英語美文朗讀 第332期 The Value of Time

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"Time"says the proverb, "is money" .This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets.

俗話說“時間就是金錢”。這就意味著，每分每秒只要善加利用，都會在我們的口袋里添一些錢。

If our time is usefully employed,it will either turn out some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. There can thus be no doubt that time is convertible into money. Let those who think nothing of wasting time, remember this;let them remember that all hour misspent is equivalent to the loss of a bank-note;and that an hour utilized is tantamount to so much silver or gold ; and then they will probably think twice before they give their consent to the loss of any part of their time.

如果我們的時間使用得當，就能生產(chǎn)出有用和重要的東西，在市場上賣得一定的價錢；或者它能豐富我們的經(jīng)驗，增長我們的才干，使我們在時機適當時能掙到錢。因此，毫無疑問時間可以轉(zhuǎn)化為金錢。讓那些對浪費時間不以為然的人記住這一點。讓他們記住，浪費一小時等于丟了一張鈔票，而利用一小時就等于得到許多金銀。這樣，在他們同意浪費時間之前或許會三思而后行。

Moreover, our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains,no trouble, and no expense to preserve life. But we are too often indifferent to the loss of an hour or of a day, forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live. A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited. Let us bear this in mind,and waste of time will appear to us in the light of a crime as culpable as suicide itself.

此外，我們的生命無非就是我們的時間，因此消磨時間也就是一種自殺。一想到死我們會感到震撼，因而不遺余力、不怕麻煩、不惜代價以求保全生命?？墒俏覀儏s往往認為損失一個鐘頭或者一天時間是無關緊要的，而忘記了生命就是我們生活的每一小時、每一天的總和。因此，浪費一天或一個小時就是喪失一天或一小時的生命。讓我們記住這一點，這樣就會把浪費時間看作一種罪過，跟自殺一樣應該受到譴責。

There is a third consideration which will also tend to warn us against loss of time. Our life is a brief span measuring some sixty or seventy years in all,but nearly one half of this has to be spent in sleep;some years have to be spent over our meals;some over dressing and undressing; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea;some in merry-making,either on our own account or for the sake of others; some in celebrating religious and social festivities; some in watching over the sick-beds of our nearest and dearest relatives. Now if all these years were to be deducted from the term over which our life extends we shall find about fifteen or twenty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life. "It is astonishing",says Lord Chesterfield,"that anyone can squander away in absolute idleness one single moment of that portion of time which is allotted to us in this world. Know the true value of time;snatch,seize,and enjoy every moment of it!"

還有第三層考慮，也會使我們警醒，不至于浪費時間。人生短暫，總共不過六七十年，可是將近一半時間得花在睡眠上，還有幾年時間得用于吃飯，幾年用于穿衣脫衣，幾年用于陸上和海上的旅行，再加上幾年用于娛樂一不論是為自己還是為別人，幾年用來慶祝宗教節(jié)曰和社會節(jié)曰，倘使我們摯愛的親人病了，看護病人也得幾年工夫。如果從我們的壽命中扣除所有這些歲月，我們將發(fā)現(xiàn)，只有十五或二十年的時間可以真正由我們支配，用于活躍的工作。任何記住了這一點的人，都不會情愿浪費他生命中的片刻光陰。切斯特菲爾德伯爵說過：“對于上帝分配給我們每一個人的時間，即使有人在游手好閑中浪費一時片刻，也是令人吃驚的。要真正認識時間的價值，要爭分奪秒，享受每一片刻的樂趣。”

All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our faculties and capacities. If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away unutilized, we shall never be able to recoup the loss. As we grow older, our power of acquisition gets blunted,so that the art or science which is not acquired in childhood or youth will never be acquired at all. Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used,will yield us incalculable advantages. "Every moment you lose," says Lord Chesterfield," is so much character and advantage lost; as on the other hand,every moment you now employ usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest."

所有的時間都是寶貴的，而童年和青年時期的時間比一生的其他階段更為寶貴，因為我們只有在這兩個階段才能學習知識、增長才干。如果我們?nèi)斡蛇@生命的黃金歲月從指縫間滑走而不加利用，我們將永遠無法彌補這損失。等我們長大了，學習能力變得遲鈍了，就再也無法學到在童年和青年時期沒有學到的知識或技能。正如把金錢用于投資以獲取利息，到時候就會收獲兩倍或者三倍，童年和青年時期的寶貴光陰，如果用法得當，將產(chǎn)生無可估量的利。切斯特菲爾德伯爵又說：“浪費每一片刻就等于喪失了與之相當?shù)拿屠?，而你現(xiàn)在有效地利用每一時刻就等于用這時間做明智的投資，將來定會獲取巨額的利息。”