英语名篇诵读 两条路

The Two Roads

两条路

John Ruskin(约翰·罗斯金)

It was New Year's Night. An aged¹ man was standing² at a window. He raised his mournful 注

eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a

clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where a few more hopeless people than himself

now moved towards their certain goal — the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the stages

leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse³ . Now his

health was poor, his mind vacant , his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment

when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads — one leading to a peaceful, sunny

place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding⁴ with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a

deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and

poisonous snakes hissed⁵ and crawled.

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “O youth, return! O my father, place me once

more at the entrance to life, and I'll choose the better way!” But both his father and the days of his

youth had passed away.

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness. These were the days of his wasted life; he

saw a star fall from the sky and disappeared, and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse,

which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his

childhood, who entered on life together with him. But they had made their way to success and

were now honoured and happy on this New Year's night.

The clock in the high church-tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents'

early love for him. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong

way. With shame and grief⁶ he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived.

His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort, he burst out a cry, “Come back,

my early days! Come back!”

And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year's night. He

was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was

still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

Those who still linger⁷ on the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road,

remember that when years are passed and your feet stumble⁸ on the dark mountains, you will cry

bitterly, but in vain, “O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”

这是新年之夜。一耄耋老者站在窗前。他抬起悲伤的眼睛朝深蓝色的天空看去。满天

星星像白色百合花在清澈平静的湖面浮现。接着他把目光投向地面，那里除他之外还有几

个绝望的人朝着某个目标挪动——坟墓。他已经走完了通往坟墓的六十级台阶，从这段人

生之旅中什么也没有带来，只有错误和悔恨。现在他健康状况很差，头脑里一片空白，内

心充满悲伤，老迈而无任何慰藉。

年轻时的日子像梦境在他眼前闪现，他回想起那个关键时刻，他的父亲把他放在两条

路的入口——一条通往平静的洒满阳光的地方，布满了鲜花、水果，回荡着柔和甜美的歌

声；另一条通往又深又黑的洞穴，深不见底，流淌的是毒液而不是清水，鬼怪出没，毒蛇

横行，发出恐怖的嘶嘶声。

他仰望天空，痛苦地大声呼喊：“哦，青春，回来吧！哦，爸爸，再一次把我放在人生

的入口吧！我要选择更好的人生之路！”但是他的父亲已经去世，他的青春年华已经不再。

他看见亮光在黑暗中远遁。那些是他荒废了的日子，他看见一颗星从天上坠落，消失

了，而这就是他本人的象征。他的悔恨像利箭般深深地刺痛他的心。接着他忆起了孩提时

的朋友们，他们是一起踏入人生之途的。可是他们走上了成功之路，现在功成名就，在这

新年之夜尽享幸福快乐。

高耸的教堂钟塔里钟声敲响了，钟声使他想起父母早年对他的爱。他们教育他，向上

帝为他祈祷。可是他选错了路。他悲羞交加，不敢仰望他父亲居住的天堂。他模糊的眼睛

里噙着泪水，扯起嗓门大叫一声：“回来吧，我的青春岁月！回来吧！”

他的青春的确回来了，因为所有这一切都是他在新年之夜做的一个梦。他还年轻，虽

然他确有过错；他还没有进入又深又黑的洞穴，仍有自由踏上通往平静的洒满阳光的大

地。

那些还在人生入口处徘徊的人们，那些在选取光明大道上犹豫不决的人们，切切牢

记，当韶华已逝，而你还在黑暗的大山上跌跌撞撞地走着的时候，你会痛苦地呼喊：“哦，

青春，回来吧！哦，还我青春年华吧！”可是，那一切都是徒劳了。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

4 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

5 hissed   

发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对

参考例句：

• Have you ever been hissed at in the middle of a speech? 你在演讲中有没有被嘘过？
• The iron hissed as it pressed the wet cloth. 熨斗压在湿布上时发出了嘶嘶声。

6 grief   

n.悲伤，悲痛，悲伤的事，悲痛的缘由

参考例句：

• Don't allow yourself to sink into grief,it can do no good.不要使自己陷入悲哀之中，这样一点好处也没有。
• After her mother died,she abandoned herself to grief.母亲死后，她沉浸于悲痛之中。

7 linger   

vt.消磨，无所事事；vi.逗留，消磨，徘徊，漫步

参考例句：

• Don't linger away your holidays,try to find something useful to do.不要虚度假日，尽量找些有意义的事做。
• His last words still linger in our ears.他的临终嘱咐仍萦绕在我们耳际。

8 stumble   

n.绊倒，失策；vi.绊倒，失策，踌躇，无意中发现；vt.绊倒，困惑

参考例句：

• Be grateful to those who have made you stumble,for they have strengthened your ability.感激绊倒你的人，因为他强化了你的能力。
• You never knew when you might stumble across some new talent.谁也说不准什么时候会碰上一位新的天才。