴，换句话说，蠢人总

是希望消磨时光，聪明人总是享受时光。

他们对过去生活的看法有多大差别呢？聪明人在知识和智慧中年岁渐长，蠢人在无知

和愚蠢中黯然老去；蠢人拥有的是一片不毛之地，满目荒山秃岭，长不出任何有价值或美

好的东西；聪明人的眼前是一派美丽广阔的风光，怡人的林苑，绿色的牧场，丰饶的田

野，目光所及，无处不是赏心悦目的芳草和鲜花。

1 lengthened   

（时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The afternoon shadows lengthened. 下午影子渐渐变长了。
• He wanted to have his coat lengthened a bit. 他要把上衣放长一些。

2 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 ornamental   

adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物

参考例句：

• The stream was dammed up to form ornamental lakes.溪流用水坝拦挡起来,形成了装饰性的湖泊。
• The ornamental ironwork lends a touch of elegance to the house.铁艺饰件为房子略添雅致。

5 beholds   

v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• He who beholds the gods against their will, shall atone for it by a heavy penalty. 谁违背神的意志看见了神，就要受到重罚以赎罪。 来自辞典例句
• All mankind has gazed on it; Man beholds it from afar. 25?所行的，万人都看见；世人都从远处观看。 来自互联网

6 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

7 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。