優秀的簡單的英語美文

英語的美文是值得我們去欣賞的，需要的都可以看看，今天小編就給大家整理了英語美文欣賞，歡迎大家參考

　　生活的藝術 The Art of Living

he art of living is to know when to Hold fast and when to let go. For life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way:" A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open."

生活的藝術是要懂得如何取捨。因爲生活本身自相矛盾：它一面告誡我們珍惜它所賜予的諸多恩惠，一面又註定最終將其全部收回。古時猶太教的拉比對此這樣詮釋：“一個人初降人世時手緊握成拳，撒手人寰時卻手掌張開。”

Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God' s own earth. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.

我們當然應該牢牢抓住生活，因爲它奇妙無比、美不勝收，滲透了上帝的每一寸土地。我們明白這一點，但往往是在憶及往事、驀然回首卻發現好景不再時纔有所感觸。

We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned. But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.

我們記得凋零的美，消褪的愛。但我們更痛楚地憶起，在美麗綻放時沒有欣賞那份美麗，在情意綿綿時沒有迴應那份愛意。

A recent experience re-taught me this truth. I was hospitalized following a severe heart attack and had been in intensive care for several days. It was not a pleasant place.

最近的經歷讓我重新認識到這個真理。在嚴重心臟病發作後，我被送進醫院，在重症室住了好幾天。那可不是令人愉快的地方。

One morning, I had to have some additional tests. The required machines were located in a building at the opposite end of the hospital, so I had to be wheeled across the courtyard on a gurney.

一天早晨，我不得不再做些其它檢查，所需的器械在醫院對面盡頭的一幢樓裏，因此我必須被推着從院子經過。

As we emerged from our unit, the sunlight hit me. That's all there was to my experience. Just the light of the sun. And yet how beautiful it was -- how warming, how sparking, how brilliant! I looked to see whether anyone else relished the sun's golden glow, but everyone was hurrying to and fro, most with eyes fixed on the ground. Then I remembered how often I, too, had been indifferent to the grandeur of each day, too preoccupied with petty and sometimes even mean concerns to respond from that experience is really as commonplace as was the experience itself: life's gifts are precious -- but we are too heedless of them.

檢查完出來時，陽光照在我身上。那是我當時感受到的一切。和煦的陽光，多麼美麗———多麼溫暖，多麼耀眼，多麼燦爛!我環顧四周，想看其他人是否也在欣賞這 金燦燦的陽光，但來來去去的每個人都行色匆匆，眼睛大都盯着地面。這時，我憶起我也經常因被瑣碎、有時甚至毫無意義的事佔據頭腦而每天對這樣壯觀的景色熟 視無睹。就在那一刻，我突然意識到生活的饋贈是多麼珍貴———而我們卻忽視了它們。

Here then is the first pole of life' s paradoxical demands on us : Never too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. Be reverent before each dawning day. Embrace each hour. Seize each golden minute.

這就是生活自相矛盾要求我們的第一極：不要因生活過於忙碌而忽略了它的奇妙和莊嚴。在每個黎明到來之前心懷敬意。擁抱每一小時，抓住珍貴的每分鐘。

Hold fast to not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life' s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.

抓住生活，但不要抓得太緊，以致於無法放棄。這是生活硬幣的另一面，也是其矛盾的另一極：我們必須接受失去，並且學會放棄。

This is not an easy lesson to learn, especially when we are young and think that the world is ours to command, that whatever we desire with the full force of our passionate being can, nay, will, be ours. But then life moves along to confront us with realities, and slowly but surely this truth dawns upon us.

要學會這一課並非易事，尤其當我們年輕氣盛時，自認爲是世界的主宰，認爲用充滿激情的軀體全力追求的東西能夠，而且———最終將會是我們的。但光陰荏苒，面對現實，我們才漸漸明白並非如此。

At every stage of life we sustain losses -- and grow in the process. We begin our independent lives only when we emerge from the womb and lose its protective shelter. We enter a progression of schools, then we leave our mothers and fathers and our childhood homes. We get married and have children and then have to let them go. We confront the death of our parents and our spouses. We face the gradual or not so gradual waning of our strength. And ultimately, as the parable of the open and closed hand suggests, we must confront the inevitability of our own demise, losing ourselves as it were, all that we were or dreamed to be.

在 人生的每個階段我們都會蒙受損失———並在此過程中成長。我們只有脫離母體、失去庇護所時纔開始獨立生活。我們進入各級學校，然後離開父母。我們結婚生子，然後再放飛子女。我們面對父母和配偶的離世，我們逐漸或很快變得衰弱。最終，如同張開和握緊的手的寓言，我們必須面對不可避免的死亡，失去原來的自 我，失去我們原有的或夢想的一切。

　　你並不特別

In our unspoken but not so subtle Darwinian competition with one another–which springs, I think, from our fear of our own insignificance, a subset of our dread of mortality — we have of Late, we Americans, to our detriment, come to love accolades more than genuine achievement. We have come to see them as the point — and we're happy to compromise standards, or ignore reality, if we suspect that's the quickest way, or only way, to have something to put on the mantelpiece, something to pose with, crow about, something with which to leverage ourselves into a better spot on the social totempole. No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it… Now it's “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans.

雖然我們並未明說，但顯而易見地，在達爾文的物競天擇理論中-我認爲它源於我們對自身渺小的恐懼和對死亡的憂慮。最近我們美國人-這對我們造成很大的損害-對讚美的喜愛更勝於真正的成就;我們必須認真看待這一點。我們樂於向標準妥協，或忽略事實，如果我們認爲這是最快或唯一的方式，讓我們能得到某種放在壁爐上炫耀的東西;某種能讓我們裝腔作勢、自吹自擂的東西;某種能讓我們在社會圖騰柱上爬到更佳位置的東西。我們不再在乎如何比賽、結果是贏是輸;是否能藉此學習成長或樂在其中。現在我們在乎的是，「這能給我什麼好處?」結果是，我們貶低了努力的價值。建立瓜地馬拉醫療中心的目的更傾向於對鮑登學院的應用，而非危地馬拉人的福祉。

It's an epidemic — and in its way, not even dear old Wellesley High is immune… one of the best of the 37,000 nationwide, Wellesley High School… where good is no longer good enough, where a B is the new C, and the midlevel curriculum is called Advanced College Placement. And I hope you caught me when I said “one of the best.” I said “one of the best” so we can feel better about ourselves, so we can bask in a little easy distinction, however vague and unverifiable, and count ourselves among the elite, whoever they might be, and enjoy a perceived leg up on the perceived competition. But the phrase defies logic. By definition there can be only one best. You're it or you're not.

這是一種傳染病，以它傳染的程度來說，連歷史悠久的韋斯利高中都無法倖免。全國37000所高中最好的之一-韋斯利高中。在這裏，「良好」已算不上夠好;B被視爲新的C;中等程度的課程被稱爲大學先修課程。我希望你們注意到我剛剛所說的「最好的之一」;我說「最好的之一」，是因爲這樣我們才能對自己感覺良好;才能沉浸在這微不足道的差異中，無論這多麼地含糊不清、無法驗證;才能將自己視爲菁英之一，無論菁英可能是誰;並享受在自我認定的競爭中自以爲是的領先。但這句話並不合邏輯。以定義來說，最好的只有一個;是就是，不是就不是。

If you've learned anything in your years here I hope it's that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You've learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an fyi) I also hope you've learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It's where you go from here that matters.

如果你在高中歲月裏有學到任何東西，我希望是教育的本質-樂在學習，而不是物質上的優勢。我也希望你們學習到，如Sophocles(古希臘悲劇作家)所說的，智能是快樂的首要元素;第二個是冰淇淋-僅供參考。我也希望你所學的足以使你體認到自己的不足，瞭解自己目前所知的是多麼地少。因爲今天只是一個開始，重要的是今後的學習。

As you commence, then, and before you scatter to the winds, I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance. Don't bother with work you don't believe in any more than you would a spouse you're not crazy about, lest you too find yourself on the wrong side of a Baltimore Orioles comparison. Resist the easy comforts of complacency, the specious glitter of materialism, the narcotic paralysis of self-satisfaction. Be worthy of your advantages. And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it. Dream big. Work hard. Think for yourself. Love everything you love, everyone you love, with all your might. And do so, please, with a sense of urgency, for every tick of the clock subtracts from fewer and fewer; and as surely as there are commencements there are cessations, and you'll be in no condition to enjoy the ceremony attendant to that eventuality no matter how delightful the afternoon.

當你們畢業後，準備大展鴻圖之前，我建議你們，不管做任何事，都應基於熱愛和相信它的重要性。別費心理會你根本不相信的事，就像你不會跟一位你並未瘋狂愛上的伴侶結婚;也避免讓自己在巴爾的摩金鶯隊的比賽中站錯邊。別志得意滿;別被物質主義華而不實的光芒矇蔽;別被自我滿足麻痹;別愧對自己的優勢。並閱讀…養成閱讀習慣;閱讀跟原則和自重有關，把閱讀當成生活中的精神食糧。培養及保持道德感，並展現道德品格;擁有遠大夢想，並努力實現;進行獨立思考;全心全意地愛你所愛的一切人事物。請一定要把握時間，及時行動，因爲時間正一分一秒地流逝。

　　愛的禮物 A gift of love

"Can I see my baby?" the happy new mother asked.

“我可以看看我的寶寶嗎?”初爲人母的她開心地問道。

When the bundle was nestled in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.

當裹着的嬰兒放到她臂彎裏，她掀開裹着嬰兒的布，在看到他的小臉時，她不禁倒吸了一口氣。醫生快速地轉過身，透過醫院的高層窗戶向外看去。嬰兒生下來就沒有耳朵。

Time proved that the baby's hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was marred. When he rushed home from school one day and flung himself into his mother's arms, she sighed, knowing that his life was to be a succession of heartbreaks.

時間證明嬰兒的聽力毫無問題，只是有損他的相貌。一天，當他匆匆從學校跑回家，撲向母親的懷抱時，她嘆了口氣，意識到他的生活註定會受到一連串的打擊。

He blurted out the tragedy. "A boy, a big ed me a freak."

他脫口訴說遭到的不幸：“一個男孩，一個大個子男孩……他喊我怪胎。”

He grew up, handsome except for his misfortune. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music.

他長大了，雖然不幸但還是長得挺帥。頗受同學的歡迎，要不是有缺陷，他很可能當了班長。他對文學和音樂很有天賦和潛質。

"But you might mingle with other young people," his mother reproved him, but felt a kindness in her heart.

“但你可能會和其他年輕人一樣。”母親責備地說，但從心底裏覺得很欣慰。

The boy's father had a session with the family physician... "Could nothing be done?"

男孩的父親與家庭醫生商量……“難道真無法補救嗎?”

"I believe I could graft on a pair of outer ears, if they could be procured," the doctor decided. SO the search began for a person who would make such a sacrifice for a young man.

“我認爲可以移植一雙外耳，如果能夠找到的話。”醫生做了決定，於是他們開始尋求一個願意爲這個年輕人做出犧牲的人。

Two years went , "You're going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it's a secret." said the father.

兩年過去了。對兒子說，“孩子，你要住院了。我和你媽找到願意爲你捐獻耳朵的人了。但要求保密。”

The operation was a brilliant success, and a new person emerged. His talents blossomed into genius, and school and college became a series of triumphs.

手術獲得了巨大成功，一個新人誕生了。他的潛力發展成一個天才，在中學和大學都取得了一連串的成功。

Later he married and entered the diplomatic service. "but I must know," he asked his father, "Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him."

後來他結婚了，進入外交行業工作。一天，他問父親：“是誰給我的耳朵?誰給了我那麼多?我做多少都無法報答他/她。”[/cn

"I do not believe you could," said the father, "but the agreement was that you are not to yet."

[cn]“我也這樣認爲，”父親說，“但是協議上說你不能知道……還不到時候。”

The years kept their profound secret, but the day did come. One of the darkest days that ever pass through a son. He stood with his father over his mother's casket. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to reveal taht the mother had no outer ears.

他們的祕密遵守了很多年，但這天終於來了，這也是兒子度過的最黑暗的日子。他和父親站在母親的棺材前，慢慢地，輕柔地，父親向前伸出一隻手，掀開母親濃密的、紅褐色的頭髮：母親竟然沒有耳朵!

"Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut," his father whispered gently, "and nobody ever thought mother less beautiful, did they?"

“你母親說過她很高興，她從不理髮，”父親輕柔地低聲說，“但沒人覺得母親沒以前美麗，是吧?”