【双语有声阅读】健全的人生

The wholeness of life

健全的人生

Once a circle missed a wedge.

从前，一只圆圈缺了一块楔子。

The circle wanted to be whole,

它想保持完整，

so it went around looking for its missing piece.

便四处寻找那块楔子。

But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly,

由于不完整，所以它只能慢慢地滚动。

it admired the flowers along the way.

一路上，它对花儿露出羡慕之色。

It chatted with worms.

它与蠕虫谈天侃地。

It enjoyed the sunshine.

它还欣赏到了阳光之美。

It found lots of different pieces, but none of them fit.

圆圈找到了许多不同的楔子，但没有一件与它相配。

So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching.

所以，它将它们统统弃置路旁，继续寻觅。

Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly¹.

终于有一天，它找到了一个完美的配件。

It was so happy.

圆圈是那样地高兴，

Now it could be whole, with nothing missing.

现在它可以说是完美无缺了。

It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll.

它装好配件，并开始滚动起来。

Now that it was a perfect circle,

现在它已成了一个完美的圆圈，

it could roll very fast,

所以滚动得非常快，

too fast to notice flowers or talk to the worms.

以至于难以观赏花儿，也无暇与蠕虫倾诉心声。

When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly,

当圆圈意识到因快奔急骋使它失去了原有的世界时，

it stopped, left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.

它不禁停了下来，将找到的配件弃置路旁，又开始慢慢地滚动。

The lesson of the story, I suggested,

我觉得这个故事告诉我们，

was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something.

从某种奇妙的意义上讲，当我们失去了一些东西时反而更加完整。

The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man.

一个拥有一切的人其实在某些方面是个穷人。

He will never know what it feels like to yearn², to hope,

他永远也体会不到什么是渴望、期待

to nourish his soul with the dream of something better.

及如何用美好梦想滋养自己的灵魂。

He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had.

他也永远不会有这样一种体验：一个爱他的人送给他某种他梦寐以求的或者从未拥有过的东西意味着什么。

There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations,

人生的完整性在于知道如何面对缺陷，

who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so.

如何勇敢地摒弃不现实的幻想而又不以此为缺憾。

There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive,

人生的完整性还在于学会勇敢面对人生悲剧而继续生存，

she can lose someone and still feel like a complete person.

能够在失去亲人后依然表现出完整的个人风范。

Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn³ us for failing.

人生不是上帝为谴责我们的缺陷而给我们布下的陷阱。

Life is not a spelling bee,

人生也不是一场拼字游戏比赛，

where no matter how many words you've gotten right, you're disqualified if you make one mistake.

不管你拼出多少单词，一旦出现了一个错误，你便前功尽弃。

Life is more like a baseball season,where even the best team loses one third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance⁴.

人生更像是一个棒球赛季，即使最好的球队也会输掉1/3的比赛，而最差的球队也有春风得意的日子。

Our goal is to win more games than we lose.

我们的目标就是多赢球，少输球。

When we accept that imperfection is part of being human,

当我们接受不完整性是人类本性的一部分，

and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it,

当我们不断地进行人生滚动并能欣赏其价值时，

we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire⁵ to.

我们就会获得其它人仅能渴望的完整人生。

That, I believe, is what God asks of us-not Be perfect , not Don't even make a mistake,but Be whole.

我相信这就是上帝对我们的要求：不求完美，也不求永不犯错误，而是求得人生的完整。

If we are brave enough to love,strong enough to forgive,generous enough to rejoice in another's happiness,

如果我们能够勇敢地去爱，坚强地去宽容，大度地去为别人的快乐而高兴，

and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all,then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know.

明智地理解身边充满爱，那幺我们就能取得别的生物所不能取得的成就。

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

3 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

4 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。

5 aspire   

vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于

参考例句：

• Living together with you is what I aspire toward in my life.和你一起生活是我一生最大的愿望。
• I aspire to be an innovator not a follower.我迫切希望能变成个开创者而不是跟随者。