英语名篇诵读 扮演好自己的角色（在线收听）

Act Your Part Well

扮演好自己的角色

Joseph Addison(约瑟夫·艾迪生)

I could wish that men, while they are in health, would consider well the nature of the part

they are engaged in, and what figure it will make in the minds of those they leave behind them:

whether it was worth coming into the world for; whether it be suitable to a reasonable being; in

short, whether it appears graceful in this life, or will turn to an advantage in the next.

But if we look into the bulk of our species, they are such as are not likely to be

remembered a moment after their disappearance. They leave behind them no traces of their

existence, but are forgotten as tho ' they had never been. They are neither wanted by the poor,

regretted by the rich, nor celebrated by the learned. They are neither missed in the

commonwealth , nor lamented by private persons. Their actions are of no significance to

mankind, and might have been performed by creatures of much less dignity, than those who are

distinguished by the faculty of reason...

我倒希望，趁着身体健康，人们好好想想自己在扮演哪一类角色，将在后人心目中留

下什么样的形象：这个角色有无价值，是否配得上一个理性的人；总之，是否于今生得

体，抑或于来世有益。

但是当我们仔细打量芸芸众生，其生前表演微不足道，死后不留片刻记忆，被忘个干

干净净，像从来没有存在过。他们不为穷人需要，不为富人惋惜，也不为斯文之士赞美。

他们不为公众怀念，也无私交追思。他们的所作所为对人生没有任何意义，这些行为本应

由心性低劣之徒所做，而不应由独具理性的人所为。