世界小史 第96期:安宁

 　　For six years he led the life of a hermit¹ and penitent².

　　他过了六年修道和忏悔的生活。

　　But his meditations³ were deeper and his sufferings greater than those of any other hermit.

　　但他比所有的其他人都想得深远，他比先前的任何人更严酷地折磨自己。

　　As he sat, he almost stopped breathing altogether, and endured the most terrible pains.

　　他坐着时几乎根本不呼吸，他忍受着最可怕的疼痛。

　　He ate so little that he would often faint with weakness.

　　他吃得如此之少，以致他竟虚弱得倒下。

　　And yet, in all those years, he found no inner peace.

　　但是在所有的这些年月里，他的内心得不到安宁。

　　For he didn't only reflect on the nature of the world, and whether all things were really one.

　　因为他不仅在思索世界是什么，是否万物在根本上全都是一回事。

　　He thought about its sadness, of all the pain and suffering of mankind – of old age, sickness and death.

　　他思索世间的悲哀，思索人类的全部痛苦和灾难——老年、疾病和死亡。

　　And no amount of penitence⁴ could help him there.

　　在这方面的忏悔还是帮不了他什么忙。

　　And so, gradually, he began to eat again.

　　于是，渐渐地他又开始进食。

　　His strength returned, and he breathed like other people.

　　他又恢复了力气，和其他人一样呼吸。

　　Other hermits⁵ who had formerly⁶ admired him now despised him, but he took no notice of them.

　　先前一直颂扬他的其他修道者现在很鄙视他，但是他毫不动摇。

　　Then, one night, as he sat beneath a fig⁷ tree in a beautiful clearing in a wood, understanding came.

　　然后，有一天夜晚，他在一棵无花果树下那景色宜人的林中空地上打坐，他来了灵感。

 

1 hermit   

n.隐士，修道者；隐居

参考例句：

• He became a hermit after he was dismissed from office.他被解职后成了隐士。
• Chinese ancient landscape poetry was in natural connections with hermit culture.中国古代山水诗与隐士文化有着天然联系。

2 penitent   

adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者

参考例句：

• They all appeared very penitent,and begged hard for their lives.他们一个个表示悔罪，苦苦地哀求饶命。
• She is deeply penitent.她深感愧疚。

3 meditations   

默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想

参考例句：

• Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。

4 penitence   

n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过

参考例句：

• The thief expressed penitence for all his past actions. 那盗贼对他犯过的一切罪恶表示忏悔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Of penitence, there has been none! 可是悔过呢，还一点没有！ 来自英汉文学 - 红字

5 hermits   

（尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In the ancient China,hermits usually lived in hamlets. 在古代中国，隐士们通常都住在小村子里。
• Some Buddhist monks live in solitude as hermits. 有些和尚在僻静处隐居。

6 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

7 fig   

n.无花果(树)

参考例句：

• The doctor finished the fig he had been eating and selected another.这位医生吃完了嘴里的无花果，又挑了一个。
• You can't find a person who doesn't know fig in the United States.你找不到任何一个在美国的人不知道无花果的。