英语名篇诵读 自由与束缚

Freedom and Restraint

自由与束缚

One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites.

Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds darting¹ and

dancing. As the strong winds gusted² against the kites, a string kept them in check .

Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They

shook and pulled, but the restraining string and the cumbersome³ tail kept them in tow ,

facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they

seemed to say, “Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!”They soared beautifully even as they

fought the restriction⁴ of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose.“Free at

last, ”it seemed to say, “Free to fly with the wind.”

Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It

fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled⁵ mass of weeds and string against

a dead bush.“Free at last,” free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the

ground, and to lodge⁶ lifeless against the first obstruction⁷.

How much like kites we sometimes are! Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions⁸, rules

to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to

the winds of opposition⁹. Some of us tug¹⁰ at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the

heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the command and never rise high enough to get

our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe¹¹

注 under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend¹² and achieve.

在一个多风的春日，我观看一伙年轻人利用风放风筝玩。各种形状不同、大小不一、

五颜六色的风筝满天飞，就像美丽的小鸟穿梭飞行或翩翩起舞。大风一阵阵冲着风筝吹的

时候，总有一根线绳控制着风筝。

这些风筝非但没有被风吹走，反而顶风上升，直达高空。风筝摇摆着，拉扯着，但是

线绳和显得拖累的尾巴控制着风筝，使它们仰面向上，逆风飘动。当风筝在线绳上挣扎抖

动的时候，它们仿佛在说：“放了我，放了我！我要自由！”即使在和线绳的控制抗争的时

候，风筝也是姿态飘逸，翩然爬升。最后，有一只风筝摆脱了控制。“终于自由啦，”它似

乎在说，“终于可以自由地随风翱翔。”

可是，摆脱了束缚的风筝，只能任由无情的风摆布。它形态难看地抖动着落在地上，

掉在一堆乱草丛中，线绳挂在一棵枯死的灌木上。“终于自由啦。”自由到无力地躺在尘土

中，自由到无助地任由风把它在地上吹来吹去，自由到撞上第一个障碍物就搁浅，毫无生

气。

有时我们多么像风筝啊！上帝给我们逆境和限制，给我们生长和获取力量要遵守的规

矩。束缚对于反作用的风力是必不可少的应对力量。我们有人强烈地抵制这些规则，结果

怎么也不能升腾达到本应达到的高度。我们接受部分指令，结果从来没有腾飞到足够的高

度，让尾巴飞离地面。

让我们每个人都飞得很高很高吧！要知道，

1 darting   

v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• Swallows were darting through the clouds. 燕子穿云急飞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Swallows were darting through the air. 燕子在空中掠过。 来自辞典例句

2 gusted   

n. 突然一阵 n. 风味 vi. 猛吹

参考例句：

• The wind gusted up to 45 miles an hour. 风力达每小时45英里。
• As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check. 一阵强风刮向风筝，一根弦控制住了风筝。

3 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。

4 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

7 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

11 chafe   

v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒

参考例句：

• The foaming waves chafe against the rocky shore.汹涌的波涛猛烈地冲击着礁岸。
• A stiff collar may chafe your neck.硬的衣领会擦伤你的脖子。

12 ascend   

vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上

参考例句：

• We watched the airplane ascend higher and higher.我们看着飞机逐渐升高。
• We ascend in the order of time and of development.我们按时间和发展顺序向上溯。