40篇非常适合晨读的英语美文，快速提升英语口语！（音频跟读）

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英语口语·吉米老师说 

朗读可以培养语感,训练思维,体会音韵,朗读可以让您在一种优美的语言交融中不知不觉地体会到英语水平的提升。分享40篇适合晨读的美文给大家，让您的英语水平在每天开口的15分钟里潜移默化、逐步提高！

英语·晨读美文

来源网络，版权归原作者所有

学习方法

①听录音不看原文（猜测意思）

②听录音看原文（核对自己的猜想）

③最大声、最清晰、最快速疯狂操练

④经常找别人卖弄你的学的英文（能脱口而出）

31、We Are on a Journey 

人在旅途

Wherever you are, and whoever you may be, there is one thing in which you and I are just alike at this moment, and in all the moments of our existence. We are not at rest; we are on a journey.

无论你身在何处，也不管你是谁，此刻，抑或是我们生命存在的每一个瞬间，有一件事对我们来说都是一样的：我们没有停留；我们正在旅途中。

Our life is a movement, a tendency, a steady ceaseless progress toward an unseen goal. We are gaining something, or losing something, everyday. Even when our position and our character seem to remain precisely the same, they are changing. For the mere advance of time is a change. It is not the same thing to have a bare field in January and in July. The season makes the difference. The limitations that are childlike in the children are childish in the man.

生命是一种运动，是一种趋势，是一个向着未知目标奋进的无休止的行进。每天，我们有所得亦有所失。即使我们的状态和角色看上去没有丝毫的变化，它们时时刻刻都在改变。只因为时间推移本身就是一种变化。对于一块荒芜的土地，1月和7月是截然不同的。因为季节的变化让它有所区别，能力的局限在孩子们身上只是一种天真，而在大人的身上却是 一种幼稚。

Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept -- the other alternative.

我们做的所有事情都是朝着某个方向迈出了一步。即使在某一件事上的失败，本身也是一个作为，左右着我们的进退。磁针的负极作用与正极作用是一样的真实。拒绝即接受，只是另一种选择而已。

Are you nearer to your port today than you were yesterday? Yes, -- you must be a little nearer to some port or other; for since your ship was first launched upon the sea of life, you have never been still for a single moment; the sea is too deep, and you could not find an anchorage if you would; there can be no pause until you come into port.

对比昨天的你，今天你是否离自己的港口更近了？答案是肯定的，你一定离某个港口更近了些。因为自从你的航船在生命的海洋中起航的那一刻起，你就一刻也没有停泊过。海水太深了，你无法找到抛锚之处。你永远都不可能停下来，除非你到达了自己的港口。

32、Address at Gettysburg 

葛提斯堡演说

Abraham Lincoln

亚伯拉罕·林肯

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

八十年前，我们的先辈在这块大陆上创建了一个新的国家。他孕育了自由之中，奉行一切人生来平等的原则。现在，我们正从事于一场伟大的内战，以考验这个国家，或者说，以考验任何孕育于自由并奉行上述原则的国家能否长久生存。我们聚集在这场战争中的一个伟大的战场上。我们在此集会，是为了把这战场的一部分奉献给那些为这个国家的生存而献身的烈士，作为他们的最后安息之所。我们这样做，是理所当然、恰如其分的。

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate -- we cannot consecrate -- we cannot hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us- that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under Cod, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of tile people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

但是，从更为广泛的意义上来说，我们无法奉献、无法圣化、无法神化这块土地。那些曾在这里战斗过的勇敢的生者与死者已经将这块土地圣化，这远不是我们微薄的力量所能增减的。全世界不会注意，也不会长久记住我们今天在这里所讲的话。但是，全世界永远不会忘记这些勇士在这里做过的事。对我们这些活着的人来说，倒是应该把自己奉献于勇士们以崇高的精神向前推进而尚未完成的事业，应该把自己奉献于依然摆在我们面前的伟大任务--我们要从这些可敬的死者身上汲取更多的献身精神，来完成他们为之献出全部忠诚的事业；我们要在这里下定最大的决心，不让烈士们的鲜血白流；要在上帝的保佑下，使我们的国家获得自由的新生；要使我们这个民有、民治、民享的政府永世长存。

33、A True Instinct for the Beautiful 

让爱美的天性常在

A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct of what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed or even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.

儿童的世界新奇而美丽，充满了惊异和兴奋。可是，对我们多数人来说，还未到成年，这种锐利的目光，这种爱一切美丽的和令人敬畏的事物的天性，就已经变得迟钝，甚至丧失殆尽。这真是我们的不幸。据说，有一位善心的仙女主持所有儿童的洗礼。假如我能对她有所影响的话，我倒想向她提个要求：请她赋予世间的儿童以新奇感（一种能伴随他们终身的无可摧毁的新奇感），并使它成为万灵的解药。有了它，他们在以后的岁月中就会永远陶醉在新奇之中，不致产生厌倦感，不致徒劳地全神贯注于人为的虚假的事物，不致脱离力量的源泉。 

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement of mystery of the world we live in. Parents often have a sense of inadequacy when confronted on the hand with eager, sensitive child mind of a child and on the other with a world of complex physical nature, inhabited by a life so various and unfamiliar that it seems hopeless to reduce it to order and knowledge. In a mood of self-defeat, they exclaim, "How can I possibly teach my child about nature - why, I don't even know one bird from another!"

假如一个儿童没有受到仙女的赐予而想要持久地保持他那天生的新奇感，他至少需要有一个能与他共享新奇感的成年人和他作伴，并且跟他一起不断去发现我们所生活的这个世界中的一切欢乐、刺激和神秘。做父母的常有力不从心之感。一方面，他们要满足孩子那感觉灵敏而又渴望求知的心灵。另一方面，复杂的物质世界却使他们感到难于应付，他们自己对于这个世界形形色色的生活都感到生疏，好像未抱有理出头绪、弄个明白的愿望。他们自己就泄了气，喊道：“我哪能教我的孩子认识大自然！啊，我连两只鸟都分不清哩！”

I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide them, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused - a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love - then we wish for knowledge about the object of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate.

我真诚地相信，对于儿童以及期望引导儿童的父母来说，感觉力比理解力相对更为重要。如果将事实比作是以后会萌发知识和智慧的“种子”的话，那么，情感激情与感官印象就好比是肥沃的“土壤”，“种子”离开它就无法生长。童年早期是准备、培育“土壤”的时期。一旦唤起了内心中的种种情感，如美感、对新鲜事物和未知事物的兴奋感、同情心、恻隐之心、钦慕之情、爱慕之心，我们继而就会希望获得关于引起我们产生情感反应的事物的知识。而这种知识一旦获得，就会产生深远的意义与影响。显而易见，培养、激发孩子的求知欲与探究欲，比像饮食似地让孩子吞咽下他还吸收不了的种种知识更为重要。

34、Balance of Nature 

自然平衡

All the different plants and animals in a natural world are in a state of balance. This balance is achieved by the plants and animals interacting with each other and with their non-living surroundings. An example of a natural community is woodland, which is usually dominated by a particular species of plant, such as the oak tree in an oak wood. The oak tree in this example is therefore called the dominant species but there are also many other types of plants, such as bushes, small trees, mosses, lichens and algae.

自然界所有不同的植物和动物都处于平衡状态。这种平衡是通过植物和动物互相作用，以及它们与非生命环境互相影响取得的。例如，林地是一个自然生物群落，它通常由一特定种类的植物所主导，比方说橡树林里的橡树。此例中的橡树因而被称为优势物种，但也有许多其他种类的植物，像灌木、小树、苔藓、地衣和藻类。

The plants of a community use carbon dioxide, oxygen, water and nitrogen to build up their tissues using energy in the form of sunlight. The plant tissues form food for the plant-eating animals which are in turn eaten by the flesh-eating animals. Thus plants produce the basic food supply for all the animals of a community. The animals themselves are the consumers, and are either herbivores or carnivores.

植物群落利用二氧化碳、氧气、水和氮生成能吸取阳光能量的组织。植物组织成为食草动物的食物，食肉动物又以食草动物为食。这样植物为生物群落里的所有动物提供了基本的食物。动物自身是取食者，或为食草动物，或为食肉动物。

Examples of herbivores in a woodland community are rabbits, deer, mice, snails, and insects. The herbivores are sometimes eaten by the carnivores. Woodland carnivores are of all sizes, from insects to animals like owls, and foxes. Some carnivores feed on herbivores, some feed on the smaller carnivores, while some feed on both. These food relationships between the different members of the community are known as food chains or food webs. All food chains start with plants. The links of the chain are formed by the herbivores that eat the plants and the carnivores that feed on the herbivores.

举例来说，林地生物群落里的草食动物有兔子、鹿、老鼠，蜗牛以及昆虫，它们不时被食肉动物吃掉。林地里的食肉动物有大有小，从昆虫到猫头鹰和狐狸这样的动物。有些食肉动物捕食食草动物，有些吃更小的食肉动物，还有一些两种都吃。生物群落里不同物种间的食物关系称为食物链或食物网。所有的食物链均开始于植物。食物链的链环是以植物为生的食草动物和捕食食草动物的食肉动物。

35、A Man's A Man For A' That 

人总是人，不管那一切

Robert Burns

罗伯特．彭斯

Is there for honest poverty

That hings his head, an' a' that 

The coward slave, we pass him by

We dare be poor for a' that!

For a' that, an' a' that,

Our toils obscure, an' a' that;

The rank is but the guinea's stamp,

The man's the gowd for a' that. 

是否有人因清白的贫穷，

便垂头丧气，这样那样的?

这种怯懦的奴才，我们不睬他--

我们敢于做穷人，不管那一切!

不管那一切，那一切，

我们干的活儿低贱，这样那样的，

官位不过是金币上的图案，

人才是真金，不管那一切．

What though on hamely fare we dine,

Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that ? 

Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine--

A man's a man for a' that. 

For a' that, an' a' that,

Their tinsel show, an' a' that,

The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,

Is king o' men for a' that.

我们吃粗茶淡饭，

穿破旧衣服，这样那样的，算得了什么?

让蠢人穿绫罗绸缎，让恶棍去花天酒地，

人总是人，不管那一切．

不管那一切，那一切，

他们虚有其表，这样那样的，

清白的人虽然一贫如洗，

却是人中英杰，不管那一切． 

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,

Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that ? 

Thou' hundreds worship at his word,

He's but a coof for a' that. 

For a' that, an' a' that,

His ribband, star, an' a' that, 

The man o' independent mind,

He looks and laughs at a' that.

你看那个家伙，被称作"老爷"，

高视阔步，这样那样的?

尽管上千人任凭他使唤，

他不过是个傻瓜，不管那一切。

不管那一切，那一切，

他那绶带，星章，这样那样的，

有独立见解的人

看了只会嗤笑那一切。 

A prince can mak a belted knight,

A marquis, duke, an' a' that! 

But an honest man's aboon his might

Guid faith, he mauna fa' that ! 

For a' that, an' a' that,

Their dignities, an' a' that, 

The pith o' sense an' pride o' worth,

Are higher rank than a' that. 

君王可以钦赐佩带册封爵士，

侯爵、公爵，这样那样的!

但是清白的人可不服他的管--

老实说，君王的权力对他毫无作用!

不管那一切，那一切，

他们权势显赫，这样那样的，

洞察真理的睿智，值得自豪的品格，

高于那一切。

Then let us pray that come it may,

As come it will for a' that,

That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,

Shall bear the gree, an' a' that! 

For a' that, an' a' that,

It's comin yet for a' that,

That man to man, the world o'er,

Shall brithers be for a' that.

那么，让我们祈祷，但愿那一天会来到--

不管那一切，那一天必定会来到，

那时智慧和品格将在全世界

赢得胜利，这样那样的!

不管那一切，那一切，

那一天就要来到，不管那一切，

那时普天之下

人人皆是兄弟，不管那一切。 

36、I Remember, I Remember 

我记得，我记得

By Thomas Hood

托马斯·胡德

I remember, I remember 

The house where I was born, 

The little window where the sun 

Came peeping m at morn; 

He never came a wink too soon,  

Nor brought too long a day, 

But now I often wish the night 

Had borne my breath away I

我记得，我记得 

我出生的那所房屋， 

还有那扇小窗， 

清晨太阳向里面窥探。 

它从不提前一瞬来临， 

也不使人感到白天太长。 

可现在我却常常希望， 

黑夜能使我安息长眠!

I remember, I remember  

The roses red and white,  

The violets, and the lily-cups,  

Those flowers made of light ! 

The lilacs where the robin built, 

And where my brother set  

The laburnum on his birth-day,-- 

The tree is living yet ! 

我记得，我记得 

那红色的和白色的玫瑰， 

还有紫罗兰和百合花瓣， 

那些光彩斑斓的花朵! 

那知更鸟筑巢的紫丁香， 

我弟弟在他生日那天 

将金链花种在它旁边-- 

这棵树至今生机勃勃!

I remember, I remember  

Where I was used to swing,  

And thought the air must rush as fresh  

To swallows on the wing; 

My spirit flew in feathers then,  

That is so heavy now,  

And summer pools could hardly cool  

The fever on my brow!

我记得，我记得 

我常去荡秋千的地方， 

心想那扑向飞翔着的燕子的清风 

必定是同样地令人心旷神怡， 

我的心啊，那时犹如插翅飞翔， 

现在却沉重无比， 

即使夏日的水潭也难以 

消退我额头上的高热!

I remember, I remember  

The fir-trees dark and high; 

I used to think their slender tops  

Were close against the sky:  

It was a childish ignorance,  

But now 't is little joy 

To know I'm further off from heaven 

Than when I was a boy.

我记得，我记得 

那些枞树苍郁而高耸， 

我常思量它们纤细的树梢 

几乎紧贴着天空， 

那是孩子的天真无知， 

但现在我却很少欢乐， 

由于知道自己离开天国 

比儿时更加遥远。

37、To Spring 

寄给春天的诗

Oh you, sweet Spring, alight from cherub's wing,

啊，甜蜜的春天，从小天使翅上轻降，

And put the ugly winter full to flight;

吓得讨厌的冬天狼狈逃窜；

And rouse the earth to smile, and larks to sing,

唤醒了万物--大地微笑，云雀歌唱，

With skies so bright and hearts of youth so light.

天空多明亮，青年的心多欢畅。

Your gentle and genial breaths each blossom blow,

你和煦的呼吸吹开一朵朵花苞，

While bees in gardens hum the lullabies.

引来蜂儿在花园里把催眠曲吟唱。

The hills and dales are stripp'd of mantles of snow,

山岗和山谷脱去了积雪的斗篷，

And streams and rivers freed from irons of ice.

溪涧和河川挣开了冰结的镣铐。

May seasons all be Spring--the pride of years,

但愿四季皆春---一年的最好时光，

That all the thing would e'er in glories gleam!

世界万物就会永远灿烂辉煌！

May men be ever in the prime of years!

但愿人人永葆青春年华，

But dream, however sweet, is but a dream.

可是梦境再甜蜜，不过是梦儿一场。

If happy when you come and sad when gone,

如果你来了就快乐，去了就悲伤，

Would that you'd never come or never gone!

倒不如压根儿别来也别往。

38、Too Dear for the Whistle 

得不偿失

When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I went at once to a shop where they sold toys for children. Being charmed with the sound of a whistle that I had seen by the way, in the hands of another boy, I handed over all my money for one. I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers and sisters and cousins, when I told of the bargain I had made, said I had given four times as much as the whistle was worth. They put me in mind of what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money, and laughed at me so much for my folly that I cried with vexation. Thinking about the matter gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.

在我七岁那年的一个假日，我的朋友们在我的口袋里塞满了铜币。我便立刻去了一家儿童玩具专卖店。走在路上时，我看到一个男孩手拿哨子，那哨音是那么令人陶醉，于是我倾尽口袋里的钱买了一支。然后我就回到家中，走到哪吹到哪。我对哨子非常满意，但是哨音却吵得全家不得安宁。当我向自己的兄弟姐妹和堂兄弟姐妹们讲起买哨子这笔交易时，他们都说我付了哨子本身价值的四倍的价钱。他们还提醒我，那些多付的钱可以用来买些什么好东西，并且嘲笑我是多么愚蠢，这使我恼羞成怒，不禁哭了起来。一想到这件事，我就懊悔不已，并且这种懊悔远远超过了当初哨子给我带来的乐趣。

This however was afterwards of use to me, for the impression continued on my mind, so that often, when I was tempted to buy something I did not need, I said to myself, "Don't give too much for the whistle," and I saved my money. As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met many, very many, who" gave too much for whistle. " When I saw some men too eager for a court  favour, wasting his time at court gatherings, giving up his rest, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, for royal favour, I said to myself——"This man gives too much for the whistle."When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly taking part in political affairs, neglecting his own business, and ruining it by neglect, "He pays, indeed," said I, "too dear for his whistle."

不过这件事后来让我受益匪浅。因为那支哨子的印象频频在我脑海中浮现，所以当我趋于诱惑想买自己不需要的东西时，我便对自己说，“别为那只哨子花费过多，”这样就把钱节省下来了。在我长大成人，走向社会，目睹了人们的所作所为后，我觉得我碰到了许许多多“为一只哨子花费过多”的人。

If I knew a miser who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow citizens and the joys of friendship, for the sake of gathering and keeping wealth——"Poor man," said I , "you pay too dear for your whistle." When I met a man of pleasure, who did not try to improve his mind or his fortune but merely devoted himself to having a good time, perhaps neglecting his health, "Mistaken man," said I "you are providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure ; you are paying too dear for your whistle. "If I saw someone fond of appearance who had fine clothes, fine houses, fine furniture, fine earrings, all above his fortune, and for which he had run into debt, and ends his career in a prison. "Alas," said I, "he has paid dear, for his whistle." In short the miseries of mankind are largely due to their putting a false value on things——to giving "too much for their whistles".

如果我结识了这样一个吝啬鬼——他一心只顾敛财、守财，却放弃了生活上的种种舒适，放弃了施善于他人带来的乐趣，放弃了作为一个同胞的所有尊严，放弃了友谊的欢乐，那么我就要说：“可怜的家伙，你为你的哨子付出的代价太大了。”当我遇到一个浪荡子，他既不思增长才智，也不想增加财富，而只是一味寻欢作乐，甚至糟蹋自己的健康，“迷途的人，”我要说，“你不是在为自己寻找乐趣，而在自讨苦吃。你为你的哨子花费过多了。”如果我看到有人相貌姣好，身穿华丽的衣服，住着漂亮的房子，用精致的家具，戴着好看的耳环，这一切花费都超过了他的财力，因此落得个债台高筑的境地，“唉”，我说，“他为他的哨子花费得太多、太多了！”总而言之，人类的不幸很大程度上是因为对事物作了错误的估价——换句话说，“为他们的哨子付出的代价太大了。”

39、Carry On! 坚持

by Robert William Service

伯特·威廉·塞维斯

It's easy to fight when everything's right,

当一切顺顺当当战斗真易如反掌，

And you're mad with the thrill and the glory; 

激动和荣誉使你如痴似狂；

It's easy to cheer when victory's near,

当胜利在望，谁不感到兴奋，

And wallow in fields that are gory.

在血迹斑斑的战场上打滚？

It's a different song when everything's wrong,

当一切都不顺手，调子就不一样；

When you're feeling infernally mortal;

当你感到死到临头，

When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,

当你以一对十，毫无希望，

Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

振作起来，小兵，放生歌唱。 

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

There isn't much punch in your blow.

你的拳头为何软弱无力？你在张皇四顾，盲目出击，

You're muddy and bloody, but never you mind.

你浑身泥泞血污；可是，不要管它。

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

You haven't the ghost of a show.

你还不曾有过一丁点儿表现的机会。

It's looking like death, but while you've a breath,

即使要付出生命；可是，只要一息尚存，

Carry on, my son! Carry on!

坚持下去！孩子，坚持下去！

And so in the strife of the battle of life

人生的战斗也是这样，

It's easy to fight when you're winning;

得手时战斗易如反掌；

It's easy to slave, and starve and be brave, when the dawn of success is beginning.

当胜利的曙光在望，你不畏劳苦，忍饥挨饿，依然勇往直前。

But the man who can meet despair and defeat

唯有上帝的宠儿，

With a cheer, there's the man of God's choosing;

才能屡经挫折而气不馁；

The man who can fight to Heaven's own height

唯有斗志冲霄汉，

Is the man who can fight when he's losing.

才能虽败犹斗。

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

Things never were looming so black.

虽然道路艰险，前所未见

But show that you haven't a cowardly streak,

壮起胆来，证明你毫无怯意。

And through you're unlucky you never are weak.

你虽不走运，却从不软弱。

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

Brace up for another attack.

振作精神迎接第二次攻击。

It's looking like hell, but—you never can tell:

即使进地狱——可是谁又能说得准，

Carry on, old man! Carry on!

坚持下去！朋友，坚持下去！

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,

有些人在疑虑的沙漠里彷徨，

And some who in brutishness wallow;

有些人在残忍的泥沼里打滚；

There are others, I know, who in piety go

但也有人，我知道，一片虔诚，

Because of a Heaven to follow.

因为有上帝可以追随。

But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,

热情地劳动，竭诚地助人，

For the sweetness and joy of the giving;

以求施予的欢乐和甜蜜。

To help folks along with a hand and a song;

伸出手来，用歌声鼓励人们前进，

Why, there's the real sunshine of living.

啊，这是生命的真正的阳光。

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

Fight the good fight and true;

为善而斗争，为真理而斗争；

Believe in your mission, greet life with a cheer;

对你的使命要有信心，要用欢呼迎接生活；

There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.

你活在世上，就是为了艰巨的工作。

Carry on! Carry on!

坚持下去！坚持下去！

Let the world be the better for you;

让世界因你而变得更美好。

And at last when you die, let this be your cry;

最后当你离开人世，这就是你的口号：

Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

坚持下去，我的灵魂，坚持下去

40、The Value of Time 

时间的价值

"Time" says the proverb "is money". This means that every moment well spent may put some money into our pockets. If our time is usefully employed, it will either turn out some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. There can thus be no doubt that time is convertible into money. Let those who think nothing of wasting time, remember this; let them remember that an hour misspent is equivalent to the loss of a bank-note; an that an hour utilized is tantamount to so much silver or gold; and then they will probably think twice before they give their consent to the loss of any part of their time.

俗话说“时间就是金钱。这就是说，一时片刻只要用得有效，都会使你的口袋里增添一些钱。如果我们的时间使用得当， 就能生产有用的和重要的产品，在市场上卖得一定的价钱，或者充实经验，增长才干，有了适当时机我们就能挣钱。因此毫 无疑间时间可以转化为金钱。让那些对浪费时间满不在乎的人记住这一点。让他们记住，浪费一小时等于损失一张钞票，而利用一小时就等于得到若干金银。这样，他们想浪费时间时或许会三思而后行。

Moreover, our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains, no trouble, and no expense to preserve life. But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day, forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live. A day of an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited. Let us bear this in mind, and waste of time will appear to us in the light of a crime as culpable as suicide itself.

再说，我们的生命无非就是我们活在人世的时间，因此浪费时间也就是一种自杀。我们想到死未免极感不快，因而不惜 一切努力、麻烦和费用以求得保全生命。可是我们对于损失一个钟头或者一天时间往往漠不关心，忘记了生命原来就是我们生 活的每一天、每一小时的总和。因此浪费一天或一个小时就是丧失一天或一小时的生命。让我们记住这一点，这样就会把浪 费时闻看作一种罪过，跟自杀一样应该受到惩罚。

There is a third consideration which will also tend to warn us against loss of time. Our life is a brief span measuring some sixty or seventy years in all, but nearly one half of this has to be spent in sleep; some years have to be spent over our meals; some over dressing and undressing; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea; some in merry-making, either on our own account or for the sake of others; some in celebrating religious and social festivities; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives. Now if all these years were to be deducted from the tern over which our life extends we shall find about fifteen or twenty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life. "It is astonishing" says Lord Chesterfield "that anyone can squander away in absolute idleness one single moment of that portion of time which is allotted to us in this world. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it!"

还有第三层考虑，也会提醒我们别浪费时间。人生短暂，总共不过六七十年，可是将近一半时间必须用于睡眠，吃饭时 间总加起来也得几年工夫，穿衣脱衣又是几年，水路陆路旅行又是几年，再加上几年娱乐时间—不论是为自己还是为别人，几年宗教节日和社会节日的庆祝活如我们的近亲至亲病了，待奉汤药也得几年工夫。如果从我们的寿数中减去所有那些岁月，我们将发现，能让我们用于有效地工作的时间，大概是十五或二十年的光阴。谁能记住这一点，就不会心甘情愿地浪费他生命的每时每刻。切斯特菲尔德伯爵说过，“对于分配给我们这一生的时间，若有人游手好闲即使浪费一时片刻，也是令人吃惊的。要认识时间的真正价值，要争分夺秒，充分利用。”

All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our faculties and capacities. If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away unutilized, we shall never be able to recoup the loss. As we grow older, our power of acquisition gets blunted, so that the art or science which is not acquired in childhood or youth will never be acquired at all. Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used, will yield us incalculable advantages. "Every moment you lose" says Lord Chesterfield "is so much character and advantage lost; as on the other hand, every moment you now employ usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest."

所有的时间都是宝贵的，而童年和青年时期的时间比一生的其他阶段更为宝贵，因为只有在那两个阶段我们才能获得知识并发展各种才能。如果我们让生命的早晨滑了过去而未加利用，我们将永远无法弥补这宗损失。等我们长大了，获得知识 的能力就变得迟钝了，因此在童年和青年时期没有能得到的知识或技能将永远不能获得了。正如把钱投资生息，到时候就变成 两倍三倍，童年和青年时期的宝贵光阴，如果用得得当，将产生无可估量的利益。切斯特菲尔德伯爵又说，“丧失一时片刻就等于丧失了与之相当的名和利，从另一方面看，你现在有效地使用的每一时刻正是明智地以这时间作为投资，将来定会获取巨额的利息。”

A proper employment of time is of great benefit to us from a moral point of view. Idleness is justly said to be the rust of the mind and an idle brain is said to be Satan's workshop. It is mostly when you do not know what to do with yourself that you do something ill or wrong. The mind of the idler preys upon itself. As Watt has said:

从道德的观点看，恰当地利用时间对我们也有很大的好处。懒惰是心灵上的锈，懒人的头脑是撤旦的作坊，这话说得 理。犯错误大多数是无所事事、百无聊赖所致。欺人只会自寻烦恼。正如瓦茨所说—

In works of labour or of skill，Let me be busy too;

我要勤快地工作，不管干粗活还是细活.

For Satan finds some mischief still

因为撒旦还有些坏事，

For idle hands to do.

专找懒人的手去做。

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