英语小达人 390 Youth

 　　Youth青春Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy¹ cheeks, red lips and supple² knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor³ of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

　　青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象、炽热的情感；青春是生命的深泉在不息的涌流。

　　Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exits in a man of 60, more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows merely by the number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideas.

　　青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯懦，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老；理想丢弃，方堕暮年。

　　Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

　　岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓唐必至灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。

　　Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure⁴ of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless⁵ station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from infinite, so long as you are young.

　　无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接收美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华长存。

　　When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism⁶, then you've grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there's hope you may die young at eighty.

　　一旦天线倒塌，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即便年方二十，实已垂垂老矣。然则只要坚起天线，捕捉乐观的信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。

1 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

2 supple   

adj.柔软的，易弯的，逢迎的，顺从的，灵活的；vt.使柔软，使柔顺，使顺从；vi.变柔软，变柔顺

参考例句：

• She gets along well with people because of her supple nature.她与大家相处很好，因为她的天性柔和。
• He admired the graceful and supple movements of the dancers.他赞扬了舞蹈演员优雅灵巧的舞姿。

3 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

4 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

5 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

6 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。