第7章在微尘与浮梁之上(7)

第7章在微尘与浮梁之上(7)

他们即使年届七旬，在走路、跑步、翻山越岭时，都走在他人前面。并且，他们也都是语言方面的天才。你从来没有看见他们坐下来学习一种新的语言，甚至连不规则动词表也没见他们浏览过，但是他们都可以讲几种语言，不仅流利，而且发音纯正。他们一般都精通几门学科，而且不会使自己局限在某一门科学里，大自然这部巨著被他们熟记在心。不久以前，我还读到一位杰出的小说家的事迹。他是一位非常老练且细致的人，据说他熟悉乡村每一种野花野草、树木和禽鸟的名称、习性和生活史。除此之外，请原谅我用一些套话来形容，这些大人物都是富于灵感的音乐大师，或是精妙绝伦的业余水彩画家，或是风格优美的文体家。更使我们感到惊讶的是，尽管他们的境遇不同，只要他们认真从事这门或那门艺术，凭着他们的才能，日后都会获得不朽的声誉，甚至还会享誉全球。这些对他们的描述总是神乎其神。但是我非常困惑。他们凭什么做得到？我再次想问这个问题，甚至嫉妒和烦恼得要遥问苍天。我们应该仔细地想一想，一首乐曲、一幅水彩画或一篇美妙的文章究竟意味着什么（这一点却被他们轻轻带过或略而不谈），这需要很多年专心致志地在键盘上、在画架上或者在写字台上辛勤工作才能有所成就。而像你我这样胡乱弹奏钢琴曲，同时还用左手插入即兴的过门，或者不管色彩是否协调蘸上水彩乱涂几笔，或者在一篇粗制滥造的散文里贴上几句闪闪烁烁的陈词滥调，是不会成为一个有成就的音乐家、画家或作家的。要是成功指的是前者，我可以理解；但是如果指的是后者呢？——尚且还不过是作为一种业余的消遣！更不用说他们还要从事体育运动、研究各门科学、学习各种语言，甚至自然史！这使我迷惑不解，佩服得五体投地。这就是使我觉得自己越来越渺小，小得像个小蚊虫的原因。而他们有如此神奇的天赋，正像传说中讲的那样。

茫茫宇宙，广阔的大自然，我们在其中都是那么渺小。不论多么伟大的人，都会发出这样的感慨！我们渺小，但有存在的价值。一切伟大与渺小都是相对的！

1.thebig_________ofnaturetheyknowbyheart._________theotherdayiwasreadinganaccountofagreatnovelist，amostsophisticatedandsubtleperson，andwastoldthathe_________thenameandhabitsandhistoryofeverywild_________andplantandtreeandbirdinthecountry.

2.weare_________toldthat，hadcircumstancebeen，theirtalentsweresuchthattheyneedonlyhavegiventheirserious_________tooneorotheroftheseartstohaveprocuredforthemselveslastingandperhapsworld-widereputations.so_________thelegendoftheeulogists.

3.theveryidlerumouroffellow-creaturessowonderfully_________makesmedwindleinmyownestimationtothe_________ofagnat.

1.你从来没有看见他们坐下来学习一种新的语言，甚至连不规则动词表也没见他们浏览过。

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2.大家都认为他们随便就可以讲几种语言，不仅流利，而且发音纯正。

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3.这使我迷惑不解，佩服得五体投地。

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1.tobeginwith，unlessthesepeoplechancetobeobviousinvalidslikestevensonorchehov，theyarealwaystremendousathletes…

tobeginwith：首先；第一；原先

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2.…theyarealwaystremendousathletes，withsurprisingstrength，powersofendurance，andsoforth.

andsoforth：等等；诸如此类

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微笑的力量

thesmile

佚名/anonymous

manyamericansarefamiliarwiththelittleprince，awonderfulbookbyantoinedesaint-exupery.thisisawhimsicalandfabulousbookandworksasachildren’sstoryaswellasathought—provokingadultfable.farfewerareawareofsaint-exupery’sotherwritings，novelsandshortstories.

saint-exuperywasafighterpilotwhofoughtagainstthenazisandwaskilledinaction.beforeworldwarii，hefoughtinthespanishcivilwaragainstthefascists.hewroteafascinatingstorybasedonthatexperienceentitledthesmile.itisthisstorywhichi’dliketosharewithyounow.itisn’tclearwhetherornothemeantthistobeautobiographicalorfiction.ichoosetobelieveittobetheformer.

hesaidthathewascapturedbytheenemyandthrownintoajailcell.hewassurethatfromthecontemptuouslooksandroughtreatmenthereceivedfromhisjailershewouldbeexecutedthenextday.fromhere，i’lltellthestoryasirememberitinmyownwords.

“iwassurethatiwastobekilled.ibecameterriblynervousanddistraught.ifumbledinmypocketstoseeiftherewereanycigarettes，whichhadescapedtheirsearch.ifoundoneandbecauseofmyshakinghands，icouldbarelygetittomylips.butihadnomatches.theyhadtakenthose.

“ilookedthroughthebarsatmyjailer.hedidnotmakeeyecontactwithme.afterall，onedoesnotmakeeyecontactwithathing，acorpse.icalledouttohim‘haveyougotalight？’helookedatme，edandcameovertolightmycigarette.

“ashecamecloseandlitthematch，hiseyesinadvertentlylockedwithmine.atthatmoment，ismiled.idon’tknowwhyididthat.perhapsitwasnervousness，perhapsitwasbecause，whenyougetveryclose，onetoanother，itisveryhardnottosmile.inanycase，ismiled.inthatinstant，itwasasthoughasparkjumpedacrossthegapbetweenourtwohearts，ourtwohumansouls.iknewhedidn’twantto，butmysmileleapedthroughthebarsandgeneratedasmileonhislips，too.helitmycigarettebutstayednear，lookingatmedirectlyintheeyesandcontinuingtosmile.

“ikeptsmilingathim，nowawareofhimasapersonandnotjustajailer.andhislookingatmeseemedtohaveanewdimension，too.‘doyouhavekids？’heasked.

“‘yes，here，here.’itookoutmywalletandnervouslyfumbledforthepicturesofmyfamily.he，too，tookoutthepicturesofhisfamilyandbegantotalkabouthisplansandhopesforthem.myeyesfilledwithtears.isaidthatifearedthati’dneverseemyfamilyagain，neverhavethechancetoseethemgrowup.tearscametohiseyes，too.

“suddenly，withoutanotherword，heunlockedmycellandsilentlyledmeout.outofthejail，quietlyandbybackroutes，outofthetown.there，attheedgeoftown，hereleasedme.andwithoutanotherword，heturnedbacktowardthetown.

“mylifewassavedbyasmile.”