4.11 翻译实例

Youth

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease.This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20.Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.Worry, fear, self-distrust blows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living.In the centre of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.

（By Margaret Mason）

青春永驻

青春并不是人生中的快乐时光，而是一种思想境界；它不是指红润的脸颊、胭红的双唇和柔软的膝关节，而是一个人的意志，想象的高度或情感的力量，也是生命深处甘泉的清醇。

青春意味着勇敢对于懦弱的气质控制，因为闯练可以战胜对舒适的贪图。这一点在花甲老者身上的体现多于20年华的儿男。无人因岁月流逝而衰老，万念俱灰者才显得老态龙钟。

岁月可以在你的肌肤上留下皱纹，但是丧失热情却催人心老。焦虑、畏惧、缺乏自信使人身心遭受摧残，令精神化做灰烬。

60也罢，16也罢，好奇之心人皆有之，都渴望了解以后的事，对生活游戏乐趣的童心未泯。只要能从他人或茫茫天宇接收到美好、希望、欣慰、鼓舞和力量的信息，只要宝刀不老，你我的内心深处就都还有一座无线电台。

倘若你的天线已经垂落，精神上覆盖着愤世嫉俗和悲观绝望的冰霜，即便你才20岁也已迈入耄耋之年了。但是只要你的天线仍然高悬，在接收着乐观的电波，那么你可望80岁时才逝去。