总是喜欢那种被英语包围的感觉。美文汇集

爸爸 今晚你可以回家陪我吃饭吗？ 



    A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
    “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

    “Yeah sure, what is it?” replied the man.

    “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”

    “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

    “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.

    “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.”

    “Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I please borrow $10?”

    The father was furious, “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day for such childish behavior.”

    The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10 and he really didn’t ask for money very often.

    The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

    “Are you asleep, son?” He asked.

    “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

    “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man, “It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $10you asked for.”

    The little boy sat straight up, smiling. “Oh, thank you daddy!” He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

    “Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father grumbled.

    “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.”






    一个人工作到很晚，带着疲惫与愤怒回到家里，却发现5岁大的儿子正在门口等他。

    “爸爸，我可以问你一个问题吗？”

    “当然，什么问题？”

    “爸爸，你一个小时赚多少钱？”

    “这不关你的事。怎么问这样一个问题？”父亲生气地说道。

    “我只是想知道。请告诉我吧，你一个小时赚多少钱？”小男孩乞求地说。

    “真想知道就告诉你吧，我一小时赚20美元。”

    “噢，”男孩说着，低下了头。接着，他抬起头来问：“爸爸，我可以借你10美元钱吗？”

    父亲生气了：“如果你问这个问题，只是为了借钱买无聊的玩具或其他没用的东西，那就赶紧回你的房间睡觉去。想想你怎么会这

到底有谁了解 女人是怎样的角色 




    黑格尔所过：“永恒的女性指引我们前进”，可亚里士多德又说：“对待女人需要鞭子”。那么女人对于这个世界究竟是怎样一个角色，这也许永远也无定论。但是，下面这些关于女性的妙语，也不见得是一家之言、无稽之谈。
    *The nice women are ugly. (好女人不漂亮)

    *The beautiful women are not nice. (漂亮女人不好)

    *The beautiful and nice women are stupid in general. (又漂亮又好的女人一般都很愚蠢)

    *The beautiful, nice and clever women are married. (又漂亮又好又不愚蠢的女人都结婚了)

    *The women who are not so beautiful but are nice women are born in poverty.

    (不是很漂亮但是很好的女人却出身贫寒)

    *The women who are not so beautiful but are nice women born in noble think we are only after their lordiness . (不是很漂亮但是很好又出身高贵的女人会认为我们看上的是她们的权势)

    *The beautiful women without lordliness are after our lordliness. (而没有权势但是很漂亮的女人看上的是我们的权势)

    *The clever women, who are not so nice and somewhat beautiful don't think we are clever enough. (不是很好但是很漂亮又很聪明的女人却嫌我们不够聪明)

    *The women who think we are clever, that are nice, somewhat clever and have lordliness have a lot of pursuers. (又好又聪明又出身高贵又觉得我们聪明的女人都有很多追求者)

    *The women who are somewhat beautiful, somewhat nice and have some lordliness and thank God are clever and always maintain many candidates

    (又好又漂亮又出身高贵而且又聪明的女人总是脚踏几条船)

    *The women who never make the first move, automatically lose interest on us when we take the initiative. (那些从不主动的女人一旦我们采取主动就对我们失去兴趣)

    *NOW，WHO IN THE HELL UNDERSTANDS WOMEN? (现在，到底有谁了解女人这东西？)

麦当娜的快乐真谛--金钱买不到快乐 



    Take it from Madonna, the self proclaimed "Material Girl," money can't buy happiness.
    That's quite a lesson from the 46-year-old pop diva, whose fifth children's book in the past 18 months "Lotsa de Casha," hit store shelves this week.

    "Lotsa was by far the richest man in the country. He had everything that money could buy," is the opening line of her latest book. "But there was a teeny, tiny problem. No matter how much money Lotsa de Casha made, he wasn't happy."

    The short book concludes with the moral, "When you learn to share, you will not only find happiness. You will also find a friend."

    Renowned as much for her catchy dance anthems "Vogue" and "Ray of Light" as she was for cavorting on stage in a partially disrobed wedding gown some 20 years ago performing "Like a Virgin" on MTV, Madonna Ciccone Ritchie said she's left some of her old antics behind and is all grown up now.

    "I'd like to think I've been evolving and transforming my whole career, I grew up," she told Reuters in an interview.

    "The media likes to say it's just another one of my guises,' she said of her career as an author. "But it's much more deep and profound than that."

    Madonna the singer is known as a chameleon, morphing from sexy outfits and suggestive lyrics to Eastern mysticism and Judaism. Similarly, Madonna the writer has penned a series of books which barely resemble each other.

    A different illustrator was hired for each of the five slim volumes. But they are all anchored by the same message, she insists: "Nothing is what it seems."

    Her intended audience and some critics might agree.

    A book reading at a New York bookstore on Tuesday drew puzzled responses from the group of about 25 kids, who appeared to have difficulty grasping the book's morals.

    "I think she makes the same mistake every celebrity author makes: They think they can write children's books," said Ilene Cooper, children's book editor of Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association.

    "Generally it's just awful, beyond awful," said Cooper of efforts by celebrities-turned authors.




麦当娜的快乐真谛--金钱买不到快乐
    “金钱买不到快乐”。这句话不是出自他人之口，而是自我标榜为“物质女孩”的麦当娜说的。

    这位46岁的流行天后在经历了人生的波澜起伏后终于明白了这样的道理。经过18个月的创作，她的第五本儿童书《快乐的真谛》本周在各书店上架。 。

    麦当娜在最新的这本儿童书的开头这样写道：“罗沙是那个国家最富有的人。他拥有金钱能买到的所有的东西。但是，他却遇到了一个小小的问题：不管赚多少钱，他都不觉得快乐。”

    这本薄薄的儿童书以一个寓意结尾：“当你学会和别人分享的时候，你不仅找到了快乐，同时也拥有了朋友。”

    大约20年前，麦当娜身着露背婚纱在舞台上搔首弄姿，为音乐电视《像个处女》卖力表演，之后，她又凭借动人的舞曲《时尚》及《光芒万丈》而一炮走红。如今，麦当娜却说，她已经抛弃了那些老一套的滑稽动作，因为现在她已经成熟了。

    “我觉得自己在不断成长，事业也在不断变化。我已经长大了。”她接受路透社记者采访时说。

    “媒体可能会认为写书不过是我又一次故作姿态而已，但事实却远比这要深刻得多，有意义得多。”谈到她的作者身份，麦当娜如是说。

    歌手麦当娜被公认为百变天后，从性感的服装、挑逗性的情歌到东方神秘主义和犹太教，她都一一尝试。同样，作家麦当娜也已经创作了多部作品，而这些作品之间往往有天壤之别。

    麦当娜找了不同的画家分别为这五本薄薄的儿童书绘制插图。但是，她坚持认为所有的书都传递了同一个信息，那就是：很多东西并不像表面看到的那样。

    她的目标读者和一些评论家们或许会同意这个说法。

 
-

１　A woman: I never made love to my husband before we got married. How about you?
Another woman: I don't know. What's his name?

２　Girl: If I come up to your room, do you promise to be good?
Boy: I promise to be fantastic!

３I've got bad luck in relationships.
Every time I meet a nice girl, either she's married or I am.

４ It was a magical night.
The moon was out, and so were her parents.

５　I was planning to marry her, but her family objected.
Her family? Yes, her husband and four kids.

６　I told my wife that I don't believe in combining marriage and a career - which is why I haven't worked since our wedding day.

７　In Eastern countries a woman never sees her husband before marriage.
In Western countries, she doesn't see him afterwards.

８　We have been married for 23 years and we're still blissfully in love - she with the doctor and me with the woman next door.

９　 My wife should get a job in earthquake prediction.
She can find a fault quicker than anyone!

１０　Something terrible has happened.
My best friend has run away without my wife!
１１　He's looking for a wife and he doesn't care whose.

１２　Husband: One more word from you and I'm leaving home.
Wife: Taxi!

１３ My ex-wife was fanatically tidy. She divorced me because I had one hair out of place. It was blonde and it was on my jacket!

１４　 My wife and I considered a divorce.
When we looked at the cost of the lawyers, we decided to put in a swimming pool instead.

１５　 There's a new chain of jewelry stores just opened in America.
They rent out wedding rings!
１６　The trouble with life is that there are so many beautiful women and so little time.

１７　Girl: Am I the first girl you ever kissed?
Boy: You might be. Your face looks familiar.

１８　When they first met, they were rough and ready- he was rough and she was ready.

１９　To me a woman's body is a temple- and I try to attend services as often as possible.

２０　My ambition is to be the last man on earth- so that I can find out if all those girls were telling me the truth.
２１　I believe in love at first sight. It saves such a lot of time.

２２　Marriage is the price men pay for sex; sex is the price women pay for marriage.

２３　One should always be in love- that is one reason why one should never marry.

２４　I'm sure my husband would leave home if only he knew how to pack his bag.

２５　Whenever I meet a man who would make a good husband, he already is.

２６　I remember the days when 'safe sex' just meant that her parents were out for the evening.

２７　What's the difference between erotic and perverted? Erotic is when you use a feather. Perverted is when you use a chicken.

２８　I haven't spoken to my wife for three years.
　　I don't like to interrupt her.

２９　My wife and I have an agreement that we never go to sleep angry 　　　with each other.
　　We've been awake now for nearly 6 months.

The smile
　　"I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly nervous. I fumbled

　　[1] in my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes, which had escaped[2]

　　their search. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those. "I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. I called out to him 'Have you got a light?' He looked at me, shrugged [3]and came over to light my cigarette. "As he came close and lit the match, his eyes inadvertently locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did that. Perhaps it was nervousness, perhaps it was because, when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. In any case, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed near, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing to smile.

　　 "I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his looking at me seemed to have a new dimension[4] too. 'Do you have kids?' he asked. " 'Yes, here, here.' I took out my wallet and nervously fumbled for the pictures of my family. He, too, took out the pictures of his family and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I said that I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. "Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and silently led me out. Out of the jail, quietly and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he released me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.

　　 "My life was saved by a smile." Yes, the smile―the unaffected, unplanned, natural connection between people.. I really believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear.

　　微笑

　　“一想到自己明天就没命了，不禁陷入极端的惶恐。我翻遍了口袋，终于找到一支没被他们搜走的香烟，但我的手紧张得不停发抖，连将烟送进嘴里都成问题，而我的火柴也在搜身时被拿走了。“我透过铁栏望着外面的警卫，他并没有注意到我在看他，我叫了他一声：‘能跟你借个火吗？’他转头望着我，耸了耸肩，然后走了过来，点燃我的香烟。“当他帮我点火时，他的眼光无意中与我的相接触，这时我突然冲着他微笑。我不知道自己为何有这般反应，也许是过于紧张，或者是当你如此靠近另一个人，你很难不对他微笑。不管是何理由，我对他笑了。就在这一刹那，这抹微笑如同火花般，打破了我们心灵间的隔阂。受到了我的感染，他的嘴角不自觉地也现出了笑容，虽然我知道他原无此意。他点完火后并没立刻离开，两眼盯着我瞧，脸上仍带着微笑。

　　“我也以笑容回应，仿佛他是个朋友，而不是个守着我的警卫。他看着我的眼神也少了当初的那股凶气，‘你有小孩吗？’他开口问道。“‘有，你看。’我拿出了皮夹，手忙脚乱地翻出了我的全家福照片。他也掏出了照片，并且开始讲述他对家人的期望与计划。这时我眼中充满了泪水，我说我害怕再也见不到家人。我害怕没机会看着孩子长大。他听了也流下两行眼泪。“突然间，他二话不说地打开了牢门，悄悄地带我从后面的小路逃离了监狱，出了小镇，就在小镇的边上，他放了我，之后便转身往回走，不曾留下一句话。

　　“一个微笑居然能救自己一条命。”“是的，微笑是人与人之间最自然真挚的沟通方式。如果我们能用心灵去认识彼此，世间不会有结怨成仇的憾事；恨意、妒嫉、恐惧也会不复存在。

　　背景介绍：

　　《微笑》是法国作家安东尼·圣艾修伯里的作品，圣艾修伯里是名飞行员，二次大战对抗纳粹时被击落身亡，之前他也曾参加西班牙内战打击法西斯分子。他根据这次经验写了一篇精彩的故事――《微笑》。他的代表作《小王子》是美国人都很熟悉的童话故事。

　　注释：

　　1. fumble：我们总是能看到爱抽烟的男人在自己的身上到处摸烟的镜头，用动词fumble(乱摸、摸索)来形容他们的动作是再恰当不过了；下文中提到的nervously fumbled for the pictures也是借用fumble来形容“主人公非常紧张地在钱包搜索照片”的情景；


-

孩子的守护天使 



    　Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God,“They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?”
　　God replied,“Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.”

　　But the child wasn't sure he really wanted to go.“But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy.”

　　“Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy.”

　　“And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me,”the child continued,“if I don't know the language that men talk?”

　　God patted him on the head and said,“Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.”

　　“And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?”

　　But God had an answer for that question too.“Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.”

　　“I've heard that on earth there are bad men, who will protect me?”

　　“Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life!”

　　“But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore,”the child continued warily.

　　God smiled on the young one.“Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you.”

　　At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard. The child knew he had to start on his journey very soon. He asked God one more question, softly,“Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.”

　　God touched the child on the shoulder and answered,“Your angel's name is not hard to remember. You will simply call her Mommy.”　　

　　上帝的完美安排：孩子的守护天使

　　从前，有个孩子马上就要诞生了。因此有一天他问上帝：“听说明天你就送我去人间了，但是，我这么弱小和无助，我在那儿怎么生活呢？”

　　上帝答道：“在众多的天使中，我特别为你挑了一位。她会守候你、无微不至地照顾你。”

　　小孩还是拿不准自己是否真的想去。“但是在天堂，我除了唱唱笑笑外，什么也不做。这就足以让我感到幸福了。”

　　“你的天使每天会为你唱歌，为你微笑。你会感受她的爱，并且因此而幸福。”

　　“如果我不懂人类的语言，他们对我说话时，我怎么听得懂呢？”孩子继续问道。

　　上帝轻轻地拍了一下孩子的脑袋说：“你的天使会对你说最最美丽、最最动听的话语，而这些都是你从未听过的。她会不厌其烦地教你说话。”

　　“如果我想与你说话怎么办？”

　　上帝胸有成竹地回答：“你的天使会将你的双手合拢，教你如何祈祷。”

　　“听说尘世有很多坏蛋，谁来保护我呢？”

　　“即使冒着生命危险，你的天使也会保护你的。”

　　“但是见不到你，我会难过的。”小孩小心翼翼说道。

　　听到这儿，上帝对着小孩笑了。“尽管我会一直陪伴你左右，你的天使仍会提起我，教你重返天堂之路。”

　　此时，天堂一片宁静，凡间的声音已可听到，小孩明白自己得赶紧上路了。他又轻声问了最后一个问题，“哦，上帝，假如我现在就出发，请你告诉我，我的天使叫什么名字。”

　　上帝把手放在小孩的肩上，答道：“你的天使的名字很容易记住，你就叫她——妈妈。”

群星璀璨戛纳夜 盛事狂欢电影节 




    The yachts are scrubbed, the red carpet is unraveled and giant movie posters vie for attention on the seafront. Let Cannes, the world's greatest film festival, begin.
　　The 58th Festival de Cannes opens on Wednesday in the glamorous Riviera resort, offering up the annual orgy of Hollywood glitz, showbiz excess and a bewildering number of films both in and out of competition.

　　The biggest event of a packed 12-day program promises to be the sixth and final installment of George Lucas's Star Wars epic, which gets its world premiere in Cannes on Sunday.

　　While not in the running for this year's coveted Palme d'Or, "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" will get the star treatment in recognition of a series that has changed cinema and earned its makers $3.5 billion in ticket sales since 1977.

　　Also appearing out of competition is Woody Allen, whose "Match Point" is set not in the veteran's favored Manhattan but in London, and stars Scarlett Johansson.

　　Competing for the main prize are 21 films, and the selection of so many "grands auteurs", or established directors, has been interpreted as a deliberate attempt to put film back in the limelight instead of heated political debate.

　　Last year the surprise winner of the Palme d'Or was Michael Moore's controversial "Fahrenheit 9/11", which took an angry swipe at U.S. President George W. Bush and his reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

　　But Thierry Fremaux, artistic director of the festival, says there was no deliberate promotion of well-known filmmakers.

　　"Each case is unique and there are no 'rights of entry'," he said of the selection. "If they have been chosen it means that their films won us over by their own merits."

　　Among previous winners of the Palme d'Or competing this year are Germany's Wim Wenders, whose "Don't Come Knocking" features a down-and-out Western hero looking for redemption, and American Gus Van Sant who is back with "Last Days".

　　Other heavy-hitters include Canada's David Cronenberg ("A History of Violence"), Denmark's Lars von Trier ("Manderlay"), Israel's Amos Gitai ("Free Zone") and German-born Michael Haneke ("Cache"/"Hidden").

    群星璀璨戛纳夜 盛事狂欢电影节

    游艇擦洗一新，红地毯铺开迎八方来客，海边公路上的巨幅电影海报争相辉映。世界上最隆重的电影节在戛纳拉开帷幕。

　　第五十八届戛纳电影节本周三(5月11日)在迷人的里维埃拉避暑胜地拉开帷幕，随之而来的是一年一度的充满好莱坞炫彩风格的狂欢，商业活动铺天盖地，精彩电影令人目不暇接。

　　为期十二天的电影节内容繁多，其中最重要的一项是乔治-卢卡斯执导的史诗巨作《星球大战》的第六部也是最后一部的公映。该影片将于本周日在戛纳进行全球首映。

　　尽管《星球大战前传III：西斯的复仇》今年并不参加令人垂涎的金棕榈奖的角逐，它仍将受到明星般的礼遇，因为星球大战系列引起了电影院的变革，而且自1977年首映以来为它的制片人带来了高达35亿美元的票房收入。

　　同样在戛纳亮相而不参加角逐的还有伍迪-艾伦执导的影片《最后一分》。这部由斯佳赖特-约翰逊主演的电影以伦敦为背景，而不是退伍老兵喜欢的曼哈顿。

　　共有21部影片角逐金棕榈奖。如今，对众多大牌知名导演的评选被认为可以使电影重新成为公众关注的焦点，而非激烈的政治辩论。

　　去年迈克尔-摩尔执导的极具争议性的纪录片《华氏911》一鸣惊人，出人意料地夺得金棕榈奖。这部电影猛烈抨击了美国总统乔治-布什及其对911恐怖袭击的反应。

　　但是，戛纳电影节的艺术总监泰瑞-福瑞毛斯说，他们不会有意“照顾”知名电影导演。

　　谈及评选工作，他说：“情形各异，我们并没有所谓的准入门槛。如果我们选中了某些导演，那说明这些导演的影片有其闪耀之处，令我们折服。”

　　以前曾获得过金棕榈奖、今年又卷土重来参加角逐的有德国的维姆-文德斯。他执导的影片《别来敲门》讲述了一位失意的西方英雄寻求救赎的故事。美国导演加斯-范桑特也带着新作《最后的日子》重返戛纳。

　　其他金棕榈大奖的强力竞争者还有执导《暴力史》的加拿大导演大卫-柯南伯格，《曼德勒》的导演、丹麦人拉斯-冯提尔，执导《自由区》

You! 生命掌握在你的手里——超越卓越的你！ 



    　Consider…YOU. In all time before now and in all time to come, there has never been and will never be anyone just like you. You are unique in the entire history and future of the universe. Wow! Stop and think about that. You're better than one in a million, or a billion, or a 1)gazillion…
　　You are the only one like you in a sea of infinity!!!

　　You're amazing! You're awesome! And by the way, TAG, you're it. As amazing and awesome as you already are, you can be even more so. Beautiful young people are the whimsey of nature, but beautiful old people are true works of art. But you don't become "beautiful" just by virtue of the aging process.

　　Real beauty comes from learning, growing, and loving in the ways of life. That is the Art of Life. You can learn slowly, and sometimes painfully, by just waiting for life to happen to you. Or you can choose to accelerate your growth and intentionally devour life and all it offers. You are the artist that paints your future with the brush of today.

　　Paint a Masterpiece.

　　God gives every bird its food, but he doesn't throw it into its nest. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, it's truly up to you.

　　试想一下……你！一个空前绝后的你，不论是以往还是将来都不会有一个跟你一模一样的人。你在历史上和宇宙中都是独一无二的。哇！想想吧，你是万里挑一、亿里挑一、兆里挑一的。

　　在无穷无尽的宇宙中，你是举世无双的！！！

　　你是了不起的！你是卓越的！没错，就是你。你已经是了不起的，是卓越的，你还可以更卓越更了不起。美丽的年轻人是大自然的奇想，而美丽的老人却是艺术的杰作。但你不会因为年龄的渐长就自然而然地变得“美丽”。

　　真正的美丽源于生命里的学习、成长和热爱。这就是生命的艺术。你可以只听天由命,慢慢地学，有时候或许会很痛苦。又或许你可以选择加速自己的成长，故意地挥霍生活及其提供的一切。你就是手握今日之刷描绘自己未来的艺术家。画出一幅杰作吧！

　　上帝给了鸟儿食物，但他没有将食物扔到它们的巢里。不管你想要去哪里，不管你想要做什么，真正做决定的还是你自己。

Rush匆匆--朱自清 




    Swallows may have gone, but there is a time of return; willow trees may have died back, but there is a time of regreening; peach blossoms may have fallen, but they will bloom again. Now, you the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return? - If they had been stolen by someone, who could it be? Where could he hide them? If they had made the escape themselves, then where could they stay at the moment?
　　燕子去了，有再来的时候；杨柳枯了，有再青的时候；桃花谢了，有再开的时候。但是，聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？——是有人偷了他们罢：那是谁？又藏在何处呢？是他们自己逃走了：现在又到了哪里呢？

　　I don't know how many days I have been given to spend, but I do feel my hands are getting empty. Taking stock silently, I find that more than eight thousand days have already slid away from me. Like a drop of water from the point of a needle disappearing into the ocean, my days are dripping into the stream of time, soundless, traceless. Already sweat is starting on my forehead, and tears welling up in my eyes.

　　我不知道他们给了我多少日子；但我的手确乎是渐渐空虚了。在默默里算着，八千多日子已经从我手中溜去；象针尖上一滴水滴在大海里，我的日子滴在时间的流里，没有声音也没有影子。我不禁头涔涔而泪潸潸了。

　　Those that have gone have gone for good, those to come keep coming; yet in between, how swift is the shift, in such a rush? When I get up in the morning, the slanting sun marks its presence in my small room in two or three oblongs. The sun has feet, look, he is treading on, lightly and furtively; and I am caught, blankly, in his revolution. Thus--the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands, wears off in the bowl when I eat my meal, and passes away before my day-dreaming gaze as reflect in silence. I can feel his haste now, so I reach out my hands to hold him back, but he keeps flowing past my withholding hands. In the evening, as I lie in bed, he strides over my body, glides past my feet, in his agile way. The moment I open my eyes and meet the sun again, one whole day has gone. I bury my face in my hands and heave a sigh. But the new day begins to flash past in the sigh.

　　去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着，去来的中间，又怎样的匆匆呢？早上我起来的时候，小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳。太阳他有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地从我身边垮过，从我脚边飞去了。等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。我掩着面叹息。但是新来的日子的影儿又开始在叹息里闪过了。

　　What can I do, in this bustling world, with my days flying in their escape? Nothing but to hesitate, to rush. What have I been doing in that eight-thousand-day rush, apart from hesitating? Those bygone days have been dispersed as smoke by a light wind, or evaporated as mist by the morning sun. What traces have I left behind me? Have I ever left behind any gossamer traces at all? I have come to the world, stark naked; am I to go back, in a blink, in the same stark nakedness? It is not fair though: why should I have made such a trip for nothing!

　　在逃去如飞的日子里，在千门万户的世界里的我能做些什么呢？只有徘徊罢了，只有匆匆罢了；在八千多日的匆匆里，除徘徊外，又剩些什么呢？过去的日子如轻烟却被微风吹散了，如薄雾，被初阳蒸融了；我留着些什么痕迹呢？我何曾留着象游丝样的痕迹呢？我赤裸裸来到这世界，转眼间也将赤裸裸地回去罢？但不能平的，为什么偏要白白走这一遭啊？

　　You the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return?

　　你聪明的，告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？