英语中的经典美文1
My father was a self-taught mandolin player. He was one of the best string instrument players in our town. He could not read music, but if he heard a tune a few times, he could play it. When he was younger, he was a member of a small country music band. They would play at local dances and on a few occasions would play for the local radio station. He often told us how he had auditioned and earned a position in a band that featured Patsy Cline as their lead singer. He told the family that after he was hired he never went back. Dad was a very religious man. He stated that there was a lot of drinking and cursing the day of his audition and he did not want to be around that type of environment.
Occasionally, Dad would get out his mandolin and play for the family. We three children: Trisha, Monte and I, George Jr., would often sing along. Songs such as the Tennessee Waltz, Harbor Lights and around Christmas time, the well-known rendition of Silver Bells. "Silver Bells, Silver Bells, its Christmas time in the city" would ring throughout the house. One of Dad's favorite hymns was "The Old Rugged Cross". We learned the words to the hymn when we were very young, and would sing it with Dad when he would play and sing. Another song that was often shared in our house was a song that accompanied the Walt Disney series: Davey Crockett. Dad only had to hear the song twice before he learned it well enough to play it. "Davey, Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" was a favorite song for the family. He knew we enjoyed the song and the program and would often get out the mandolin after the program was over. I could never get over how he could play the songs so well after only hearing them a few times. I loved to sing, but I never learned how to play the mandolin. This is something I regret to this day.
Dad loved to play the mandolin for his family he knew we enjoyed singing, and hearing him play. He was like that. If he could give pleasure to others, he would, especially his family. He was always there, sacrificing his time and efforts to see that his family had enough in their life. I had to mature into a man and have children of my own before I realized how much he had sacrificed.
I joined the United States Air Force in January of 1962. Whenever I would come home on leave, I would ask Dad to play the mandolin. Nobody played the mandolin like my father. He could touch your soul with the tones that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his pride in his ability to play so well for his family.
When Dad was younger, he worked for his father on the farm. His father was a farmer and sharecropped a farm for the man who owned the property. In 1950, our family moved from the farm. Dad had gained employment at the local limestone quarry. When the quarry closed in August of 1957, he had to seek other employment. He worked for Owens Yacht Company in Dundalk, Maryland and for Todd Steel in Point of Rocks, Maryland. While working at Todd Steel, he was involved in an accident. His job was to roll angle iron onto a conveyor so that the welders farther up the production line would have it to complete their job. On this particular day Dad got the third index finger of his left hand mashed between two pieces of steel. The doctor who operated on the finger could not save it, and Dad ended up having the tip of the finger amputated. He didn't lose enough of the finger where it would stop him picking up anything, but it did impact his ability to play the mandolin.
After the accident, Dad was reluctant to play the mandolin. He felt that he could not play as well as he had before the accident. When I came home on leave and asked him to play he would make excuses for why he couldn't play. Eventually, we would wear him down and he would say "Okay, but remember, I can't hold down on the strings the way I used to" or "Since the accident to this finger I can't play as good". For the family it didn't make any difference that Dad couldn't play as well. We were just glad that he would play. When he played the old mandolin it would carry us back to a cheerful, happier time in our lives. "Davey, Davey Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier", would again be heard in the little town of Bakerton, West Virginia.
In August of 1993 my father was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. He chose not to receive chemotherapy treatments so that he could live out the rest of his life in dignity. About a week before his death, we asked Dad if he would play the mandolin for us. He made excuses but said "okay". He knew it would probably be the last time he would play for us. He tuned up the old mandolin and played a few notes. When I looked around, there was not a dry eye in the family. We saw before us a quiet humble man with an inner strength that comes from knowing God, and living with him in one's life. Dad would never play the mandolin for us again. We felt at the time that he wouldn't have enough strength to play, and that makes the memory of that day even stronger. Dad was doing something he had done all his life, giving. As sick as he was, he was still pleasing others. Dad sure could play that Mandolin!
英语中的经典美文2
I will persist until I succeed. 坚持不懈。直到成功。
In the Orient young bulls are tested for the fight arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to the ring and allowed to attack a picador who pricks them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then rated with care according to the number of times he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recognize that each day I am tested by life in like manner. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed.
英语中的经典美文3
Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.
万物不变，是我们在变。你的衣服可以卖掉，但要保留你的思想
Think it over……好好想想……
Today we have higher buildings and wider highways, but shorter temperaments and narrower points of view;
今天我们拥有了更高层的楼宇以及更宽阔的公路，但是我们的性情却更为急躁，眼光也更加狭隘;
We spend more, but enjoy less;
我们消耗的更多，享受到的却更少;
We have bigger houses, but smaller families;
我们的住房更大了，但我们的家庭却更小了;
We have more compromises, but less time;
我们妥协更多，时间更少;
We have more knowledge, but less judgment;
我们拥有了更多的知识，可判断力却更差了;
We have more medicines ,but less health;
我们有了更多的药品，但健康状况却更不如意;
We have multiplied out possessions, but reduced out values;
我们拥有的财富倍增，但其价值却减少了;
We talk much, we love only a little, and we hate too much;
我们说的多了，爱的却少了，我们的仇恨也更多了;
We reached the moon and came back, but we find it troublesome to cross our own street and meet our neighbors;
我们可以往返月球，但却难以迈出一步去亲近我们的左邻右舍;
We have conquered the outer space, but not our inner space;
我们可以征服外太空，却征服不了我们的内心;
We have higher income, but less morals;
我们的收入增加了，但我们的道德却少了;
These are times with more liberty, but less joy;
我们的时代更加自由了，但我们拥有的快乐时光却越来越少;
We have much more food, but less nutrition;
我们有了更多的食物，但所能得到的营养却越来越少了;
These are the days in which it takes two salaries for each home, but divorces increase;
现在每个家庭都可以有双份收入，但离婚的现象越来越多了;
These are times of finer houses, but more broken homes;
现在的住房越来越精致，但我们也有了更多破碎的家庭;
That‘s why I propose, that as of today;
这就是我为什么要说，让我们从今天开始;
You do not keep anything for a special occasion. because every day that you live is a special occasion.
不要将你的东西为了某一个特别的时刻而预留着，因为你生活的每一天都是那么特别;
Search for knowledge, read more ,sit on your porch and admire the view without paying attention to your needs;
寻找更我的知识，多读一些书，坐在你家的前廊里，以赞美的眼光去享受眼前的风景，不要带上任何功利的想法;
Spend more time with your family and friends, eat your favorite foods, visit the places you love;
花多点时间和朋友与家人在一起，吃你爱吃的食物，去你想去的地方;
Life is a chain of moments of enjoyment; not only about survival;
生活是一串串的快乐时光;我们不仅仅是为了生存而生存;
Use your crystal goblets. do not save your best perfume, and use it every time you feel you want it.
举起你的水晶酒杯吧。不要吝啬洒上你的香水，你想用的时候就享用吧!
Remove from your vocabulary phrases like "one of these days" or "someday";
从你的词汇库中移去所谓的“有那么一天”或者“某一天”;
Let‘s write that letter we thought of writing "one of these days"!
曾打算“有那么一天”去写的信，就在今天吧!
Let‘s tell our families and friends how much we love them;
告诉家人和朋友，我们是多么地爱他们;
Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life;
不要延迟任何可以给你的生活带来欢笑与快乐的事情;
Every day, every hour, and every minute is special;
每一天、每一小时、每一分钟都是那么特别;
And you don't know if it will be your last.
你无从知道这是否最后刻。
英语中的经典美文4
Dear son……
孩子…
The day that you see me old and I am already not, have patience and try to understand me …
哪天你看到我日渐老去,身体也渐渐不行,请耐着性子试着了解我……
If I get dirty when eating… if I cannot dress… have patience.
如果我吃的脏兮兮,如果我不会穿衣服……有耐性一点……
Remember the hours I spent teaching it to you.
你记得我曾花多久时间教你这些事吗?
If, when I speak to you, I repeat the same things thousand and one
times… do not interrupt me… listen to me
如果,当我一再重复述说同样的事情…不要打断我,听我说….
When you were small, I had to read to you thousand and one times the same story until you get to sleep… When I do not want to have a shower, neither shame me nor scold me…
你小时候,我必须一遍又一遍的读着同样的故事,直到你静静睡着…….
当我不想洗澡,不要羞辱我也不要责骂我……
Remember when I had to chase you with thousand excuses I invented, in order that you wanted to bath…When you see my on new technologies… give me the necessary time and not look at me with your mocking smile…
你记得小时后我曾编出多少理由,只为了哄你洗澡….当你看到我对新科技的无知,给我一点时间,不要挂着嘲弄的微笑看着我
I taught you how to do so many things… to eat well, to dress well… to confront life…
我曾教了你多少事情啊….如何好好的吃,好好的穿…如何面对你的生命……
When at some moment I lose the memory or the thread of our conversation… let me have the necessary time to remember… and if I cannot do it;do not become nervous… as the most important thing is not my conversation but surely to be with you and to have you listening to me…
如果交谈中我忽然失忆不知所云,给我一点时间回想…如果我还是无能为力,请不要紧张….对我而言重要的不是对话,而是能跟你在一起，有你的倾听….
If ever I do not want to eat, do not force me. I know well when I need to and when not.
当我不想吃东西时,不要勉强我.我清楚知道该什么时候进食
When my tired legs do not allow me walk… give me your hand… the same way I did when you gave your first steps.
当我的腿不听使唤….扶我一把….如同我曾扶着你踏出你人生的第一步….
And when someday I say to you that I do not want to live any more…
that I want to die… do not get angry… some day you will understand…
当哪天我告诉你不想再活下去了….请不要生气….总有一天你会了解…
Try to understand that my age is not lived but survived.
试着了解我已是风烛残年,来日可数.
Some day you will discover that, despite my mistakes, I always wanted
the best thing for you and that I tried to prepare the way for you.
有一天你会发现,即使我有许多过错,我总是尽我所能要给你的…当_近你时不要觉得感伤,生气或无奈
You must not feel sad, angry or impotent for seeing me near you. You must be next to me, try to understand me and to help me as I did it when you started living. Help me to walk… help me to end my way with love and patience. I will
pay you by a smile and by the immense love I have had always for you.
你要紧挨着我,如同我当初帮着你展开人生一样的了解我,帮我….扶我一把,用爱跟耐心帮我走完人生…我将用微笑和我始终不变无边无际的爱来回报你
I love you son…
我爱你孩子
Your father
你的父亲
英语中的经典美文5
A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in him together, and he in them.
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive e but what is really good.
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see the as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which on still listens.