silversurfer

Today is a gift

今天，上帝的恩赐

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room‘s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end.

两个男人，都病得很重，住在同一个病房。病房只有一扇窗户。临窗睡的男人，医生允许他每天下午坐起来一个小时，便于排出肺中的积液。另一个男人，则只能整天平倒在床上，望着天花板。两个人唠嗑解闷，一聊就是数小时不停歇。

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing t

感恩节故事：A Thanksgiving Story

It was the day before Thanksgiving -- the first one my three children and I would be spending without their father, who had left several months before. Now the two older children were very sick with the flu, and the eldest had just been prescribed bed rest for a week.

这是感恩节的前一天。这个感恩节，我的三个孩子将头一次在没有父亲的陪伴下和我一起渡过。几个月前他离弃了我们。现在，两个大孩子患了流感，病得很厉害。医生刚刚给老大开了处方让卧床休息。

It was a cool, gray day outside, and a light rain was falling. I grew wearier as I scurried around, trying to care for each child: thermometers, juice, diapers. And I was fast running out of liquids for the children. But when I checked my purse, all I found was about $2.50 -- and this was supposed to last me until the end of th

How to Let Go and Forgive

释放自己与宽容他人之八诀

We’ve all been hurt by another person at some time or another — we were treated badly, trust was broken, hearts were hurt.

我们所有人都曾被他人伤害过。或是虐待，或是背信，或是伤心。

And while this pain is normal, sometimes that pain lingers for too long. We relive the pain over and over, and have a hard time letting go.

伤害自然会带来痛，有时还会痛得相当久。我们几次三番要从痛苦中解脱出来，可真要完全放下又实在不易。

This causes problems. It not only causes us to be unhappy, but can strain or ruin relationships, distract us from work and family and other important things, make us reluctant to open up to new things and people. We get trapped in a cycle of anger and hurt, and miss out

THIS paragraph is not ordinary. Look at it. At first, it won't look too odd. Just a normal paragraph – you may think. But look at it again and you might find it a bit unusual. Just a tiny bit. What's wrong with it, you may ask? Nothing wrong at all, in fact, as I said, it's just slightly unusual. It's difficult to put it in words. Look again. Is anything not right? Can you spot it? Is anything… missing?
这段文字非同寻常。读读看。读一遍不会觉得有什么特别的，不过普普通通一段文字而已---你也许认为。可是再读一遍，你也许就会发现一点不对劲了，只是那么一点点儿。到底有什么不对劲？你也许会问。根本没啥不对劲。实事上，正如我说，只有一点点儿不同寻常，但很难说出口。不妨再读，有什么不对？你能发现吗？什么……失踪了？
What you've just read is a lipogram – a text written without using a particular letter of the alphabet. It's the hardest kind of lipogram, as it doesn't contain the letter E – the most common letter in the English language. Try writing one

New politics for a new time

新时代新政治

On August 28, US Senator Barack Obama formally accepted his party’s presidential nomination in a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. He spoke in a large football stadium to nearly 80,000 people.

8月28日，民主党全国代表大会在丹佛一个大型橄榄球运动场召开，美国参议员巴拉克·奥巴马对近8万人演讲，正式接受民主党总统候选人提名。

…These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

……这些是我将奉行的政策。我期待在未来的数周内能与约翰·麦凯恩先生就此进行辩论。

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism.

然而，建议参议员以政治目的取舍立场的事我是不会干的。在我们过去的政治中，许

Cracks in the glass ceiling

玻璃幕墙上的裂纹