I was 45 years old when I decided to learn how to surf.
They say that life is tough enough.
But I guess I like to make things difficult on myself, because I do that all the time.
Every day and on purpose.
That's because I believe in disrupting my comfort zone.
When I started out in the entertainment business, I made a list of people that I thought would be good to me.
Not people who could give me a job or a deal, but people who could shake me up, teach me something, challenge my ideas about myself and the world.
So I started calling up experts in all kinds of fields.
Some of them were world-famous.
Of course, I didn't know any of these people and none of them knew me.
So when I called these people up to ask them for a meeting, the response wasn't always friendly.
And even when they agreed to give me some of their time,the results weren't always what one might describe as pleasant.
Take, for example, Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb.
It took me a year of begging and more begging to get to him to agree to meet with me.
And then what happened? He ridiculed me and insulted me.
But that was okay.
I was hoping to learn something from him—and I did,even if it was only that I'm not that interesting to a physicist with no taste for our pop culture.
Over the last 30 years, I've produced more than 50 movies and 20 television series.
I'm successful and, in my business, pretty well known.
So why do I continue to subject myself to this sort of thing?
The answer is simple:
Disrupting my comfort zone, bombarding myself with challenging people and situations—this is the best way that I know to keep growing.
And to paraphrase a biologist I once met,if you're not growing, you're dying.
So maybe I'm not the best surfer on the north shore, but that's okay.
The discomfort, the uncertainty, the physical and mental challenge that I get from this—all the things that too many of us spend our time and energy trying to avoid—they are precisely the things that keep me in the game.
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.
Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring;for ornament, is in discourse;and for ability, is in the judgement and disposition of business.
For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one;but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs,come best from those that are learned.
To spend too much time in studies is sloth;to use them too much for ornament,is affectation;to make judgement wholly by their rules, is the humour of a scholar.
They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience:for natural abilities are like natural plants,that need pruning by study;and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large,except they be bounded in by experience.
Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them;for they teach not their own use;but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.
Read not to contradict and confute;nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse;but to weigh and consider.
Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed,and some few to be chewed and digested;that is, some books are to be read only in parts;others to be read, but not curiously;and some few to be read wholly,and with diligence and attention.
Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others;but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books;else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things.
Reading makes a full man； conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.
And therefore,if a man write little，he had need have a great memory;if he confer little, he had need have a present wit;and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he does not.
Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtle;natural philosophy deep; moral grave;logic and rhetoric able to contend.
扩展阅读：网络美文
概念
在各种竞争日益激烈的今天，在网络中，很多人都会喜欢一些比较伤感的美文，人们通过阅览这种文章来对自己的心情进行调解，以此为一种精神上的寄托，从而延伸出了人们平时所说的伤感美文、唯美美文之类的一些分支。
随着文学概念的演变和文学体裁的发展，网络美文的.概念也时有变化，其本身按其内容和形式的不同，又可分为其他的一些分支。
特点
优美，生动有趣。 是现代语言艺术文学体裁的一种典范，并具有比较高的审美价值。在长期网络流传过程中，它浇灌了各个时代的文学园地，也灌溉了历代文人，至今仍使人们受益。
文学是表达人生和传达思想感情的，通常来说，小说、诗歌、戏剧无论是在结构上，还是在格律、剪裁、对话等安排布局上，都有很严格的要求：而散文，却可以自由些。看起来只是不经意地抒写着一己的经历和感受，所表现的多是零星杂碎的片段人生。
Either the first streaming of the sunshine,whichbroke the dark night,
打破黑夜的第一道阳光，
or the hurried steps on the stairs made by those whohastened to catch the time
或是楼上赶时间的人匆忙的脚步声，
brough me back to consciousness,and before mywindow of heart being opened,
把我从睡梦中唤醒.在迎接新的一天到来之前，
my hand had reached out of the warm quilt
我先把手从暖和的被窝中伸出来
to the watch placed on the bed-stand.
抓起放在床头的表。
With a sleeping look at the watch,
迷糊中看表，
I repeated the time deep in my heart,Twenty to seven.
心中默念着七点差二十分。
WhatTwenty to seven
什么七点差二十分
Throwing the quilt aside without losing time,
把被子一扔,为了抓紧时间，
I jumped to my feet and addressed myself at flying speed.
我踮着脚，边跑边穿衣服。
With a basin,in which lay the tooth- brush and toothpaste on my left hand,
左手拿着脸盆，里面放着牙刷，牙膏;
and the towel around my neck,I hurried to the washroom.
脖上围着洗脸毛巾,我飞般地冲进了卫生间。
Putting down the basin and switching on the tap,
放下脸盆,打开水龙头,
I turned to the closet and took out of a bag of instant noodles,
转向壁柜,拿出一袋速食面
with the purpose of cooking myself breakfast.
来做早餐。
Hot vapor rose from the pot.
热气从水壶中冒出来。
I stood brushing my yellowish teeth beside the hearth,
站在炉前,我一边刷着泛黄的牙,
monitoring the cooking process.
一边准备早餐。
Few minutes later, the noodles were ready,and washing was done.
几分钟后,早餐好了,洗漱完了.
Hot as it was,it couldnt hinder me from eating.
尽管很烫,我还是吃下去了。
As I got to my feet and walked to the door,
迈开步伐朝门口走去,
I picked up a piece of scroll to wipe off the grease around my rosy mouth
我撕了一卷纸擦去红唇上边的油渍。
As I was running towards the regular bus stop,
当我朝车站奔去时,
the bus started off and and disappeared in the distance...
公交车刚刚出发,消失在远处......
How tired I am! Looking at the night lamp,
真累啊!注视着夜灯。
I think about nothing in particular.
我的脑子一片空白，
I also dont feel like saying anything
也不想说什么。
Soft music comes from the radio. It makes me moretired and sleepy.
收音机里飘出来的轻音乐让我昏昏欲睡,
My eyelids are feeling heavy.
眼皮沉甸甸的。
Suddenly,it occurs to me that I havent done my homework yet.
突然,我意识到我还没有做完家庭作业。
What a shame!I have to turn off the radio and open my math exercise book.
真可怜.我得关掉收音机,打开数学练习本。
Which of the six graphs best represents each function
下面六幅图哪个最准确地代表了各个公式。
reads the title.
我念着题目。
The work is not difficult for me,
这些作业对我来说不太难，
but I am weary and when I see the mountainous pile of books on my left,
可是我筋疲力尽,再看看左手边堆积如山的书本，
I really dont want to do any more.
我真的不想再做了。
Sometimes I hate having to read so many books.
有时候我真讨厌要读那么多书，
I dont know why we have to read all kinds of books
我真不明白为什么要读尽有的`
and take so many boring examinations.
参加那么多的考试。
Some teachers divide students into groups according to how high their marks are
有些老师根据学生的分数划分学生等级。
It seems that students with different marks are treated differently.
分数不同的学生所受的待遇不同。
It is a good idea but do teachers really know how abad-studentthinks
这是个好办法.可是老师们真的知道差学生怎么想的吗
I guess its the worst way.
我想这是最差劲的办法。
As we know some Nobel winners were actually bad students,
众所周知,一些诺贝尔获得者其实是差学生,
while none of the top students ever win it.
没有一个好学生获得这个奖。
What do you think about it
你是怎么想的呢
Everyone,including students,teachers, parents etc.
包括学生,老师,家长在内的所有人
expects the education system to change.
都希望改善教育体系。
As the students, we all need to study in the same wonderful sunshine.
作为学生,我们需要在同等的环境中学习。
I should let you know,that what the students need is knowledge
我还要告诉你们,学生需要的是知识而
but not necessarily high marks.
而不是高分。
Its 12 oclock now.
已是午夜12点了。
I hope that I didnt get too carried away musing over these problems.
我希望这些问题不要占据我太多的时间,
Anyhow,I have to prepare for tomorrows test.
不管怎样,我还要准备明天的考试。
I really dont want to say anymore.
我真的什么也不想说了。
初中晨读英语美文：高情商的人是这样旅游的
Your vacation doesnt have to be dead time when it comes to self-improvement.
对于自我提升这件事来说，假期并不一定得是空窗期。
You can boost your skills while relaxing and de-stressing.
在休闲减压的同时，你也可以精进自己的技能。
In other words, your vacation can be a great time to improve your emotional intelligenceand still thoroughly remain in vacation mode.
换句话说，假期其实非常适合你提升自己的情商，而同时，你也完全可以沉浸在休假模式中。
Since thats one of the most important job skills on the market right now, its worth taking a page or two from the most emotionally intelligent vacationers play books.
既然情商现在已经是就业市场里最重要的几个技能之一，那么向高情商的人借鉴一些旅游经验想必就是一件值得做的事情。
1. THEY USE THE TIME TO SELF-REFLECT
他们利用这段时间来自省。
As the pace of things slackens, ask yourself:
随着生活节奏放慢，问问自己：
What kind of people irritate me
什么样的人会惹我生气
What kind of people am I drawn to
什么样的人会吸引我
Who do these people remind me of
而这些人又会让我想到些什么
Being in a laid back, relaxed state is an excellent time to do some self-reflection.
处在这种悠闲、慵懒的环境中时，正是适合自省的时候。
So sure, have a cocktail or dive into a book, but carve out some time just to be alone with your thoughts.
所以嘛，来一杯鸡尾酒、啃一本书是挺不错的，不过也要计划出一些独处的时间来思考思考哦。
2. THEY LOOK FOR WAYS TO EMPATHIZE
他们会设法去共情
Most people do this in their own heads anyway when theyre traveling overseas or someplace unfamiliar.
很多人无论去哪里旅行的时候都会在脑子里这么做。
Notice people and their facial expressions, their posture, dress, and manner of walkingthese are all great ways to gather clues about whats going on with them.
注意观察人们的面部表情、姿势、穿着、走路方式这些都能很好地告诉你他们正在经历些什么。
In fact, you can assume this mind-set even when youre going to a movie, out to eat, or to a live performance.
实际上，你甚至可以在去看电影的时候、出去吃饭的时候、去看演出的时候做这些事。
3. THEY PRACTICE POLITE ASSERTIVENESS
他们会练习有礼貌地表达坚定的立场
Many people struggle with asking for what they want.
很多人在想要提要求的时候都觉得难以开口。
Emotionally intelligent people realize that the worst that can happen is getting a no, in which case theyre no worse off than before asking for something they want.
而高情商的人则知道：最坏的结果也不过是被拒绝，这就和他们问之前没啥两样。
You might think of the boardroom as the real place to be more assertive, but vacation is actually just as good a time to stretch your asking muscles.
你可能以为董事会的办公室才是你该表达立场的地方，不过其实假期正是一个适合练习提要求的好时机。
When you check into your accommodation, try asking for an upgrade. If theres a problem with your meal, tell the server.
当你去前台登记住宿的时候，试试要求他们给你升个级。如果你的食物有问题，就告诉服务员。
Just be polite.
只要记住保持礼貌就好了。
Because you often wont see the people youre dealing with again, it may be easier to ask for what you want.
由于你通常不会再见到这些和你打交道的人，所以对他们提要求会显得容易很多。
4. THEY RECONSIDER THEIR GOALS
他们重新思考自己的目标
Vacations are a great time to revisit past goals or even set new ones.
假期很适合思考以前的目标，也很适合构建新的。
When youre away from your everyday routine, youre better positioned to take a look at where you are in life and contemplate where youd like to be.
当你摆脱了每天一沉不变的生活时，你能更好地思索自己的现况，也能更好地思考自己到底想过怎样的生活。
Those who get high scores for emotional intelligence are usually pretty good at getting away from their daily habits now and then in order to refocus and take an inventory of their lives.
那些情商高的人通常很擅长时不时摆脱日常的琐事，从而重新找回重心，并对自己的生活做出一些改变。
5. THEY IMPROVE THEIR RESILIENCE HABITS
他们会去提升那些非必须的习惯
While you might like to tell yourself that next month youll finally start meditating daily or picking up a journaling routine, life often gets in the way.
虽然你可能也会对自己说：下个月就开始每天冥想，或者就开始写日记。但生活常常让你不能如愿以偿。
Emotionally intelligent people arent immune to this, but theyre good at using vacation time to retool those resilience strategies.
高情商的人也不是对此免疫，但他们擅长通过假期来重拾这些有弹性的策略。
Vacations give us a chance to return to what we know we should be doing for ourselves but dont often make time for.
假期让我们可以回归那些我们知道自己该做却没有时间做的事情。
I was 45 years old when I decided to learn how to surf. They say that life is tough enough. But I guess I like to make things difficult on myself, because I do that all the time. Every day and on purpose. That's because I believe in disrupting my fort zone.
When I started out in the entertainment business, I made a list of people that I thought would be good to me. Not people who could give me a job or a deal, but people who could shake me up, teach me something, challenge my ideas about myself and the world. So I started calling up experts in all kinds of fields. Some of them were world-famous. Of course, I didn't know any of these people and none of them knew me. So when I called these people up to ask them for a meeting, the response wasn't always friendly.
And even when they agreed to give me some of their time,the results weren't always what one might describe as pleasant. Take, for example, Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb. It took me a year of begging and more begging to get to him to agree to meet with me. And then what happened? He ridiculed me and insulted me. But that was okay. I was hoping to learn something from him—and I did,even if it was only that I'm not that interesting to a physicist with no taste for our pop culture. Over the last 30 years, I've produced more than 50 movies and 20 television series. I'm successful and, in my business, pretty well known. So why do I continue to subject myself to this sort of thing? The answer is simple: Disrupting my fort zone, bombarding myself with challenging people and situations—this is the best way that I know to keep growing.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living. In the center 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.
无论是60岁还是16岁，你需要保持永不衰竭的好奇心、永不熄灭的孩提般求知的`渴望和追求事业成功的欢乐与热情。在你我的心底，有一座无线电台，它能在多长时间里接收到人间万物传递来的美好、希望、欢乐、鼓舞和力量的信息，你就会年轻多长时间。
An individual human existence should be like a river—small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.
人的生命应当像河流，开始是涓涓细流，受两岸的限制而十分狭窄，尔后奔腾咆哮，翻过危岩，飞越瀑布，河面渐渐开阔，河岸也随之向两边隐去，最后水流平缓，森森无际，汇入大海之中，个人就这样毫无痛苦地消失了。
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 sixty more than a boy of twenty.Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.
青春意味着战胜懦弱的那股大丈夫气概和摈弃安逸的那种冒险精神。往往一个60岁的老者比一个20岁的青年更多一点这种劲头。人老不仅仅是岁月流逝所致，更主要的是不思进取的结果。
If somebody tells you, “ I'll love you for ever,” will you believe it?
I don't think there's any reason not to. we are ready to believe such commitment at the moment, whatever change may happen afterwards. As for the belief in an everlasting love, that's another thing.
Then you may be asked whether there is such a thing as an everlasting love. I'd answer i believe in it. But an everlasting love is not immutable.
You may unswervingly love or be loved by a person. But love will change its composition with the passage of time. It will not remain the same. In the course of your growth and as a result of your increased experience, love will become something different to you.
In the beginning you believed a fervent love for a person could last indefinitely. By and by, however,“ fervent” gave way to “ prosaic” . Precisely because of this change it became possible for love to last. Then what was meant by an everlasting love would eventually end up in a sort of interdependence.
We used to insist on the difference between love and liking. The former seemed much more beautiful than the latter. one day, however, it turns out there's really no need to make such difference. Liking is actually a sort of love. By the same token, the everlasting interdependence is actually an everlasting love.
I wish i could believe there was somebody who would love me forever. That's, as we all know, too romantic to be true. Instead, it will more often than not be a case of lasting relationship.
“On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think. He had been left alone for scarcely two minutes, and when we came back we found him in his armchair, peacefully gone to sleep-but forever.
”An immeasurable loss has been sustained both by the militant proletariat of Europe and America, and by historical science, in the death of this man. The gap that has been left by the departure of this mighty spirit will soon enough make itself felt.
“Just as Darwin discovered the law of development of organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of development of human history: the simple fact, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing, before it can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.; that therefore the production of the immediate material means of subsistence and consequently the degree of economic development attained by a given people or during a given epoch form the foundation upon which the state institutions, the legal conceptions, art, and even the ideas on religion, of the people concerned have been evolved, and in the light of which they must, therefore, be explained, instead of vice versa, as had hitherto been the case.
”But that is not all. Marx also discovered the special law of motion governing the present-day capitalist mode of production and the bourgeois society that this mode of production has created. The discovery of surplus value suddenly threw light on the problem, in trying to solve which all previous investigations, of both bourgeois economists and socialist critics, had been groping in the dark.
“Two such discoveries would be enough for one lifetime. Happy the man to whom it is granted to make even one such discovery. But in every single field which Marx investigated -- and he investigated very many fields, none of them superficially -- in every field, even in that of mathematics, he made independent discoveries.
The Song of the River
河之歌
W.S Maugham
毛姆
You hear it all along the river. You hear it, loud and strong, from the rowers as they urge the junk with its high stern, the mast lashed alongside, down the swift running stream. You hear it from the trackers, a more breathless chant, as they pull desperately against the current, half a dozen of them perhaps if they are taking up wupan, a couple of hundred if they are hauling a splendid junk, its square sail set, over a rapid.
沿河上下都可以听见那歌声。它响亮而有力，那是船夫，他们划着木船顺流向下，船尾翘得很高，桅杆系在船边。它也可能是比较急促的号子，那是纤夫，他们拉纤逆流而上。如果拉的是小木船，也许就只五六个人;如果拉的是扬着横帆的大船过急滩，那就要200来人。
On the junk, a man stands amidships beating a drum incessantly to guide their efforts, and they pull with all their strength, like men possessed, bent double; and sometimes in the extremity of their travail they craw on the ground, on all fours, like the beasts of the field. They strain, strain fiercely, against the pitiless might of the stream.
船中央站着一个汉子不停地击鼓助威，引导他们加劲。于是他们使出全部力量，像着了魔似的，腰弯成两折，有时力量用到极限就全身趴在地上匍匐前进，像田里的牲口。
The leader goes up and down the line and when he sees one who is not putting all his will into the task he brings down his split bamboo on the naked back. Each one must do his utmost or the labour of all is vain. And still they sing a vehement, eager chant, the chant of the turbulent waters.
领头的在纤绳前后跑来跑去，见到有人没有全力以赴，竹板就打在他光着的背上。每个人都必须竭尽全力，否则就要前功尽弃。就这样他们还是唱着激昂而热切的号子，那汹涌澎湃的河水号子。
I do not know words can describe what there is in it of effort. It serves to express the straining heart, the breaking muscles, and at the same time the indomitable spirit of man which overcomes the pitiless force of nature. Though the rope may part and the great junk swing back, in the end the rapid will be passed; and at the close of the weary day there is the hearty meal...
我不知道词语怎样能描写出其中所包括的拼搏，它表现的是绷紧的心弦，几乎要断裂的筋肉，同时也表现了人类克服无情的自然力的顽强精神。他们使劲，拼命使劲，对抗着水流无情的威力。虽然绳子可能扯断，大船可能倒退，但最终险滩必将通过，在筋疲力尽的一天结束时可以痛快地吃上一顿饱饭…..
But the most agonizing song is the song of the coolies who bring the great bales from the junk up the steep steps to the town wall. Up and down they go, endlessly, and endless as their toil rises their rhythmic cry. He, aw --ah, oh. They are barefoot and naked to the waist. The sweat pours down their faces and their song is a groan of pain.
然而最令人难受的却是苦力的歌，他们背负着船上卸下的大包，沿着陡坡爬上城墙。他们不停地上上下下，随着无尽的劳动响起有节奏的喊声：嗨，呦——嗬，嗨。他们赤着脚，光着背，汗水不断地从脸上流下。
It is a sigh of despair. It is heart-rending. It is hardly human. It is the cry of souls in infinite distress, only just musical, and that last note is the ultimate sob of humanity. Life is too hard, too cruel, and this is the final despairing protest. That is the song of the river.
他们的歌是痛苦的失望的叹息，听来令人心碎，简直不像是人的声音。它是灵魂在无尽悲戚中的呼喊，只不过有着音乐的节奏而已。那终了的一声简直就是人性泯灭的低泣。生活太艰难、太残酷，这喊声正是最后绝望的这就是河之歌。
The Living Seas
The ocean covers three quarters of the earth's surface, produces 90 percentof allits life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind the entireweather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on theearth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.
So vast and so pervasive is the sea that if the earth's crust were made level,ocean water would form a blanket over 8,000 feet deep.
The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earth's life support system aswell as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy, and ar-chaeological treasureAdvanced atmospheric diving suits permit researchers to descend to depthsof l,500 feet. Yet the ocean's average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is atthese depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries whichonly a short time ago would have been impossible.
In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons persquare inch, robotic submersibles have discovered enormous gorges, fourtimes deeper than the Grand Canyon Here, too, are volcanoes that vastlyoutnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island have beenrecorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed oitthe surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes.
And under these seas the largest single geological feature on earth hasbeen found-a mountain range that dwarfs the Himalayas. It's a range thatcovers nearly one quarter of the earth's surface.
All these discoveries have come from the exploration ofless than one-tenthof this undersea mountain range.
The earth is the only planet we know that has an ocean. The ocean is tlielargest feature on earth. Yet it's the one feature we know the least about. Weknow more about the moon 240,000 miles away than we know about thethree-fourths of the earth covered with water. Man has set foot on the moon,but not on the most remote part of the earth, 35,000 feet under the sea.
Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves for today'sundersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transformvision, curiosity and wonder into practical knowledge.
Properly managed as a tool to serve society, technology is the best hopefor overcoming economic and social problems facing people everywhere. Italways has been. The earliest relics of human life are tools. And our ancientancestors used these tools to understand and change the world around themand make it better. The same is true today.
The deep sea is the last frontier left to explore.
富有生命的海洋
海洋占地球表面四分之三。地球上维持生命的氧气，90%产生于海洋，整个天气体系变化的动力也是海洋。地球上的海水超过4亿5千万立方英里，每立方英里含有的矿物超过1亿5千万吨。
海洋如此广大浩翰，如此分布辽阔，地球表层如果使之平整起来，那么海水可以形成深8，000多英尺的覆盖层。
海洋对地球上的维持生命系统做出了不可估量的贡献，同时又是一座尚未打开的宝库，储有食物、矿物、能源和具有很大考古价值的东西。
先进的常压潜水衣可以使研究人员下沉到1，500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超过12，000英尺。现在正是在这个深度才发现了惊人的情况，这些发现在不久以前是不可能办到的。
这个深度的海中完全是漆黑一片，每平方英寸的压力超过8吨，潜水机器人在这里发现了巨大的峡谷，比美国科罗拉多大峡谷深3倍。这里火山之多，大大超过陆地上的火山，也曾有过规模大到和罗得岛一样的山崩，还有猛烈的海底风暴，这种风暴在海面上一点也觉察不到，却剧烈地改变着水下的景观。 ，就在这些海洋中发现了地球上惟一的地质构成——一条使喜马拉雅相形见绌的大山脉，这条山脉覆盖了地球表面几乎四分之一。
上述那些发现都是来自探索这条水下山脉不到十分之一的地区所见到的。
地球是我们所知有海洋存在的行星。海洋是地球构成的部分，而正是这部分我们知道得最少，这一覆盖地球四分之三的水域我们所知的情况还不如我们对远离地球24万英里的月球所知道的多。
人类已涉足月球，但对海面以下3万5千英尺地球最深邃的地方却从未涉足过。
技术正在改变这一切，它正在劈波斩浪为今日的水下探索者开路。它正在创造机会使幻想、求知欲和高深莫测的事情转化成实实在在的知识。
把技术当作服务于社会的工具适当地加以掌握，它就是克服各地人民所面临的经济与社会问题的希望所在。技术历来都是如此。
人类生活的最早遗物就是工具。我们远古的祖先使用那些工具来认识世界改造、世界使之日趋完善。今天的情况也还是如此。
深海是尚待探索的最后一个领域。
It happened in one of those picturesque Danish taverns that cater to tourists and where English is spoken. I was with my father on a business-and-pleasure trip, and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.
“It’s a pity your mother couldn’t come,” said Father. “It would be wonderful to show her around.”
He had visited Denmark when he was a young man. I asked him, “How long is it since you were here?”
“Oh, about 30 years. I remember being in this very inn, by the way.” He looked around, remembering. “Those were gracious days—” He stopped suddenly, and I saw that his face was pale. I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting a tray of drinks before some customers. She might have been pretty once, but now she was stout and her hair was untidy. “Do you know her?” I asked..
“I did once,” he said.
The woman came to our table. “Drinks?” she inquired.
“We’ll have beer,” I said. She nodded and went away.
“How she has changed! Thank heaven she didn’t recognize me,” muttered Father mopping his face with a handkerchief. “I knew her before I ever met your mother, “he went on. “I was a student, on a tour. She was a lovely young thing, very graceful. I fell madly in live with her, and she with me.”
“Does Mother know about her?” I blurted out, resentfully.
“Of course,” Father said gently. He looked at me a little anxiously. I felt embarrassed for him.
I said, “Dad, you don’t have to-“
“Oh, yes, I want to tell you. I don’t want you wondering about this. Her father objected to our romance. I was a foreigner. I had no prospects, and was dependent on my father. When I wrote Father that I wanted to get married he cut off my allowance. And I had to go home. But I met the girl once more, and told her I would return to America, borrow enough money to get married on, and come back for her in a few months.”
“We know,” he continued, “that her father might intercept a letter, so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paper with a date on it, the time she was to meet me at a certain place; then we’d married. Well, I went home, got the loan and sent her the date. She received the note. She wrote me:” I’ll be there.” But she wasn’t. Then I found that she had been married about two weeks before, to a local innkeeper. She hadn’t waited.”
Then my father said,” Thank God she didn’t. I went home, met your mother, and we’ve been completely happy. We often joke about that youthful love romance.”
The woman appeared with our beer.
“You are from America?” she asked me.
“Yes,” I said.
She beamed. “A wonderful country, America.”
“Yes, a lot of your countrymen have gone there. Did you ever think of it?”
“Not me. Not now,” she said. “I think so one time, a ling time ago. But I stay here. It much better here.”
We drank our beer and left. Outside I said,” Father, just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you?”
He stopped, took out an envelope and wrote on it. “Like this,” he said. “12/11/73, which was, of course, December 11, 1973.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “It isn’t in Denmark or any European country. Over here they write the day first, then the month. So that date wouldn’t be December 11 but the 12th of November!”
Father passed his hand over his face. “So she was there!” he exclaimed. “And it was because I didn’t show up that she got married.” He was silent a while. “Well,” he said., “I hope she’s happy. She seems be.”
As we resumed walking I blurted out, “It is a lucky thing it happened that way. You wouldn’t have met Mother.”
He put his arm around my shoulders, looked at me with a heart-warming smile, and said, “I was doubly lucky, young fellow, for otherwise I wouldn’t have met you, either!”
【参考译文】
事情发生在丹麦的一个富有画意的客栈里。这种客栈专逢迎游客，通用英语。我和父亲这次旅行也是办事，也游乐，空闲的时候，玩得很痛快。
父亲说：“可惜你 妈不能来。如果能带她来逛逛，多好。”
父亲年轻时到过丹麦。我问他，“从你上次来，有多久了?”
“哦，差不多三十年了。我记得那时就住在这家小客栈里。”
父亲四下望望，回忆道：“那些日子真美……”他忽然住口不言，脸色转白。我顺着他的眼光看去，只见房间那边有个女人正端着托盘在客人面前上酒。她从前可能很美，但是现在已经发胖，头发也很乱。我问父亲：“你认识她吗?”
他说：“从前认识。”
女人走到我们的桌前。问道“要酒吗?”
我说：“我们要啤酒。”她点点头，去了。
父亲掏出手巾擦额，低声说道：“她真变了!谢天谢地，幸而她没认出我来。我认识她在你的妈妈之前，那时候我是学生，假期旅行到这里。她年轻漂亮，非常可爱。我爱她到了极点，她也爱我。”
我很不高兴地冲口问道：“妈晓得她的事吗?”
“当然知道。”父亲略感不安地望着我。我都替他难为情。
我说：“爸爸，你用不着……”
“哦，我要告诉你，我不要你乱猜。她的父亲反对我们相爱。我是外国人，又没有好前途，还要依靠父亲。我写信给父亲说要结婚，父亲就不寄钱来。我只好回家。但是我又和她见了一次面，告诉她我要回美国去借结婚的钱，过几个月就来找她。”
“我们知道，”他接着说，“她父亲可能会拆看我们的信件，所以商量好我只寄给她一张纸，上面写个日期，那是要她在某处和我见面的时间，然后我们就结婚。后来我回家去，借到钱把日期寄给她。”
“她收到了信，回信道，‘我准来。’但是她没来。后来我才知道她已在两个星期前嫁给一位当地客栈的老板了。她没有等我。”
父亲又说：“感谢上帝，她没有等我，我回家去，遇见了你 妈妈，我们始终极为快乐。常把这一段年轻时的恋爱作为笑谈。”
那个女人把啤酒送到我们面前。
她问我：“你们从美国来的吗?”
我说：“是的。”
她笑道：“美国是好地方。”
“是的。那边有许多你们的同胞。你有没有想过要去?”
她说：“我不想，现在不想。我想过一次，那是很久以前的事了，但是我留在了此地。此地好得多。”
我们喝完啤酒就出来。一出客栈，我就问父亲：“爸，你叫她等你的日期到底是怎样写的?”
他停下来，拿出一个信封，在上面写了几个字。他说：“这样写的，12/11/13，这当然是1912月11日。”
我叫道：“不对!在丹麦和欧洲任何国家都不是这样写的!他们先写日子，后写月份。所以那个日期不是12月11日，而是11月12日!”
父亲抬起手摸了摸脸，叫道“那么她是去过了!因为我没有到，所以她嫁了别人!”他沉默了一会儿，说道：“也好。我希望她快乐，她似乎很快乐。”
我们再往前走时，我又冲口说：“幸而如此，不然你不会遇见妈妈。”
父亲伸手搂着我的肩膀，很温暖地向我笑道：“小伙子，我是锦上添花，要不然我也不会有你了。”
Promise of Bluebirds
The Pennsylvania-landscape was in severe wintry garb as our car sped westover the interstate Ul The season was wrong, butI couldn't get bluebirds outof my head.
Only three weeks before, at Christmas, Dad had given me a nesting box he'dmade: He had a special feeling for the brilliant creatures, and each spring heeagerly awaited their return. Now I wondered, will he ever see one again?
It was a heart attack. Dad's third.
When I got to the hospital at 2 a.m., he was losing the fight. As the familyhovered at his bedside, he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Once he looked up at.Mom sitting beside the bed holding his hand. ”Theywant me to let go,“ he said, ':but I can't. I don't want to.”Mom patted his arm. “Just hold on to me,” she murmured.
The next morning the cardiologist met us in the waiting room. “He's stillfighting,”the doaor said. “I've never seen such strengthMy youngest brother was only five when Ileft home 30 years ago. Relation-ships between my brothers- and sisters had become -frayed because of dis-tance and commitments to our own families. But Dad needed his childrennow, so we stayed at the hospital. During the long vigil, we reminisced aboutour years at home.
A miner, Dad had not had an easy life. He and Mom raised six kids at a timewhen coal miners eamed as little as 25 cents a ton, and he loaded nine tonsa day. Even now, I'm sure we don't know most of the sacrifices they madefor us.
I remembered Dad's hard hat, its carbide lamp showing a fine pall of coaldust. Dad's graygreen eyes seemed large and wise as an owl's in his black-ened face. They often sparkled with devilment when they met yours inconversation. .
Each evening he came home, eager to take up his crosscut saw or clawhammer. Dad could chock a piece of walnut on his lathe and deffly tum outa beautiful salad bowl for Mom. He could build a cherry fold-top desk withfine, dovetailed drawers as easily as he could fashion a fishing-line threaderout of an old ballpoint pen.
Dad bought our plain, two-story house from the coal company and immedi~ately began to remodel it. Our house was the first on the hill to have anindoor bathroom and hot water. He spent one summer digging out the clay-filled foundation to install a coal furnace. We children no longer shivered inour bed-rooms on cold winter mornings.
We loved to watch him work. When Dad needed something, we ran to getit. If we called it a ”thingamabob he would say, “That's a nail set” (thetool for sinking the head of a nail below the surface of the wood). “It has aname. Use it.”Dad carried a spirit of craftsmanship into every job and expeaed the samefrom all six children. Each job had its claim on your best efforts. And evertool had its name. Those were his principles, and we lived by them just aSDad did.
His playful spirit would set us to giggling-like the time he was buildingfireplace in the back yard. He sent us to look for the “stone-bender” he needeto make the comer stones fit more evenly. “Guess I'll have to bend theiamyself,” he said when we retumed empty-handed. We saw the sparkle in.bijeyes, and knew we'd been had.
Sitting in the hospitalwaitting room, I thought back to an afteon in Dad'sworkshop several years ago..He was retired by then, but he kept busy building beautiful furniture, now for his children's homes. A volunteer naturalist,I was eager to tell him about the help bluebirds needed.
When the early settlers had cleared forests for farmland, I explained, blueLbirds flourished, nesting in fence-posts and orchard trees. But their habitatwas disappearing, and now the birds needed nesting boxesDad listened as-I spoke, his hands gently moving a finegrained sand-paperover a piece of oak. I asked him if he would like to build a box. He said hewould think about it.
Several weeks later he invited me into his workshop. There, on his workbench,sat three well-crafted bluebird nesting boxes. “Think the birds willlike themT'
he asked.
”As much as I do,“I replied, hugging him. Dad put up the boxes, and thenext spring bluebirds nested in his yard. He was hooked.
Dad became quite an expert on the species. Bluebirds, he would say, areharbingers of hope and triumph, renowned for family loyalty. A pair willhave two or three broods a year, the earlier young sometimes helping to feedthe later nestlings.
The presence of his children must have boosted Dad's spirits after his attackbecause he grew stronger and left the hospital on Valentine's Day WhenI visited my parents at the end of March, Dad was confined to the downstairs.
But I noticed that he paused longer and longer at the windows facing theback yard. I knew what he was hoping to see. And one day a bright flash ofcolor circled the nesting box closest to our house.
”Well, it's about time the rascals showed, don't you think?“ Dad said.
Sporting a resplendent blue head, back, wings and tail, a male bluebird sanghis courtship song so passionately that we dubbed him ”Caruso,“ after theItalian tenor. A female appeared, but rejected the nesting box. Caruso foundanother in the field below the yard. He circled the new box, singing feverishly.
She remained aloof on a distant perch.
Dad was walking more and more each day as the love story unfolded. Icould see strength coming back into his wiry frame.
One day Caruso battled a rival for the female's attentions. Then she foughtan even more vehement battle with another female. Afterward she resumedher haughty. stance while he fervently continued with his rapturous repertoire.
Suddenly one exquisite morning, when the sky mirrored Caruso's courtingraiment, she flew back to the box nearest the house and inspected itthoroughly. Caruso hovered nearby and sang blissfully as she finally acceptedhim.
Shortly thereafter she proceeded to lay one egg a day until there were six.
Caruso fluttered outside, defending the nest while she incubated.
Dad was now well enough to go outside, but he still couldn't reach the back-yard. He asked us to check inside the nesting box once a day. When we'dreturn, the questions came. ”Is she on the nest?“ he asked. ”Have the eggshatched? Did you see that showboat what's-his-name?“”Caruso, Dad,“ I replied. ”He has a name, you know.“ Dad's sly grin re:
flected the devilment that had returned to his eyes.
When the eggs hatched, we marveled at the herculean efforts Caruso andhis mate expended to capture insects for their brood. Nestlings must be fedevery 20 minutes.
Near the end of May, the fledglings left the nest. By then Dad was able towalk to the fields beyond and see what other bluebird news there might be.
Mom and I would watch him from the kitchen window. ”He gave some-thing to those bluebirds,“ she said quietly one day. ”Now they've given itback."
蓝知更鸟的希望
我们的汽车奔驰西行越过州界，宾夕法尼亚州一派严冬景象，时令不正常，可是我对蓝知更鸟一直不能忘怀。
就在三周前圣诞节那天，爸爸把他自己制作的一个鸟巢箱给了我。他对这些色彩鲜艳的小生灵怀有特殊的感情，每年春天他都热切地期待它们归来。现在，我不知道他是否还能再见到一只。
心脏病发作，这是爸爸第三次犯病了。
凌晨两点我到了医院，他浑身瘫软无力，家人守候在床边，他时而失去知觉，时而神志清醒。
有一次，他抬头望着坐在床边握着他手的妈妈说：“他们想要我松手，可是我不能松，我不想松。”
妈妈拍着他胳膊低声说：“攥住我吧。”
第二天早晨，心病学专家?候诊室遇见我们，这位大夫说：“他仍在搏斗，我从来没有见过意志这样坚强的。”
30年前我离开家的时候，最小的弟弟才五岁。后来因为我们居住相距甚远，而且都忙于自己的小家庭，所以兄弟姊妹之间的关系不够亲近。但是如今爸爸需要他的孩子们，因此我们来到医院，在长时间守夜期间，我们回忆起在家时的岁月。
爸爸，一名矿工，以前没有过安逸的生活。他和妈妈养育六个小孩，而当时煤矿工人收入非常低，生产一吨煤炭只挣25美分，他一天要挖九吨。就是现在，我肯定我们也不知道他们为我们做出了多少牺牲。
我记得爸爸质地很硬的帽子，帽子上燃烧碳化物的照明灯上覆盖着一层细细的煤炭粉末。在爸爸黝黑的面庞上，一双灰绿的眼睛像猫头鹰的眼睛一样，显得很大而充满智慧。在交谈时与你的目光相遇，他眼睛里经常闪耀着恶作剧的神情。
每天傍晚他回到家，就饶有兴致地拿起横切锯或爪形拔钉锤。他能在车床上卡上一块胡桃木，熟练地给妈妈制作一个漂亮的盛色拉的碗。他能利用旧圆珠笔制作钓鱼穿线用具，同样能毫不费力地制作带有精巧楔形榫抽屉的樱桃木的、桌面可折叠书桌。
爸爸从煤炭公司买了一所简易两层楼住宅，然后立即进行改造。
我们这所住宅是小山上第一家设有室内浴室和使用热水的，他用了一个夏季的时间挖掘全都是粘土的地基，装起了煤炉，冬天寒冷的早晨，我们孩子们在卧室里再也不冻得发抖了。
我们喜欢看着他干活，爸爸需要什么东西，我们跑着去取，如果我们把那件东西叫作“某东西”，他总说：“那是敲钉子的工具(把钉子楔进木头里的工具)”，“它有个名字，叫它的名字。”
爸爸干什么活儿都讲究技艺，而且希望所有六个孩子也同样做。
每一件活儿都要求你尽努力，并且每件工具都有名称。这些是他的原则，正如爸爸按照这些原则办事一样，我们也按照这些原则办事。
他爱开玩笑的态度常使我们咯咯发笑。像那一次，他在后院修建壁炉，派我们去寻找他所需要的所谓石头折弯机，以便把边角石块砌得更平稳。我们空手而回，他说：“看来我只得自己把石头弄弯喽。”我们看到他眼睛里闪耀的神色，于是知道我们受骗了。
我坐在医院候诊室里，回想起几年前在爸爸车间里的一个下午，那时他已经退休，但是还不断地忙着制造漂亮家具，是给他几个孩子家里制作的,作为一个自愿研究动物的人，我迫切地要把蓝知更鸟需要的帮助告诉他.
我解释道，早来的移民砍伐森林开垦农田的时候，1蓝知更鸟就成群结认地在篱笆桩和果园树上筑巢，但是它们酣栖息衄越来越少，如今，蓝知更鸟急切需我沈话时爸爸着，向手接住二张细粒沙纸在二块栎来上轻轻地摩擦，我问他是否愿意制作巢箱，他说他愿意考虑。
几个星期后，他邀请我到车间去，在工作台上放着三个制作精巧的蓝知更鸟巢箱。“你认为鸟儿喜欢它们吗?”他问道。 …“像我一样，非常喜欢。”我紧紧拥抱着他回答说。爸爸支架起巢箱，于是第二年春天蓝知更鸟便在他院里落了户，而他也迷上了蓝知更鸟。
爸爸成了这种鸟的行家里手，他常说蓝知更鸟是希望和成功的预言者，它们家族成员的忠诚出了名，一对蓝知更鸟一年下两三窝蛋，早孵出的幼鸟有时帮助喂后来出壳的雏鸟。
爸爸犯病后他的孩子们都来了，这一定提高了他的情绪，所以他精力刚刚恢复就在情人节那天出院了。我于三月底去看望父母，爸爸被安置在楼下，可是我注意到，他在窗前向后院伫立的时间越来越长了。我知道他盼望看到什么。一天，有个色彩鲜明闪亮的东西，在紧靠我们房屋的巢箱周围盘旋。
“喔，大概坏家伙们该露面了，你认为是不?”爸爸说。
一只雄蓝知更鸟炫耀着华丽蓝色的头、背、翅膀和尾巴，唱着求爱的歌，他唱得那样充满感情，我们仿照意大利男高音歌手的名字给他起了绰号叫“卡鲁索”。出来了一只雌鸟，但是她拒不进入巢箱。卡鲁索发现另一只雌鸟在院子下方田地里，于是他围绕着那个新巢箱狂热地唱歌，可是她远远地停在栖木上。
随着爱情故事的展开，爸爸一天天越来越能走路了，我看到他瘦长结实的身体逐渐强健起来。
有一天，卡鲁索为了吸引雌鸟的注意和一个对手交战。她却同另一只雌鸟进行更加激烈的战斗。后来，他使出浑身解数，继续热情地进行吸引对方的狂喜表演，她却恢复了傲慢的姿态。
突然，一个气候宜人的上午，天空中映出卡鲁索求爱的衣饰，她飞回离房屋最近的巢箱，并且进行了彻底检查。由于她终于接受了他的要求，卡鲁索在附近翩翩飞舞，极其快乐地唱着歌。
此后不久，她开始一天下一个蛋，直到下了六个，她孵蛋时卡鲁索在外边振翅保护巢箱。
这时爸爸已经恢复到能走出房门，但是还不能走到后院。他要求我们一天检查一次巢箱，我们回来时他提出许多问题，他问道：“她在窝里吗?”“蛋孵化了吗?…‘你们看见那个叫什?名字的家伙表演了吗?”
卡鲁索，爸爸，”我回答说，“你知道，他有名字。”爸爸满脸滑稽地咧着嘴笑，他的眼睛里又表现出爱开玩笑的神情。
小鸟出壳后，卡鲁索和他的配偶付出极其巨大的努力为幼鸟捉虫，我们对此感到惊奇，幼鸟每20分钟必须喂一次。
将近五月底，刚会飞的小鸟离开巢箱，那时爸爸能够走到田野里更远的地方，去看看其他蓝知更鸟可能有什么新闻了。我和妈妈常从厨房窗口望着他。“他给了那些蓝知更鸟一些东西，”有一天她轻轻地说，“现在他们已经回报。”