短暂是时间的真谛 Life Grows in the Soil of Time

托马斯·曼/Thomas Mann

What I believe, what I value most, is transitoriness.

But is not transitoriness—the perishableness of life—something very sad?No！It is the very soul of existence. It imparts value, dignity, interest to life. Transitoriness creates time—and“time is the essence.”Potentially at least, time is the supreme, most useful gift.

Time is related to—yes, identical with—everything creative and active, every process toward a higher goal.

Without transitoriness, without beginning or end, birth or death, there is no time, either. Timelessness—in the sense of time never ending, never beginning—is a stagnant nothing. It is absolutely uninteresting.

Life is possessed by tremendous tenacity. Even so its presence remains conditional, and as it had a beginning, so it will have an end. I believe that life, just for this reason, is exceedingly enhanced in value, in charm.

One of the most important characteristics distinguishing man from all other forms of nature is his knowledge of transitoriness, of beginning and end, and therefore of the gift of time.

In man transitory life attains its peak of animation, of soul power, so to speak. This does not mean man alone would have a soul. Soul quality pervades all beings. But man's soul is most awake in his knowledge of the interchangeability of the terms“existence”and“transitoriness”.

To man time is given like a piece of land, as it were, entrusted to him for faithful tilling；a space in which to strive incessantly, achieve self-realization, move onward and upward. Yes, with the aid of time, man becomes capable of wresting the immortal from the mortal.

Deep down, I believe—and deem such belief natural to every human soul—that in the universe prime significance must be attributed to this earth of ours. Deep down I believe that creation of the universe out of nothingness and of life out of inorganic state ultimately aimed at the creation of man. I believe that man is meant as a great experiment whose possible failure of man's own guilt would be paramount to the failure of creation itself.

Whether this belief be true or not, man would be well advised if he behaved as though it were.

短暂是我的信仰，也是我认为最重要的东西。

然而短暂，如生命的消逝，不是非常哀伤的事情吗？不！它正是生命存在的精髓。它赋予了生命价值、尊严和情趣。短暂创造了时间——而“时间正是其本质”。至少，时间是至高的，是最有用的礼物。

时间与所有富有创造力和活力的事物，及每一个达到更高目标的进步息息相关——是的，它甚至等同于这一切。

没有短暂，没有开始与结束、生与死，时间也就不复存在。永恒是毫无意义的停滞，它意味着时间永远没有结束，也永远没有开始，绝对令人乏味。

生命顽强无比。即便如此，它的存在也依赖于一定的条件，正如它有始亦有终。也因如此，我坚信，生命的价值与魅力将会不断地增长。

人同自然界其他事物之间最重要的区别之一就是，人懂得短暂、始与终，所以也了解时间是一种恩赐。

可以这么说，在人身上，短暂的生命达到了其活力与精神力量的巅峰。这并不是说只有人拥有灵魂。万物皆有灵性。但是对于“存在”与“短暂”的可互换性，只有人的大脑才能最清楚地意识到。

对于人类来说，时间就如赐予的一片土地，等待他去辛勤耕种；是一个让他不断奋斗进取，实现自我价值，不断前进向上的空间。是的，在时间的帮助下，人可以从有限的生命中获得永恒。

在内心深处，我相信宇宙中最为重要的当属我们的地球，并认为这样的信念存在于每一个人的心中。从内心深处，我相信混沌中宇宙的创造，无机中生命的萌芽，最终都是为了创造人类。我相信人类本身便是一项伟大的实验，它可能会因人类自身的罪恶而失败，但这也成为创造本身最主要的失败。

无论这个信仰是否真实，人类如果能依此行事，将会获得更为有益的忠告。

W词汇笔记

transitoriness['trænzitərinis]n.短暂，暂时

例 She was transitoriness just like snow.

她就像雪一样，是短暂的。

dignity['digniti]n.尊严

例 Ultimate value is placed on the dignity of the person.

最根本的价值应该是置于人的高贵性上。

creative[kri（：）'eitiv]adj.创造性的

例 He combines creative imagination and true scholarship.

他同时具有创造性想象力和真正的治学谨严学风。

significance[sig'nifkəns]n.意义；重要性

例 Our boss urged on us the significance of punctuality.

老板向我们强调守时的重要性。

S小试身手

短暂是我的信仰，也是我认为最重要的东西。

译____________________________

它赋予了生命价值、尊严和情趣。

译____________________________

没有短暂，没有开始与结束、生与死，时间也就不复存在。

译____________________________

P短语家族

Time is related to—yes, identical with—everything creative and active, every process toward a higher goal.

relate to：有关；涉及

造____________________________

Timelessness—in the sense of time never ending……

in the sense：就……意义而言

造____________________________