卡里·纪伯伦/Kahlil Gibran

Then a ploughman said, Speak to us of Work.

And he answered, saying：

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth, for to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite. When you work you are a fute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labor a misfortune. But I say to you that when you work you fulfll a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born, and in keeping yourself with labor you are in truth loving life, and to love life through labor is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affiction and the support of the fesh curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary. And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge, and all urge is blind save when there is knowledge, and all knowledge is vain save when there is work, and all work is empty save when there is love；And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. And what is it to work with love?It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth；it is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house；it is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit；it is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit, And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep，“He who works in marble, and fnds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil. And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet，”but I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass；And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy. For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter breadthat feeds but half man's hunger；and if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine. And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffe man's ears to the voice of the day and the voices of the night.

一位农夫说：给我们谈谈工作吧。

他回答：

你们工作，因而能跟上大地的步伐，领会大地的精神。因为懒散会使人变成时令的陌生人，游离于生命的队伍之外；那队伍正带着威严豪迈的臣服走向永恒。在工作时，你们便是一支笛子，时间的呢喃泻在你的心上，化做音符。你们当中谁愿做一根芦苇，在众人齐声合唱时，自己却喑哑沉默？

常有人对你们说，工作是种诅咒，劳动是种不幸。但我跟你们讲，当你们工作时，便实现了大地最悠远之梦的一部分，在梦还没有诞生时，它便已经分配给你了，你们劳动不辍，才切实置身于真爱的生命中，借由劳动来热爱生命，便是懂得了生命最深处的奥秘。

然而，如果你们认为生育是一种痛苦的折磨，把培育血肉之躯当成写在眉宇间的诅咒，那么我会说，只有你们额上的汗水才能冲洗掉那道诅咒。

有人曾对你们说生命是黑暗的，在你们疲劳时，常附和疲乏者的话语。我也说生活的确是黑暗的，除非有了希冀；所有希冀都是盲目的，除非有了知识；所有知识都是无用的，除非有了工作；所有工作都是空洞的，除非有了爱。当你们带着爱工作时，你们就会与自己、与他人、与上帝融为一体。什么是带着爱工作呢？就是用你的心织布缝衣，仿佛你的挚爱要穿上这件衣服；就是**满怀地建造房屋，仿佛你的挚爱要居住其中；就是柔情蜜意地播种，欢喜地收获，仿佛你的挚爱要品尝果实；就是把你灵魂的气息注入你的一切物品，而且知道所有被祝福的谢世之人都在你身边守护着。

我常听到你们呓语似的说：“雕刻大理石，在石头中发现自己灵魂的人，比耕田的农夫更为高贵。追赶彩虹，在一块布料上用虹绘出人之好恶的人，比鞋匠更为高尚。”然而我要说——不是在梦中，而是在午间格外清醒时说：清风对巨大橡树所说的，并不比对纤纤小草所说的更加甜蜜；把风声化为歌声，再用自己的爱使之更甜美的人才是伟大的人。

工作就是实实在在的爱。如果你们无法带着爱工作，只是觉得厌恶，那么你们最好不要工作，就坐在庙宇门口，等待着以劳动为乐的人救济你们；如果你们漠然地烘烤面包，你们烤出的苦面包只能让人半饱；如果你们不情愿地榨葡萄汁，你们的不情愿就会在葡萄酒中掺杂一滴毒液；如果你们能像天使那样歌唱，却并不爱歌唱，你们就会遮蔽人们聆听昼夜之声的耳朵。

W词汇笔记

whisper['（h）wisp?]v.耳语；密谈；飒飒地响

例 Stop whispering in pairs.

别交头接耳了。

curse[k?：s]v.诅咒；咒骂

例 She cursed him for ruining her life.

她诅咒他，说他毁了她的一生。

misfortune[mis'f?：t??n]n.不幸；灾祸

例 He sits to ponder his misfortune there.

他坐在那里沉思着他的不幸。

intimate['intimit]adj.亲密的；私人的；秘密的

例 I want here to find several intimate friends.

我想在这里找到几个知心的朋友。

S小试身手

当你们工作时，便实现了大地最悠远之梦的一部分。

译____________________________

当你们带着爱工作时，你们就会与自己、与他人、与上帝融为一体。

译____________________________

工作就是实实在在的爱。

译____________________________

P短语家族

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth……

keep pace with：跟上；与……齐步前进

造____________________________

……assigned to you when that dream was born……

assign to：分配给；分派给

造____________________________