一撮黏土AHandful of Clay（1/2）
亨利·凡·戴克/ Henry Van Dyke
亨利·凡·戴克(1852—1933)，美国作家、教育家、演说家和传道士。曾任普里斯顿大学英国文学系教授，著有《小河集》《船和港》等。
Acethe Hole
Uand these new phrases before you read this article.
1. desd upon突然到达；袭击（突然降临）
2. pare with与……相比较
3. set down放置
4. thrt to深入
There was a handful of cythe bank of a river. It was only on cy, arse and heavy; but it had high thoughts of its own vae, and wonderful dreas of the great pce which it was to fillthe world whei ca for its virtues to be disvered.
Overhead,the sprg suhe trees whispered together of the glory which desded upon the when the delicate blossos and leaves began to expand, and the forest glowed the fair, clear lors, as if the dt of thoands of rubies and eralds were hangg,soft clouds, above the earth.
The flowers, surprised with the joy of beauty, bent their heads to one another, as the d caressed the, and said,“Sisters, how lovely you have bee. You ake the day bright.”
The river, gd th and rejoicgthe unison of all its waters, urured to the shoresic, tellg of its release fro icy fetters, its swift flight fro the snow-cd ountas, and the ighty work to which it was hurrygthe wheels of any ills to be turned, and great ships to be floated to the sea.
Waitg bldlyits bed, the cy forted itself with lofty hopes.“My ti will e,”it said.“I was not ade to be hidden forever. Glory ay and hon todue season.”
One day the cy felt itself taken fro the pce where it had waited so long. A ft bde of iron passed beh it, and lifted it, and tossed it to a cart with other ps of cy, and it was carried far away, as it seed, over a rough and stony road. But it was not afraid, nor disuraged, for it said to itself:“This is necessary. The path to glory is always rugged. Now I a on y way to py a great partthe world.”
But the hard journey was nothg, pared with the tribution and distress that ca after it. The cy ut to a trough and ixed aen and stirred and trapled. It seed alost unbearable. But there was nsotionthe thought that sothg very fe and noble was certaly g out of all this trouble. The cy felt sure that, if it uld only wait long enough, a wonderful reward wasstore for it.
Then it ut upon a swiftly turng wheel, and whirled around until it seed as if it t fly to a thoand pieces. A strange power pressed it and oulded it, as it revolved, and through all the dizzess and pa it felt that it was takg a new for.
Then an unknout it to an oven, and fires were kdled about itfierd peratghotter than all the heats of sur that had ever brooded upon the bank of the river. But through all, the cy held itself together arials,the nfidence of a great future.“Surely,”it thought,“I a tended for sothg very splendid, sce such pas are taken with . Perhaps I a fashioned for the ornant of a teple, or a precio vase for the table of a kg.”
At st the bakg was fished. The cy was taken fro the furnad set down upon a board,the ol air, uhe be sky. The tribution assed. The reward was at hand.
Close beside the board there ool of water, not very deep, nor very clear, but cal enough to reflect, with ipartial truth, every iage that felt upon it. There for the first ti, as it was lifted fro the board, the cy saw its he reward of all its patiend pa, the nsuation of its hopes—a on flower-pot, straight and stiff, red and ugly. And then it felt that it was not dested for a kg’s hoe, nor for a pace of art, becae it was ade without glory or beauty or honor; and it urured agast the unknown aker, sayg,“Why hast thou adeth?”
Many days it passedsullen dis. Then it was filled with earth, and sothg—it knew not what—but sothg rough and brown and dead-lookg, was thrt to the iddle of the earth and vered over. The cy rebelled at this new disgrace.“This is the worst of all that has happeo , to be filled with dirt and rubbish. Surely I a a faire.”
But presently it was seta greenhoe, where the sunlight fell on it, and water rkled over it, and day by day as it waited, a ge began to e to it. Sothg was stirrg with it—a new hope. Still it was ignorant, and knew not what the new hope ant.
One day the cy was lifted aga fro its pce, and carried to a great church. Its drea was g true after all. It had a fe part to pythe world. Glorio ic flowed over it. It was surrounded with flowers. Still it uld not uand. So it whispered to another vessel of cy, like itself, close beside it,“Why have they sethere? Why do all the people look towards ?”And the other vessel answered,“Do you not know? You are carryg a royal scepter of lilies. Their petals are white as snow, and the heart of the is like pure gold. The people look this way becae the flower is the ost wonderfulthe world.And the root of it isyour heart.”
Then the cy was , and silently thas aker, becae, though ahen vessel, it held so great a treasure.
参考译文
很久以前，在一条河边有这样一撮黏土。说起来，它也不过是普普通通的黏土，粗糙笨重，不过它对自己的价值看得很高。它对自己在世界上可能占有的地位怀有奇特的想象，认为只要能得到机会，自己的价值一定会被人们发现。
在这撮黏土的头顶上，明媚的春光里，树木正在交头接耳地窃窃私语，讲述着当纤细的花儿和树叶开始绽放，林中一片澄澈碧绿时，它们身上所闪耀的无尽光辉。那种景象就如无数红绿宝石粉末所形成的彩云，轻轻地飘浮在大地上。
花儿们看到这样的美景，非常惊喜，它们在春风的吹拂下探头欠身，相互祝贺：“姐妹们，你们出落得多可爱啊，你们给白日增添了多少光辉啊。”
河水也为新力量的加入而感到高兴。它沉浸在水流重聚的喜悦中，不断地用美好的音调向河岸低语，倾诉着自己是如何挣脱冰雪的束缚，如何从积雪覆盖的群山奔流到这里，以及它匆忙前往担负的重任——许多水车的轮子等着它去推动，巨大的船舶等着它运送到大海里。
那撮黏土懵懵懂懂地在河**等待着，不停地用各种远大理想来自我安慰。“我的时运定将来到，”它说，“我不可能长久地被埋没在这里。世上的光彩、荣耀，在一定的时候，肯定会降临到我的身上。”
有一天，黏土发现自己的位置被挪动了，它已经不待在原来长期等候的地方了。它被一个铲土的铁铲挖了起来，然后和别的泥土一起被装在一辆车上，沿着一条似乎非常坎坷的铺着石块的路，被送到一个遥远的地方。但是，它没有害怕，也没有气馁，只是在心里暗想：“这是必要的步骤，因为通往光荣的道路总是崎岖不平的。现在，我就要到世上去完成我那重大的使命了。”
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