[黎巴嫩]卡裏·紀伯倫/Kahlil Gibran
Then Almitra spoke again and said, and what of Marriage, master?
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forever more.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love,
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together,
For the pillars of the temple stand apart.
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.
艾爾梅特拉再度開口問道：大師，和我們談談有關婚姻的事，好嗎？
於是，他回答道：
你們一同出生，也將長相廝守。
當死神之翼驅散你們的日子時，你們也應在一起。
即使在上帝的記憶中，你們也將始終相守，
但是請在你們彼此的世界中保留一些空間，
好讓空中的風在你們之間舞蹈。
彼此相愛，但不要讓愛成為束縛，
讓愛成為奔流於你們靈魂海岸間的大海。
注滿彼此的杯盞，但不要隻從一隻杯中啜飲，
要將自己的麵包贈與對方，但不是享用同一塊。
兩人一起歡歌曼舞，同享歡愉，但仍要各自保持自我，
就像琴上的弦雖為同一旋律而振動，但琴與弦也是彼此分開的。
奉獻你們的心，但並不是要你們緊握住對方的心不放，
因為隻有生命的手才能握緊你們的心。
應站在一起，但不要靠得太近，
因為廊柱分立，才能撐起廟宇。
橡樹和鬆柏也不能在彼此的陰影下生長。
心靈小語
緊貼著的兩個人隻能僵站，但中間留有空隙，便可攜手舞蹈。留出空間，留住婚姻。
詞匯筆記
scatter['sk?t?]v.（使）散開；（使）分散；驅散
The seeds you now scatter will make life worse or better, your life or the one who will come after you.
你現在撒下的種子，會給你或者你後人的生活帶來或好或壞的影響。
string[stri?]n.（樂器上的）弦
There are four strings on a violin.
小提琴有四根弦。
lute[lju:t]n.魯特琴；琵琶
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
那撫慰你心緒的琵琶，不也是匠人用刀刨雕木頭而成的嗎？
cypress['saipris]n.柏屬植物；柏樹
Unprofitable eloquence is like the cypress, which is great and tall, but bears no fruit.
無益的雄辯猶如高大的柏樹，不會結果。
小試身手
請在你們彼此的世界中保留一些空間，好讓空中的風在你們之間舞蹈。
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彼此相愛，但不要讓愛成為束縛。
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橡樹和鬆柏也不能在彼此的陰影下生長。
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短語家族
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
even as：正如
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For the pillars of the temple stand apart.
stand apart：站開；離開
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心靈小語
在人生不同的階段，上帝賜予人不同的智慧。這智慧不分高下優劣，其價值在於彼此配合，往往可以發揮出意想不到的力量。
詞匯筆記
cogitation[,k?d?i'tei??n]n.深思；思考
At first, such a complex problem disheartened them. However, they finally worked out the solution after much cogitation.
起初，這個複雜問題使他們感到灰心喪氣，但經過仔細思考，他們終於研究出了解決辦法。
perturbation[,p?：t?'bei??n]n.擾動；混亂；煩惱
In chaos theory, the smallest initial perturbation can result in a huge change downstream.
在混沌理論中，最為微小的初始混亂可能導致後續巨大的下遊變化。
meridian[m?'ridi?n]n.子午線；經線；頂點
A meridian is an imaginary circle.
子午線是假想出來的一個圓圈。
retract[ri'tr?kt]v.縮進；拉回；退回
A cat can retract its claws.
貓可以縮回它的爪子。
小試身手
深思未必出自風霜，歲月同樣可見年輕。
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青年人犯錯往往毀壞大局，而老年人的錯則是邁步太小或行動太緩。
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老年人呢？他們顧忌太多，議論過長，寧求安穩，不願冒險，總是滿足於平平成績而不向往極致的輝煌。
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短語家族
……the errors of aged men, amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner.
amount to：等於；相當於
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Pursue some few principles, which they have chanced upon absurdly care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences.
chance upon：偶然遇見；偶然發現
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