1.Questing Inward

探尋內(nèi)心

"On my head pour only the sweet waters of serenity. Give me the gift of the Untroubled Mind."

“只在我頭上灌注寧靜的蜜露，賜予我一份不受干擾的心境。”

Once, as a young man full of exuberant fancy, I undertook to draw up a catalogue of the acknowledged "goods" of life. As other men sometimes tabulate lists of properties they own or would like to own, I set down my inventory of earthly desirables: health,love, beauty, talent, power, riches, and fame.

曾經(jīng)，當(dāng)我還是個充滿豐富幻想的年輕人時，我著手起草了一份被公認(rèn)為人生“幸福”的目錄。就像別人有時會將他們所擁有或想要擁有的財產(chǎn)列成表，我將世人希求之物列成表：健康、愛情、美麗、才智、財富和名譽(yù)。

When my inventory was completed I proudly showed it to a wise elder who had been the mentor and spiritual model of my youth. Perhaps I was trying to impress him with my precocious wisdom. Anyway, I handed him the list. "This", I told him confidently, "is the sum of mortal goods. Could a man possess them all, he would be as a god.”

當(dāng)我完成清單后，我自豪地將它交給一們睿智的長者，他曾是我少年時代的良師和精神楷模，或許我是想用此來加深他對我早熟智慧的印象。無論如何，我把單子遞給了他，我充滿自信地對他說：“這是人類幸福的總和。一個人若能擁有這些，就和神差不多了。”

At the corners of my friend's old eyes, I saw wrinkles of amusement gathering in a patient net.An excellent list," he said, pondering it thoughtfully. "well digested in content and set down in not-unreasonable order. But it appears,my young friend,that you have omitted the most important element of all.You have forgotten the one ingredient,lacking which each possession becomes a hideous torment."

在我朋友沉淀著歲月印記的眼角處，我看到愉悅的皺紋匯聚成一張耐心的網(wǎng)。“是一張出色的表單，”他深思熟慮后說。“內(nèi)容分類清晰，順序排列合理。但是，我的年輕朋友，好像你忽略了最重要的一個要素。你忘記了那個要素，如果缺少了它，每一次擁有都變成可怕的折磨。”

"And what,"I asked,peppering my voice with truculence,"is that missing ingredient?"

我問道，言語間充滿著急躁和不滿：“那么，我遺漏的要素是什么？”

With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. Then, having demolished my adolescent dream structure at a single stroke, he wrote down three syllables: peace of mind. "This is the gift that God reserves for His special Proteges," he said.

 他用一小節(jié)鉛筆劃掉了我的整張表格，一拳擊碎了我的少年美夢.緊接著寫下了三個字：心之靜。“這是上帝為他特別的子民保留的禮物。”他說道。

Talent and beauty He gives to many. Wealth is commonplace, fame not rare. But peace of mind-that is His final guerdon of approval, the fondest insignia of His love.He bestows it charily. Most men are never blessed with it: others wait all their lives-yes,far into advanced age-for this gift to descend upon them."

“上帝賦子許多人才能和美麗。財富司空見慣，名望并非稀有，但心靈的寧靜才是他允諾的最終賞賜，是他愛的最佳象征。他施予它的時候很謹(jǐn)慎，多數(shù)人從未享受過，有些人則等待了一生——是的，一直到暮年，才等到賞賜降臨他們身上。”

課堂筆記：
1.這是由關(guān)系代詞“who”引導(dǎo)的定語從句，從句中的“the mentor and spiritual model”指同一個人既是導(dǎo)師，也是精神模范。定冠詞the后面接上兩個名詞或短語，用以表達(dá)同一個事物或個人具有兩種不同稱號或身份。
2.這是一個倒裝的虛擬條件從句，省略了連詞if，正常句式為:"if a man could possess them all" 。
3.句中運用了比喻的修辭手法，把"wrinkles"(皺紋)比作"a net"(一張網(wǎng)).感官動詞“see”后接動詞的現(xiàn)在分詞形式，表示動作正在發(fā)生.
4.這一部分是省略了“be”動詞的過去分詞形式?？谡Z中句子成分省略的現(xiàn)象較多。
5."which”用作關(guān)系代詞.引導(dǎo)定語從句，修飾先行詞“ingredient"，同時“which”又作動詞”lack"的賓語。
6.句子的賓語“talent and beauty"前置，用以強(qiáng)調(diào)。正常語序為:“He gives talent and beauty to many.”其中代詞“He”指代“God”，首字母大寫。

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