假如给我三天光明 英文版
玛丽莲梦兔
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2021年01月30日 19:44
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Three Days to See(Excerpts)
假如给我三天光明（节选）
All of us have read thrilling1) stories in which the hero had only a limited and
specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short
as twenty-four hours. But always we were interested in discovering just how
the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of
course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned2) criminals whose
sphere of activities is strictly delimited3).
Such stories set us thinking, wondering what we should do under similar
circumstances. What events, what experiences, what associations should we
crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in
reviewing the past, what regrets?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we
should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of
life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of
appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant
panorama4) of more days and months and years to come. There are those, of
course, who would adopt the Epicurean5) motto of “Eat, drink, and be merry“,
but most people would be chastened6) by the certainty of impending7) death.
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke
of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more
appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has
often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death
bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die,
but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant
health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch
out in an endless vista8). So we go about our petty tasks, hardly aware of our
listless9) attitude toward life.
The same lethargy10), I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and
senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold11)
blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who
have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered
impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed
faculties. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without
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concentration and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being
grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until
we are ill.
I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken
blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness
would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of
sound.
[Annotation:]
1) thrilling adj.
惊心动魄的
2) condemned adj.
被宣告无罪的
3) delimit vt.
定界限
4) panorama n.
全景
5) epicurean adj.
伊壁鸠鲁的，享乐主义的
6) chasten vt.
斥责，惩罚
7) impending adj.
迫近的
8) vista n.
前景，展望
9) listless adj.
冷漠的，倦怠的，情绪低落的
10) lethargy n.
无生气
11) manifold adj.
多方面的