假如給我三天光明
All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live.
我們大家都讀過一些令人激動的故事,這些故事里的主人公僅僅活在有限并且特定的時(shí)間內(nèi),
Sometimes it was as long as a year;
有時(shí)長達(dá)一年,
sometimes as short as twenty-four hours.
有時(shí)卻短至一日。
But always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours.
但我們總是想要知道,注定要離世人的會選擇如何度過自己最后的時(shí)光。
I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice,not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.
當(dāng)然,我說的是那些有選擇權(quán)利的自由人,而不是那些活動范圍受到嚴(yán)格限定的死囚。
Such stories set us thinking,wondering what we should do under similar circumstances.
這樣的故事讓我們思考,在類似的處境下,我們該做些什么?
What events, what experiences, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings?
作為終有一死的人,在臨終前的幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)我們應(yīng)該做什么事,經(jīng)歷些什么或做哪些聯(lián)想?
What happiness should we find in reviewing the past,what regrets?
回憶往昔,什么使我們開心快樂?什么又使我們悔恨不已?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow.
有時(shí)我想,把每天都當(dāng)作生命中的最后一天來邊,也不失為一個(gè)極好的生活法則。
Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life.
這種態(tài)度會使人格外重視生命的價(jià)值。
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 panorama of more days and months and years to come.
我們每天都應(yīng)該以優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài),充沛的精力,抱著感恩之心來生活。但當(dāng)時(shí)間以無休止的日,月和年在我們面前流逝時(shí),我們卻常常沒有了這種子感覺。
There are those, of course,who would adopt the Epicurean motto of "Eat, drink, and be merry,"
當(dāng)然,也有人奉行“吃,喝,享受”的享樂主義信條,
but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.
但絕大多數(shù)人還是會受到即將到來的死亡的懲罰。
Most of us, however, take life for granted.
然而,我們中的大多數(shù)人都把生命看成是理所當(dāng)然的。
We know that one day we must die,but usually we picture that day as far in the future.
我們知道有一天我們必將面對死亡,但總認(rèn)為那一天還在遙遠(yuǎn)的將來。
When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable.
當(dāng)我們身強(qiáng)體健之時(shí),死亡簡直不可想象,
We seldom think of it.
我們很少考慮到它。
The days stretch out in an endless vista.
日子多得好像沒有盡頭。
So we go about our petty tasks,hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life.
因此我們一味忙于瑣事,幾乎意識不到我們對待生活的冷漠態(tài)度。
The same lethargy, I am afraid,characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses.
我擔(dān)心同樣的冷漠也存在于我們對自己官能和意識的運(yùn)用上。
Only the deaf appreciate hearing,only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight.
只有聾子才理解聽力的重要,只有盲人才明白視覺的可貴,
Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life.
這尤其適用于那些成年后才失去視力或聽力之苦的人很少充分利用這些寶貴的能力。
But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties.
他們的眼睛和耳朵模糊地感受著周圍的景物與聲音,心不在焉,也無所感激。
Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily,without concentration and with little appreciation.
他們對所見所聞不關(guān)注,不欣賞。
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.
這與常說的不失去不懂得珍貴,不生病不知道健康可貴的道理是一樣的。