Shownotes Transcript
英语美文-The Turn of The Tide 今天分享一个单词“renewal” ,这个单词是有“重建，重生”的意思。这个单词摘自《高效能人士的七个习惯》中的第七个习惯,“Sharpen the Saw, Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal” (不断更新，平衡的自我提升原则)。本书的作者认为，我们要从四个层面提升和磨练自己：包括身体，智力，精神和社会情感。 今天分享这一段英文，是作者讲述自己朋友关于精神层面提升一次经历。 New Words: Intimate ['ɪntɪmət] adj.私人的； renewal [rɪ'njuːəl] n.更新，恢复； wane [weɪn] vi.衰落；变小； prescription [prɪ'skrɪpʃ(ə)n] n.药方； exactness [ɪg'zæktnɪs] n.正确；精确 Arthur Gordon shares a wonderful, intimate story of his own spiritual renewal in a little story called "The Turn of the Tide." It tells of a time in his life when he began to feel that everything was stale and flat. His enthusiasm waned; his writing efforts were fruitless. And the situation was growing worse day by day. Finally, he determined to get help from a medical doctor. Observing nothing physically wrong, the doctor asked him if he would be able to follow his instructions for one day. When Gordon replied that he could, the doctor told him to spend the following day in the place where he was happiest as a child. He could take food, but he was not to talk to anyone or to read or write or listen to the radio. He then wrote out four prescriptions and told him to open one at nine, twelve, three, and six o'clock. 作家阿瑟.戈登分享了称之为“潮涌”小故事，这是他精神重建的亲身经历。有一段时间他感到人生乏味，意志消沉，灵感枯竭。这种情况愈演愈烈，不得不求助于医生。经检查身体,一切正常，医生建议他做一次精神之旅-到幼年时最喜爱的地点度一天假。可以进食，但禁止说话、阅读、写作或听收音机。然后医生开了四张处方。嘱咐他分别在9点、12点、下午3点及6点拆开。 "Are you serious?" Gordon asked him. “你是认真的？” 戈登问医生。 "You won't think I'm joking when you get my bill!" was the reply. “当你拿到账单时，你就不会觉得我在开玩笑了！”这是医生的答复。 So the next morning, Gordon went to the beach. As he opened the first prescription, he read "Listen carefully." He thought the doctor was insane. How could he listen for three hours? But he had agreed to follow the doctor's orders, so he listened. He heard the usual sounds of the sea and the birds. After a while, he could hear the other sounds that weren't so apparent at first. As he listened, he began to think of lessons the sea had taught him as a child – patience, respect, an awareness of the interdependence of things. He began to listen to the sounds -- and the silence -- and to feel a growing peace. 第二天，戈登如约来到最心爱的海滩，打开第一张处方，上面写着“仔细聆听”。他的第一个反应是，难道医生疯了不成?我岂能连续呆坐3小时?但戈登仍遵医嘱，耐心地四下倾听。他听到海浪声、鸟声，不久又发现起初未注意的许多声音。一边聆听，一边想起小时候大海教给他的耐心、尊重及万物息息相关等观念。他逐渐听到往日熟悉的声音，也听出沉寂，心中逐渐平静下来。 At noon, he opened the second slip of paper and read "Try reaching back." "Reaching back to what?" he wondered. Perhaps to childhood, perhaps to memories of happy times. He thought about his past, about the many little moments of joy. He tried to remember them with exactness. And in remembering, he found a growing warmth inside. 中午，他打开第二张处方:“设法回头。”“回头什么呢?”也许是童年， 也许是往日美好的时光。于是他开始从记忆中挖掘点点滴滴的乐事，设法回忆每个细节，心中渐渐升起一股温暖的感觉。 At three o'clock, he opened the third piece of paper. Until now, the prescriptions had been easy to take. But this one was different; it said "Examine your motives." At first he was defensive. He thought about what he wanted -- success, recognition, security, and he justified them all. But then the thought occurred to him that those motives weren't good enough, and that perhaps therein was the answer to his stagnant situation. He considered his motives deeply. He thought about past happiness. And at last, the answer came to him. "In a flash of certainty," he wrote, 下午3点钟，戈登打开第三张处方，前两张并不难办到，这一张 “检查动机”却不容易。起初他为自己的行为辩护。在追求成功，受人肯定与安全感的驱使下，他不得不采取某些举动。可是再一细想，这些动机并不怎么正当，或许这正是他陷入低潮的原因。回顾过去愉快满足的生活，他终于找到了答案。他写道 "I saw that if one's motives are wrong, nothing can be right. It makes no difference whether you are a mailman, a hairdresser, an insurance salesman, a housewife -- whatever. As long as you feel you are serving others, you do the job well. When you are concerned only with helping yourself, you do it less well -- a law as inexorable as gravity." 我突然领悟到，动机不正，诸事便不顺。不论邮差、美发师、保险推销员或家庭主妇，只要自认是为人服务，都能把工作做好。若是为私利，就不能如此成功。这是不变的真理。 When six o'clock came, the final prescription didn't take long to fill. "Write your worries on the sand," it said. He knelt and wrote several words with a piece of broken shell; then he turned and walked away. He didn't look back; he knew the tide would come in. 到了下午6点，第四张处方很简单:“把忧愁埋进沙子里”他跪在沙滩上，用贝壳碎片写了几个字，然后转身离去，头也不会，因为他知道，潮水会涌上来。