每天分享一篇中英雙語(yǔ)閱讀，對(duì)英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)的練習(xí)很有幫助，也是積累英語(yǔ)考試中寫(xiě)作，翻譯素材的好資料，加油吧!

J. B. Priestley

約翰·博因頓·普里斯特利 (英國(guó)著名小說(shuō)家)

The art of living is to know when to hold fast and when to let go. For life is a paradox: it enjoins us to cling to its many gifts even while it ordains their eventual relinquishment. The rabbis of old put it this way: “A man comes to this world with his fist clenched, but when he dies, his hand is open.”

生活的藝術(shù)在于懂得什么時(shí)候追求，什么時(shí)候放棄。因?yàn)樯罹褪且粋€(gè)矛盾體：它要我們緊緊抓住它賜予我們的生命之禮，然后最終又讓它們從我們手中跑掉。老先生們說(shuō)：“人們緊握著拳頭來(lái)到這個(gè)世界上，離開(kāi)這個(gè)世界時(shí)卻攤開(kāi)了雙手。”

Surely we ought to hold fast to life, for it is wondrous, and full of a beauty that breaks through every pore of God’s own earth. We know that this is so, but all too often we recognize this truth only in our backward glance when we remember what was and then suddenly realize that it is no more.

當(dāng)然我們應(yīng)該緊緊把握生活，因?yàn)樗烂畹貌豢伤甲h，充滿了從上帝的每個(gè)毛孔里蹦出來(lái)的美。我們都清楚這一點(diǎn)，但我們常常只有在回首往事時(shí)才會(huì)想去過(guò)去，才會(huì)突然意識(shí)到過(guò)去永遠(yuǎn)地消逝了，才會(huì)承認(rèn)這個(gè)道理。

We remember a beauty that faded, a love that waned. But we remember with far greater pain that we did not see that beauty when it flowered, that we failed to respond with love when it was tendered.

我們都記得美的褪去，愛(ài)的老去。但我們更痛苦地記得美正艷時(shí)，我們卻沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)，愛(ài)正濃時(shí)，我們卻沒(méi)有回應(yīng)。

Here then is the first pole of life’s paradoxical demands on us: Never too busy for the wonder and the awe of life. Be reverent before each dawning day. Embrace each hour. Seize each golden minute.

這就是生活對(duì)我們自己自相矛盾要求的第一步：永遠(yuǎn)不要因?yàn)槊β刀雎粤怂钠婷詈颓f嚴(yán)。對(duì)即將到來(lái)的每一天，我們都要心懷敬意，擁抱沒(méi)一小時(shí)，抓住每一分鐘。

Hold fast to life... but not so fast that you cannot let go. This is the second side of life’s coin, the opposite pole of its paradox: we must accept our losses, and learn how to let go.

抓住生活，但不要抓得太緊，以至你放不下手。這就是生活像硬幣一樣也有另一面，也是生活矛盾的另一極：我們必須接受放棄，并且學(xué)會(huì)怎樣讓它過(guò)去。