更美的世界13-诚实的重要性

[00:00.00]The Importance of Being Honest 诚实的重要性
[00:05.73]On a Friday night,
[00:08.26]a poor young artist stood
[00:10.32]at the gate of the subway station,
[00:11.97]playing his violin.
[00:13.40]Many people put some money into the hat of the young man.
[00:16.56]The next day,
[00:18.10]the young artist came again,
[00:19.72]and put his hat on the ground gracefully¹.
[00:22.25]Different than the day before,
[00:24.42]he took out a large piece of paper
[00:26.41]and laid it on the ground.
[00:27.83]Then he began playing.
[00:29.23]Before long,
[00:31.10]the young violinist was surrounded with people,
[00:33.74]who were all attracted by the words on that paper.
[00:36.35]It said,
[00:37.46]“Last night,
[00:38.55]a gentleman named George Sang
[00:40.51]put an important thing into my hat by mistake.
[00:43.03]Please come to claim it soon.”
[00:44.98]After about half an hour,
[00:46.97]a middle-aged² man ran there in a hurry
[00:49.58]and rushed through the crowd to the violinist
[00:51.88]and grabbed³ his shoulders and said,
[00:53.76]“Yes, it’s you.
[00:55.27]You did come here.
[00:56.80]I knew that you’re an honest man
[00:58.89]and would certainly come here.”
[01:00.29]The young violinist asked calmly,
[01:02.93]“Are you Mr. George Sang?”
[01:04.80]The man nodded.
[01:06.21]The violinist asked,
[01:07.64]“Did you lose something?”
[01:08.96]“Lottery⁴. It’s lottery,”
[01:11.24]said the man.
[01:13.00]The violinist took out a lottery ticket
[01:14.86]on which George Sang’s name was seen.
[01:16.82]“Is it?” he asked.
[01:18.79]George nodded promptly⁵ and seized the lottery ticket and kissed it;
[01:22.40]then he danced with the violinist.
[01:24.38]The story turned out to be this:
[01:26.55]George Sang bought a lottery ticket
[01:29.07]which won him a prize of $500,000.
[01:31.58]So he felt very happy after work and felt the music
[01:34.98]was so wonderful that he took out 50 dollars and put in the hat.
[01:38.26]However the lottery ticket was also thrown in.　　
[01:41.09]Later someone asked the violinist:
[01:43.63]“why didn’t you take the lottery ticket for yourself?”
[01:45.93]The violinist said,
[01:47.99]“Although I don’t have much money,
[01:49.97]I live happily;
[01:51.15]but if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever.”
[01:54.78]Through our lives,
[01:56.62]we can gain a lot and lose so much.
[01:58.93]But being honest should always be with us.
[02:01.87]If we bear ourselves in a deceptive⁶ and dishonest way,
[02:05.39]we may succeed temporarily.
[02:07.24]However, from the long-term view,
[02:09.76]we will be a loser.
[02:11.09]Such kind of people is just like the water on the mountain.
[02:14.80]It stands high above the masses at the beginning,
[02:17.74]but gradually it comes down inch by inch
[02:20.71]and loses the chance of going up.

1 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

2 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

3 grabbed   

v.抢先，抢占( grab的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指匆忙地）取；攫取；（尤指自私、贪婪地）捞取

参考例句：

• He was grabbed by two men and frogmarched out of the hall. 他被两个男人紧抓双臂押出大厅。
• She grabbed the child's hand and ran. 她抓住孩子的手就跑。

4 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

5 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

6 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。