-
The Art of Living
生活的艺术
The art of living is to know when to
hold fast and when to let go.
For life
is a paradox; it enjoys 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 first clenched, but when he dies, his
hand is open.
”
懂得如何取舍，这便是生活的艺术。生活本身就是自相矛盾的：
它劝诫我们珍
惜生活赋予的诸多恩赐，
但这一切最终又将会化为乌有。
古犹太教士说活
：
“人握拳而来，撒手而去。
”
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.
的确，
我们应牢牢地把握生活，
因为它是 奇妙无穷的，
它的美妙
存在于上帝所创造的这个世界的每一个角落。
虽然我们知道事实果真
如此，
但常常只有在回首往事时才会懂 得这一真理。
当我们忆起人生
的美妙时，才突然发现早已物是人非。
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.
我们追忆那褪色
的美，还有消逝的爱。但回忆时，我们总会深感
痛苦，因为我们不曾看到美丽绽放的时刻
，也未曾回应爱的呼唤。
A
recent
experience
retaught
me
this
truth.
I
was
hospitalized
following a severe
heart attack and had been in intensive care for
several
days. It was not a pleasant
place.
近来的一次经历再次让我领会到了这一真理。由于心脏病发作，
病情加重，
我必须住进医院特护区接受数天的治疗。
医院可不是一 个
令人愉快的地方。
One
morning,
I
had
to
have
some
additional
tests.
The
required
machines were located in a building at
the opposite end of the hospital, so
I
had to be wheeled across the courtyard on a
journey.
一天清晨，
我必须去做一些额外的检查。
< p>而检查所需的仪器放在
医院尽头对面的大楼里，因此我不得不坐着轮椅穿过院子去那
里。
As we emerged from our unit,
the sunlight hit me.
That
’
s all there
was to my experience, just
the light of the sun. And yet low beautiful it
was
—
how
warming,
how
sparkling,
how
brilliant!
I
looked
to
see
whether
anyone
else
relished
the
sun
’
s
golden
glow,
but
everyone
was
hurrying
to
and
fro,
most
with
eyes
fixed
on
the
ground.
Then
I
remembered how
often I, too, had been indifferent to the grandeur
of each
day,
too
preoccupied
with
petty
and
sometimes
even
mean
concerns
to
respond
from
that
experience.
It
’
s
really
as
commonplace
as
the
experience
itself:
life
’
s
gifts
are
precious
—
but
we
are
too
heedless
of