雙語美文|兩條路

■兩條路

The Two Roads

◎ John Ruskin

It was New Year’s Night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal—the tomb[16] . He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. Now his health was poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll choose the better way!” But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads—one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

超多雙語美文 盡在聽力課堂

那是一個新年夜。一位老人站在窗前，他那憂傷的雙眼眺望著深遠蔚藍的天空。繁星就像是漂浮在平靜、清澈湖面上的朵朵白百合。接著他的目光投向地面，此刻，沒有人比他更絕望，因為他正一步步邁向自己的最終歸宿——墳?zāi)?。他已?jīng)走過通向墳?zāi)沟牧壟_階，除了過錯和悔恨，他什么都沒有得到。如今，他體弱多病，精神空虛，心情沮喪，人到晚年無所慰藉。

他仰望星空，痛苦地大聲喊道：“噢，回來吧，青春！噢，父親，請再次把我?guī)У饺松牟砺房诎?！我會選擇一條更好的道路！”然而，他的父親和他的青春一起消逝不見了。

青春的日子如夢一般出現(xiàn)在他眼前。老人想起了父親將他帶到人生岔路口的莊嚴時刻——一條路通往寧靜的、陽光明媚的世界，那里滿是鮮花和水果，還有甜美輕柔的歌聲回蕩在空中；另一條路通往一個深沉、黑暗、看不到盡頭的洞穴，那里流淌著的不是水，而是毒液，毒蛇一邊爬，一邊發(fā)出嘶嘶聲。

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered on life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were now honored and happy on this New Year’s night.

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents’ early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father live. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing[17] effort, he burst out a cry: “Come back, my early days! Come back!” And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year’s Night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

Those who still linger[18] on the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain: “O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”

他看見黑暗中掠過縷縷亮光，就像是自己揮霍掉的往昔。他看見一顆星星從天邊隕落，消失不見，那就是他的化身。他的悔恨，就像一把利箭，深深地刺進他的心臟。于是，他想起了和自己一同邁入人生的兒時好友?？墒?，他們找到了通往成功的道路。在這個新年夜，他們備受尊敬，幸福無比。

高高的教堂鐘樓上傳來了鐘聲，這聲音讓他回想起父母早年對他的疼愛。他們教育他，祈求上帝保佑他?？墒牵x擇了一條錯誤的路。羞愧和悲傷讓他不敢仰望父親所在的天堂。他那雙黯淡的眼睛噙滿了淚水，他絕望地嘶喊道：“回來吧！我的往昔！回來吧！”

他的青春真的回來了，所有的這一切只是一個夢，一個在新年夜所做的夢。他依舊年輕，雖然他犯的錯是真實存在的；他也沒有走進那個深幽、黑暗的洞穴；他依舊可以自由行走在那條通往寧靜的、陽光明媚的世界的道路上。

那些仍舊徘徊在人生岔路口，猶豫著該不該選擇光明之路的人們，請你們記住，當青春不再，你的雙腳跌絆在黑暗的山間時，你會痛苦地呼喊著：“噢，青春，回來吧！把我的往昔還給我！”但這一切已是徒然。