英語散文詩歌
[英語散文]-It is my brithday
Two weeks ago was my 45th birthday, but I wasn'tfeeling too hot that morning anyway. I went to breakfast knowing my wife would be pleasant andsay "Happy Birthday" and probably have a presentfor me.
But, she didn't even say "Good Morning," let alone any "Happy Birthday."
I thought, 's a wife for you. I guess, the children will remember. Then, thechildren came into breakfast, but, they didn'tsay a word.
When I started to the office, I was feeling pretty low and despondent. As I walked into myoffice, my secretary Janet said, "Good morning,Boss, happy birthday." And I felt a little better,someone had remembered.
I worked until noon. Then, Janet knocked on my door and said, "You know, it's such a beautifulday outside, and it's your birthday, let's goto lunch, just you and me."
I said, "That's the greatest thing I've heardall day. Let's go."
So, we went to lunch. We didn't go where wenormally go. We went out into the country toa little private place. We had two martinis and enjoyed lunch tremendously.
On the way back to the office, Janet said,"You know, it's such a beautiful day. We don't need to go back to the office, do we?"
I said, "No, I guess not."
She said, "Let's go to my apartment."
After arriving at her apartment, she said,"Boss, if you don't mind, I think I'll go in to the bedroom, and slip into something more comfortable."
"Sure," I excitedly replied.
Janet went into the bedroom and, in about sixminutes, she came out carrying a big birthdaycake, followed by my wife, children and dozensof my friends. All were singing "Happy Birthday".. and there I sat on the couch ... naked.
[英語詩歌]-兩幅母親肖像前
Before Two Portraits of My Mother
I love the beautiful young girl of this
portrait, my mother, painted years ago
when her forehead was white, and there was no
shadow in the dazzling Venetian glass
of her gaze. But this other likeness shows
the deep trenches across her forehead’s white
marble. The rose poem of her youth that
her marriage sang is far behind. Here is
my sadness: I compare these portraits, one
of a joy-radiant brow, the other care-
heavy: sunrise—and the thick coming on
of night. And yet how strange my ways appear,
for when I look at these faded lips my heart
smiles, but at the smiling girl my tears start.
—Emile Nelligan (1879-1941)
我深愛這名美麗少女的
畫像，她是我的母親，繪製於多年前
當時她的前額白皙無瑕
如同威尼斯玻璃般閃亮，沒有一絲陰影
在她雙眸中。但另一幅肖像顯出
深深的紋痕佈滿她皎白大理石般平滑的前額
她少女時的那
首玫瑰情詩
曾在她婚禮中被詠唱，如今已經遠去。
此時我心悲傷：比較這兩幅肖像，一幅顯得
神情愉悅，另一幅顯得心事
重重：一幅如同朝陽初升——另一幅則如迎面而來的陰鬱
黑夜。然而我的反應卻顯得非比尋常，
因爲當我看着她失去光澤的雙脣，我心
發出微笑，但看着那名微笑的少女，我的淚竟開始涌出。
—艾米里·奈利根 (1879-1941)
Vocabulary
● 1. portrait n. a painting, photograph, or drawing of sb. 畫像；肖像
It took only thirty minutes for the artist in the park to draw a portrait of Jerome.
公園裏的畫家只花了30分鐘，就完成了傑羅姆的畫像。
2. marble n. a kind of smooth, light-colored stone; usually used for statues or floors 大理石
Nearly all of the surviving ancient Greek and Roman statues are made of marble.
幾乎所有保存至今的古希臘和古羅馬雕像都是由大理石雕刻的。
● 3. fade v. to become less bright 失去光澤；褪色
As the years went by, the deep blue color of Mary’s favorite pair of jeans faded.
隨着時光流逝，瑪麗最喜歡的`那件深藍色牛仔褲已褪了色。
More Information
1. dazzling adj. 璀璨的；耀眼的
2. Venetian glass n. 威尼斯玻璃（以做工精美華麗而著稱，可做成燭臺、酒杯、燈盞、花瓶等精緻用品）
3. likeness n. 肖像；畫像（正式說法）
4. trench n. 溝；渠（詩中指母親額頭上的紋痕）
5. joy-radiant adj. 洋溢歡樂喜悅的（radiant 本意爲發光的，容光煥發的，詩中用來指因歡樂而滿面春風喜樂；而 care-heavy則指心事重重的樣子）
6. thick adj. （天空或夜色）陰霾的；深濃的（用來形容詩句中的 the coming on of night，意指夜色如毯子般濃烈地逼近）
[英語詩歌]-working on the railroad
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
Raise up so early in the mom
Can't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your hom!"
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow your hom?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow?
Dinah, won't you blow your hom?
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah
Someone's in the kitchen, I know
Someone's in the kitchen with Dinan
Strummin' on the old banjo
And he's singn'
"Feel-fi-fiddley-l-oh!
Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!
Fee-fi-fiddley-l-oh!"
Strummin' on the old banjo, oh
Strummin' on the old banjo
I've been working on the railroad
All the live-long day
I've been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time away
Can't you hear the whistle blowing?
Raise up so early in the mom
Can't you hear the captain shouting
"Dinah, blow your hom
Dinah, blow your hom
[英語散文]-Snacks
Snacks are I suppose defined as things that we eat between regular meals. In fact, if you are eating something and it is not breakfast, lunch or dinner-time then it is a snack. So, if you are having an apple sometime in the afternoon then that apple is a snack. However, on the whole when we talk about snacks we are not really talki
ng about fruit and healthy things. The category of snacks is usually filled with things that are not so good for us.
What are these traditional snacks? Chips, or as they are called in Britain, crisps, are a favourite snack and as with most popular snacks they are not a healthy option (選擇). Laden with grease (油脂) because of their origin in the fat fryer (油炸用的食品) they are the dieters curse (咒罵). Another great favourite is chocolate and again it is a food option that is well capable of converting a sleek (光滑的) physique (體形) into something a little more wobbly (不穩定的)!
Regarding the healthiness of snacks a big problem of so many of the regular popular options out there is generally their low quality. What you might buy in the stores on the high streets has been mass produced with all sorts of rubbish added to boost the flavour at minimum (最小的) cost. If you were to actually get many of these snack types made at home then they would probably be a lot better for you. For instance, chocolate comes from South America. The original examples of chocolate are very different to what we are now used to. Our chocolate has so much sugar and fat added to it that it would be quite unpalatable (不好吃的) to someone used to the traditional version. However, because we have all been brought up on food and snacks with no subtlety (狡猾，微妙) of flavour then we cannot appreciate the more traditional examples of snacks.
So because of this way our snacks are made we have developed a love-hate relationship with them. Our taste buds (味蕾) demand the satisfaction only snacks can give but the diet industry condemns (指責) them as the road to obesity (肥胖). So there is a conflict between the advertising of snacks and promotion of the lifestyle associated with them of having a good time and the attack on them as dangerous to our health from the just as aggressive diet industry. My advice, is to ignore the propaganda of both sides and enjoy snacks for what they are, which means bearing in mind that too much is too bad.
[英語散文]-Better Late Than Never
"It's like anything else, dear," said Mama. 'No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore."
像任何事情一樣，不管你在某個事情上有多少天賦，如果這個事情本身不再能給你帶來樂趣，那你就不會再想幹這個事情。
Better late than never.
亡羊補牢，猶未爲晚。
Papa's jaw dropped(往下掉) when mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams-not to succeed but to fail. It's unbelievable!" he said. "Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!"（爲她的好分數驕傲）
"Yes, she has," said Mama. "But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team."
"Wanted off the swimming team?" said Papa. "She never said anything about that to me."
"Of course she didn't," said Mama. "She was afraid you'd blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun."
"Oh, my gosh!" Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it."
"It's like anything else, dear," said Mama. "No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore."
Papa put his head in his hands.
"She must be really mad at me," he mumbled. "Maybe I should say sorry to her."
Sister's footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.
"Honey," said Mama with a smile, "Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason(理由) for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to."
Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Yippee!" she cried.
"And, " added Papa, 'there's no need for any more drills. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself."
Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. "I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!" she said. "See you later!"
From the kitchen window, Mama and papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.
"It's good to see her happy again," said Mama.
"It sure is," Papa agreed. "As for the swimming team, there's always next year."
"If?" Mama prompted him.
"Oh, right,' said Papa. "If she wants to."
Mama smiled. "At least you're learning, dear," she said. She kissed him.
"Well, you know what they say," Papa said. "Better late than never."
The Joy of Living
Joy in living comes from having fine emotions, trusting them, giving them the freedom of a bird in the open. Joy in living can never be assumed as a pose, or put on from the outside as a mask. People who have this joy don not need to talk about it; they radiate it. They just live out their joy and let it splash its sunlight and glo
w into other lives as naturally as bird sings.
We can never get it by working for it directly. It comes, like happiness, to those who are aiming at something higher. It is a byproduct of great, simple living. The joy of living comes from what we put into living, not from what we seek to get from it.
生活的樂趣
生活之樂趣來源於良好的情緒，信賴這些情緒，並任由它們如同鳥兒高翔於天空般地自由自在。生活的樂趣是無法靠姿態擺出來的，也無法用戴上一張面具來僞裝。 擁有這種樂趣的人們無需掛在嘴邊，他們自然會煥發出快樂的氣息。他們自己生活在快樂當中，也將這樣的快樂自然而然地感染着他人，猶如是鳥兒就必將歌唱。
直接追求生活的樂趣卻只會使樂趣遠離我們，它與幸福一樣青睞胸有大志的人們。生活過得高雅、簡單便會產生出樂趣。它是我們對生活的投入，而非所求。
