【选译者言：流水不腐，户枢不蠹。人的才干又何尝不是如此？If I rest, I rust 的标题就让我们玩味再三！思之再三，权译：吾“休”则“锈”。宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来。此言非虚！】

The significant inscription（铭文；题字；题词）found on an old key  —  “If I rest, I rust”  —  would be an excellent motto（座右铭；箴言；格言）for those who are afflicted with the slightest taint（感染的迹象；腐败的痕迹） of idleness. Even the industrious might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties（本能；本领；能力）to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust, and, ultimately, cannot do the work required of them.

Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must keep their faculties polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gates that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture, — every department of human endeavor.

Industry keeps bright the key that opens the treasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toiling（辛劳地工作；艰难地行动） all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to the science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness. Had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside, instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.

Labor vanquished（征服；击败）all, —  not inconstant, spasmodic（间歇的；阵发性的）, or ill-directed labor; but faithful, unremitting（不放松的；不停止的）, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance（警戒；警惕） is the price of liberty, so is eternal industry the price of noble and enduring success. 

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在一把古老的钥匙上刻有这么一句话：“吾休则锈”。这对那些略带懒散习气的人来说是一条绝佳的箴言。即便对那些勤勉之人，也可以此自省：假若放任自己的才干闲置不用，它就会像不经常使用的钥匙，很快就会出现锈迹，最终再也无法完成所承担的工作。

若想达到伟人们攀登并占据的高峰，就必须通过经常的使用来磨砺自己的才能，以便用它来打开知识的大门，进入职业、科学、艺术、文学、农业——所有人类为之奋斗的领域。

勤奋能保持“钥匙”闪闪发光，开启成功的宝藏。如果休•米勒在采石场一天的辛劳之后，夜晚只是蒙头睡觉，娱乐消遣，他将永远不会成为有名的地质学家。如果著名数学家埃德蒙•斯通虚度全部空余时间，他将永远不会出版他的数学词典，永远不会发现打开数学世界的钥匙。如果苏格兰青年费古孙在山坡放羊时让自己紧张的大脑休眠，而不是用串珠来计算星星的位置，他就永远不会成为著名的天文学家。

劳动能战胜一切，这不是变化无常、心血来潮或漫无目的的劳动，而是兢兢业业、坚持不懈、日复一日地朝着一个即定目标努力前进。正如自由的代价是永远保持警醒，卓越长久的成功的代价就是永远保持勤勉。

佳句拾零

英语中，有一些较常见的语音模式（sound patterning），它们的出现，增添了文章阅读上的美感。试以Marlowe的The Passionate Shepherd中的两行诗句为例，简要介绍英语的若干语音模式。

                  Come live with me and be my love 

                  And we will all the pleasure prove

1) 押韵 (rhyme)     例如：   me—be   love—prove

2) 头韵 (alliteration)     例如：   me—my   pleasure—prove

3) 元音韵 (assonance)     例如：   live—with—will   come—love

4) 辅音韵 (consonance)     例如：   will—all

5) 首尾辅音韵 (pararhyme)     例如：   live—love

本文也使用了不少语音模式。如文章标题If I Rest, I Rust 中的Rest 和Rust采用的便是首尾辅音韵 (pararhyme) 的手法。微微改动一个字母，词义便天差地别，怎不让人拍案叫绝。

又如文中第三段If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation,…中的rest和recreation，以及Had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside,…中的busy brain，都是采用了头韵 (alliteration) 的语音模式。

语音模式的恰当选择，能令文章琅琅上口、潇洒流畅。