大学英语综合教程1 UNIT5 TextA A simple life well lived原文+译文
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李函曦-初一语文课程
21
世纪大学英语应用型综合教程（修订版）
1
Unit 5
Part A
Text A
A simple life well lived
1The businessman was at the pier of small coastal Mexican village when a small
boat
with
just
one
fisherman
docked.
Inside
the
small
boat
were
several
large
yellow fin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his
fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied,
“
Only a little
while”.
2
The businessman then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more
fish. The Mexican said he had
enough to support
his family’s immediate needs.
The businessman then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, paly with ma children, take
a nap with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine
and play the guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, senor.”
3
The
businessman
scoffed,
“I
am
a
Harvard
MBA
and
I
could
help
you.
You
should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With
the
proceeds from the
bigger boat
you could
buy several boats; eventually you
would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman,
you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery.
You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to
leave
this
small
coastal
fishing
village
and
move
to
Mexican
City,
then
LA
and
eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise.”
4
The
Mexican
fisherman
asked,
“But
senor,
how
long
will
this
all
take?”
To
which
the
businessman
replied,
“15
-
20
years”.
“But
what
then,
senor?”
The
businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part! When the time is right you
would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become
very
rich.
You
would
make
millions.”
“Millions,
senor?
Then
what?”
The
businessman said, “Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village
where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a
siesta with
your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play
your guitar with your amigos.”
5
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “Isn’t that what I’m doing
right now?”
6
We
live
in
a
world
in
which
being
successful
is
everything.
Success
is
measured by power, popularity, control, achievement, and winning. Having more
and
being
more
is
success.
The
businessman
measured
success
by
the
accumulation of wealth and by living an extravagant life. He held a Harvard MBA,
millions
of dollars, and status as a powerful businessman. “The person with the
most toys wins” is a fitting motto.
7
Possessions
and
wealth
are
not
enough.
While
comforting,
wealth
cannot
fulfill. Benjamin Franklin was of the op
inion, “Money never made a man hap
py
yet,
nor
will
it.
The
more
a
man
has,
the
more
he
wants.
Instead
of
filling
a
vacuum, it makes one.” Wealth may help us to escape emptiness for a short while;
it cannot cure it.
8
The businessman accumulated money to support his retirement. It was wise
to
plan
for
the
future.
Yet,
what
sort
of
life
was
he
living
in
the
present?
The
businessman
was
so
future-
oriented
that
he
hadn’t
taken
sufficient
time
to
question what
the
future
looked like. The businessman
was
living for what
the
Mexican already enjoyed
–
a simple life well lived.
9
Rudyard
Kipling,
giving
a
commencement
address
at
McGill
University
in
Montreal,
said
there
was
one
striking
thing
that
deserves
to
be
remembered
about people. Warning the students against an over-concern for money, power, or
popularity, he said, “Someday you will meet a man who cares for none of these
things. Then you will know how poor you are.” The businessman dis
covered how
poor he was when he met the Mexican fisherman.
10
Ralph
Waldo
Emerson
defined
success
in
a
si
mple
life
well
lived
as:
“to
laugh
often
and
much;
to
win
the
respect
of
intelligent
people
and
affection
of
children;
to
earn
the
appreciation
of
honest
critics
and
endure
the
betrayal
of
false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a
litter bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or an improved social
condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This
is to have succeeded.”
11
I think the Mexican fisherman would have agreed with Emerson.
(731 words)