生命是什么？生命就是捧在手里的水，从我们拥有生命的那一刻起，我们的十指无论怎样拼命的靠拢，水都在一点一滴的渗漏，生命就是这么无奈的事情。想必大家都曾有过对生命的感悟，也许阅读了《我的人生已逝》这篇经典散文后，能够找到答案。让我们一起来欣赏20英语二班吴湾湾带给我们的美文诵读——乔治·吉辛的作品《我的人生已逝》。
一、原文
My Life Is Over
George Gissin
Nevertheless, my life is over.
What a little thing! I knew how the philosophers had spoken; I repeated their musical phrases about the mortal span—yet never till now believed them. And this is all? A man ’s life can be so brief and so vain? Idly would I persuade myself that life, in the true sense, is only now beginning; that the time of sweat and fear was not life at all, and that it now only depends upon my will to lead a worthy existence. That may be a sort of consolation, but it does not obscure the truth that I shall never again see possibilities and promises opening before me. I haveretired, and for me as truly as for the retired tradesman, life is over. I can look back upon its completed course, and what a little thing! I am tempted to laugh; I hold my myself within the limit of a smile.
And that is best, to smile not in scorn, but in all for bearance, without too much self-compassion.
After all, that dreadful aspect of the thing never really took hold of me; I could put it by without much effort. Life is done—and what matter? Whether it has been, in sum, painful or enjoyable, even now I cannot say—a fact which in itself should prevent me from taking the loss too seriously. What does it matter? Destiny with the hidden face decreed that I should come into being, play my little part, and pass again into silence; is it mine either to approve or to rebel? Let me be grateful that I have suffered no intolerable wrong, no terrible woe of flesh or spirit, such as others—alas! alas! —have found in their lot. Is it not much to have accomplished so large a part of the mortal journey with so much ease? If I find myself astonished at its brevity and small significance, why, that is my own fault; the voices of those gone before had sufficiently warned me. Better to see the truth now, and accept it, than to fall into dread surprise on some day of weakness, and foolishly to cry against fate. I will be glad rather than sorry, and think of the thing no more.
二、生词注释
What a little thing! :生命是何其渺小!
mortal span : 有限的生命，人生苦短
idly /ˈaɪdli/ : 懒惰地,空闲地，此处意为“徒然，徒劳”
consolation /ˌkɑːnsəˈleɪʃn/ : 安慰，慰藉
within the limit of a smile: 微微一笑，浅浅一笑
scorn /skɔːrn/ : 轻视，蔑视
bearance : 克制，忍耐
self-compassion: 顾影自怜
woe /woʊ/ : 痛苦，折磨
alas /əˈls/: 哎呀
small significance : 空虚
repent v. 悔恨，后悔
三、作者简介
George Gissin: 乔治·吉辛(1857一1903)，英国小说家、散文家，维多利亚时代后期最出色的现实主义小说家之一。他出身贫寒，一生发表过23部长篇小说。他的小说以描写下层社会生活和文坛人物著称，主要有《新格拉布街》( New Grub Streel )和《在流亡中诞生》( Born in Exile )，散文代表作《四季随笔》( The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft )。
四、优美句子合集
1. That the time of sweat and fear was not life at all, and that it now only depends upon my will to lead a worthy existence.
生命之中，汗水与恐惧相随的日子不是生活，生活的价值和意义取决于自己的意志和努力。
2. Better to see the truth now, and accept it, than to fall into dread surprise on some day of weakness, and foolishly to cry against fate.
最好现在就认清真理，接受真理。以免日后陷入恐慌之际却软弱无力，束手之余，只能愚蠢地空天抢地，哀怨命运不公。
五、朗读图片
一审一校│万丽佳
二审二校│倪娅
三审三校│吴芹
