经典英语优美的散文

　　有很多同学一提到英语就会头痛，其实英语没有那么难的，所以小编今天就给大家带来了英语的优秀散文，有机会可以看看那哦

　　英语散文一

　　Gu Jun zheng

　　在郭老新编的话剧“蔡文姬”里，提到了蔡文姬的父亲蔡邕(yōng)(2)所造的那张焦尾琴。最近我看了“蔡文姬”的演出，自然而然想起了焦尾琴，想起了关于焦尾琴的故事： In the play Cai Wenji, newly written by venerable Guo Moruo, reference is made to jiao wen qin, a zithern partly made of scorched wood by Cai Yong, father of Cai Wenji.

　　Recently, after I saw the play on the stage, my mind naturally went to jiao wen qin and its story.

　　蔡邕因为不愿趋附权贵，怕被人陷害，曾经亡命江南，往来于吴会之间(今江、浙一带)，计十二年。据说他在吴(今苏州)的时候，有一天听见邻家烧饭的柴火中发出一种爆裂的声音，他熟悉这种声音，知道这声音来自一种极好的桐木，这种桐木是造琴(4)的最好材料。他就跟邻家主人商量，把这段烧焦了的桐木要了来，造成一张琴。这张琴弹起来果然非常好听。因为它的一端是烧焦的，所以大家都叫它焦尾琴。

　　Cai Yong disliked playing up to bigwigs and, to avoid frame-ups, he went into exile in the South, wandering about for twelve years in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces. It is said that one day during his stay in Suzhou when he heard the crackling of firewood from his next-door neighbour at cooking time, he knew the familiar sound came from paulownia, a kind of choice wood best for making zitherns. Now, talking it over with his neighbour, he was given the piece of scorched wood, which he subsequently made into a zithern. This musical instrument, when played, turned out to be extremely pleasant to the ear. People called it jiao wei qin because the tail of its sound-board was made of scorched wood.

　　当我想起这个故事的时候，使我对“耳闻不如目见”这句成语不能不有所怀疑。的确，我们认识这个物质世界，有时候不是用眼睛来看而是用耳朵来听的。蔡邕能够从木材燃烧时发出的爆裂声来辨别木材的好坏，充分说明了“耳闻”不一定“不如目见”。当然，“耳闻不如目见”这句话的原意是指间接经验不如直接经验那样可靠，这是完全正确的。但是，如果对这句话只是从字面上来理解，认为耳朵听到的总不如眼睛看见的那样可靠，那对耳朵来说，却是极大的冤枉(6)。

　　When I think of the story, I cannot help having doubts about the validity of the proverb, “Seeing is better than hearing.” Fact is, to know the material world, we sometimes use not the eye, but the ear. That Cai Yong could tell the quality of wood by listening to its crackling sound while it was burning in the kiitchen stove makes it crystal clear that “hearing” is not necessarily less reliable that “seeing”. The above-mentioned proverb literally means that secondhand experience is less reliable than firsthand experience, which is perfectly true. But, if we should take this saying at its face value and regard the ear as invariably less reliable than the eye, we shall do the former a gross injustice.

　　我们应该承认，眼睛是直接经验的主要来源，可是我们也承认，眼睛是最会骗人的。举一个极普通的例子来说，我们大家觉得早晨的太阳比中午的太阳大得多，可是如果你用照相机给太阳在早晨和中午各照一个相，你就会发现摄得的相片是一样大小的。谁会想到，在这个每天接触到的日常现象上，从古到今，无论是什么人，无论在什么地方，都一直在受着眼睛的骗?并且骗得我们好苦，不但古代的大学问家如孔子，没有能回答(7)为什么早晨的太阳看起来会大于中午的太阳，连现代的科学家，对这个问题也不曾有一个令人十分满意的解释。这个现象对迷信眼睛的人来说，是一个有力的讽刺。

　　While we agree that the eye is the main source of direct experience, we must admit that it is also most misleading. Take a most common example. We all agree that the sun is much bigger in the early morning than at noon. But if we take a photo of it in the early morning and at noon respectively, we shall find it of the same size in both cases. Who would have thought that, when it comes to this common phenomenon in our daily life, people the world over should have been fooled by their own eyes ever since time

　　immemorial? The optical illusion has indeed landed us in indescribable trouble. Not only were great ancient sages like Confucius stumped by the question why the sun was seemingly bigger in the early morning than at noon, even scientists of today have failed to give a wholly satisfactory explanation. This is a keen satire on those having blind faith in the eye.

　　当然，我们这样说，并不是要否定眼睛的作用。我们只是说明，眼睛虽然有非常广阔的活动范围，可是它是有缺点的。我们不能迷信眼睛，小看了耳朵的作用。耳朵的活动范围虽然小，可是它的作用也不只是听听讲话，听听音乐。它还有其他的特殊功用。在某种场合，它不但无愧于(8) “以耳代目”这句话，而且比眼睛做得更好。

　　Of course I do not mean to deny the role played by the eye. All I want to show is that although the eye has an extremely wide scope of activities, it is, nevertheless, far from being faultless. We should, therefore, never over-trust the eye and underestimate the usefulness of the ear.Although the ear has a smaller scope of activities, its functions are not confined to listening to conversation or music only. It has other specific functions of its own. Under certain circumstances, it is not only worthy of the saying, “Let the ear do duty for the eye,” it can even excel the eye.

　　英语散文二

　　Night is deadly boring under a roof; but in the open it passes lightly, with its stars, dews1 and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes on the face of Nature.

　　在屋里，夜晚是死寂的单调时光;但是在露天的野外，因为有星星、露珠、还有野外芬芳的陪伴，黑夜得以轻快地流逝，大自然的变化赋予夜晚的每一刻不同的意义。

　　What seems a kind of temporary death to people choked between walls and curtains is a light and living slumber to someone sleeping in the open. All night long he can hear Nature breathing deeply and freely; even as she takes her rest, she turns and smiles. And then there is the stirring hour unknown to those who dwell in houses, when a wakeful influence goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere, and all the outdoors gets to its feet.

　　禁锢在墙壁和窗帘之后的人觉得夜晚像一种短暂的死亡，而露宿野外的人会觉得夜晚就是一场充满生机的小睡。整个夜晚，他都可以听见大自然深沉而自由的呼吸，大自然即便是在休息时间，仍不停运转，并面带微笑。当沉睡的半球苏醒，室外万物复苏，而这种激动人心的时刻是在屋内熟睡的人所不知道的。

　　Then the cock first crows, not to announce the dawn, but like a cheerful watchman speeding the course of night. Cattle awake on the meadows; sheep break their fast3 on dewy hillsides, and find new lairs4 among the plants; and the houseless men who have made their beds outdoors open their eyes and appreciate the beauty of the night.

　　雄鸡最先啼鸣，然而这并非报晓，而更像是一名欢快的守夜者催赶着黑夜的脚步。草地上的牛群醒来;挂满露珠的山坡上羊群开始进食，并开始寻找它们的“新家”;而那些无家可归、露宿在外的人也睁开双眼，欣赏即将逝去的美丽夜色。