英语名篇诵读 人生感悟（在线收听）

Reflections on Life

人生感悟

George Gissing(乔治·吉辛)

I had stepped into a new life. Between the man I had been and that which I now became there was a very notable difference. In a single day I had matured astonishingly; which means, no doubt, that I suddenly entered into conscious enjoyment of powers and sensibilities which had been developing unknown to me. To instance only one point: till then I had cared very little about plants and flowers, but now I found myself eagerly interested in every blossom, in every growth of the wayside. As I walked I gathered a quantity of plants, promising myself to buy a book on the morrow and identify them all. Nor was it a passing humour ; never since have I lost my pleasure in the flowers of the field and my desire to know them all. My ignorance at the time of which I speak seems to me now very shameful; but I was merely in the case of ordinary people, whether living in town or country. How many could give the familiar name of half a dozen plants plucked at random from beneath the hedge in spring-time? To me the flowers became symbolical of a great release, of a wonderful awakening. My eyes had all at once been opened; till then I had walked in darkness, yet knew it not...

But there is the rustle of branches in the morning breeze; there is the music of a sunny shower against the window; there is the mating song of birds. Several times lately I have lain wakeful when there sounded the first note of the earliest lark; it makes me almost glad of my restless nights. The only trouble that touches me in these moments is the thought of my long life wasted amid the senseless noises of man's world. Year after year this sport has known the same tranquility ; with ever so little of good fortune, with ever so little wisdom, beyond what was granted me, I might have blessed my manhood with calm, might have made for myself in later life a long retrospect of bowered peace. As it is, I enjoy with something of sadness remembering that this melodious silence is but the prelude of that deeper stillness which waits to enfold us all.

我迈入了新生活。从前的我和现在的我有了非常显著的区别。仅仅在一天中，我惊人地成熟了；这无疑意味着我突然间开始有意识地玩味起自然万物的力量和敏感了，它们一直生生不息，而我却一无所知。仅以一点为例：在此之前，我对花草植物毫不在意，但我现在发现自己对每一朵花，对路边的每一棵植物，都兴趣盎然。我一边走着，一边采集一些植物，心想着明天买一本书，把它们都加以鉴别。这不是一时心血来潮。自那以后，田野里的花给我带来了快乐，我渴望能都叫响它们的名字。我提到的从前那段时间，我十分无知，今天似乎还觉得非常羞愧，但是我当时只是普通人的普遍状态，不论是城里人还是乡下人。春天树篱下随手摘下的数株植物，有几人能够叫出它们的俗名？对于我，花儿象征着舒心释然，象征着奇妙的觉醒。我的眼界骤然开阔；在那之前，我行走在黑暗中，而自己却浑然不知……

晨风中，树的枝叶飒飒有声；阳光中的阵雨打在窗户上，犹如仙乐；鸟儿求偶，歌声婉转清越。最近几次，我醒来躺在床上，听到早起云雀的第一声啼鸣，使我即使夜不安眠也分外欣喜。此时此刻，使我唯一苦恼的，是想到我漫长的人生浪费在了人世间毫无意义的喧嚣中。年复一年，这份消遣享受总给我带来心灵的安宁。除了天命所赐，我向来没有更多的好运，也没有更多的智慧，但也许我仍然会安然地祝福身为成人的自己，会在以后的生活中为自己创造一个得到荫庇的安宁，值得长久地回忆。实际上，这悦耳的寂静只不过是等待展现在我们所有人面前的更为深沉之寂静的前奏，想到这里，忧伤之感便会涌上心头，但我依然享受着这美好的人生。