威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆/William Somerset Maugham

The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not only with resignation but even with good will. They are like streetcars running contentedly on their rails and they despise the sprightly flitter that dashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so jauntily across the open country. I respect them; they are good citizens, good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody has to pay the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the men, few enough in all conscience, who take life in their own hands and seem to mould it to their own liking. It maybe that we have no such thing as free will, but at all events, we have the illusion of it. At a cross road it does seem to us that we might go either to the right or the left and, the choice once made, it is difficult to see that the whole course of the world's history obliged us to take the turning we did.

大多数人的生活由他们所处的环境决定。他们不仅接受既定的命运，而且顺从命运的安排。他们就像街上的电车一样，在既定的轨道上行驶，而对于那些不时出没于车水马龙间和欢快地奔驰于空旷原野上的廉价小汽车却不屑一顾。我尊重他们，他们是好公民、好丈夫和好父亲。当然，总得有些人来缴税，但是，他们并没有令人激动的地方。另外有一些人，他们把生活掌握在自己的手里，可以按照自己的喜好去创造生活，尽管这样的人少之又少，但我却被他们深深地吸引着。可能世界上并没有诸如自由意志这样的事情，但是无论怎样，我们总有关于自由意志的幻想。当我们处在一个十字路口时，我们似乎可以决定向左走还是向右走，可是一旦做出选择，我们却很难意识到，实际上是世界历史的全部进程强迫我们做出了那样的选择。

At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.

—Franklin

二十岁时起支配作用的是意志，三十岁时是机智，四十岁时是判断。

——富兰克林

resignation[?rezig?nei??n]n.辞职；辞呈；认命

She handed in her resignation.

她提交了辞呈。

despise[dis?paiz]v.轻视

He claims to despise riches.

他宣称蔑视钱财。

flitter[?flit?]v.翩翩地飞来飞去

Fly in the sky, like birdie flitter, much freedom!

在天上飞翔，像小鸟一样飞来飞去，多自由啊！

jauntily[?d??:ntili]adv.快活地；活泼地；扬扬得意地

The next day it was bright-eyed and active, its tail jauntily erect.

第二天，它就眼睛明亮，活蹦乱跳，尾巴也得意地高高翘起。

他们不仅接受既定的命运，而且顺从命运的安排。

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他们就像街上的电车一样，在既定的轨道上行驶，而对于那些不时出没于车水马龙间和欢快地奔驰于空旷原野上的廉价小汽车却不屑一顾。

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实际上是世界历史的全部进程强迫我们做出了那样的选择。

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It maybe that we have no such thing as free will, but at all events, we have the illusion of it.

at all events：不管怎样；无论如何

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...it is difficult to see that the whole course of the world's history obliged us to take the turning we did.

oblige sb. to do：迫使某人做某事（义务、责任）

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