The Two Roads两条道路

By John Ruskin

It was New Year’s night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal--the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. Now his health was poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful, and his old age short of comforts.

这是新年的夜晚。一位老人站在窗边，忧伤的眼睛眺望着深蓝的天空。空中的繁星犹如漂浮在清澈如镜的湖面上的朵朵百合。他慢慢将目光投向地面，此刻，没有什 么人比他还绝望，迈向他最终的归宿--坟墓。他已走过通向坟墓的六十级台阶，除了错误和悔恨，他一无所获。现在，他体弱多病，精神空虚，心哀神伤，人到晚 年无慰藉。

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads--one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep , dark cave, which was endless, where poison flowed instead of water and where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

年轻岁月，如梦般展现在他面前，老人想起父亲把他带到岔路口的那个庄严时刻--一条路通向安宁，快乐的世界，鲜花遍布，果实丰硕，甜美轻柔的歌声在空中回荡;另一条路则通向幽深黑暗，没有尽头的洞穴，洞内流淌着的不是水而是毒液，群魔乱舞，毒蛇嘶嘶爬动。

He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, "O, youth, return! O, my father, place me once more at the entrance to life, and I’ll choose the better way!" But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

他仰望星空，痛苦的大喊：”啊，青春，回来吧!啊，父亲，再一次带我到人生的岔路口吧，我会选一条更好的道路。“但是，他的父亲和青春岁月都已经一去不复返了。