假如給我三天光明(節(jié)選)
All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours. But always we were interested in discovering how the doomedchoose to spend his last days or his last hours. I speak, of course, of free men who have a choice, not condemned criminals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.
我們都讀過震撼人心的故事，故事中的主人公只能再活一 段很有限的時(shí)光，有時(shí)長達(dá)一年，有時(shí)卻短至一日。但我們總是 想要知道，注定要離世的人會(huì)選擇如何度過自己最后的時(shí)光。 當(dāng)然，我說的是那些有選擇權(quán)利的自由人，而不是那些活動(dòng)范 圍受到嚴(yán)格限定的死囚。
Such stories set us thinking， wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What events, what associations should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings? What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
這樣的故事讓我們思考，在類似的處境下，我們該做些什 么?作為終有一死的人,在臨終前的幾個(gè)小時(shí)內(nèi)我們應(yīng)該做什 么事，經(jīng)歷些什么或做哪些聯(lián)想?回憶往昔，什么使我們開心快 樂?什么又使我們悔恨不已?
Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with gentleness, vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretch before us in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come. There are those，of course, would adopt the Epicurean motto of “eat， drink and be merry.” But most people would be chastened by certainty of impending death.
有時(shí)我想，把每天都當(dāng)作生命中的最后一天來過，也不失 為一個(gè)極好的生活法則。這種態(tài)度會(huì)使人格外重視生命的價(jià) 值。我們每天都應(yīng)該以優(yōu)雅的姿態(tài)，充沛的精力，抱著感恩之心 來生活。但當(dāng)時(shí)間以無休止的日、月和年在我們面前流逝時(shí)，我 們卻常常沒有了這種感覺。當(dāng)然，也有人奉行“吃，喝，享受”的 享樂主義信條，但絕大多數(shù)人還是會(huì)受到即將到來的死亡的懲 罰。
In stories the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune, but almost always his sense of values is changed. He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life and its permanent spiritual values. It has often been noted that those who live, or have lived, in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.
