英语名篇诵读 论美（在线收听）

On Beauty

论美

Kahil Gibran(卡里·纪伯伦)

The aggrieved and the injured say, “Beauty is kind and gentle. Like a young mother half-

shy of her own glory she walks among us.”

And the passionate say, “Nay, beauty is a thing of might and dread. Like the tempest she

shakes the earth beneath us and the sky above us.”

The tired and the weary say, “Beauty is of soft whisperings. She speaks in our spirit. Her

voice yields to our silences like a faint light that quivers in fear of the shadow.”

But the restless say, “We have heard her shouting among the mountains. And with her cries

came the sound of hoofs, and the beating of wings and the roaring of lions.”

At night the watchmen of the city say, “Beauty shall rise with the dawn from the east.”And at

noontide the toilers and the wayfarers say, “We have seen her leaning over the earth from the

windows of the sunset.”

In winter say the snow-bound, “She shall come with the spring leaping upon the hill.”

And in the summer heat the reapers say, “We have seen her dancing with the autumn leaves,

and we saw a drift of snow in her hair.”

All these things have you said of beauty. Yet in truth you spoke not of her but of needs

unsatisfied, and beauty is not a need but an ecstasy. It is not a mouth thirsting nor an empty hand

stretched forth, but rather a heart enflamed and a soul enchanted . It is not the image you

would see nor the song you would hear, but rather an image you see though you close your eyes

and a song you hear though you shut your ears. It is not the sap within the furrowed bark, nor a

wing attached to a claw, but rather a garden forever in bloom and a flock of angels forever in

flight.

Beauty is life when life unveils her holy face.

But you are life and you are the veil.

Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.

But you are eternity and you are the mirror.

受委屈、受伤害的人说：“美是仁慈和温柔，就像一位年轻妈妈，因自己的光荣而半带

羞涩地走在我们中间。”

富有激情的人说：“不，美是一种强大而可畏的东西，就像惊天动地的暴风雨。”

劳累疲倦的人说：“美是柔声细语。她在我们的心灵中窃窃私语。她的声音沉浸在我们

的寂静中，正如一抹光在阴影的恐惧中颤抖。”

但是焦躁不安的人说：“我们听见美在山中的呼喊。随着她的呼喊，我们听到了走兽嗒

嗒的蹄声，鸟儿噼啪的振翅声和群狮的咆哮声。”

夜晚，城市的巡夜人说：“美将伴随着晨曦从东方升起。”正午时分，干苦力的人和徒

步旅行的人说：“我们看见美倚在黄昏之窗眺望大地。”

冬天，为大雪所困的人说：“美随着春天在小山上跳跃。”

在炎炎夏日，收庄稼的人说：“我们看见她伴着秋叶跳舞，看见她的头发里雪花飞

扬。”

关于美，人们众说纷纭。然而事实上，人们说的不是美，而是未得到满足的需求，而

美不是一种需求，是一种狂喜。不是干渴的嘴唇和伸出的空手，而是滚烫的心和愉悦的灵

魂；不是你想看的样子和想听的东西，而是虽闭上眼睛也能看到的模样，虽掩住耳朵也能

听到的旋律；不是褶皱树皮下的汁液，不是利爪下的鸟儿，而是花开四季的园林，是翱翔

天空的天使。

美是生活揭开了她神圣的面纱，

而你就是生活，就是面纱。

美是凝视自己镜中之影的永恒，

而你就是镜子，就是永恒。