容顏與人生 Face and Fortune

弗朗西斯·帕金森·凱絲/Frances Parkinson Keyes

There is a story about a proposed appointment in Lincoln's cabinet that I have always liked very much. One of his advisers urgently recommended a candidate and Lincoln declined to follow the suggestion. So he was asked to give his reasons.

“I don't like the man's face.”Lincoln explained briefly.

“But the poor man is not responsible for his face.”His advocate insisted.

“Every man over forty is responsible for his face.”Lincoln replied, and turned to the discussion of other matters.

Recently, at the instigation of my publisher, I had some photographs taken. It was a long time, he reminded me, since I had supplied him with a new one; I could not go on using the same pose indefinitely. I do not enjoy the process of being photographed, and when I saw the results of this latest ordeal, I enjoyed these still less. I compared the new photograph with one that had been taken twenty-five years ago, and my feminine vanity suffered an acute pang at the thought of being presented to the public as I am today. My first instinct was to have the prints “touched up”, though I have never “touched up”my own face or my own hair because I have always maintained that women who did this deceived no one except themselves. As I thoughtfully considered the photographs, I knew that as till more important principle was involved.

A quarter century of living should put a great deal into a woman's face besides a few wrinkles and some unwelcome folds around the chin. In that length of time she has become intimately acquainted with pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow, life and death. She has struggled and survived, failed and succeeded. She has lost and regained faith. And, as a result, she should be wiser, gentler, more patient and more tolerant than she was when she was young. Her sense of humor should have mellowed, her outlook should have widened, her sympathies should have deepened. And all these should show. If she tries to erase the imprint of age, she runs the risk of destroying, at the same time, the imprint of experience and character.

I know I am more experienced than I was a quarter century ago and I hope I have more character. I released the pictures as they were.

我很喜歡一個故事，那是有關推薦林肯內閣職務的。他的一位顧問極力向他推薦一位候選人，但是林肯拒絕接受這個建議。因此，這位顧問要求林肯給出原因來。

“我不喜歡那人的面相。”林肯簡明扼要地回答道。

“可是那個可憐的人不應對他的長相負責。”推薦人堅持道。

“一個人一旦過了40歲就應該對自己的長相負責。”林肯答復完就轉而討論其他的事情了。

最近在出版商的游說下，我拍了一些照片。他提醒我，我已經很久沒給他新照片了，我不能總使用同樣的姿勢。我不喜歡拍照的過程，當我看到最近一次痛苦經歷的結果后，就更不喜歡這些照片了。我把新照片和二十五年前的一張照片比較之后，想到我要以現在的面貌面對公眾時，我的女性虛榮心開始遭受劇痛。我的第一個直覺就是“修飾”一下這些照片，雖然我從不修飾自己的臉或頭發，因為我一直認為女人這么做，除了騙自己之外誰也騙不了。但當我深思過之后，我明白這其中蘊含著一個更重要的原則。

四分之一世紀的生活在女人臉上除了留下一些皺紋及不受歡迎的皺痕之外，還有更多的東西。在這段漫長的時間里，她已經飽嘗痛苦與歡樂、開心與傷心以及生生死死。她經歷了生存與斗爭、失敗與成功，曾經失去又重獲信心。因此，有過這些經歷，她應該比年輕時更明智、高雅、耐心和寬容。她的幽默感應該成熟起來了，視野應該被拓寬，同情心也應該加深了。而所有的這一切都會在她的面貌上表現出來。如果她試圖抹去這些歲月的痕跡，同時也是在冒摧毀經驗與性格印痕的危險。

我知道自己比二十五年前更有經驗了，也希望我比以前更有個性，所以我按照原樣發布了我的照片。

心靈小語

美麗的容顏不是不老的容顏。讓明智、高雅、有耐心和有度量等美德充斥你的靈魂，才能擁有能與時間對抗的美麗。

詞匯筆記

briefly [bri:fli] adv. 短暫地；簡略地；暫時地

例 This paper briefly introduces the basic characteristics, the development and the application of strong concrete.

本文簡要介紹了高強混凝土的發展與應用情況及基本特點。

advocate [??dv?kit] n. 提倡者；擁護者；推薦人

例 The Chinese people are advocates of peace.

中國人民都是和平的擁護者。

insist [in?sist] v. 堅持；強調

例 We insist on the letter of credit.

我們堅持用信用證方式付款。

instigation [?insti?ɡei??n] n. 煽動；鼓動；刺激；教唆

例 At his instigation, the water carriers deliberately delayed their delivery by two days.

在他的鼓動下，他們故意比規定的日期遲了兩天獻水。

小試身手

一個人一旦過了40歲就應該對自己的長相負責。

譯_______________

四分之一世紀的生活在女人臉上除了留下一些皺紋及不受歡迎的皺痕之外，還有更多的東西。

譯_______________

她應該比年輕時更明智、高雅、耐心和寬容。

譯_______________

短語家族

I compared the new photograph with one that had been taken twenty-five years ago……

compared with：與……相比較

造_______________

……she runs the risk of destroying……

run the risk of：冒……的危險；冒……的風險

造_______________