09 Ralph Waldo Emerson to Walt Whitman拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生致沃尔特·惠特曼
Concord,Mass.，July 21，1885
Dear Sir，
亲爱的先生：
I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass.I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.I am very happy in reading it,as great power makes us happy.It meets the demand I am always making of what seems the sterile and stingy Nature,as if too much handiwork or too much lymph in the temperament were making our western wits fat and mean.I give you joy of your free and brave thought.I have great joy in it.I find incomparable things said incomparably well,as they must be.I find the courage of treatment,which so delights us,and which large perception only can inspire.
《草叶集》如同天赐，无比珍贵，我无法将之忽视。我认为，这是美国历史上最具才华与智慧的作品了。这书读起来十分愉快，因为其中表达的强大的力量让人快乐。《草叶集》满足了我向似乎有些贫瘠和匮乏的大自然所能要求的一切，就好像太多的人工修饰或太过迂腐懒惰正把我们西方的才子都变得既肥胖又刻薄。你有自由大胆的思想应该快乐才是呀，我就因此十分高兴。我发现你把无可比拟的事物用无可比拟的方式表达了出来，正像他们应该的那样。我发现这种大胆的处理方法让我们如此愉快，也只有知识渊博的人才能做到。
I greet you at the beginning of a great career,which must yet have had a long foreground somewhere,for such a start.I rubbed my eyes a little to see if this sunbeam were no illusion；but the solid sense of the book is a sober certainty.It has the best merits,namely,of fortifying and encouraging.
我要祝贺你步入这个伟大的职业，有如此好的开端，你一定会走得更远。我揉了揉眼睛以确定这阳光是不是幻觉。但是书在掌中的厚重感是确切无疑的。这本书最大的优点在于它能够给人力量、鼓舞人心。
I did not know until,I，last night,saw the book advertised in a newspaper,that I could trust the name as real and available for a post-office.
直到昨晚在报纸上看到《草叶集》的广告，我才确认作者的名字是真实的、可以通信的。
I wish to see my benefactor,and have felt much like striking my tasks,and visiting New York to pay you my respects.
你给我带来了如此大的喜悦，所以我盼望着能与你见面。我甚至想要撇下手头的工作，去纽约拜访你。
R.W.Emerson
R.W.爱默生
1855年7月21日
于马萨诸塞州康科德
be blind to something对……视而不见
例 We should not be blind to global warming,which is one of the biggest environment problems nowadays.
我们不应该对全球变暖视而不见，它是当今最大的环境问题之一。
sterile[ˈsteraɪl]adj.无菌的；贫瘠的
例 Too much time has been wasted in sterile debate.
在毫无新意的辩论上已经浪费了太多时间。
stingy[ˈstɪndʒi]adj.小气的，吝啬的
例 she is extremely frugal，not to say stingy.
不说她吝啬，至少她也是极其节俭的。
lymph[lɪmf]n.淋巴
例 She has got an inflammation of lymph.
她的淋巴发炎了。
fortify[ˈfɔːtɪfaɪ]vt.（在物质或精神上）加强，增强
例 The volunteers were fortified by their patriotic belief.
爱国信念更加坚定了志愿者们的信心。
benefactor[ˈbenɪfæktə（r）]n.恩人，捐助者
例 An anonymous benefactor stepped in to provide the prize money.
一个匿名捐助者施以援手提供了奖金。
①I am very happy in reading it,as great power makes us happy.
这个句子中“as”引导原因状语从句，意为“因为……”。
例 As there is no support from his family,Kevin needs to rely on himself.
因为没有家里的帮助，凯文必须依靠自己。
②I did not know until,I，last night,saw the book advertised in a newspaper,that I could trust the name as real and available for a post-office.
这个句子中用到了“not……until……”结构，表示“直到……才……”。
例 He did not know it was me until I took off my sunglasses.
直到我取下墨镜，他才认出我。
1.A life without a friend is a life without a sun.
人生没有了朋友就犹如失去了阳光。
2.Don't try to win a friend by presenting gifts.You should instead contribute your sincere love and learn how to win others'heart through appropriate ways.—Socrates
不要用馈赠去获得朋友，你必须奉献你诚挚的爱，学会怎样用适当的方法来赢得别人的心。——古希腊哲学家 苏格拉底
3.Friends are sunshine in life.—Ibsen
朋友是生活中的阳光。——易卜生
4.A bosom friend afar brings distant land near.
海内存知己，天涯若比邻。
5.You think I'm the son of fate；in fact,I'm creating my own destiny.—Emerson
你们认为我是命运之子，实际上，我却在创造着我自己的命运。——爱默生
6.If two people read the same book,they have a bond between them.
如果两个人读过同一本书，他们之间就有了一条纽带。
7.Flaming enthusiasm,backed up by horse sense and persistence,is the quality that most frequently makes for success.—Dale Carnegie
永不熄灭的热情加以常识和坚持不懈是成功的重要素质。——戴尔·卡耐基
8.The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have,instead of what you don't have.—Woody Allen
欣赏和喜欢你拥有的东西，而不是你没有的东西，你才能快乐。——伍迪·艾伦
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