We Are on a Journey （Excerpt2）

    人在旅途 （節(jié)選2）

    提示：作者戴克（1852-1933）是美國(guó)演說(shuō)家及作家。其文筆之跳躍，思維之鮮活，畢現(xiàn)于字里行間。本文讓讀者進(jìn)入這樣的境界：人生如旅途，世人皆過(guò)客。要歇下腳步，必須先走完全程。也許，我們會(huì)迷失方向，走了彎路，甚至，反向而行。但有一點(diǎn)是肯定的，我們一直在努力著。人在旅途！我們注定一生勇往直前，永不停歇。

    翻譯下列原文：Everything that we do is a step in one direction or another. Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. The action of the negative pole of a magnetic needle is just as real as the action of the positive pole. To decline is to accept－the other alternative.

    譯文：我們所能做的每件事都是朝著某個(gè)方向邁出的一步。就算是失敗，其本質(zhì)也是一項(xiàng)成就——前進(jìn)或后退。磁針負(fù)極的運(yùn)動(dòng)和其正極的運(yùn)動(dòng)同樣真實(shí)。拒絕即接受——只是另一種選擇罷了。

    點(diǎn)評(píng)：Even the failure to do something is in itself a deed. It sets us forward or backward. 一句簡(jiǎn)直是經(jīng)典之句，充滿哲理。到本段之最后，這種哲理更是被推演到極致：To decline is to accept－the other alternative.