英语经典美文:假如给我三天光明
充分利用每一个感官,通过自然提供给你的几种接触方式,为世界向你显示的所有愉快而美好的一切而自奋吧。下面是学习啦小编为大家带来英语经典美文:假如给我三天光明,希望大家喜欢!
英语美文:假如给我三天光明
If, by some miracle, I were granted three seeing days,to be followed by a relapse into darkness, I should divide the period into three parts.
学习啦在线学习网 如果因为某种奇迹,我获得了能看见东西的三天,随后又将沉陷于一片黑暗之中,我会将这段时间分为三个部分。
The First Day
第一天
On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living. First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me. I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education. I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character, which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties, and that compassion for all humanity, which she has revealed, to me so often.
第一天,我想看到这些人,他们的善良,温柔和友情使我的生命变得有价值。首先我想长时间凝视我亲爱的老师安妮·萨利文·梅西夫人的脸。当我还是一个孩子的时候,她来到我面前,为我打开了外面的世界。我不仅要看她脸部的轮廓,以便能把它珍藏在我的记忆中,而且还要研究这张脸庞,在那里找到富有同情心、温柔和耐心的生动迹象,她就是以这种温柔和耐心完成了教育我的艰难任务。我要看她眼睛里所包含的那种使得她在困难面前坚强的性格力量,我要看她经常对我流露出来的,那对所有人的同情心。
学习啦在线学习网 I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that "window of the soul",the eye. I can only "see"through my fingertips the outline of a face. I can detect laughter, sorrow, and many other obvious emotions. I know my friends from the feel of their faces. But[cannot really picture their personalities by touch. I know their personalities,of course,through other means, through the thoughts they express to me,through whatever of their actions are revealed to me. But I am denied that deeper understanding of them which I am sure would come through sight of them,through watching their reactions to various expressed thoughts and circumstances,through noting the immediate and fleeting reactions of their eyes and countenance.
我无法理解通过“心灵的窗口”—眼睛,看透一个朋友的内心是怎么一回事。我只能通过我的指尖‘’看”到一张面孔的轮廓。我能察觉欢笑、悲伤和其他许多明显的情感。我是通过触摸朋友们的脸来认识他们的,但我无法凭触摸确切地描绘出他们的性格。当然,我可以通过其他方式了解他们的性格—通过他们对我表达的思想、他们对我表露的任何动作,但我仍然无法有更深刻的了解。我确信,只有看到他们,观察他们对各种表达出来的思想和情况的反应,注意他们的眼神和脸色在刹那间的变化,才可以深入地了解他们。
学习啦在线学习网 Friends who are near to me I know well,because through the months and years they reveal themselves to me in all their phases;but of casual friends I have only an incomplete impression,an impression gained from a handclasp,from spoken words which I take from their lips with my finger tips, or which they tap into the palm of my hand.
学习啦在线学习网 我对身边的朋友非常了解,因为他们经年累月地在我面前表现着自己的各个方面。而对那些偶然相遇的朋友,我只有一个不完全的印象,一种我从以下方式中得到的印象:一次握手,当我的指尖触摸他们的嘴唇感受他们所说的话,或者是他们在我掌心上写下来。
学习啦在线学习网 How much easier, how much more satisfying it is for you who can see to grasp quickly the essential qualities of another person by watching the subtleties of expression,the quiver of a muscle,the flutter of a hand. But does it ever occur to you to use your sight to see into the inner nature of a friends or acquaintance? Do not most of you seeing people grasp casually the outward features of a face and let it go at that?
学习啦在线学习网 对你们能看见的人来说,通过观察对方微妙的面部表情、肌肉的颤抖、手的摆动,就能很快地了解对方所要表达的意思的实质,这是多么容易又多么令人满足的事情。但是你们曾经有过用你们的视觉去看透一个朋友或熟人的内在本质的时候吗,你们大多数人难道不是漫不经心地看着每一张脸孔的外部特征而不去深入思考吗?
学习啦在线学习网 For instance can you describe accurately the faces of five good friends? Some of you can,but many cannot. As an experiment, I have questioned husbands of long standing about the color of their wives'eyes,and often they express embarrassed confusion and admit that they do not know. And,incidentally, it is a chronic complaint of wives that their husbands do not notice new dresses, new hats, and changes in household arrangements.
学习啦在线学习网 举例来说,你们能精确地描述5个好朋友的面貌吗?有些人可以,但许多人做不到。我曾做过一个实验,我问那些与妻子相处多年的丈夫们,他们妻子的眼睛是什么颜色。他们常常显得窘迫含糊,承认他们不知道。而且,顺便说一句,妻子们也经常抱怨,他们的丈夫不注意自己的新衣服、新帽子和家里摆设的变化。
The eyes of seeing persons soon become accustomed to the routine of their surroundings, and they actually see only the startling and spectacular. But even in viewing the most spectacular sights the eyes are lazy. Court records reveal every day how inaccurately "eyewitnesses" see. A given event will be "seen" in several different ways by as many witnesses. Some see more than others, but few see everything that is within the range of their vision.
正常人的眼睛很快就习惯了他们周围的东西。他们实际上仅仅注意到令人吃惊的事和引人注意的壮观之事,而即使是那些最壮观的景象,他们的眼睛也是懒洋洋的。法庭记录每天都透露出“目击者”看得多么不准确,一个特定的事件,在不同的人眼中也不尽相同,有些人看得比另一些人要多些,而没有几个人能看到在他们的视线范围内的所有事情。
Oh, the things that I should see if I had the power of sight for just three days!
学习啦在线学习网 啊,如果我要有哪怕3天的视力,我该看多少事啊!
The first day would be a busy one. I should call to me all my dear friends and look long into their faces, imprinting upon my mind the outward evidences of the beauty that is within them .I should let my eyes rest, too, on the face of a baby, so that I could catch a vision of the eager, innocent beauty, which precedes the individual's consciousness of the conflicts which life develops.
学习啦在线学习网 第一天会是很忙碌的,我要把我所有的亲爱的朋友们都叫到我这里来,长久地注视着他们的面容,把体现他们内在美的外貌深深地印在我的脑海中。我也会让我的目光停留在婴儿的脸上,去捕捉那种渴望生活的天真无邪的美,那种婴儿在意识到生活的冲突之前的纯真与美丽。
And I should like to look into the loyal, trusting eyes of my dogs-the grave, canny little Scottie, Darkie, and the stalwart, understanding great Dane, Helga,whose warm,tender, and playful friendships are so comforting to me.
而且,我也要看看我的狗们那忠诚、充满信任的眼睛—那严肃、机灵的小苏格兰狗达基和那高大健壮、善解人意的大丹麦狗赫尔加,和它们建立的热诚、细腻、愉快的友谊让我很开心。
On that busy first day I should also view the small simple things of my home. I want to see the warm colors in the rugs under my feet, the pictures on the walls, the intimate trifles that transform a house into home. My eyes would rest respectfully on the books in raised type which I have read, but they would be more eagerly interested in the printed books which seeing people can read, for during the long night of my life, the books I have read and those which have been read to me have built themselves into a great shining lighthouse, revealing to me the deepest channels of human life and the human spirit.
在这繁忙的第一天,我还要看看我家的那些简单的小东西。我想看看我脚下的地毯和墙壁上的图画的明朗愉快的色彩,那些使这间屋子成为一个家的亲切的琐碎物件。我也要带着敬重将目光停留在那些我读过的盲文书籍上,但那些能看见的人所读的出版物我会更加感兴趣,因为在我生命的漫漫长夜里,我读过的书和别人读给我听的书已筑成一座巨大的闪光的灯塔,为我指引了人生及心灵的最深远的航道。
学习啦在线学习网 In the afternoon of that first seeing day, I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of nature trying desperately to absorb in a few hours the vastsplendor which is constantly unfolding itself to those who can see. On the way home from my woodland jaunt my path would lie near a farm so that I might see the patient horses ploughing in the field (perhaps I should see only a tractor!). And the serene content of men living close to the soil. And I should pray for the glory of a colorful sunset.
在能看见东西的第一天的下午,我要到森林里进行一次远足,让我的目光陶醉在大自然的美景之中。在几个小时中,拼命地吸收对那些能看见的人是司空见惯了的无穷的壮丽景色,在返回家的途中,我要走在农庄附近的小路上,以便去看看在田间耕作的马(或许我只能看到一台拖拉机)。看到靠泥土生活的人们那样安详和满足,我将为艳丽的落日光辉而祈祷。
学习啦在线学习网 When dusk had fallen,I should experience the double delight of being able to see by artificial light which the genius of man has created to extend the power of his sight when nature decrees darkness.
黄昏降临时,我将感受到双倍的喜悦,因为能看到人造的光明,这是人类的天才创造出来的,当大自然的黑暗降临之时,让他们能够继续看得清楚。
In the night of that first day of sight, I should not be able to sleep, so full would be my mind of the memories of the day.
在那能看见的第一天晚间,我是不能入睡的,我脑海中充满了对白天的回忆。
The Second Day
第二天
The next day-the second day of sight-I should arise with the dawn and see the thrilling miracle by which night is transformed into day. I should behold with awe the magnificent panorama of light with which the sun awakens the sleeping earth.
学习啦在线学习网 次日—我能看见东西的第二天—我会随黎明一道起来,看黑夜变成白昼那激动人心的奇迹,我要怀着肃然敬畏的心情,去看太阳唤醒沉睡的大地那壮观的景象。
This day I should devote to a hasty glimpse of the world,past and present. I should want to see the pageant of man's progress, the kaleidoscope of the ages. How can so much be compressed into one day? Through the museums, of course.Often I have visited the New York Museum of Natural History to touch with my hands many of the objects there exhibited,but I have longed to see with my eyes the condensed history of the earth and its inhabitants displayed there-animals and the races of men pictured in their native environment;gigantic carcasses of dinosaurs and mastodons which roamed the earth long before man appeared, with his tiny stature and powerful brain, to conquer the animal kingdom;realistic presentations of the processes of development in animals, in man,and in the implements which man has used to fashion for himself a secure home on this planet;and a thousand and one other aspects of natural history.
这一天,我要用来匆忙地扫视这个世界,它的往事和正在发生的一切。我想看人类历史上的兴衰,看世间沧桑。这么多的东西怎么能压缩在一天之内看完呢?当然是通过博物馆,我已多次去参观过纽约自然历史博物馆,用手去触摸那里陈列的许多展品。但我渴望能亲眼看到这部浓缩了的地球历史和陈列在那里的地球上的居民—按照自然环境描画出的动物和人类种族;曾在人类出现之前,很早就在地球上漫游的巨大恐龙和乳齿象骨架,人类以小巧的身材和强有力的大脑征服了动物王国;博物馆还逼真地展现了动物、人类和人类工具的发展过程,人类曾用这些工具在这个星球上来建造他们安全的家园;博物馆还有其他许许多多的自然历史方面的东西。
I wonder how many readers of this article have viewed this panorama of the face of living things as pictured in that inspiring museum. Many, of course, have not had the opportunity, but I am sure that many who have had the opportunity have not made use of it. There, indeed, is a place to use your eyes. You who can see spend many fruitful days there, but I with my imaginary three days of sight, could only take a hasty glimpse, and pass on.
我不知道,有多少这篇文章学习啦在线学习网的读者看过这个生动的博物馆所展示的逼真事物的壮观景貌。当然有许多人没有机会,但是我相信,有许多人有机会却没有利用它。那里的确是使用眼睛的好地方,你们能看见东西的人,能在那里度过许多受益匪浅的日子,可是我只有想象的3天能看见的时间,只能是仓促地一瞥,匆匆而过。
学习啦在线学习网 My next stop would be the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for just as the Museum of Natural History reveals the material aspects of the world,so does the Metropolitan show the myriad facets of the human spirit. Throughout the history of humanity the urge to artistic expression has been almost as powerful as the urge for food,shelter, and procreation. And here, in the vast chambers of the Metropolitan Museum, is unfolded before me the spirit of Egypt, Greece,and Rome, as expressed in their art. I know well through my hands the sculptured gods and goddesses of the ancient Nile-land. I have felt copies of Parthenon friezes,and I have sensed the rhythmic beauty of charging Athenian warriors. Apollos and Venuses and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are friends of my fingertips. The gnarled, bearded features of Homer are dear to me, for he, too, knew blindness.
我的下一站将是大都会艺术博物馆。像自然历史博物馆展示世界的物质方面一样,大都会艺术博物馆展示了大量的人类精神方面的东西。在贯穿人类历史的全过程中,人类对艺术表现的强烈冲动就像对食物、住所和繁衍的迫切需要一样强烈。而这里,在大都会博物馆那宽敞的大厅里,在我们面前展示了通过艺术形式表达出来的古埃及、古希腊和古罗马的精神世界。我通过我的手很好地了解了雕刻上的古代尼罗河土地上的众神,我摸过巴台农神殿(译注:巴台农神殿是希腊雅典城内的帕拉斯·雅典娜神殿,建于公元前447—前432年间。神殿由大理石筑成,极尽雕饰之巧,是希腊古典建筑的杰出代表作品)中的复制品,我感觉到了向前冲锋的雅典武士的匀称与和谐美。阿波罗、维纳斯和有翅膀的萨莫特拉斯胜利女神(译注:萨莫特拉斯是位于希腊爱琴海东北部的一个岛屿,因公元305年在岛上立起一胜利女神大理石雕像,以纪念马其顿国王的海战大捷而著名。因女神雕像展开的双臂塑成展翅飞翔的姿态,故称萨莫特拉斯展翅胜利女神像。该雕像现存于巴黎卢浮宫。)都使我爱不释手。荷马那长满胡须、节瘤众多的面部雕像使我感到 无比亲切,因为他也是盲人。
学习啦在线学习网 My hands have lingered upon the living marble of roman sculpture as well as that of later generations. I have passed my hands over a plaster cast of Michelangelo's inspiring and heroic Moses;I have sensed the power of Rodin;I have been awed by the devoted spirit of Gothic wood carvings. These arts which can be touched have meaning for me, but even they were meant to be seen rather than felt, and I can only guess at the beauty which remains hidden from me. I can admire the simple lines of a Greek vase,but its figured decorations are lost to me.
学习啦在线学习网 我的手在栩栩如生的罗马大理石雕像以及后世的雕刻上逗留。我的手摸过米开朗其罗(译注:1475-1564年,著名的佛罗伦萨画家、雕刻家、建筑师和诗人,意大利文艺复兴盛期的杰出代表人物)的感人的英雄摩西雕塑石雕像;我感觉到罗丹(译注:1840-1917年,著名的法国雕塑家)的力t;我对哥特对木刻的热忱精神感到敬畏。这些艺术作品是供人看而不是摸的,尽管触摸它们对我有着实在的意义,所以我只能去猜测那种我看不见的美。我能赞叹一只古希腊花瓶简朴的线条,但我却无法看到上面的图案装饰。
So on this, my second day of sight; I should try to probe into the soul of man through this art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. More splendid still,the whole magnificent world of painting would be opened to me,from the Italian Primitives, with their serene religious devotion,to the Moderns, with their feverish visions. I should look deep into the canvases of Raphael,Leonardo da Vinci,Titian,Rembrandt. I should want to feast my eyes upon the warm colors of Veronese, study the mysteries of EI Greco, and catch a new vision of nature from Corot. Oh,there is so much rich meaning and beauty in the art of the ages for you who have eyes to see!
所以,在我能看见东西的第二天,我要通过艺术努力探究人类的灵魂。我会看到那些通过触摸我了解的东西。更妙的是,整个壮丽的绘画世界将向我打开,从富有宁静的宗教色彩的意大利文艺复兴前期作品到带有狂想风格的现代派作品,都展现在我眼前。我要仔细端详拉斐尔、达·芬奇、提香(译注:1477-1576年,著名的威尼斯画家)和伦勃朗(译注:1606-1669年,著名的荷兰巴洛克画家,荷兰油画派领袖,欧洲艺术大师)的油画。我要让我的眼睛饱享委罗涅塞(译注:1528-1588年,意大利威尼斯派画家)那炽烈的色彩,研究艾尔·格里科(译注:1548-1625年,西班牙画家)的神秘,从柯罗(译注:1796-1875年,法国风景画家)的绘画中重新观察大自然。啊!对你们眼睛能看见东西的人来说,你们竟能欣赏到历代的艺术中这么丰富的意味和美。
Upon my short visit to this temple of art,/should not be able to review a fraction of chat great world of art which is open to you.I should be able to get only a superficial impression. Artists tell me that for deep and true appreciation of art one must educated the eye. One must learn through experience to weigh the merits of line, of composition, of form and color. If I had eyes, how happily would I embark upon so fascinating a study! Yet I am told that, to many of you who have eyes to see, the world of art is a dark night, unexplored and unilluminated.
在我对这座艺术殿堂的短暂访问中,我无法评论你们面前的这个伟大的艺术世界,我只能是获得一个表面的印象。诚如艺术家所言,要能真正深刻地鉴赏,就要训练自己的眼力,必须通过经验学会衡t线条、构图、形态和色彩的价值。如果我能看见,能从事如此迷人的研究,我会是多么幸福啊!但是,有人告诉我,对你们有眼睛可看到东西的许多人来说,艺术的世界仍是一片黑暗,未曾开发、探索和难以企及的世界。
学习啦在线学习网 It would be with extreme reluctance that I should leave the Metropolitan Museum,which contains the key to beauty-abeauty so neglected. Seeing persons, however, do not need a metropolitan to find this key to beauty. The same key lies waiting in smaller museums, and in books on the shelves of even small libraries. But naturally, in my limited time of imaginary sight, I should choose the place where the key unlocks the greatest treasures in the shortest time.
要离开大都会艺术博物馆了,我是多么不情愿,那里有开启美的钥匙,然而这种美又被忽视了。而能看见的人却不需要到大都会艺术博物馆去找这把开启美的钥匙,这相同的钥匙在较小的博物馆,甚至小图书馆的书架上的书中也能找到。当然,在我想象的能看见的有限时间里,我该选择能在短暂的时间内打开最伟大宝库的钥匙所在的地方。
The evening of my second day of sight I should spend at a theatre or at the movies. Even now I often attend theatrical performances of all sorts, but the action of the play must be spelled into my hand by a companion. But how I should like to see with my own eyes the fascinating figure of Hamlet, or the gusty Falstaff amid colorful Elizabethan trappings! How I should like to follow each movement of the graceful Hamlet, each strut of the hearty Falstaff! And since I could see only one play, I should be confronted by a many-horned dilemma, for there are scores of plays I should want to see. You who have eyes can see any you like. How many of you, I wonder, when you gaze at a play, a movie, or any spectacle, realize and give thanks for the miracle of sight which enables you to enjoy its color, grace, and movement?
在我能看见的第二天晚上,我要在剧院或电影院度过。即使现在,我还是经常去看各种戏剧表演,但剧情需要由一个同伴拼写在我手上。我多么想亲眼看到哈姆雷特的迷人形象,或者穿着艳丽多彩的伊丽莎白时代服饰的来往穿梭的福斯泰夫!(译注:福斯泰夫为莎士比亚剧中的一个滑稽喜剧人物,是莎剧《亨利四世王》、《亨利五世王》和《温莎的风流娘儿们》那个剧中的一个胖骑士,爱吹牛自夸,又胆小,但是他足智多谋,心地善良。)我多想注视优雅的哈姆雷特的每个动作,热忱的福斯泰夫的每一个昂首阔步的样子!因为我只能看一场戏,这使我非常为难,因为有几十部戏我都想看。你们有眼能看的人可以看你们喜欢的任何一部戏。我不知道,当你们注视着这一部戏、一场电影,或任何奇观时,你们中间有多少人意识到并感激使你们享受到它的色彩和动作的视觉奇迹呢?
学习啦在线学习网 I cannot enjoy the beauty of rhythmic movement except in a sphere restricted to the touch of my hands. I can vision only dimly the grace of a Pavlowa, although I know something of the delight of rhythm, for often I can sense the beat of music as it vibrates through the floor. I can well imagine that cadenced motion must be one of the most pleasing sights in the world. I have been able to gather something of this by tracing with my fingers the lines in sculptured marble; if this static grace can be so lovely, how much more acute must be the thrill of seeing grace in motion.
倘若超出我的手能触摸到的范围,我便无法享受那节奏感很强的动作的优美。尽管我能体会到节拍的快感,因为当音乐震动地板时,我经常能感觉到它的节拍,可是我也只能模糊地 想象一下巴甫洛娃(译注:前苏联的著名的女芭营舞演员)的优美。我完全能想象到,有节拍的动作一定是世上最令人悦目的景象之一。我已能用我的手指摸索出大理石雕刻中的线条轮廓从而获得这样的一些感受;如果这种静态的美都是这么可爱,那么,看见那动态的美一定会令人更加激动。
One of my dearest memories is of the time when Joseph Jefferson allowed me to touch his face and hands as he went through some of the gestures and speeches of his beloved Rip Van Winkle. I was able to catch thus a meager glimpse of the world of drama,and I shall never forget the delight of that moment. But,oh,how much I must miss,and how much pleasure you seeing ones can derive from watching and hearing the interplay of speech and movement in the unfolding of a dramatic performance! If I could see only one play, I should know how to picture in my mind the action of a hundred plays which I have read or had transferred to me through the medium of themanual alphabet.
学习啦在线学习网 我最宝贵的回忆之一是那次约瑟夫·杰斐逊(译注:1829-1905年,著名的美国演员。他所扮演的最有名的角色是根据美国作家华盛顿·欧文所创作的人物瑞普·范·温克尔)表演他心爱的角色瑞普·凡·温克尔的动作和对白时让我摸他的脸和手。这样,我可以获得对戏剧世界微弱的一瞥,我将永远不会忘记那一瞬间的快乐。但是,我多么渴望观看和倾听戏剧表演进行中对白和动作的相互作用啊!而你们看得见的人该能从中得到多少快乐啊!如果我能哪怕是只能看一部戏,我都会知道怎样在我脑海中描绘我通过盲文字母读到或了解到的100部戏的情节。
学习啦在线学习网 So,through the evening of my second imaginary day of sight, the great figures of dramatic literature would crowd sleep from my eyes.
这样,在我设想的能看见的第二天的夜晚,戏剧文学中的人物形象会使我难以入眠。