【美文欣赏】真正的高贵

TURE NOBILITY

    In a calm sea every man is a pilot.But all sunshine without shade, all pleasure without pain, is not life at all.

    Take the lot of the happiness----it is a tanged yarn.Bereavements and blessing , one following another,make us sad and blessed by turns.Even death itself makeslife more loving.

    Men come closest to their true selves in the sober moments of life,under the shadows of sorrow and loss.In the affairs of life or of business,it is not intellect that tells so much as character,not brains so much as heart,not genius so much as selfcontrol,patience,and discipline,regulated by judement.I have always believed that the man who more simply without.In an age of extra vagance and waset,I wish I could show few the real wants of humanity are.

    To regret one's errors to the point of not repeating then is true repentance. There is nothing noble in being superior to some other man.The true nobility is in being superioe to your previous self.

【中文译文】：

    海面风平浪静的时候,人人都可以是舵手.然而阳光普照而无阴霾,快乐无限而痛苦,这根本就不是生活.

    让我们看看最快乐的人的命运吧----那是一团乱麻.痛失亲人与蒙受恩典的交相感受,让我们体味出人生悲与喜的滋味.甚至死亡本身也能让人生更加可爱.

    在哀伤与失落的阴影下,人最为清醒,最能接近真正的自我.在人生于商务的诸多事物中,智能不及品质,头脑不及内心,天才不及明智的自我约束,耐心和纪律.我笃信,内心初步领悟到生活的真谛,方能开始更为平淡的外在生活.在这个奢侈浪费的时代里,但愿我能让世人明白人性真正的需求是何等之少.

    对自己的错误后悔到不致再犯时才是真正的后悔.超越别人算不上高贵.真正的高贵在于超越从前的自我.

Joke of Today

The Day Off From Work

My husband was enjoying the day off from work and watched me scurry about the house. I picked up his dirty clothes, put away his work shoes, carried out his popcorn bowl from the previous night's football viewing, washed the breakfast dishes, wiped the coffee he'd spilled and ironed his shirts. Seeing a thoughtful look on his lace, I wondered if he was beginning to realize just how much unnecessary work he created for me. Maybe he would offer to help. "A penny for your thoughts," I said.

"I was thinking," he replied, "that one of the things I like best about you is how you always find ways to keep yourself busy."

【Notes】：

（1）scurry 在这里是名词，匆忙收拾屋子，我们常说的忙的团团转，似乎就是这个意思。

（2）"A penny for your thoughts" 是“你在想什么的意思”，千万别译为“你的想法只值一分钱”。