【英语美⽂】轰动全球的短⽂:《青春
萨缪尔美⽂《青春》⼀⽂,仅400字,原⽂译⽂皆精彩!
作者:萨缪尔·厄尔曼 1840 年⽣于德国,⼉时随家⼈移居美利坚,参加过南北战争,之后定居
伯明翰,经营五⾦杂货,年逾70 开始写作。
⾏⽂如下:
青春不是年华,⽽是⼼境;青春不是桃⾯、丹唇、柔膝,⽽是深沉的意志、恢宏的想像、炽热
的感情;青春是⽣命的深泉涌流。
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
青春⽓贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。如此锐⽓,⼆⼗后⽣有之,六旬男⼦则更多
见。年岁有加,并⾮垂⽼;理想丢弃,⽅堕暮年。
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
岁⽉悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓唐必致灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失⾃信,定使⼼灵扭
曲,意⽓如灰。青春文章
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
⽆论年届花甲,抑或⼆⼋芳龄,⼼中皆有⽣命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living.
⼈的⼼灵应如浩淼瀚海,只有不断接纳美好、希望、欢乐、勇⽓和⼒量的百川,才能青春永
驻、风华长存。
Inthe center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
⼀旦⼼海枯竭,锐⽓便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、⾃暴⾃弃油然⽽⽣,即使年⽅⼆⼗,实已垂垂⽼矣;然则只要虚怀若⾕,让喜悦、达观、仁爱充盈其间,你就有望在⼋⼗⾼龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
此⽂⼀出,不胫⽽⾛,以⾄代代相传。⼆战期间,麦克阿瑟与⽇军⾓逐于太平洋时,将此⽂镶于镜框,摆在写字台上,以姿⾃勉。
⽇本战败,此⽂由东京美军总部传出,有⼈将它灌成录⾳带,⼴为销售;甚⾄有⼈把它揣在⾐兜⾥,随时研读。
多年后,厄尔曼之孙、美国电影发⾏协会主席乔纳斯·罗森菲尔德访问⽇本,席间谈及《青春》,恭敬地说:“乃翁⽂章,鄙⼈总不离⾝。”主客皆万分感动。
1988年,⽇本数百名流聚会东京、⼤阪,纪念厄尔曼的这篇⽂章。松下电器公司元⽼松下幸之助感慨
的说:“20年来,《青春》与我朝⼣相伴,它是我的座右铭。”欧洲⼀位政界名宿也极⼒推荐:“⽆论男⼥⽼幼,要想活得分光,就得拜读《青春》。”