亨利·凡·戴克/ Henry Van Dyke
亨利·凡·戴克(1852—1933)，美國作家、教育家、演說家和傳道士。曾任普裏斯頓大學英國文學係教授，著有《小河集》《船和港》等。
Ace in the Hole
Understand these new phrases before you read this article.
1. descend upon突然到達；襲擊（突然降臨）
2. compare with與……相比較
3. set down放置
4. thrust into深入
There was a handful of clay in the bank of a river. It was only common clay, coarse and heavy; but it had high thoughts of its own value, and wonderful dreams of the great place which it was to fill in the world when the time came for its virtues to be discovered.
Overhead, in the spring sunshine, the trees whispered together of the glory which descended upon them when the delicate blossoms and leaves began to expand, and the forest glowed the fair, clear colors, as if the dust of thousands of rubies and emeralds were hanging, in soft clouds, above the earth.
The flowers, surprised with the joy of beauty, bent their heads to one another, as the wind caressed them, and said,“Sisters, how lovely you have become. You make the day bright.”
The river, glad of new strength and rejoicing in the unison of all its waters, murmured to the shores in music, telling of its release from icy fetters, its swift flight from the snow-clad mountains, and the mighty work to which it was hurryingthe wheels of many mills to be turned, and great ships to be floated to the sea.
Waiting blindly in its bed, the clay comforted itself with lofty hopes.“My time will come,”it said.“I was not made to be hidden forever. Glory and beauty and honor are coming to me in due season.”
One day the clay felt itself taken from the place where it had waited so long. A flat blade of iron passed beneath it, and lifted it, and tossed it into a cart with other lumps of clay, and it was carried far away, as it seemed, over a rough and stony road. But it was not afraid, nor discouraged, for it said to itself:“This is necessary. The path to glory is always rugged. Now I am on my way to play a great part in the world.”
But the hard journey was nothing, compared with the tribulation and distress that came after it. The clay was put into a trough and mixed and beaten and stirred and trampled. It seemed almost unbearable. But there was consolation in the thought that something very fine and noble was certainly coming out of all this trouble. The clay felt sure that, if it could only wait long enough, a wonderful reward was in store for it.
Then it was put upon a swiftly turning wheel, and whirled around until it seemed as if it must fly into a thousand pieces. A strange power pressed it and moulded it, as it revolved, and through all the dizziness and pain it felt that it was taking a new form.
Then an unknown hand put it into an oven, and fires were kindled about itfierce and penetratinghotter than all the heats of summer that had ever brooded upon the bank of the river. But through all, the clay held itself together and endured its trials, in the confidence of a great future.“Surely,”it thought,“I am intended for something very splendid, since such pains are taken with me. Perhaps I am fashioned for the ornament of a temple, or a precious vase for the table of a king.”
At last the baking was finished. The clay was taken from the furnace and set down upon a board, in the cool air, under the blue sky. The tribulation was passed. The reward was at hand.
Close beside the board there was a pool of water, not very deep, nor very clear, but calm enough to reflect, with impartial truth, every image that felt upon it. There for the first time, as it was lifted from the board, the clay saw its new shape, the reward of all its patience and pain, the consummation of its hopes—a common flower-pot, straight and stiff, red and ugly. And then it felt that it was not destined for a king’s house, nor for a palace of art, because it was made without glory or beauty or honor; and it murmured against the unknown maker, saying,“Why hast thou made me thus?”
Many days it passed in sullen discontent. Then it was filled with earth, and something—it knew not what—but something rough and brown and dead-looking, was thrust into the middle of the earth and covered over. The clay rebelled at this new disgrace.“This is the worst of all that has happened to me, to be filled with dirt and rubbish. Surely I am a failure.”
But presently it was set in a greenhouse, where the sunlight fell warm upon it, and water was sprinkled over it, and day by day as it waited, a change began to come to it. Something was stirring within it—a new hope. Still it was ignorant, and knew not what the new hope meant.
One day the clay was lifted again from its place, and carried into a great church. Its dream was coming true after all. It had a fine part to play in the world. Glorious music flowed over it. It was surrounded with flowers. Still it could not understand. So it whispered to another vessel of clay, like itself, close beside it,“Why have they set me here? Why do all the people look towards us?”And the other vessel answered,“Do you not know? You are carrying a royal scepter of lilies. Their petals are white as snow, and the heart of them is like pure gold. The people look this way because the flower is the most wonderful in the world.And the root of it is in your heart.”
Then the clay was content, and silently thanked its maker, because, though an earthen vessel, it held so great a treasure.
參考譯文
很久以前，在一條河邊有這樣一撮黏土。說起來，它也不過是普普通通的黏土，粗糙笨重，不過它對自己的價值看得很高。它對自己在世界上可能占有的地位懷有奇特的想象，認為隻要能得到機會，自己的價值一定會被人們發現。
在這撮黏土的頭頂上，明媚的春光裏，樹木正在交頭接耳地竊竊私語，講述著當纖細的花兒和樹葉開始綻放，林中一片澄澈碧綠時，它們身上所閃耀的無盡光輝。那種景象就如無數紅綠寶石粉末所形成的彩雲，輕輕地飄浮在大地上。
花兒們看到這樣的美景，非常驚喜，它們在春風的吹拂下探頭欠身，相互祝賀：“姐妹們，你們出落得多可愛啊，你們給白日增添了多少光輝啊。”
河水也為新力量的加入而感到高興。它沉浸在水流重聚的喜悅中，不斷地用美好的音調向河岸低語，傾訴著自己是如何掙脫冰雪的束縛，如何從積雪覆蓋的群山奔流到這裏，以及它匆忙前往擔負的重任——許多水車的輪子等著它去推動，巨大的船舶等著它運送到大海裏。
那撮黏土懵懵懂懂地在河**等待著，不停地用各種遠大理想來自我安慰。“我的時運定將來到，”它說，“我不可能長久地被埋沒在這裏。世上的光彩、榮耀，在一定的時候，肯定會降臨到我的身上。”
有一天，黏土發現自己的位置被挪動了，它已經不待在原來長期等候的地方了。它被一個鏟土的鐵鏟挖了起來，然後和別的泥土一起被裝在一輛車上，沿著一條似乎非常坎坷的鋪著石塊的路，被送到一個遙遠的地方。但是，它沒有害怕，也沒有氣餒，隻是在心裏暗想：“這是必要的步驟，因為通往光榮的道路總是崎嶇不平的。現在，我就要到世上去完成我那重大的使命了。”
雖然這段路途非常艱辛，但是比起後來所經受的種種痛苦和折磨來算不了什麽。黏土被丟進一個槽子裏麵，然後經過一番摻和、捶打、攪拌和腳踩，那過程真是苦不堪言。但一想到某種美好崇高的事物一定會從這一番曆練中產生，它就感到釋然。黏土堅信，隻要有足夠的耐心去等待，總有一天它會得到豐厚的回報。
接下來，它被放到一隻快速旋轉著的轉盤上旋轉起來，那種感覺就像自己就要被甩得粉身碎骨了。在旋轉之中，似乎有一種神力把它緊緊地揉捏在一起，因此，它雖然經曆了頭暈目眩的痛苦，但它覺著自己開始變成了一種新的形狀。
然後，它被一隻陌生的手放進了爐灶。周圍有熊熊烈火在燃燒——那可真是痛心刺骨啊——灼熱的程度比它在河邊經曆的所有酷暑還要厲害很多。不過，黏土始終十分堅強，經受了一切考驗，挺了過來，並且對自己的偉大前途依然堅信不疑。它想：“既然他們對我下了這麽大的工夫，那我肯定會有一番美好前程的。也許不是充當廟堂殿宇裏的華美裝飾，就是成為帝王幾案上珍貴的花瓶。”
在烘焙完畢之後，黏土被從爐灶中取了出來，放置在一塊木板上麵，讓它在晴空之下、涼風之中慢慢冷卻。磨難已經過去了，回報就在眼前。
木板的旁邊便有一泓潭水，水不深也不清，水麵上很平靜，能把潭邊的事物如實地反映出來。當黏土被人從板上拿起的時候，它終於第一次看到了自己的新形狀，這就是它曆經千辛萬苦後所得到的回報，它的全部心願的成果——隻是一隻很普通的紅色花盆，線條粗糙，模樣醜陋。在這個時候，它才發現自己既不可能榮登帝王之家，也不可能進入藝術的殿堂，因為自己的容貌既不高雅也不華貴。於是，它開始埋怨那位無名的製造者：“你為什麽要把我塑造成這個樣子？”
於是，它一連幾天都悶悶不樂。接著，它被裝上了土，還有另外一件東西——它弄不清是什麽，但灰黃粗糙，樣子很難看——也被插到了土的中間，然後用東西蓋上。這個新的屈辱激起了黏土更大的不滿：“我的不幸可以說是到了極點，竟然被人用來裝髒土和垃圾。我這一輩子算是沒希望了。”
但是，不久之後，黏土又被人放進了一間溫室，這裏有和煦的陽光照射，還有人經常給它灑水。於是就在它一天天耐心等待的時候，有一種變化終於來到了。有種東西正在它體內萌動——莫非是希望重生？它對此仍然不能理解，也不明白這希望意味著什麽。
有一天，黏土又被人從原地搬起，送進了一座宏偉的教堂。它多年的夢想這次終於實現了。它在世上真的是有所作為了。這時，空中傳來陣陣音樂，周圍百花飄香。但它仍然不明白這一切。於是，它就向旁邊跟它一模一樣的另一個黏土器皿悄聲問道：“為什麽我被他們放在這裏，為什麽所有的人都在向我們凝望？”那個器皿答說：“怎麽，你還不知道嗎？你現在正載負著一株狀如王杖的美麗百合。它的花瓣如同皎皎白雪，它的花心如同燦爛純金。人們的目光之所以集中到這裏，是因為這株花是世界上最了不起的，而它的根就植在你的心裏。”
這時黏土感到心滿意足了，它暗暗地感激它的製造者，因為自己雖然隻是一隻普通的泥土器皿，但裏麵裝的是一件無比珍貴的寶物。
Seize Your Time
According to the article, match each of thefollowing words with its synonym.
(1) virtuea. fair
(2) splendidb. enjoyable
(3) ornamentc. excellence
(4) impartiald. decoration
(5) gloriouse. magnificent
Practicing for Better Learning
Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading text?
Write
TRUEif the statement agrees with the information
FALSEif the statement contradicts the information
______ (1) The clay was shaped into a magnificent flower-pot after several procedures.
______ (2) The clay was satisfied with its new shape at the very beginning.
Now a Try
Translate the following sentences into English.
1.這不是一塊普普通通的項鏈，它承載著母親的愛。
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2.我們沉浸在歡樂的海洋裏。
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3.雖然未來的路十分艱辛，但是我們一定要堅持下去。