|
In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket, and said 在人生之晨，一位善良的仙女带着她的篮子走了过来，说道：
“Here are gifts.Take one, leave the others.And be wary, choose wisely; oh, choose wisely!for only one of them is valuable.” “这些是礼物。挑一件吧，把其余的留下。要小心，挑选时要明智。噢，一定要明智！因为这些礼物中只有一件是有价值的。”
The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, Death.The youth said, eagerly: 这五件礼物分别是：名誉、爱情、财富、快乐和死亡。那年轻人急切地说道：
“There is no need to consider”; and he chose Pleasure. “没必要考虑了”；然后他选择了快乐。
He went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth delights in.But each in its turn was short-lived and disappointing, vain and empty; and each, departing, mocked him.In the end he said: “These years I have wasted.If I could but choose again, I would choose wisely.” 他走出家门，到社会上寻求年轻人喜爱的各种快乐。但是他所追寻的一件接一件的东西都是昙花一现、令人失望的，他感觉徒劳无功和空虚；而且这其中的每一件在消失前，都要嘲弄他一番。最后他说：“这些年的时光都被我浪费了。如果我能够再次选择的话，我一定会明智地选择。”
The fairy appeared, and said: 仙女出现了，说道：
“Four of the gifts remain.Choose once more; and oh, remember— time is flying, and only one of them is precious.” “还剩下四件礼物。再选一次吧；噢，记住——时光飞逝，四件礼物中只有一件是珍贵的。”
The man considered long, then chose Love; and did not mark the tears that rose in the fairy’s eyes. 那人考虑了好久，然后选择了爱情。他没有注意到仙女眼中泛起了泪花。
After many, many years the man sat by a coffin, in an empty home.And he communed with himself, saying: “One by one they have gone away and left me; and now she lies here, the dearest and the last.Desolation after desolation has swept over me; for each hour of happiness the treacherous trader, Love, as sold me I have paid a thousand hours of grief.Out of my heart of hearts I curse him.” 很多很多年后，那人坐在一间空荡荡的屋子里，身旁摆着一副棺木。他自言自语地说着：“她们一个接一个地离我而去；现在她就躺在这里，我最爱的人，也是我爱的最后一个人。一阵又一阵的忧伤掠过我心头；爱情这个奸诈的商人每售予我一小时的幸福，我得用一千小时的悲伤来偿付。我从心底诅咒他。”
“Choose again.”It was the fairy speaking. “再选一次。”仙女说。
“The years have taught you wisdom—surely it must be so.Three gifts remain.Only one of them has any worth—remember it, and choose warily.” “年华已教你变得睿智了——肯定是这样的。还剩下三件礼物。它们中只有一个是有价值的——记住这点，小心地选择。”
The man reflected long, then chose Fame; and the fairy, sighing, went her way. 那人沉思了很久，然后选了名誉；仙女叹息着离开了。
Years went by and she came again, and stood behind the man where he sat solitary in the fading day, thinking.And she knew his thought: 许多年过去了，仙女又来了，站在那人后面；而他则在消逝的日子里孤独地坐着，思考着。仙女知道他在想什么：
“My name filled the world, and its praises were on every tongue, and it seemed well with me for a little while.How little a while it was!Then came envy; then detraction; then calumny; then hate; then persecution.Then derision, which is the beginning of the end.And last of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame.Oh, the bitterness and misery of renown!target for mud in its prime, for contempt and compassion in its decay.” “我曾在世间鼎鼎有名，人人皆夸赞我，曾经有那么一阵子，我感觉很不错。但这是多么短暂的一阵子啊！然后随之而来的是嫉妒；接着是诽谤；接着是中伤；接着是仇恨；接着是迫害。再接着是嘲笑，这是结束的开端。最后是遗憾，它是名誉的葬礼。噢，声望带来的辛酸和痛苦啊！鼎盛时它是诽谤的靶子，衰落时便是被轻视和同情的对象。”
“Choose yet again.”It was the fairy’s voice. “再选一次。”还是仙女的声音。
“Two gifts remain.And do not despair.In the beginning there was but one that was precious, and it is still here.” “剩下两件礼物。不要绝望。一开始的时候只有一件礼物是有价值的，它现在仍旧在这儿。”
“Wealth—which is power!How blind I was!” said the man.“Now, at last, life will be worth the living.I will spend, squander, dazzle.These mockers and despisers will crawl in the dirt before me, and I will feed my hungry heart with their envy.I will have all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit, all contentments of the body that man holds dear.I will buy, buy, buy!deference, respect, esteem, worship—every pinchbeck grace of life the market of a trivial world can furnish forth.I have lost much time, and chosen badly heretofore, but let that pass; I was ignorant then, and could but take for best what seemed so.” “财富———它就是力量！我当初真是瞎了眼！”那人说，“现在，这日子终于值得过下去了。我会消费、大把花钱、炫耀我的财富。这些嘲笑我和轻视我的人将会在我面前的泥土中爬行，而我会用他们的嫉妒填满我的雄心。我将拥有一切奢侈品、所有的欢乐、所有精神上的魅力，以及人们所珍视的身体上的所有满足。我要买、买、买！顺从、尊敬、尊重和崇拜——点缀俗世生活的各种廉价的体面。我已经失去很多时间，而且迄今为止做了那么多错误的选择，但就让那一切过去吧；那时的我很无知，以为看上去最好的就是最好的了。”
Three short years went by, and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret; and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed, and clothed in rags; and he was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling: 短短三年过去了，终于有一天，那人颤抖地坐在一间破落的阁楼里；他面容憔悴、脸色苍白、眼窝凹陷并且衣衫褴褛；他正咬着一块干面包皮，喃喃地说着：
“Curse all the world’s gifts, for mockeries and gilded lies!And miscalled, every one.They are not gifts, but merely lendings.Pleasure, Love, Fame, Riches: they are but temporary disguises for lasting realities—Pain, Grief, Shame, Poverty.The fairy said true; in all her store there was but one gift which was precious, only one that was not valueless.How poor and cheap and mean I know those others now to be, compared with that inestimable one, that dear and sweet and kindly one, that steeps in dreamless and enduring sleep the pains that persecute the body, and the shames and griefs that eat the mind and heart.Bring it!I am weary, I would rest.” “世上所有的礼物都去见鬼吧，全都是嘲弄和镀金的谎言！它们中的每一个都被称呼错了。它们并非礼物，只是租借物。快乐、爱情、名誉、财富：它们只是伤痛、悲伤、耻辱、贫困——这些长久现实的短暂伪装。仙女说的是对的；她所有的藏品中只有一件是珍贵的礼物，只有一件是无价之宝。现在我才知道，同那件无价之宝，那件心爱的、可爱的、亲切的礼物比起来，其他礼物都显得如此卑微、廉价和低劣。那件礼物能让你身体所遭受的痛苦以及心灵所蒙受的耻辱和忧伤都沉浸在无梦的、永久的睡眠中。把它带来吧！我已经疲倦了，我要休息了。”
The fairy came, bringing again four of the gifts, but Death was wanting.She said: 那位仙女来了，再次带来了四件礼物，但就是没有“死亡”。她说：
“I gave it to a mother’s pet, a little child.It was ignorant, but trusted me, asking me to choose for it.You did not ask me to choose.” “我把它给了一位母亲的宠儿，一个小孩子。虽然他什么都不知道，可他相信我，要我为他做出选择。而你却没要求我为你做出选择。”
“Oh, miserable me!What is left for me?” “噢，可悲的我！还剩下什么给我？”
“What not even you have deserved: the wanton insult of Old Age.” “只剩下你甚至都不配得到的东西：老年对你的肆意欺凌。” 点击阅读原文可立即下载知米背单词哟 |
|
|
