英语美文背诵 最成功的投资

The Soundest Investment of All

by C. Jared Ingersoll

I feel very presumptuous¹ and uncomfortable about trying to explain out loud the things I believe in. But I do think that all human problems are in some way related to each other, so perhaps if people compare their experiences they may discover something in common in hunting the answers.

I am a very fortunate man for I lead a full and what is for me a happy life. I say this even though I happen to have had, in the course of it, a couple of severe personal blows.

My first wife collapsed² and died one day while she and I were ice skating, after eighteen years of a most happy existence together. My only son, a sergeant³ in the army combat engineers, was killed in Italy in the last war. Nevertheless, these tragedies did not throw me completely and I have been able to fill my life anew with happiness.

I do not mean to sound calloused⁴. Those blows hurt me deeply. I guess that two basically important things helped me most to recover. One is the fact that I have come to see life as a gamble. The other is a belief in what some people call the hereafter. I try to live fully⁵ so that when and if my luck changes there will be little room for regret or recrimination over time lost or misspent. My belief in the hereafter is wrapped in the intangible but stubborn thoughts of a layman⁶. Very likely I would get lost in trying to describe or defend, by cold logic⁷, my belief in God but nobody could argue me out of it.

I have come to believe that I owe life as much as it owes me, and I suppose that explains this fine satisfaction I get out of endeavoring to do a job to the best of what ability I have, and out of helping⁸ somebody else.

As a kid I used to ride a rake in the hayfields. I got a tremendous kick out of trying to sweep every field clean as a whistle. Here I made a surprising and happy discovery: that there could be actual enjoyment⁹ in the exercise of thoroughness and responsibility, and that duty didn’t have to be a drudge¹⁰.

I don’t know exactly why, but I like to do things for other people. Not only family responsibilities, work on a hospital board, and various church organizations but also the most inconsequential things that might hardly seem worth the time. My office happens to be on Independence Square and now and then I have occasion to direct a tourist to the Liberty Bell or fill him in on a little of the history of Philadelphia. The tourist doesn’t seem to mind and it makes me feel good. I’m afraid I’m not very profound. I have tried to comprehend why something so simple and so sound as the Golden Rule is so often forgotten or held in disrepute. I can only say—and I say this quite selfishly—that I have found it a good investment. It has paid me a very high return, undoubtedly¹¹ more than I deserve.

最成功的投资

　　C.贾里德.英格索尔

我想，若是大声解释我的信仰，不仅会给人一种自大的感觉，也会使我感到不安。但是我认为，从某种程度上来说，人类所有的问题都是息息相关的。因此，倘若人们比较一下他们的经历，也许就能在寻找答案的过程中发现某些共同之处。

我是一个幸运的人，因为我的生活充实而幸福。不管怎样，我依然会这么说，即使曾经的多次不幸给我带来了沉重的打击。我与第一个妻子共同度过了18年幸福的婚姻生活，然而在我们去滑冰的那天，她突然倒下，撒手人寰。我唯一的儿子是一名工兵军士，二战期间，在意大利阵亡。然而，我并没有被这些不幸彻底打倒，而是再次让我的生活充满幸福。

我并不是想让大家觉得我冷酷无情。这些不幸确实对我造成了很大的伤害。我想我之所以能够重新振作起来，其中有两个重要的原因：一是我认为生活其实就是一场赌博，二是我对人们所说的来世深信不疑。为了在晦运时，不至于因虚度时光而后悔或自责，我努力让自己充实地生活。作为一个普通信徒，无形而坚定的思想正是我信仰来世的来源。我信仰上帝，也许我难以用冷冰冰的逻辑来描述这个信仰或为它辩护，但谁也无法说服我放弃它。

我相信，我对生活付出多少，就会得到多少。因此，我认为，我最大的满足正是来源于尽自己最大的努力去做一份工作或是帮助别人。

孩提时，我常会在干草地上开耙草机。在将每片草地耙干净的过程中，我总会获得极大的成就感，并惊奇地发现：尽心而尽责地完成一件事会为你带来真正的快乐，而尽责也并不一定是做苦工。

我很喜欢为人服务。我不仅为家庭负责，在一家医院的理事会及各种教会组织中工作，我还会去做一些看似浪费时间的最无关紧要的琐事。我的办公室正好在独立广场，因此我偶尔会为去独立钟的游客带路，一路上给他讲一些费城的历史。虽然游客并不在乎这些，但我却乐此不疲。我自己并非知识渊博之人。我常常想弄明白，像黄金定律那样简单而合理的箴言为何总被人们遗忘或不屑一顾。我只能说，也自私地说，我发现为人服务是一项最成功的投资。毫无疑问，它给予我的回报远远高于我的应得。

1 presumptuous   

adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的

参考例句：

• It would be presumptuous for anybody to offer such a view.任何人提出这种观点都是太放肆了。
• It was presumptuous of him to take charge.他自拿主张，太放肆了。

2 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

3 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

4 calloused   

adj.粗糙的，粗硬的，起老茧的v.（使）硬结，（使）起茧( callous的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）冷酷无情

参考例句：

• A most practical and emotionally calloused Youth interrupted. 一个非常讲究实际而心肠很硬的年轻人插了一嘴。 来自辞典例句
• McTeague exhibited his hard, calloused palms. 麦克梯格摊开那双生满老茧坚硬的手掌。 来自辞典例句

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 layman   

n.俗人，门外汉，凡人

参考例句：

• These technical terms are difficult for the layman to understand.这些专门术语是外行人难以理解的。
• He is a layman in politics.他对政治是个门外汉。

7 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

10 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

11 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。