英語詩歌散文
[英語詩歌]-兩幅母親肖像前
Before Two Portraits of My Mother
I love the beautiful young girl of this
portrait, my mother, painted years ago
when her forehead was white, and there was no
shadow in the dazzling Venetian glass
of her gaze. But this other likeness shows
the deep trenches across her forehead’s white
marble. The rose poem of her youth that
her marriage sang is far behind. Here is
my sadness: I compare these portraits, one
of a joy-radiant brow, the other care-
heavy: sunrise—and the thick coming on
of night. And yet how strange my ways appear,
for when I look at these faded lips my heart
smiles, but at the smiling girl my tears start.
—Emile Nelligan (1879-1941)
我深愛這名美麗少女的
畫像，她是我的母親，繪製於多年前
當時她的前額白皙無瑕
如同威尼斯玻璃般閃亮，沒有一絲陰影
在她雙眸中。但另一幅肖像顯出
深深的紋痕佈滿她皎白大理石般平滑的前額
她少女時的那
首玫瑰情詩
曾在她婚禮中被詠唱，如今已經遠去。
此時我心悲傷：比較這兩幅肖像，一幅顯得
神情愉悅，另一幅顯得心事
重重：一幅如同朝陽初升——另一幅則如迎面而來的陰鬱
黑夜。然而我的反應卻顯得非比尋常，
因爲當我看着她失去光澤的雙脣，我心
發出微笑，但看着那名微笑的少女，我的淚竟開始涌出。
—艾米里·奈利根 (1879-1941)
Vocabulary
● 1. portrait n. a painting, photograph, or drawing of sb. 畫像；肖像
It took only thirty minutes for the artist in the park to draw a portrait of Jerome.
公園裏的畫家只花了30分鐘，就完成了傑羅姆的畫像。
2. marble n. a kind of smooth, light-colored stone; usually used for statues or floors 大理石
Nearly all of the surviving ancient Greek and Roman statues are made of marble.
幾乎所有保存至今的古希臘和古羅馬雕像都是由大理石雕刻的。
● 3. fade v. to become less bright 失去光澤；褪色
As the years went by, the deep blue color of Mary’s favorite pair of jeans faded.
隨着時光流逝，瑪麗最喜歡的那件深藍色牛仔褲已褪了色。
More Information
1. dazzling adj. 璀璨的；耀眼的
2. Venetian glass n. 威尼斯玻璃（以做工精美華麗而著稱，可做成燭臺、酒杯、燈盞、花瓶等精緻用品）
3. likeness n. 肖像；畫像（正式說法）
4. trench n. 溝；渠（詩中指母親額頭上的紋痕）
5. joy-radiant adj. 洋溢歡樂喜悅的（radiant 本意爲發光的，容光煥發的，詩中用來指因歡樂而滿面春風喜樂；而 care-heavy則指心事重重的樣子）
6. thick adj. （天空或夜色）陰霾的；深濃的（用來形容詩句中的 the coming on of night，意指夜色如毯子般濃烈地逼近）
Beauty
There were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that have nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart.
It is said that the true nature of being is veiled. The labor of words, the expression of art, the seemingly ceaseless buzz that is human thought all have in common the need to get at what really is so. The hope to draw close to and possess the truth of being can be a feverish one. In some cases it can even be fatal, if pleasure is one's truth and its attainment more important than life itself. In other lives, though, the search for what is truthful gives life.
I used to find notes left in the collection basket, beautiful notes about my homilies and about the writer's thoughts on the daily scriptural readings. The person who penned the notes would add reflections to my thoughts and would always include some quotes from poets and mystics he or she had read and remembered and loved. The notes fascinated me. Here was someone immersed in a search for truth and beauty. Words had been treasured, words that were beautiful. And I felt as if the words somehow delighted in being discovered, for they were obviously very generous to the as yet anonymous writer of the notes. And now this person was in turn learning the secret of sharing them. Beauty so shines when given away. The only truth that exists is, in that sense, free.
It was a long time before I met the author of the notes.
One Sunday morning, I was told that someone was waiting for me in the office. The young person who answered the rectory door said that it was "the woman who said she left all the notes." When I saw her I was shocked, since I immediately recognized her from church but had no idea that it was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office with her hands folded in her lap. Her head was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could barely smile without pain. Her face was disfigured, and the skin so tight from surgical procedures that smiling or laughing was very difficult for her. She had suffered terribly from treatment to remove the growths that had so marred her face.
We chatted for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week.
As it turned out we went to lunch several times, and she always wore a hat during the meal. I think that treatments of some sort had caused a lot of her hair to fall out. We shared things about our lives. I told her about my schooling and growing up. She told me that she had worked for years for an insurance company. She never mentioned family, and I did not ask.
We spoke of authors we both had read, and it was easy to tell that books are a great love of hers.
I have thought about her often over the years and how she struggled in a society that places an incredible premium on looks, class, wealth and all the other fineries of life. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look attractive. I know that her condition hurt her deeply.
Would her life have been different had she been pretty? Chances are it would have. And yet there were a sensitivity and a beauty to her that had nothing to do with looks. She was one to be listened to, whose words were so easy to take to heart. Her words came from a wounded but loving heart, very much like all hearts, but she had more of a need to be aware of it, to live with it and learn from it. She possessed a fine-tuned sense of beauty. Her only fear in life was the loss of a friend.
How long does it take most of us to reach that level of human growth, if we ever get there? We get so consumed and diminished, worrying about all the things that need improving, we can easily forget to cherish those things that last. Friendship, so rare and so good, just needs our care--maybe even the simple gesture of writing a little note now and then, or the dropping of some beautiful words in a basket, in the hope that such beauty will be shared and taken to heart.
The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the surface for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and grace and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.
美麗人生
她有着一種與外表無關的靈氣和美麗。她的話語輕而易舉地征服了人心，她正是我們要聆聽的聲音。
很多人都說人生的真諦是個未知的概念。言詞的費力詮釋、藝術的着力表現還有人類那似乎永無休止的紛繁思考，三者都苦苦追尋人生的真諦。希望走近以至完全把握存在的真意可以令人十分狂熱。有時候，有些人以自己篤信的真理爲志趣，追尋真理甚於保全生命，於是就有捨生取義之舉。然而，也有另外的一種人生，他們在尋求真諦的過程中灌溉生命。
過去，我常常在教堂的心意籃裏面發現一些優美的小短文，有些是關於我的佈道，有些是作者日常讀《聖經》的感想。寫這些短文的人不僅對我的一些觀點加以反思，同時還會引用一些他/她曾經讀過的，令他/她難忘又喜愛的詩人或者神祕主義者的話。我給這些短文迷住了。我看到了一個執着於追尋真與美的人。其珍而重之的字句，優美動人。我還感覺到好像那些字句也樂於讓我們發現，它們是那麼毫無保留地，慷慨地爲這無名氏作者借用，而現在輪到這位無名氏來學習與人分享這些美文的奧祕。分享令美愈加閃耀生輝，在這個意義上說，其實世上唯一的真理是分毫不費的。
過了很久我才見到這些短文的作者。
一個星期天早上，我被告知有人正在辦公室等我。幫我應門的年輕人說“是個女人，說留言是她放的。”看見她的時候我大吃一驚，因爲我馬上就認出她是我的教區信徒，只是我一直不知道那些短文是她寫的。她坐在辦公室的一張椅子上，兩手相扣擱在大腿上，低垂着頭。在擡頭看我的時候，她微笑起來卻十分費勁。那是一張破了相的臉，外科手術使她的臉皮繃得緊緊的.，笑對她來說也是很困難的。爲了去除臉上礙眼的肉瘤她接受了手術治療，這令她吃盡苦頭。
那個星期天早上我們聊了一會兒，並決定那個星期再找個時間一起吃頓午飯。
後來我們不止吃了一頓午飯，而是好幾頓。每次一起吃飯的時候她都戴着帽子。我想可能是她接受的某種治療使她掉了不少頭髮。我們分享了各自生活中的點點滴滴。我跟她講我讀書和成長的故事。她告訴我她在一家保險公司裏已經工作多年了。她從來沒有提過自己的家庭，我也沒有問。
我們還談到大家都讀過的作家作品，不難發現她非常喜歡看書。
這些年我經常想起她，在這個以外表、地位和財富等虛名浮利掛帥的社會中她是怎樣一路挺過來的呢？毀掉的容顏使她怎麼也無法變得耀眼迷人。我知道這深深地刺痛着她。
如果她長得漂亮，她的生命軌跡會不會有所不同呢？有可能。不過她有種獨特的靈氣和美，與外表完全無關。她的話輕而易舉地征服了人心，她正是我們要聆聽的聲音。她的雋語出於一顆受過傷卻充滿愛的心，就像所有人的心一樣，只不過她比別人更注重對自己心靈的關注、用心去體會生活並從中學習。她擁有一種細膩的美感。她生命裏唯一的恐懼就是失去朋友。
我們究竟要花多長時間才能達到如此高度的成熟？能否最終達到還是個未知數呢。我們老覺得身心疲憊，懷才不遇，只顧爲眼前的不足憂心忡忡，卻忘了珍視一些歷久常新的東西。友誼珍貴而美好，只需我們用心呵護，有時候簡簡單單的表示就已經足夠了，譬如偶爾寫幾句話給朋友，或者在籃子裏投入一些優美動人的字條，以期大家都能分享，記住美妙的時刻、美好的感覺。
她生命的真諦就是要透過事物的表面一睹其真正的本質。她發現了美和上帝的慈愛，而美和慈愛也待她如友，把生命的真諦呈現給她。
[英語詩歌]-匆匆 Rush
文：朱自清
燕子去了，有再來的時候；楊柳枯了，有再青的時候；桃花謝了，有再開的時候。但是，聰明的，你告訴我，我們的日子爲什麼一去不復返呢？--是有人偷了他們罷：那是誰？又藏在何處呢？是他們自己逃走了：現在又到了哪裏呢？
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?
我不知道他們給了我多少日子；但我的手確乎是漸漸空虛了。在默默裏算着，八千多日子已經從我手中溜去；象針尖上一滴水滴在大海裏，我的日子滴在時間的流裏，沒有聲音也沒有影子。我不禁頭涔涔而淚潸潸了。
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.
[英語散文]-我的摯友阿諾德
I recently lost my best friend Arnold in an automobile accident while moving my family to our new home in Arizona. Arnold was an 8-month-old pot belly who taught me so much about love, devotion and companionship. I am devastated by his loss, but thank God daily for blessing me with the joy of having Arnold for his short life.
Anyone contemplating a pot belly as a pet should know that if you are a true pet lover and devote yourself to them, a pot belly will make the most wonderful friend. You will be assured of endless hours of fascination and entertainment as you both grow together in understanding the human/pot belly relationship. Words cannot describe this relationship and it can only be fully understood by experiencing it.
Arnold didn't know he was a pig -- he thought he was just another member of our family -- modeling his behavior through observing me, my wife, my two daughters and our beagles. He was convinced he was loved by all; and he was, even when he was ornery trying to just get our attention. He learned his name, how to sit and how to use the litter box all in the first week we had him (at 7 weeks old!).
He loved to sleep on your lap as you sat on the couch watching TV. He didn't care if he grew to weigh 45lbs, he still expected you to hoist him onto your lap at precisely 8:00 pm every evening where he would fall fast asleep within seconds after snuggling his wet nose between your neck and shoulder. If you didn't respond to his initial "honks" letting you know it was his nap time, he would bump your legs with his nose until you picked him up. With his weight as it was, you couldn't hold him all evening as he preferred, so you had to slide him off onto the couch next to you where he would sleep for hours with all four legs and his nose sticking straight up in the air. He would snore as long as he could feel you next to him but would immediately wake up if you tried to leave the couch. We had hours of fun balancing objects like a salt shaker on his flat nose while he slept soundly.
Arnold helped me in all my chores around our five acres in the country. Just being there at my feet, interested in what I was doing made even the most mundane tasks enjoyable. When he was out roaming and foraging and you would call out his name, he would come running at top speed, honking the whole way until he got close to you where he would dodge you, zigzagging around with a few victory roles turning in circles before settling down and calmly walking up to you with his tail wagging as if to say (winking) "hah, got-cha."
He even helped me build a kit aircraft and a customized trailer to haul it around in. I was planning on taking him flying with me some day. He loved to play with my sockets and rolled them around on the shop floor. Just as I would struggle and get frustrated with some difficult task, Arnold would show up underneath the trailer, with his wet nose in my ear and honking -- seeming to say, "take a break and laugh with me for a while, that should make it all better." And it did, every time. God's marvelous creations minister to us in the most special ways if we can just stop for a few moments and observe them. God used Arnold to teach us this very important lesson in life which we will never forget.
My wife and two daughters began to say that Arnold and I were so close that he had become the son that I never had in our family. It seemed that we could no longer have any kind of conversation in our family or with our friends without Arnold being a main to// over and play with him.
Arnold went most everywhere with us--Pet's Mart, Wal-Mart, birthday parties, Christmas vacation to Grandma's. He loved riding in the car/shopping basket and was a big hit everywhere he went. Arnold had become such an important part of our life that when we found out that our family would have to move to another state, we insisted that the contract on our new house be contingent on the homeowners' association approval of Arnold in writing before we would agree to purchasing in our prestigious neighborhood.
On the day we left our old home town, we had a going away lunch with our friends from church. Everyone there just had to go out to the truck where Arnold and all our other pet were and say goodbye. Arnold trusted me to take care of him and get him to his new home. Tragically, along the way, the wind blast from a semi knocked our trailers out of control and pushed our truck off a 40' bridge. We lost a big part of our family that day when our pets Arnold, Sweeti and Leanna were killed. I feel terrible for not being able to protect Arnold the way he trusted me to. However, I will be forever grateful for the fond memories of him which I will cherish forever.
Thank you for reading this and allowing me to share some of Arnold's life with you. If you decide that a pot belly is the right choice for you both, I pray that you will be rewarded in the same way my family was with Arnold.
在我們搬家到亞利桑那州的途中發生了交通意外，從此我失去了我最好的朋友阿諾德。阿諾德是一隻八個月大的寵物豬，是他令我更懂得愛，懂得投入和維繫情誼。他的離去令我傷心欲絕，不過我還是常感謝上帝賜予我與阿諾德相處的那段短暫卻快樂的時光。
凡是考慮想養寵物豬的人都應該知道，如果你真心疼它，全身心地伺候它，小豬就會成爲你最棒的朋友。在這個與小豬一起探索相處的過程中，你一定會非常着迷，發現其中有無窮的樂趣。言語是無法描繪這種關係的，只有親身經歷才能充分體會。
阿諾德並不知道自己是一隻豬，他以爲自己就是我們家的一員，所以他會觀察模仿我、我太太、我兩個女兒還有我家小獵犬的一舉一動。他深信我們所有人都愛他，事實的確是這樣，就算有時候他會耍脾氣來吸引我們的注意力。他來到我們家的第一個星期（7周大的時候）就已經學會了自己的名字，學會了怎麼坐，還有怎麼用那個小盒子。
他喜歡在你坐在沙發上看電視的時候睡在你大腿上。他也不管自己已經長到45磅重，就是要你每天晚上八點準時把他擡到你大腿上來，溼乎乎的鼻子在你的脖子和肩膀之間溫存一番後，眨眼功夫這傢伙就酣睡起來了。開始的時候他會“鼾鼾”地提醒你他到點休息了，而如果你沒反應，他就會用鼻子撞你的腳，直到你把他抱起爲止。他倒想一整晚睡在你腿上，但他這麼重，你根本是受不了的，所以得把他順勢滑到旁邊的沙發上，讓他鼻子四腳朝天地呼呼大睡。只要他感覺到你就在他身邊，他會放心盡情地打他的呼嚕睡他的覺；但是一旦你想走開，他會馬上醒過來。他沉睡的時候，我們會玩個遊戲，在他那扁鼻子上擺像鹽瓶那樣的小玩藝而要保持平衡不倒，這樣一玩就是幾個小時，大家玩得不亦樂乎。
在我們那方圓五英畝的鄉下地方，我做什麼家務雜事阿諾德都會幫我一把。只要他挨在你腳跟，興致勃勃地看你在忙，就足以讓最索然無味的雜務變得有趣起來。他在外面溜達覓食的時候，只要你喊他的名字，他就會以最快的速度朝你奔來，“鼾鼾”地一路叫着，跑到離你不遠的地方他又會跟你玩起迷藏來，左轉右轉地走着，繞着圈，一副凱旋而歸的模樣，然後才靜下來慢慢走到你跟前，搖搖尾巴，好像眨着眼跟你說“哈，總算找到你啦！”
他還幫我一起組裝了一架小型飛機和一輛運載飛機的特製拖車。我打算哪天把他帶上跟我一起飛翔藍天。他很喜歡玩那些插座零件，在工場裏把它們推來推去。每當我爲一些高難度的工作傷透腦筋，灰心喪氣的時候，阿諾德就會從拖車的下面鑽出來，溼乎乎的鼻子伸到我的耳邊，“鼾鼾”地似乎在說“休息一會兒，跟我笑一會兒，然後什麼事都好辦啦！”果真有效，而且每次都行。只要我們能停一停，仔細看看，就會發現上帝絕妙的創造物總以最特別的方式照顧我們。上帝派阿諾德來給我們上了這人生的重要一課，我們畢生難忘。
我太太和兩個女兒都說阿諾德跟我親密得就像成了我兒子一樣，一個我們家一直缺少的角色。家裏聊天或者和朋友聊天都好像離不開阿諾德這個主題。鄰居的小孩會預約來我們家，迫不及待要來和阿諾德玩。
我們去哪裏，阿諾德幾乎都跟我們在一起——寵物用品超市、沃爾馬超市、生日派對，聖誕假期他還跟我們一起到奶奶家去。他喜歡坐在手推車或者購物籃裏，所到之處都大受歡迎。阿諾德已經在我們生活中佔據了一個重要的位置，所以當我們要搬到另一個州買房子時，我們都堅持要在合同裏附上街坊鄰居的聯合書面允諾，同意讓阿諾德在該區生活，這樣我們纔會考慮在那些名區裏買房。
離開老家的那天，我們和教友一起吃了餞行午餐。在場的每個人都走到貨櫃車旁邊，跟裏面的阿諾德和我們的其他寵物告別。可悲的是，在路上一輛半拖車呼嘯而過，強烈的側風氣流使我們的拖車失控，貨櫃繼而被拋到40英尺的橋下。那天家中成員損失慘重，我們的寵物阿諾德、甜甜和蓮娜都離開我們了。阿諾德如此地信任我，我卻沒法保護他，我真的很難受。不過，我將永遠珍藏和他一起的深情片斷，感激他帶來的這段美好回憶。
[英語詩歌]-working on the railroad
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
Raise up so early in the mom
Can't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your hom!"
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow your hom?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow your hom?
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen, I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinan
Strummin' on the old banjo
And he's singn'
"Feel-fi-fiddley-l-oh!
Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!
Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!"
Strummin' on the old banjo, oh
Strummin' on the old banjo
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
Raise up so early in the mom
Can't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your hom
Dinah, blow your hom
[英語散文]-Snacks
Snacks are I suppose defined as things that we eat between regular meals. In fact, if you are eating something and it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner-time then it is a snack. So, if you are having an apple sometime in the afternoon then that apple is a snack. However, on the whole when we talk about snacks we are not really talki
ng about fruit and healthy things. The category of snacks is usually filled with things that are not so good for us.
What are these traditional snacks? Chips, or as they are called in Britain, crisps, are a favourite snack and as with most popular snacks they are not a healthy option (選擇). Laden with grease (油脂) because of their origin in the fat fryer (油炸用的食品) they are the dieters curse (咒罵). Another great favourite is chocolate and again it is a food option that is well capable of converting a sleek (光滑的) physique (體形) into something a little more wobbly (不穩定的)!
Regarding the healthiness of snacks a big problem of so many of the regular popular options out there is generally their low quality. What you might buy in the stores on the high streets has been mass produced with all sorts of rubbish added to boost the flavour at minimum (最小的) cost. If you were to actually get many of these snack types made at home then they would probably be a lot better for you. For instance, chocolate comes from South America. The original examples of chocolate are very different to what we are now used to. Our chocolate has so much sugar and fat added to it that it would be quite unpalatable (不好吃的) to someone used to the traditional version. However, because we have all been brought up on food and snacks with no subtlety (狡猾，微妙) of flavour then we cannot appreciate the more traditional examples of snacks.
So because of this way our snacks are made we have developed a love-hate relationship with them. Our taste buds (味蕾) demand the satisfaction only snacks can give but the diet industry condemns (指責) them as the road to obesity (肥胖). So there is a conflict between the advertising of snacks and promotion of the lifestyle associated with them of having a good time and the attack on them as dangerous to our health from the just as aggressive diet industry. My advice, is to ignore the propaganda of both sides and enjoy snacks for what they are, which means bearing in mind that too much is too bad.
