经典英语美文中英对照

　　学习英语可以是一个枯燥的过程，也可以是一个有趣的过程。小编在此献上经典英语美文，希望对大家喜欢。

　　英语美文欣赏：认真看待自己，才会得到他人的尊重

　　I stand on the edge of the dance floor watching couples glide, spin, and groove as they dance the West Coast Swing. The tempo of the music is fast, but the beating of my heart is faster. I want to dance, but I'm afraid I'm not good enough.

　　我站在舞池边，看着人们一对一对地在跳西海岸摇摆舞，他们滑动舞步、旋转着、享受着。音乐节奏很快，但我的心跳更快。我想跳舞，又担心跳得不好。

　　The song ends, and as another begins, a white-haired gentleman with a rakish smile offers me his hand and pulls me onto the floor, waving away my protests that I'm only a beginner.

　　一首乐曲结束，另一首开始了，一位浅色头发的绅士面带微笑向我伸出手，把我拉进舞池，我作为初学者的恐惧一扫而光了。

　　Okay. If he can do this, so can I.

　　好吧，如果他能跳，那我也能跳。

　　I manage to find a respectable groove, but whenever he tries to lead me in anything other than the basic steps, I stumble. All I can do is smile a lot and apologize even more.

　　我终于觉着自己跳得不错了，但他带着我跳基本舞步之外的动作时，我就会绊到。我所能做的就是多微笑，但更多的还是道歉。

　　After I've mumbled sorry for the tenth time, he laughs and says, "It's okay. You're blonde."

　　我第十次喃喃地道歉之后，他笑着说：“没关系，你的金发很漂亮。”

　　Huh? It's delivered like a compliment, and I decide to take it as one; if I can't be graceful, I can at least be gracious. But later, after the shoes have come off and I'm in my own quiet room, his words keep dancing through my head. They start wearing a different kind of groove, leading to questions like:

　　嗯?听起来像恭维我，我决定就当成是恭维吧。如果我不能跳得很优雅，至少可以彬彬有礼。但后来我脱掉鞋安静地坐在自己屋里时，他的话一直萦绕在我的脑海。我开始觉着那些话有些言外之意，使我想到了几个问题：

　　Do I act blonde? If you believe the stereotype, blondes are assumed to be helpless, shallow, unambitious or naive. Now I know these traits have nothing to do with hair color. Still, something in this idea strikes a nerve.

　　我表现得像金发美女吗?如果你相信老一套的说法，就知道金发美女被认为无助、肤浅、要求不高或者幼稚，现在我知道了这些特点都和头发颜色没关系。但总会有些东西说到你心里。

　　Why do I apologize so much? In what ways do I minimize myself and my efforts?

　　为什么我要说那么多道歉的话?我是怎么把自己和自己的努力说得什么都不是的?

　　How seriously do I take myself?

　　我有很认真地看待自己吗?

　　In an effort to answer these questions, I promptly dye my hair brown and begin collecting data. I discover that I feel plainer, duller, and more average with darker hair. I also feel more thoughtful, more discerning, more earnest. In the words of Oscar Wilde, "Life is too important to be taken seriously."

　　为了找到答案，我立刻把头发染成棕色，开始搜集答案。我发现深色头发使我感觉自己更平凡、沉闷、普通。我也感觉自己更睿智、更有眼光、也更真诚了。正如奥斯卡·王尔德所说：“生活太重要，不容你不认真对待。”

　　I suspect that what I want is not to be taken seriously, but to feel important. I forget about my hair color and focus instead on the ways I matter. And I define which things matter most to me.

　　我想我真正想要的不是让别人拿我当回事，而是要自己感觉自己重要。我不去想头发的颜色，而是关注自己的重要性。我认定了什么对我来说才是最重要的。

　　As a result of my burgeoning self-importance, I am better able to recognize those around me who sincerely support me.

　　由于感觉自己很重要的信念迅速增长，我能更好地判断出身边谁是真心支持我的。

　　Based on my (admittedly unscientific) findings, here’s how you too can identify the people in your life who believe you are important:

　　根据我的发现(当然不具有科学性)，通过以下几点你也能确定生活中谁觉得你很重要：

　　They listen when you talk.

　　你说话时他们会倾听。

　　They don't laugh when you tell them a wild idea.

　　你说出一个疯狂的想法时他们不会嘲笑你。

　　They seek you out for advice.

　　他们向你征求意见。

　　When they introduce you to someone, they make a point of saying what you do or mentioning your passion.

　　他们把你介绍给别人时会强调你是做什么的或提到你的热情所在。

　　They understand that we're all learning, so they patiently encourage you to begin again, and again, and again.

　　他们明白我们都在学习阶段，所以会耐心地鼓励你一遍一遍地重新开始。

　　They don't mind when you occasionally step on their toes.

　　你偶尔踩到他们脚时他们不会介意。

　　They love you no matter what you look like.

　　无论你什么样他们都喜欢你。

　　Back on the dance floor, the same man grabs me again. Three months have passed and I have advanced. I finally know the steps and can hold my own.

　　再去跳舞时，还是那个男人邀请我。三个月过去了，我已经有所提高了。我终于知道怎么跳了，也能控制自己的步伐了。

　　"Okay, now you've got to work it," he says. "Give me some attitude."

　　他说：“很好，现在你可得努力了。让我看到你的态度。”

　　I smile, not missing a beat. He's right. This is seriously fun.

　　我笑了笑，没有跳错一个拍子。他说得对，跳舞真的很有趣。

　　英语美文：态度决定生活

　　An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer (contractor) of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

　　一位老木匠打算退休了。他向自己所在的建筑公司雇主请辞，表示想要和自己的老伴以及大家庭去过一种更加闲适的生活。他会想念领薪水的日子，但他还是该退休了，他想日子总是能过下去的。

　　The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and usedinferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

　　老板很舍不得自己的好员工离开，他对木匠说请你再建最后一座房子吧，就算是帮我个忙。木匠答应了，但很快就明显可以看出他的心已经不在工作上了。他用拙劣的技巧和劣质的材料建这座房子，用这种状态来结束他的职业生涯其实是一种遗憾。

　　When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

　　木匠完成了他的工作，负责人来验收房屋，老板将这座房屋的前门钥匙递到了木匠手上，说：“这房子现在归你了，作为我给你的礼物。”

　　What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

　　木匠顿时感到很震惊。多可惜啊!如果他知道是在为自己修建这所房子的话，他会完全以另一种态度来对待。而现在他不得不住在这座自己胡乱修建的房子里了。

　　So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

　　想象一下你就是这个木匠，想象你正在建造这座房子，你每天钉进一颗钉子、安装一块板子或者筑起一面墙。请用心对待吧，这是唯一一个你为自己打造的生活。即使你只在里面住上一天，这一天也要活得有光彩、有尊严。正如格言所说，“生活是一个只有靠自己才能完成的项目。”

　　Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and withdignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project."

　　谁还能说的再清楚些呢?你今天的生活就是你自己过去的态度和选择的结果，你未来的生活就是你现在的态度和选择的结果。

　　Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

　　双语美文：公开信 致忧伤的你

　　Dear Anyone Having a Bad Week,

　　亲爱的度过糟糕一周的你：

　　I'm sorry. I have no idea why your week is bad, or how bad it actually is. I don't know if you've told anyone, if there's anything that could fix it or if it's made you rather unpleasant to be around. But I do know that I'm sorry that you're hurting, or stressed, or exhausted, or grieving, or frustrated, or depressed, or lonely, or scared or lost.

　　我很抱歉，我无从知晓你的这一周为何很糟糕，也不知道实际情况到底有多糟。不知道你是否有找人倾诉，是否有什么方式可以让你好受一些或者说现实是否让你更加难过。但是我清楚地知道我为你一切不好的情绪感到深深的同情，无论是你受到伤害或者感到压力，亦或是感到疲惫、悲伤、筋疲力尽、沮丧、孤独、害怕还是迷失。

　　I thought about writing this letter in a couple of different ways. I thought about writing it about the things you could do to feel better: show yourself compassion, go outside and look at the trees, look at a baby photo of yourself. Or I thought about focusing the letter on how the "bad weeks" can actually be pretty beautiful, if you look at them the right way. I almost wrote those letters, and maybe at some point I will, but I think I ended up deciding that I wasn't writing to make anyone feel better -- I just want you to feel heard.

　　我想象过用各种不同的方式来写这封信。我想象写一些可以让你感到好些的事情：比如对自己表示同情、出去看看树木或者看看自己儿时的照片;或者我也想象过将信的着重点放在，如果你用正确的方式来看待“糟糕的一周”，你或许会发现这一周实际很美好。我差一点就那样写了，也许将来会这样写。但是现在我最终决定不写这些。——我只是想让你们感到，有人听到了你们的心声。

　　There's something about humans that makes us crave for our pain to be recognized. There is something inherently good and comforting in having someone say, "Yeah, that sounds really hard," or, "It really sucks that you have to deal with all that."

　　作为人类本身，我们都渴望自己的悲伤被了解。如果有人能在这个时候对你说“是的，那听起来的确很糟”或者“你需要面对这些真的是太不幸了”，我们的内心都会感到些许好转或安慰。

　　But unfortunately, that's not always the direction that society pushes us in. We have been taught that bad days are to be silently borne beneath a bright smile; that expressions of pain are uncomfortable.

　　但不幸的是，现实并不总能按照我们期望的方向发展。我们总是被告知需要隐藏自己的悲伤，展露自己的微笑。而这种表达方式让人并不舒服。

　　I want you to know you can feel free to spill your bad day all over the place and wear it on the front of your shirt.

　　我想要让你知道，你可以在任何地方自由表露你的坏情绪，你甚至可以将它画在T恤上穿在你的身上。

　　I want you to know that the expressions of your pain are beautiful and that I will try my very hardest to feel the hurt with you. I want you to know that your grumpy, stressed out, short-tempered self is just as awesome as your cheerful self. Please do not shun your suffering.

　　我想要让你知道你表现出来的悲伤也很美丽，我会尽我最大的努力来尽量感受你的不幸。我想要让你知道，有坏情绪、压力感和小脾气的你与快乐时的你一样可爱。请不要再压抑自己的情感。

　　In writing this, know that I hear you, and let yourself be healed. I hope your day turns around, and that even if it doesn't, you can still find a few moments of beauty and/or happiness amidst the crappiness. For all of you not having bad days -- carry on, and enjoy.

　　在写这篇文章时，我听到了你们的心声，请让自己尽快好起来。我希望你们日子恢复正常，即使不能，你仍然可以发现一些美好的瞬间或者苦中作乐一下。为了不让你们自己持续这种糟糕的日子，向前看，去享受生活吧!

　　Sincerely,

　　此致

　　Clara Wagner

　　克拉拉·瓦格纳