晨讀英語散文精選
英語散文的發展歷程十分曲折,散文大家風格多變,兼之中英語言個性殊異,若要成功地把英語散文大家的作品翻譯到中文,既須瞭解英語散文發展的概況,又須注意保證氣韻邏輯通暢,文氣沛然,才能傳神譯出,曲盡其妙,令漢語讀者獲得相同或相近的審美感受。下面本站小編爲大家帶來晨讀英語散文精選，歡迎大家閱讀!
晨讀英語散文：生活的道路
The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They accept the circumstancesamid which fate has thrown them not only with resignation but even with good will. They arelike streetcars running contentedly on their rails and they despise the sprightly flivver thatdashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so jauntily across the open country. I respectthem;they are good citizens, good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody hasto pay the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the men, few enough in allconscience, who take life in their own hands and seem to mould it to their own liking. It may bethat we have no such thing as free will, but at all events we have the illusion ofit. At acrossroad it does seem to us that we might go either to the right or the left and, the choiceonce made, it is difficult to see that the whole course of the world's history obliged us to takethe turning we did.
對於大多數人來說，生活是由環境決定的。他們在命運的撥弄面前，不僅逆來順受，甚至還能隨遇而安。這些人猶如街上的有軌電車，滿足於在自己的軌道上運行;而對於那些不時出沒於車水馬龍間和歡快地奔馳在曠野上的廉價小汽車卻不屑一顧。我尊重這些人;他們是守法的公民、盡職的丈夫、慈祥的父親。當然，總得有人繳納種種稅款;可是，我並不覺得他們使人振奮。另有些人把生活掌握在自己手裏，似乎在按照自己的意願創造生活，儘管這樣的人寥若晨星，他們卻深深地吸引了我。自由意志這玩意兒對我們來說也許純屬子虛烏有;但不管怎麼說，它確實存在於我們的幻想之中。每逢站在十字路口，我們好像能在左右兩條道路中任選其一，可一旦選定之後，卻又很難認識到那實際是世界歷史的整個進程左右了我們的轉折點。
I never met a more interesting man than Mayhew. He was a lawyerin Detroit. He was an able anda successful one. By the time he was thirty-five he had a large and a lucrative praaice, he hadamassed a competence, and he stood on the threshold of a distinguished career. He had ana cute brain, anattractive personality, and uprightness. There was no reason why he shouldnot become, financially or politically, a power in the land. One evening he was sitting in his clubwith a group of friends and they were perhaps a little worse (or the better) for liquor. One ofthem had recently come from Italy and he told them of a house he had seen at Capri, a houseon the hill, overlooking the Bay of Naples, with a large and shady garden. He described to themthe beauty of the most beautifulisland in the Mediterranean.
我從未見到過比梅休更有意思的人了。他是底特律的一名律師，爲人能幹，事業上也很成功。35歲時就門庭若市，收入可觀，累累勝訴，聲名昭着，前程似錦。他頭腦靈活，性格招?喜歡，爲人又很正直，在這個國家裏不變得有錢或有勢纔怪呢。一天晚上，他與一些朋友在俱樂部聚會。喝了酒之後，他們也許有點醉意(或更清醒)了，其中一人剛從意大利回來，跟大家談起了在卡普里島看到的一幢房子。那是一幢坐落在小山上的房屋，還有個綠葉成蔭的大花園。從屋裏望出去，那不勒斯灣盡收眼底。他娓娓動聽地把地中海這個最美的島嶼誇了一番。
"It sounds fine," said Mayhew. "Is that house for sale?"
“聽起來倒真不錯!”梅休說，“那房子賣不賣?”
"Everything is for sale in Italy."
“在意大利什麼東西都賣。”
"Let's send'em a cable and make an offer for it."
“我們打個電報，出個價把那房子買下來。”
"What in heaven's name would you do with a house in Capri?"
“天哪!你買卡普里的一所房子幹什麼用啊?”
"Live in it," said Mayhew.
“住唄!”梅休說。
He sent for a cable form, wrote it out, and dispatched it. In a few hours the reply came offer was accepted.
他叫人取來一張電報單，填好後就發了出去。沒過幾小時，回電來了，買賣成交。
Mayhew was no hypocrite and he made no secret of the fact that he would never have done sowild a thing if he had been sober, but when he was he did not regret it. He was neither animpulsive nor an emotional man, but a very honest and sincere one. He would never havecontinued from bravado in a course that he had come to the conclusion was unwise. Hemade up his mind to do exactly as he had said. He did not care for wealth and he had enoughmoney on which to live in Italy. He thought he could do more with life than spend it oncomposing the trivial quarrels of unimportant people.
梅休絕對不是僞君子。他毫不隱諱地承認，如果當時頭腦清醒的話，他決不至於做出如此輕率的事。但此刻他清醒了，也決不反悔。他不是個一衝動就魯莽從事的人，也不多愁善感。他爲人十分正直、誠懇。無論幹什麼，只要意識到所幹的並不明智，他就馬上會停下來，從不會因一時逞能而一味蠻幹下去。他決心不折不扣地履行自己的諾言。
He had no definite plan. He merely wanted to get away from a life that had given him allit hadto offer. I suppose his friends thought him crazy; some must have done all they could todissuade him. He arranged his affairs, packed up his ffirniture, and started.
梅休並不在乎錢財，他有的是錢，足夠在意大利花的。他想使生活過得更有價值，不願再把這大好年華浪費在調停芸芸衆生因區區小事引起的吵鬧中。他沒有明確的計赳。他只是想拋棄這已不能再使他滿意的生活。我想他的朋友們一定以爲他瘋了。有些人肯定是費盡脣舌勸他千萬別這麼做。可是他安排好手頭的事務，把傢俱裝了箱，毅然上路了。
Capri is a gaunt rock of austere outline, bathed in a deep blue sea; but its vineyards, greenand smiling, give it a soft and easy grace. It is friendly,remote, and debonair. I find it strangethat Mayhew should have settled on this lovely island, for I never knew a man more insensibleto beauty I do not know what he sought there: happiness, freedom, or merely leisure; I knowwhat he found. In this place which appeals so extravagantly to the senses he lived a life entirelyof the spirit. For the island is rich with historic associations and over it broods always theenigmatic memory of Tiberius the Emperor. From his windows which overlooked the Bay ofNaples, with the noble shape of Vesuvius changing colour with the changing light, Mayhew saw ahundred places that recalled the Romans and the Greeks. The past began to haunt him. All thathe saw for the first time, for he had never been abroad before, excited his fancy; and in his soulstirred the creative imagination. He was a man of energy. Presently he made up his mind towrite a history. For some time he looked about for a subject, and at last decided on the secondcentury of the Roman Empire. It was little known and it seemed to him to offer problemsanalogous with those of our own day.
卡普里島是一塊外形突兀的荒涼的岩石，沐浴在深藍色的海洋裏。但是它的蔥綠的葡萄園彷彿在向人微笑，使這個海島增添了幾分令人舒爽的溫柔寧靜的姿色。卡普里島遠離塵囂，卻景色宜人，生氣盎然。我真感到奇怪，梅休竟會找這麼一個可愛的海島定居，因爲我實在不相信還有誰會比他對美更無動於衷的了。我不知道他到那兒去想追求什麼，是尋幸福，求自由，或者只是爲了優遊歲月;但我知道他找到了什麼。在這個島上，人的感官本會受到強烈的刺激，而他卻過上了純精神的生活。因爲這個島上盡是能夠勾起你聯想的歷史遺蹟，總叫你想到提比略大帝的神祕故事。他站在窗前就能俯視那不勒斯灣。每當日移光變，維蘇威火山的雄姿也隨之變換色澤。此時，他憑窗遠望，看到上百處殘蹤遺蹟，因而聯想起羅馬和希臘的盛衰。他開始不停地思考起古代社會來。過去他從未到過國外，現在第一次開了眼界，什麼都使他神馳遐想。腦海中創造性的想象聯翩浮來。他是個精力充沛的人，立刻就決定要筆耕史學。他花了一些時間尋找題目，最終選定了羅馬帝國的第二世紀。這個題目很少爲人所知。梅休認爲帝國當時存在的問題與當今社會的情況頗有巧合之處。
He began to collect books and soon he had an immense library. His legal training had taughthim to read quickly. He settled down to work. At first hehad been accustomed to foregather inthe evening with the painters, writers,and such like who met in the little tavern near the Piazza,but presently hewithdrew himself, for his absorption in his studies became more pressing. Hehad been accustomed to bathe in that bland sea and to take long walks among the pleasantvineyards, butlittle by little, grudging the time, he ceased to do so. He worked harder than hehad ever worked in Detroit. He would start at noon and work all through the night till thewhistle of the steamer that goes every morning from Capri to Naples told him that it was fiveo'clockand time to go to bed. His subject opened out before him, vaster and more significant,and he imagined a work that would put him forever beside the great historians of the past. Asthe years went by he was to be found seldom in the ways of men. He could be tempted to comeout of his house only by agame o' chess or the chance of an argument. He loved to set hisbrain against another's. He was widely read now, not only in history, but in philosophy andscience; and he was a skilful controversialist, quick, logical, and incisive.
他開始收集有關着作，不久就有了大量藏書。搞法律時受的訓練教會了他如何快速閱讀。他着手工作了。起初，，他慣於在黃昏時分到市場附近的一個小酒店和聚在那裏的畫家、作家等文人墨客共同消磨一段時光，但不久他就深居簡出了，因爲研究工作日趨緊張，使他抽不出時間。一開始他也常到溫和的海水中去洗澡，不時在可愛的葡萄園之間散步。但由於捨不得時間，漸漸地他不再洗澡，也不散步了。他幹得要比在底特律賣力得多，常常是正午開始工作，徹夜不眠，待到汽笛一鳴，才恍然意識到已是清晨五點，從卡普里到那不勒斯的船隻正要起錨出航，該是睡覺的時候了。他的主題在他面前展開了，涉及的內容越來越廣泛，意義越來越重大。他在遐想，一旦巨着完成，他將躋身於歷代偉大的史學家之列，永垂史冊。時間一年年過去，人們很少看到他與外界來往，只有一場棋賽或是一次辯論，才能誘使他走出家門。他就是愛與人鬥智。現在他已博覽羣書，不僅讀歷史，還讀哲學與科學。他能爭善辯，思路敏捷，說理邏輯嚴密，批判尖銳辛辣。
But he had good-humour and kindliness; though he took a very human pleasure in victory, hedid not exult in it to your mortification.
但他心地是善良的。當然，每逢勝利他也免不了滿腔歡欣與快樂，這是人之常情。不過他並不沾沾自喜，而讓別人下不了臺。
When first he came to the island he was a big, ow, with thick black hair and a blackbeard, of a powerful physique; but gradually his skin became pale and waxy; he grew thin andfrail. It was an odd contradiction in the most logical of men that, though a convinced andimpetuous materialist,he despised the body; he looked upon it as a vile instrument which hecould force to do the spirit's bidding. Neither illness nor lassitude prevented him from going onwith his work. For fourteen years he toiled uluemittingly. He made thousands and thousands ofnotes. He sorted and classified them. Hehad his subjea at his finger ends, and at last was readyto begin. He sat down to write. He died.
當他初到海島時，個子高大結實，一頭濃密的黑髮和一把黑鬍鬚，是一個身強力壯的人。但漸漸地他的皮膚日見蒼白，人也瘦弱了。儘管他是一個堅定不移的、甚至近於偏激的唯物論者，卻不把肉體放在眼裏。這在一位最講究邏輯的人身上，可真是自相矛盾得叫人不可思議。他把肉體視爲微不足道的工具，認爲他可以驅使肉體去完成精神賦予的使命。病魔和疲勞都不能使他停止工作。整整14年，他埋頭苦幹，鍥而不捨，做了千萬條註釋，又把這些註釋分門別類整理有序。對於自己的主題，他了如指掌，終於萬事俱備，他坐下來去寫那煌煌巨着。然而他死了。
The body that he, the materialist, had treated so contumeliously took its revenge on him.
這位唯物論者曾極度蔑視肉體，如今肉體對他進行了報復。
That vast accumulation of knowledge is lost for ever. Vain was that ambition,surely not anignoble one, to set his name beside those of -Gibbon and Mommsen . His memory is treasuredin the hearts of a few friends, fewer,alas! as the years pass on, and to the world he isunknown in death as he was in life.
那長年累月積累起來的知識也隨着他的死而化爲烏有。他曾想與吉本和蒙森齊名。這雄心無疑是高尚的，然而如今只是一場空。幾個朋友還懷念着他，可嘆的是，隨着歲月的流逝，記得他的人也越來越少。在這個大幹世界上，他死後默默無聞，猶如他生前一樣。
And yet to me his life was a success. The pattern is good and complete. Hedid what he wanted,and he died when his goal was in sight and never knew the bitterness of an end achieved.
然而，在我看來，他的一生是成功的。他的生活道路是完美的。因爲他幹了他想幹的事。當目標在望時，他與世長辭，因而也就倖免了達到目標後的心酸與痛苦。
晨讀英語散文：琴匣子中的生趣
The turning point of my life was my decision to give up a promising business career and studymusic. My parents, although sympathetic, and sharing my love of music, disapproved of it as aprofession. This was understandable in view of the family background. My grandfather hadtaughtmusic for nearly forty years at Springhill College in Mobile and, though much beloved andrespected in the community, earned barely enough to provide for his large family. My fatheroften said it was only the hardheaded thriftiness of my grandmother that kept the wolf at bay. As a consequence of this example in the family, the very mention of music as a professioncarried with it a picture of a precarious existence with uncertain financial rewards. My parentsinsisted upon college instead of a conservatory of music, and to college I went-quite happily,as I remember, for although Iloved my violin and spent most of my spare time practicing, I hadmany other interests.
我生活的轉折點是我決定不做發跡有望的商人而專攻音樂。我父母雖然同情我，也像我一樣熱愛音樂，卻反對我以音樂爲職業。考慮到我的家庭情況，他們的這種態度是完全可以理解的。我祖父在莫比爾的斯普林希爾學院教授音樂達40年之久，深受學院師生的熱愛和敬重，他的工資卻幾乎不夠維持一大家人的生活。父親常說若不是祖母精明能幹，克勤克儉，一家人非捱餓不可。所以在我們家，只要一提起音樂這個行當，大家就會想起那收入微薄、朝不保夕的苦日子。父母堅持要我上大學，不准我進音樂學院，我也就上了大學。我記得自己當時還挺高興，因爲雖然我熱愛小提琴，大部分課餘時間都花在練琴上，但我還有許多其他的愛好。
Before my graduation from Columbia, the family met with severe financial reverses and I felt itmy duty to leave college and take a job. Thus was I launched upon a business career-which Ialways think of as the wasted years.
不等尊從哥倫比亞大學畢業，家庭經濟嚴重惡化，我感到自己有責任退學找工作，就這樣我投身子商界——事後我每次想起這段經歷都覺得是虛度了年華。
Now I do not for a moment mean to disparage business. My whole point is that it was not forme. I went into it for money, and aside from the satisfaction of being able to help the family,money is alll got out of it. It was not enough. I felt that life was passing me by. From beingmerely discontented I became acutely miserable. My one ambition was to save enough toquit and go to Europe to study music.I used to get up at dawn to practice before I left for"downtown," distracting my poor mother by bolting a hasty breakfast at the last ead of lunching with my business associates, I would seek out some cheap cafe, order ameager meal and scribble my harmony exercises. I continued to make money, and finally, bitby bit, accumulated enough to enable me to go abroad. The family being once more solvent,and my help no longer necessary, I resigned from my position and, feeling like a man releasedfrom jail, sailed for Europe. I stayed four years, worked harder than I had ever dreamed ofworking before and enjoyed every minute of it.
我從來無意貶低經商，我的意思是它不適合我。我經商只是爲了掙錢。除了能補貼家用給我帶來一點滿足以外，我從這項職業得到的唯一東西就是錢。這是不夠的。我感到年華似水從我身邊流走。對職業的不滿使我痛苦不堪。我唯一的抱負就是積攢足夠的錢，然後改行，到歐洲去學音樂。於是，我天天黎明即起，練習小提琴，再去“商業區”上班，幾乎來不及囫圇吞下倉促準備的早餐，搞得我可憐的媽媽惶恐不安。我不與商界同事共進午餐，總愛找個便宜的餐館，隨便混上一頓，信手寫些和聲練習曲.。我不停地掙錢，終於，一分一分地攢夠了出國的錢。這時，家庭經濟情況也好轉了，不再需要我的幫助。我辭去商務，感到自己像出獄的犯人一樣自由，乘船去了歐洲，一去就是四年。我學習要比從前想象的刻苦得多，然而生活得很快樂。
"Enjoyed" is too mild a word. I walked on air. I really lived. I was a freeman and I was doingwhat I loved to do and what I was meant to do.
“快樂”一詞還不足以表達我的心情。我是樂不可支，飄飄欲仙了。我過着真正的生活。我是個自由人，做我愛做的、命中註定要做的事情。
If I had stayed in business I might be a comparatively wealthy man today, but I do not believeI would have made a success of living. I would have given up all those intangibles, those innersatisfactions that money can never buy, and that are too often sacrificed when a man'sprimary goal is finanaal success.
假如我一直經商，今天可能已經成了一個相當富有的人，但我認爲我那時的生活並沒有帶來成功;爲了金錢我可能放棄了一切無形的東西，放棄了精神上的種種樂趣，那是金錢永遠買不來的，一個人要是把獲取金錢當做主要的奮鬥目標，他的精神樂趣就常常被犧牲了。
When I broke away from business it was against the advice of practically all my friends andfamily. So conditioned are most of us to the association of success with money that thethought of giving up a good salary for an idea seemed little short of insane. If so, all I can say is'Gee , it's great to be crazy."
我毅然脫離商業，幾乎違背了所有的親友的勸告。我們大多數人習慣把成功與金錢連在一起。那種爲理想而放棄高薪的念頭簡直會被人認爲是瘋子的念頭。如果真是如此，我倒要說一聲：“咦!瘋子真了不起!”
Money is a wonderful thing, but it is possible to pay too high a price for it.
錢固然是好東西，但是爲了錢而付出的代價往往太高昂了。
