精美英文欣赏:神奇的鹅卵石

编者按:

在艾伦当初听到这句格言的时候，他还只是一颗鹅卵石。但是当他面临危机，需要指引的那一刻，他就变成了钻石。所以，尽量多地收集些鹅卵石，那么有朝一日你就会拥有一个钻石般的未来。

The Magic Pebbles²

"Why do we have to learn all of this dumb stuff?" Of all the complaints and questions I

have heard from my students during my years in the classroom,this was the one most frequentlyuttered.I would answer it by recounting the following legend.

One night a group of nomads³ were going to sleep when suddenly they were surrounded by a great light.They knew they were in the presenceof God.A voice spoke⁴ finally,"Gather as many pebbles as you can.Put them in your saddle bags.Travel a day's journey and tomorrow night will find you glad and it will find you sad."

The nomads were disappointed and angry-the task made no sense to them at all.However,the memory of the brilliance⁵ of their visitor caused each one to pick up a few pebbles.

They traveled a day's journey.At night they searched their saddle bags and discovered every pebble¹ had become a diamond.They were glad they had diamonds.They were sad they not gathered more.

It was an experience I had with a student,Alan.

When Alan was in the eighth grade,his master's in "trouble".He had studied how to be a bully⁶ and was getting his master's in "thievery".

Every day I had my students memorize a quotation⁷ from a great thinker.No one complained about this daily routinemore than Alan- right up to the day he was expelled and I lost touch with him.Then one day,he called.

He told me that after being sent to juvenile⁸ hall,he had because so disgusted with himself that he had cue his wrists.

He said,"As I lay there with my life running out of my body,I suddenly remembered that dumb quote you mad me write 20 times one day.'There is no failure except in no longer trying.'Then it suddenly made sense to me.As long as I was alive,I wasn't a failure,but if I allowed myself to die,I called for help and started a new life."

When he had heard the quotation,it was a pebble.When he needed guidance in a moment of crisis,it became a diamond.So,gather all the pebbles you can,and you can count on a future filled with diamonds.

神奇的鹅卵石

“为什么我们非要学这些没用的东西呢？”这是在我多年教书生涯中听得最多的学生们的抱怨与质疑。

然后我就会给他们讲下面这个故事。

有一天晚上，一群游牧民正要睡去的时候，忽然北一全要颜色光芒所包围。他们知道神就要出现了。

神终于说话了：“尽量多捡一些鹅卵石，放在你们的马褡子里。再走一天，到明天晚上，你们将同时体会到快乐和沮丧。”

神消失后，牧民们有失望又愤怒，议论纷纷。神让他们去做的事竟如此无聊.但是不管怎样，方才神现身的灵光令人敬畏，他们仍旧各自捡了一些鹅卵石。

他们又走了一天。当夜幕降临，他们查看自己的马褡子，发现每一颗鹅卵石都变成了钻石。得到钻石他们很高兴，同时也懊悔没有捡更多的鹅卵石。

我和一个名叫艾伦的学生就有过这样的经历。

那时，艾伦正读8年级，他调皮捣蛋，不仅常常欺凌弱小，更是个偷窃高手。

我每天让学生记一条名人名言。在我所有的学生中，没有谁比艾伦更爱抱怨这每日的例行作业了——直到他被勒令退学。此后，我再也没有得到他的消息。但是有一天，他来电话了。

他说，他被送进青年看守所后，对自己感到十分厌恶，曾经割腕自杀。

他说：“当我躺在那儿，感觉着生命正逐渐离我远去，我忽然想到有一天你曾经叫我写了20遍的那句无聊格言：‘没有所谓失败，除非你不再尝试。’那一刻，我突然明白了他的含义。只要我活着，就不能算失败；但是如果我让自己死了，那么我就真的永远失败地死去了。于是我竭尽残存的力气求救，并且开始了新生活。”

在艾伦当初听到这句格言的时候，他还只是一颗鹅卵石。但是当他面临危机，需要指引的那一刻，他就变成了钻石。所以，尽量多地收集些鹅卵石，那么有朝一日你就会拥有一个钻石般的未来。

1 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。

2 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

3 nomads   

n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活

参考例句：

• For ten years she dwelled among the nomads of North America. 她在北美游牧民中生活了十年。
• Nomads have inhabited this region for thousands of years. 游牧民族在这地区居住已有数千年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 brilliance   

n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智

参考例句：

• I was totally amazed by the brilliance of her paintings.她的绘画才能令我惊歎不已。
• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。

6 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

7 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

8 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。