【双语有声阅读】一场累人的斗争

Balzac once said artistic¹ creation² was “an exhausting³ strug-gle”．

 

巴尔扎克说过，艺术创造是“一场累人的斗争”。

He believed that only by tenacious⁴ work and fearing notafraid of difficulties could you show your talent．

他认为，只有顽强地工作，不怕困难，才能把自己的才华表现出来。

It was just likethe soldiers charging the fortress，not relaxing your effort foreven a moment．

这就好象向堡垒冲击的战士，一刻也不能松劲。

Once Balzac wrote for hours on end， he was so tired that hecould not hold out any longer．

有一次，巴尔扎克一连写了好几个小时，累得实在支持不住了，

He ran to a friend's home andplunged headlong on the sofa．He wanted to sleep，but he told hisfriend he must be woken up within an hour．

跑到一个朋友家里，一头倒在沙发上。他想睡一觉，但他告诉朋友，一定要在一小时之内叫醒他。

His friend，seeinghim so tired，did not wake him up on time．After he woke up，Balzac got very angry at his friend．Fortunately his friend had anintimate understanding of him and did not quarrel with him．

他的朋友见他非常疲劳，就没有按时叫醒他。他醒来后，对朋友大发脾气。幸好他的朋友很了解他，没有和他争吵。

Balzac did not smoke cigarettes，nor did he drink any alco－hol．

巴尔扎克既不抽烟，也不喝酒。

But he got one habit：while he was writing he always drankvery strong coffee that could almost anaesthetize his stomach．

但他有个习惯：当他写作的时候，总是呷着几乎可以使胃麻痹的浓咖啡。

Hedidn't add milk，nor did he add sugar in his coffee．It would notsatisfy him until it was made bitter．

他的咖啡里既不加牛奶，也不加糖，要熬得发苦才满意。

People generally did not liketo drink such bitter coffee．That had strange stimulus⁵ effect tohim，and could help him drive the sleepiness away，according to himself．

象这样苦的咖啡，一般人都不愿意喝。据他自己说，这样对他有奇异的刺激作用，可以驱走睡魔。

1 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

2 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。

3 exhausting   

a.疲倦的

参考例句：

• an exhausting day at work 工作得筋疲力尽的一天
• This exhausting work is enough to run everyone down. 这项费力的工作足以使人精疲力竭。

4 tenacious   

adj.顽强的，固执的，记忆力强的，粘的

参考例句：

• We must learn from the tenacious fighting spirit of Lu Xun.我们要学习鲁迅先生韧性的战斗精神。
• We should be tenacious of our rights.我们应坚决维护我们的权利。

5 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。