stethoscope : vt. 用听诊器诊断
n. [临床] 听诊器
lesion : n. 损害；身体上的伤害；机能障碍
lobe : n. （脑、肺等的）叶；裂片；耳垂；波瓣
upper : adj. 上面的，上部的；较高的
stunned : adj. 受惊的
v. 使震惊；使不知所措（stun的过去式及过去分词形式）
assurance : n. 保证，担保；（人寿）保险；确信；断言；厚脸皮，无耻
mid-career : 职业生涯中期
sentence : n. [语][计] 句子，命题；宣判，判决
vt. 判决，宣判
indefinite : adj. 不确定的；无限的；模糊的
reprieve : vt. 缓期执行；暂时解救
n. 暂缓；缓刑
perhaps : adv. 或许；（表示不确定）也许；
（用于粗略的估计）或许；
（表示勉强同意或其实不赞成）也许；可能
n. 假定；猜想；未定之事
affair : n. 事情；事务；私事；（尤指关系不长久的）风流韵事
tick : vt. 标记号于；滴答地记录
n. 滴答声；扁虱；记号；赊欠
vi. 发出滴答声；标以记号
climb : vi. 爬；攀登；上升
vt. 爬；攀登；上升
n. 爬；攀登
slowly : adv. 缓慢地，慢慢地
taught : v. 教授（teach的过去分词）
oyster : n. 牡蛎，[无脊椎] 蚝；沉默寡言的人
grasped : n. 抓住；理解；控制
vt. 抓住；领会
vi. 抓
entity : n. 实体；存在；本质
brand-new : adj. 崭新的；最近获得的
fill : vt. 装满，使充满；满足；堵塞；任职
vi. 被充满，膨胀
n. 满足；填满的量；装填物
appreciate : vt. 欣赏；感激；领会；鉴别
vi. 增值；涨价
little : adj. 小的；很少的；短暂的；小巧可爱的
adv. 完全不
n. 少许；没有多少；短时间
earth : n. 地球；地表，陆地；土地，土壤；尘事，俗事；兽穴
vt. 把（电线）[电] 接地；盖（土）；追赶入洞穴
vi. 躲进地洞
feet : n. 脚（foot的复数形式）；尺；韵脚
stepped : v. 踏；行走（step的过去式和过去分词）
upon : prep. 根据；接近；在…之上
regaining : vt. 恢复；重新获得；收回
vi. 上涨
n. 收复；取回
citizenship : n. [法] 公民身份，公民资格；国籍；公民权
Frequently : adv. 频繁地，经常地；时常，屡次
afterwards : adv. 后来；然后
sidelines : n. （球场）边线；端线；兼职（sideline的复数形式）
Wiser : adj. 聪明的；贤明的
awareness : n. 意识，认识；明白，知道
n. 人群对品牌或产品的认知
wise : adj. 明智的；聪明的；博学的
vt. 使知道；教导
vi. 了解
sum up : 总结；概述；计算…的总数
philosophy : n. 哲学；哲理；人生观
spite : n. 不顾；恶意；怨恨
vt. 刁难；使恼怒
dwelling : n. 住处；寓所
v. 居住（dwell的现在分词）
suspect : n. 嫌疑犯
adj. 可疑的；不可信的
vt. 怀疑；猜想
vi. 怀疑；猜想
pretty : adj. 漂亮的；可爱的；优美的
adv. 相当地；颇
n. 有吸引力的事物（尤指饰品）；漂亮的人
absorb : vt. 吸收；吸引；承受；理解；使…全神贯注
least : adj. 最小的；最少的（little的最高级）
adv. 最小；最少
n. 最小；最少
Truly : adv. 真实地，不假；真诚地
A New Look from Borrowed Time
重生的领悟
Just ten years ago I sat across the dest from a doctor with a stethoscope. "Yes," he said, "there is a lesion in the left upper lobe. You have a moderately advanced case..." I listened, stunned, as he continued: "You' ll have to give up work at once and go to bed. Later on, we' ll see..." he gave me on assurance.
就在十年前, 我与拿着听诊器的医生相对而坐. 他说: "你的左肺叶上部有一处坏损, 病情正在恶化......" 听到这些, 我顿时愣住了, 他接着说道: "你必须放下工作, 卧床休息. 稍后, 我们会对你进行进一步的观察......" 对于我的病情, 医生也不是太确定.
Feeling like a man who, in mid-career, has suddenly been placed under sentence of death with an indefinite reprieve, I left the doctor' s office, walked over to the park and sat down on a bench--perhaps, as I then told myself, for the last time. I needed to think.
事业正值中天的我突然感觉像被判了刑, 而刑期却尚未确定. 我走出医生的办公室, 坐在公园的长椅上, 自言自语道, 这也许是最后一次了. 我需要好好想一想.
In the next three days I cleared up my affairs. Then I went home, got into bed and set my watch to tick off not the minutes but the months.
接下来的三天里, 我处理完手上所有的事务, 然后, 回到家, 躺在床上, 将手表的显示从分钟改为月份.
Two and a half years, and many dashed hopes later, I left my bed and began the long climb back. It was another years before I made it.
之后两年半的时间里, 我经历了无数次失望的打击, 最终离开病榻, 开始缓慢的恢复原来的生活状态. 第二年, 我成功了.
I speak of this experience because these years that passes so slowly taught me what to value and what to believe. They said to me: Take time before time takes you.
提及这段经历, 是因为过去这段漫长的岁月让我懂得了什么值得珍惜, 什么值得信仰. 他们告诉我: 好好把握时间, 而不要让时间支配你.
I realize now that this world I' m living in is not my oyster to be opened, but my opportunity to be grasped. Each day to me is a precious entity. The sun comes up and presents me with twenty-four brand-new, wonderful hours--not to pass but to fill. I' ve learned to appreciate those little all-important things I never thought I had the time to notice before--the play of light on running water, the music of the wind in my favorite pine tree.
如今意识到, 我所生存的这个世界并不是等待我去打开的贝壳, 而是等待我去把握的机遇. 对我而言, 每一天都是稀世珍宝. 太阳每次升起, 都会带给我崭新而精彩的24小时--我绝不能虚度. 我学会了去欣赏生活细节的美好, 比如水面的粼粼波光, 松间风儿的轻吟--这些重要的生活细节我从前竟无暇理会.
I seem now to see and hear and feel with some of the recovered freshness of childhood. How well, for instance, I recall the touch of the springy earth under my feet the day I first stepped upon it after the years in bed. It was almost more than I could bear. It was like regaining one' s citizenship in a world one had nearly lost.
如今, 我的所见、所闻、所感总会带给我一种清新的感觉, 让我仿佛回到了童年. 当我离开多年的病榻, 双脚再次踏上大地时, 那松软的土壤带给我的美好感觉令我激动不已. 那种感觉就像重新获得了差点失之交臂的世界.
Frequently I sit back and say to myself: Let me make note of this moment I' m living right now. Because in it I'm well, happy, hard at work doing what I like best to do. It won' t always be like this; so while it is, I' ll make the most of it. And afterwards, I' ll remember and be grateful.
我常常会惬意地坐着, 告诉自己: 要珍惜现在的每一分每一秒. 因为此刻的我健康、快乐, 并在位自己最喜爱的工作而努力奋斗, 然而这些美好终会消逝, 因此, 我要加倍珍惜这存在的每一刻. 等它消逝之后, 我会记住这些美好, 并心存感激.
All this I owe to that long time spent "on the sidelines" of life. Wiser people come to this awareness without having to acquire it the hard way. But I wasn' t wise enough. I' m wiser now--a little--and happier.
在生命边缘徘徊的那些漫长岁月, 让我明白了这一切. 而智者不必经历这样的艰难也能意识到这些--但从前的我实在是愚钝. 如今, 我多了几分聪慧, 也多了几分快乐.
"Look thy last on all things lovely--every hour!" With these words Walter de la Mare sums up for me my philosophy and my belief. God made this world--in spite of what man now and then tries to do to unmake it--a dwelling place of beauty and wonder, and He filled it with more goodness than most of us suspect. And so I say to myself: Should I not pretty often take time to absorb the beauty and the wonder...to contribute at least a little to the goodness? And should I not then, in my heart, give thanks? Truly I do. This I believe.
"时刻铭记, 最后再看一眼那些可爱的事物! " 英国诗人伏尔特.德拉.梅尔的这句话正好阐述了我人生的哲学与信仰. 尽管人类现在总试图毁灭这个世界, 但上帝创造了它, 创造了这个美丽而奇妙的家园, 并赋予了它超乎我们想象的美好. 因此, 我告诉自己: 这些美丽与精彩难道不值得欧文去细细体味......我不应为世间的美好奉献出自己微薄的力量吗? 难道我不应心存感激? 的确, 我相信, 我应该这么做.
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Better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.
--Strong
与其诅咒黑暗, 不如燃起蜡烛.
--斯特郎