英语美文背诵 生命在时间的土壤里成长

Life grows in the soil of time

What I believe, what I value most, is transitoriness.

But is not transitoriness - the perishableness of life - something very sad? No! It is the very soul of existence. It imparts value, dignity, interest to life. Transitoriness creates time - and "time is the essence." Potentially at least, time is the supreme¹, most useful gift.

Time is related to - yes, identical with - everything creative and active, every process toward a higher goal.

Without transitoriness, without beginning or end, birth or death, there is no time, either. Timelessness - in the sense of time never ending, never beginning - is a stagnant² nothing. It is absolutely uninteresting.

Life is possessed³ by tremendous tenacity⁴. Even so its presence remains⁵ conditional⁶, and as it had a beginning, so it will have an end. I believe that life, just for this reason, is exceedingly enhanced in value, in charm.

One of the most important characteristics distinguishing man from all other forms of nature is his knowledge of transitoriness, of beginning and end, and therefore of the gift of time.

In man transitory life attains⁷ its peak of animation⁸, of soul power, so to speak. This does not mean alone would have a soul. Soul quality pervades⁹ all beings. But man's soul is most awake in his knowledge of the interchangeability of the term "existence" and "transitoriness".

To man time is given like a piece of land, as it were, entrusted¹⁰ to him for faithful tilling; a space in which to strive incessantly¹¹, achieve self-realization, more onward¹² and upward. Yes, with the aid of time, man becomes capable of wresting¹³ the immortal¹⁴ from the mortal.

Deep down, I believe - and deem such belief natural to every human soul - that in the university prime significance must be attributed to this earth of ours. Deep down I believe that creation of the universe out of nothingness and of life out of inorganic¹⁵ state ultimately aimed at the creation of man. I believe that man is meant as a great experiment whose possible failure of man's own guilt¹⁶ would be paramount¹⁷ to the failure of creation itself.

Whether this belief be true or not, man would be well advised if he behaved as though it were.

生命在时间的土壤里成长

　　托马斯.曼

没有短暂，没有开始与结束、生与死，时间也就不复存在。永恒是毫无意义的停滞，它意味着时间永远没有结束，也永远没有开始，绝对令人乏味。

短暂是我的信仰，也是我认为最重要的东西。

然而短暂，如生命的消逝，不是非常哀伤的事情吗？不！它正是生命存在的精髓。它赋予了生命价值、尊严和情趣。短暂创造了时间——而“时间正是其本质”。至少，时间是至高的，是最有用的礼物。

时间与所有富有创造力和活力的事物，及每一个达到更高目标的进步息息相关——是的，它甚至等同于这一切。

没有短暂，没有开始与结束、生与死，时间也就不复存在。永恒是毫无意义的停滞，它意味着时间永远没有结束，也永远没有开始，绝对令人乏味。

生命顽强无比。即便如此，它的存在也依赖于一定的条件，正如它有始亦有终。也因如此，我坚信，生命的价值与魅力将会不断地增长。

人同自然界其他事物之间最重要的区别之一就是，人懂得短暂、始与终，所以也了解时间是一种恩赐。

可以这么说，在人身上，短暂的生命达到了其活力与精神力量的巅峰。这并不是说只有人拥有灵魂。万物皆有灵性。但是对于“存在”与“短暂”的可互换性，只有人的大脑才能最清楚地意识到。

对于人类来说，时间就如赐予的一片土地，等待他去辛勤耕种；是一个让他不断奋斗进取，实现自我价值，不断前进向上的空间。是的，在时间的帮助下，人可以从有限的生命中获得永恒。

在内心深处，我相信宇宙中最为重要的当属我们的地球，并认为这样的信念存在于每一个人的心中。从内心深处，我相信混沌中宇宙的创造，无机中生命的萌芽，最终都是为了创造人类。我相信人类本身便是一项伟大的实验，它可能会因人类自身的罪恶而失败，但这也成为创造本身最主要的失败。

无论这个信仰是否真实，人类如果能依此行事，将会获得更为有益的忠告。

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

3 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

4 tenacity   

n.坚韧

参考例句：

• Tenacity is the bridge to success.坚韧是通向成功的桥。
• The athletes displayed great tenacity throughout the contest.运动员在比赛中表现出坚韧的斗志。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

7 attains   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• This is the period at which the body attains maturity. 这是身体发育成熟的时期。
• The temperature a star attains is determined by its mass. 恒星所达到的温度取决于它的质量。

8 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

9 pervades   

v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• An unpleasant smell pervades the house. 一种难闻的气味弥漫了全屋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• An atmosphere of pessimism pervades the economy. 悲观的气氛笼罩着整个经济。 来自辞典例句

10 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

12 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

13 wresting   

动词wrest的现在进行式

参考例句：

• The amphitheater was a sealed off round structure. Swordplay, wresting, gladiatoral and other contests were held there. 该竞技场为四周封闭式结构，可以举行斗剑、格斗、斗兽及其他竞赛项目。
• This paper introduces mechanism and control system of instrument for wresting training. 本文详细介绍了摔跤训练器的机械机构与控制方法。

14 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

15 inorganic   

adj.无生物的；无机的

参考例句：

• The fundamentals of inorganic chemistry are very important.无机化学的基础很重要。
• This chemical plant recently bought a large quantity of inorganic salt.这家化工厂又买进了大量的无机盐。

16 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

17 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。