艰辛的人生The Strenuous Life（1/2）
西奥多·罗斯福/ Theodore Roosevelt
西奥多·罗斯福（1858—1919），美国第26任总统、作家、探险家和军事家，毕业于哈佛大学，曾发表《勤奋地生活》演说，旨在针对19世纪末美国骄奢**逸、贪图享乐之风盛行，藉此文以遏制当时的腐
败现象，这篇《艰辛的人生》也反映了他这种反对怠惰安逸、崇尚奋斗人生的思想。
Acethe Hole
Uand these new words before you read this article.
1. strive [straiv] v. 努力；奋斗
2. deserve [diz?:v] v. 应受，应得
3. ultiate [?lti?t] adj. 最终的；根本的
A life of slothful ease, a life of that peace which sprgs rely fro ck either of desire or of power to strive after great thgs, is as little worthy of a nation as an dividual.
We do not adire the an of tiid peace. We adire the an who ebodies victorio efforts, the an who never wrongs his neighbor, who is propt to help a friend, but who has those virile qualities necessary tothe stern strife of actual life. It is hard to fail, but it is worse o have tried to sueed. In this life we get nothg save by effort. Freedo fro effortthe present rely ans that there has been effort stored upthe past. A anbe free fro the y of work only by the fact that he or his fathers before hi have worked to good purpose. If the freedo th purchased is ed aright, and the an still does actual work, though of a different kd, whether as a writer eneral, whetherthe field of politics orthe field of exploration and adventure, he shows he deserves his good fortune.
But if he treats this period of freedo fro the need of actual bor as a period, not of preparation, but of re enjoynt, even though perhaps not of vicio enjoynt, he shows that he is siply a cuberer on the earth’s surface; and he surely unfits hiself to hold his owh his fellows, if the o do so should aga arise. A re life of ease is notthe end a very satisfactory life, and, above all, it is a life which ultiately unfits those who follow it for serio workthe world.
As it is with the dividual, so it is with the nation. It is a base untruth to say that happy is the nation that has no history. Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorio history. Far better it is thty thgs, toglorio triuphs, even though checkered by faire, than to take rank with those poor spirits who her enjoy uor suffer uch, becae they livethe gray ilight that knows her victory nor defeat.
参考译文
一种怠惰安逸的生活，一种仅仅是由于缺少追寻伟大事物的愿望或能力而导致的悠闲，这对国家与个人都是没有价值的。
我们不欣赏那种怯懦安逸的人。我们钦佩那种表现出奋力向上的人，那种永不冤枉邻人，能随时帮助朋友，但是也具有那些刚健的性质，足以在实际生活的严酷斗争中获取胜利的人。失败是艰难的，但是从不曾努力去争取成功，却更为糟糕。在人的一生中，任何的收获都要通过努力去得到。目前不用作任何的努力，只是意味着在过去有过努力的积蓄。一个人不必工作，除非他或他的祖先曾经努力工作过，并取得了丰厚的收获。如果他能把换取到的此类的自由加以正确地运用，仍然做些实际的工作，尽管那些工作是属于另一类的，不论是作一名作家还是将军，不论是在政界还是在探险和冒险方面做些事情，都表明他没有辜负自己的好运。
但是，如果他将这段不需从事实际工作的自由时期，不用于准备，而仅仅是用于享乐，尽管他所从事的或许并非邪恶的享乐，那就表明了他只是地球表面上的一个赘疣，而且他肯定无法在同僚之中维持自己的地位，如果那种需要再度出现的话。安逸的生活终究不是一种令人很满意的生活，而且，最主要的是，过那种生活的人最终肯定没有能力担当起世上之重任。
于个人如此，对国家也是这样。有人说一个没有历史的国家是得天独厚的，这是卑鄙的谎言。一种得天独厚的优越感来源于一个国家具有光荣的历史。冒险去从事伟大的事业，赢得光荣的胜利，即使其中掺杂着失败，那也远胜于与那些既没有享受多大快乐也没有遭受多大痛苦的平庸之辈为伍，因为他们生活在一个既享受不到胜利也遭遇不到失败的灰暗境界里。
心灵小语
人生就是浩瀚的宇宙，让你总是有那么多的期待，那么多的捉摸不透；人生就是逆流而上的孤舟，你停下就会倒退，前进就要付出很大的辛劳；人生就是一颗没有熟透的果子，酸中带着甜，甜中又透着那个酸，还有那么一些涩涩的味道。
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