佚名/Anonymous
Among the more curious questions that can be asked about love is this: when one feels romantic love, does he feel it in breaks, with interruptions or changes, or does he feel it continuously, without interruption or change?
Poetry and song seduce one into thinking love continues without interruption.“Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,”wrote Shakespeare in one of his famous sonnets. Love is“an everfixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken,”he continued. And Elizabeth Barret Browning wrote of her constancy to her husband Robert in such lines as this.“What I do and what I dream include thee.”Some of the greatest operas also praise the ever-lasting love by some heroes and heroines dying for it.
In reality, love probably goes on with breaks and interruptions. First, it is difficult to suppose that one can experience anything continuously. Sleep interrupts wakefulness, and sleep itself is interrupted by dreams and nightmares. The feeling one has for his lover during wakefulness may be blotted out or intensified by sleep. In either case, the feeling changes. When one is awake, he cannot fix his eyes or his attention constantly on a single object. He must blink, if nothing else. More likely he will look to something else for variety or from necessity. His mind may turn to the stock market or he may become fascinated by the operation of a pile driver on his way to work. His focus for much of his day is on work. As he closes the door to his office, his thoughts may turn to his love, but sitting at his desk, his eyes fix on the print and figures there.
Pain and pleasure, either one, can distract a lover from concentrating on his love. Pain calls everything to itself. One can forget one’s love for a period even over a stubbed toe. The pleasure of too much food or drink can be totally absorbing. The pleasure even of one’s lover may become boring periodically. Often the greatest distraction is oneself. At times the preoccupation with self, the worry over self, the development of self, the delight in self admit no other thought.
Lovely as love might be, one can neither live nor love continuously. At best, a lover can only echo the words of the poet Ernest Dowson, and say,“I have been faithful to thee in my fashion.”
人们对于爱情有众多稀奇古怪的问题，其中之一是：当一个人陷入浪漫的爱情时，他的感受是断断续续、时常改变的，还是绵延不断、恒久不变的呢？
诗作与歌曲总诱使人们以为爱是永远绵延不断的。在莎士比亚一首著名的十四行诗中，他这样写道：“爱不是真爱，若是望风驶舵，你转变我也转变……爱是永远坚固的灯塔，即使遭遇狂风暴雨，也不会有丝毫动摇。”伊丽莎白·巴莱特·勃朗宁为表达自己对丈夫罗伯特坚定不移的爱，写下了这样的话：“我所做的以及所梦想的一切，都与你相伴。”一些伟大的歌剧也以男女主角殉情的手段来歌颂至死不渝的爱情。
在现实生活中，在爱情的延续过程中，很可能会有破裂和间断。首先，一个人很难在某种体验中恒久不变。睡眠会打断清醒，而美梦或噩梦又会打断睡眠本身；睡眠也可能会掩盖或增强一个人在清醒时对爱人的感觉。不论怎样，感觉已经变了。一个人清醒时，不能恒定不变地盯着或者全神贯注地思考一件事情，就算再无他物，他也一定会眨眼。更有可能的是，他会为寻求差异或出于必要，而去看其他东西。他可能会转向思考股票市场，或者对在上班路上看到的打桩机的运作着迷。他一天当中，大部分时间注意力集中在工作上。而当他关门走出办公室时，可能会转而想起爱人。但是，一坐到办公桌前，他的视线又集中在那儿的文件和数据上了。
不论是痛苦还是快乐，都能转移爱人的注意力，使他对自己的爱不再专注。人们会专注于痛苦，而忽视一切。因为一根脚趾受了伤，一个人可能会暂时忘记他的爱人。过度饮食的乐趣可能让人完全沉醉，这种快乐在某个时期甚至可能会让人对自己的爱人也感到厌烦。最大的干扰通常是他自己，一个人可能专注于一时的当务之急、自身的忧虑、发展和快乐，而忽视其他一切事物。
爱情固然迷人，但一个人的生活或者爱情都不可能恒久不变。爱人最好只是用诗人欧内斯特·道森的话来说一句：“我会一直忠于你，用我自己的方式。”
心灵小语
爱一个人的方式是会变的，也许是因为随着时间的流逝，心境的变化，或是环境的不同。但爱着的那颗心，是不易动摇的。
interruption n.打岔；中断；中断之事
例 This interruption is very annoying.
这种打扰真讨厌。
fascinate v.令人入神；使……着迷
例 The place continues to fascinate visitors, cloaked in its mystery.
这个地方笼罩在神秘的气氛下，使游览者着迷。
distraction n.娱乐；分心的事物；分心
例 TV can be a welcome distraction after a hard day’s work.
辛苦一天之后，看电视有时是很美的消遣。
preoccupation n.全神贯注；入神；当务之急；成见
例 So this can also be so for others of parallel preoccupation.
对其他有着类似当务之急的人也能这样。
在现实生活中，在爱情的延续过程中，很可能会有破裂和间断。
译___________________________________________________________________
最大的干扰通常是他自己，一个人可能专注于一时的当务之急、自身的忧虑、发展和快乐，而忽视其他一切事物。
译___________________________________________________________________
爱情固然迷人，但一个人的生活或者爱情都不可能恒久不变。
译___________________________________________________________________
It is difficult to suppose that one can experience anything continuously.
suppose that：假如（从句）；推断……
造___________________________________________________________________
His eyes fix on the print and figures there.
fix on：确定；决心
造___________________________________________________________________