永不休憩的工作者
A Non-stop Working Hand
佚名 / Anonymous
It was an early-winter morning. I was at the moment sitting calmly in the hall. Opposite me was a clock hanging high on the wall.
In tranquility it is easy to set one's mind working; it is also easy to catch light sounds hardly audible in usual times, among which is the ticking of the clock's second hand. It ticks away 60 times a minute to fulfill its duty— the only work it does, and persistently. It is kept busy all the time, and thus regarded as "a non-stop working hand".
Listening to the rhythmical tapping of the clock, I suddenly found out that the sound emitted by the second hand was not uniform either in volume or in strength.
A close observation revealed that it "went downhill" from 0 to 30 seconds and then "climbed upwards" from 31 to 60 seconds.
While it is descending it seemingly goes effortlessly. Benefited by gravitation it can walk down evenly step by step. When it comes to the point of 20 it gives the impression of acceleration, for this leg of journey seems the most facilitating. Actually of course the hand never accelerates as a result of descending.
"Climbing upwards" seems to entail efforts. It shows up the meaning of the phrase "aim high". When the hand goes from 31 to 60 seconds it is aiming high and its sound becomes weaker and weaker. It seems to tell us that it immerses itself in hard work reticently striving for the highest point. Don't you see the composure and steadiness of those heroic personalities that have put their shoulders to the wheel?
The clink of the second hand in descending suddenly begins to "weaken" when it starts to climb. Does it mean that Heaven, through the clock's ticking, gives us a hint of some hidden truth?
一个初冬的早晨，我静静地坐在客厅里。正对着我的墙壁上，高悬着一个时钟。
在一片寂静中，一个人很容易放飞思绪，也很容易捕捉到平常很难听到的细微声音，时钟秒针的滴答声就是其中之一。为了完成它的职责，它每分钟都要滴答60次。这是它永不间断的唯一工作。它永远都在忙碌着，因而被称为“永不休憩的工作者”。
听着时钟有节奏的滴答声，我突然发现，秒针所发出来的声音、大小和强度并不是始终如一的。
我仔细地观察了一番，发现从0秒到30秒，它是在“走下坡”；而从31秒到60秒，是在“爬上坡”。
当它“走下坡”时，看起来毫不费力，在地心引力的作用下，它均匀地一步步走下来。当秒针走到20秒时，它就给人一种正在加速的感觉，这段路似乎走得最为轻松。事实上，秒针并没有因是“下坡路”而加快速度。
“爬上坡”似乎需要付出努力，它揭示出成语“力争上游”的含义。当它从31秒开始到60秒时，它就不断力争上游，声音也越来越弱。它似乎在告诉我们，为了达到最高处，它正在聚精会神地默默努力工作。难道你没有见过那些英雄人物埋头苦干时的镇静和坚定吗？
“走上坡”路时，有力的滴答声突然开始变得微弱。这是不是意味着，上帝正通过秒针的滴答声，向我们暗示某种隐藏着的真理呢？
不管时钟是“走下坡”路，还是“爬上坡”，我们要看到的是，它一直朝着一个方向奋进着。我们需要学习它的这种精神，一旦确认自己的方向，不管有多么艰苦，都要向前走。
rhythmic ['riik] adj. 间歇的；调和的；有周期的
The rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind and
number of lines.
一个诗节的韵律格式，由诗节中诗行的类型和数量而定。
gravitation [,gri'tein] n. 万有引力
We owe to Newton the principle of gravitation.
我们全靠牛顿才知道引力的原理。
immerse [i'm:s] v. 浸；陷入
Please immerse the plant in water for a few minutes.
把那棵植物在水里浸泡几分钟。
personality [,p:s'nti] n. 个性；知名人士；性格；人身攻击
Let's not engage in personalities.
我们别再进行人身攻击了吧。
它永远都在忙碌着，因而被称为“永不休憩的工作者”。
“爬上坡”似乎需要付出努力，它揭示出成语“力争上游”的含义。
这是不是意味着，上帝正通过秒针的滴答声，向我们暗示某种隐藏着的真理呢？
I suddenly found out that the sound emitted by the second hand was not uniform either in volume or in strength.
either or： 其一的；或者；不是……就是……
Actually of course the hand never accelerates as a result of descending.
as a result of：由于……结果；由于；作为……的结果；因为
爱情不是交易品
Love Is not Like Merchandise
佚名 / Anonymous
A reader in Florida, apparently bruised by some personal experience, writes in to complain, "If I steal a nickel's worth of merchandise, I am a thief and punished; but if I steal the love of another' s wife, I am free."
This is a prevalent misconception in many people's minds— that love, like merchandise, can be "stolen". Numerous states, in fact, have enacted laws allowing damages for "alienation of affections".
But love is not a commodity; the real thing cannot be bought, sold, traded or stolen. It is an act of the will, a turning of the emotions, a change in the climate of the personality.
When a husband or wife is "stolen" by another person, that husband or wife was already ripe for the stealing, and was already predisposed toward a new partner. The "love bandit" was only taking what was waiting to be taken, what wanted to be taken.
We tend to treat persons like goods. We even speak of children "belonging" to their parents. But nobody "belongs" to anyone else. Children are entrusted to their parents, and if their parents do not treat them properly, the state has a right to remove them from their parents' trusteeship.
Most of us, when young, had the experience of a sweetheart being taken from us by somebody more attractive and more appealing. At the time, we may have resented this intruder — but as we grew older, we recognized that the sweetheart had never been ours to begin with. It was not the intruder that "caused" the break, but the lack of a real relationship.
On the surface, many marriages seem to break up because of a "third party". This is, however, a psychological illusion. The other woman or the other man merely serves as a pretext for dissolving a marriage that had already lost its essential integrity.
佛罗里达州的一位读者写信来抱怨说：“如果我偷走了价值五分钱的商品，我就是一个贼，但是，如果我偷走了别人妻子的爱，却能安然无恙。”显然，他有悲伤的记忆。
这种误解在很多人心中普遍存在——爱情像商品一样，可以被“偷走”。事实上，很多州已经颁布了法律，允许索取“情感转让”损失费。
但是，爱情不是商品，真正的情感不可能买卖、交易或者偷走。它是一种自愿行为，是情感的一种转变，是个人思想的一种变革。
当一个人的丈夫或妻子被另一个人“偷走”，其实，丈夫或妻子被偷的条件已经成熟，已经准备偏向新的伴侣。这个“爱的劫匪”只不过是拿走了正等着人来拿，想被人拿走的东西而已。
我们总是把人像商品一样对待。我们甚至说孩子“属于”他们的父母，但是，谁也不属于任何人。孩子只是托给父母照管，而且，如果他们的父母不能很好地对待他们，州政府有权利剥夺他们对孩子的监护权。
年轻的时候，我们大多数人都经历过恋人被更有魅力和吸引力的人夺走的痛苦经历。那时，我们对这个插足者痛恨不已。但是，随着年龄慢慢增长，我们就会意识到，恋人从一开始就不属于我们，导致决裂的不是插足者，而是两人之间缺乏真正的感情。
从表面看来，很多婚姻的破裂似乎是因为“第三者”插足。然而，这不过是一种心理上的幻觉。女人或男人，只不过是为解除名存实亡的婚姻找的一个借口罢了。