祥子的博客

    However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it or call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-hourse. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quit mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without misgivings. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not troub

    2008年10月1日，正好是国内的黄金出行时期，当然我们也不想在异乡无聊的渡过，来印度已经快一个月了，对我和友辉来说，今天是第一次结伴出行，心情异常之兴奋，可惜可恶的司机居然迟到，而且还居然找了半天问了半天才找到目的地，扫兴之余至少外面的天气还是格外的明媚，只是我们更希望外面是阴天，因为印度的太阳实在炎烈，而且一览无遗的直射到身上，那感觉，晒过的才知道
    我们的第一站是印度的总统府 - 总统府，建于1929年，原名维多利亚宫，印度独立后，改为总统府。总统府是一座气势雄宏的宫殿式建筑，有觐见厅、宴会厅、图书馆等华丽的厅堂，还有无数喷泉水池、亭榭长廊。小山东北的议会大厦和王子公园里的印度门，也都是壮丽的建筑。
    总统府内有一处十分有名的花园，是仿照莫卧儿王朝时代的花园格调而建，故名莫卧儿花园。花园分为形态各异的方园、长园和圆园，种有成千上万种名花异草，每年开放期间，来此观赏的人络绎不绝。走出总统府正门，映入眼帘的是一条宽阔而笔直的国家大道，直通印度门。虽

    Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton? - A machine without feelings? And can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you - and full as much beart! If God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh: it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal - as we are!
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    The first snow came. How beautiful it was, falling so silently all day long, all night long, on the mountains, on the meadows, on the roofs of the living, on the graves of the dead! All white save the river, that marked its course by a winding black line across the landscape; and the leafless tress, that against the leaden sky now revealed more fully the wonderful beauty and intricacies of their branches. What silence, too, came with the snow, and what seclusion! Every sound was muffled, every noise changed to something soft and musical. No more tramping hoofs, no more rattling wheels! Only the chiming of sleigh-bells, beating as swift and merrily as the hearts of children.
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    He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

【Notes】
salao  西班牙文，正确的拼写是salado，意为加了“盐的，咸的，苦的”，转义为“倒霉的，不吉利的”
【Words & Expressions】
1. skiff  n. a small light boat for one person  小船

    I wonder if there is any girl or boy who does not like to see a rainbow in the sky. It is so beautiful!
    There is a fairy tale saying that whenever you see a rainbow you should run at once to the place where it touches the ground, and there you would find a pot of gold. Of course, it si not true. Neither could you find the pot of the gold, nor could you ever find the rainbow's end. Now matter how far you run, it always seems at a great distance.
    A rainbow is not a thing which we can feel with or hands as we can feel a flower. It is not solid, for it is only the effect of light shining on raindrops. The light from the sun shines on the rain as it falls to the earth. The raindrops catch the sunlight and break it up into all the wonderful colours which we see. It is called rainbow because it is made up of raindrops and looks like a bow.
    That is also why we can never see a rainbow in a clear sky

    There are a great many people who have all the material conditions of happiness, i.e. health and a sufficient income, and who, nevertheless, are profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with a wrong theory as to how to live. In one sense, we may say that any theory as to how to live is wrong. We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are. Animals live on impulse, and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable. If you have a cat it will enjoy life if it has food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles. Your needs are more complex than those of your cat, but they still have their basis in instinct. In civilized societies, especially in English-speaking societies, this is too apt to be forgotten. People propose to themselves some one paramount objective, and restrain all impulses that do not minister to it. A businessman may be so anxious to grow rich that to this end he sacrific

    I learned a lot from the stories my uncle, aunts, and grandparents told me: that no one is perfect but most people are good; that people can't be judged only by their worst or weakest moments; that harsh judgments can make hypocrites of us all; that a lot of life is jsut showing up and hanging on; that laughter is often the best, and sometimes the only response to pain. Perhaps most important, I learned that everyone has a story - of dreams and nightmares, hope and heartache, love and loss, courage and fear, sacrifice and selfishness. All my life I've been interested in other's stories. I've wanted to know them, understand them, feel them. When I grew up and got into politics, I always felt the main point of my work was to give people a chance to have better stories.

【Notes】 1. judge sb. by 以...来判断某人 2. show up 文章中表示“出现，露面” 3. hang on 文章中表示“稍后片刻，等待” 【Worlds & Expressions】 1. h

    Pursuing a hobbies in one's spare time can bring various rewards. A hobby can provide us with both interest and entertainment. It can be something from which we learn more about ourselves or about the world. It may introduce us to friends who share our tasts and interests and from whom we can also learn.
    While choosing a hobby that suits our individual needs, we have to consider several factors. For one thing, we have to take into account how much free time we can spend on a certain hobby and th amount of money with which to buy equipment or other things needed for it. For another, we have to thing about what benefit we are likely to gain from it. We may also wish to choose between a hobby we can pursue alone and one we can share with others.
    Of course, there are a great many hobbies to choose from. Some people enjoy collecting coins or stamps; others choose to spend their free time on sports or music. There are cr

    Now a senior hihg school student, I have a great many friends, but there is one whom I prize over all the rest. I first made his acquaintance when I began to go to school. He has been my constant companion ever since.
    Though he is serious in appearance, he never fails to be interesting. Often he is clever, sometimes even merry. He is the most knowledgeable friend a person could have. He knows virtually every language of the world, all the events of history, and the words of all the great poets and philosophers. A kindly benefactor, he is admired and enjoyed by everyone who makes his acquaintance.
    To me, he has been a great teacher as well as a friend. He first taught me the secrets of my own language and then those of others. With these keys he showed us how to unlock all the arts and sciences of man.
    My friend is endlessly patient. Dull though I may be, I can reture to his again and again,