美國語文第五冊 第202期：不經(jīng)風(fēng)雨 怎見彩虹（01）
The education, moral and intellectual, of every individual, must be chiefly his own work.
每個人的教育程度、道德感以及學(xué)識主要來自他的工作實踐，
Rely upon it that the ancients were right; both in morals and intellect we give the final shape to our characters,
這點毋庸置疑，古人亦不例外。通過道德與才智，我們?yōu)樽约浩沸再x以最后定型，
and thus become, emphatically, the architects of our own fortune.
亦更為強調(diào)，我們才是自己命運的建筑師。
How else could it happen that young men, who have had precisely the same opportunities,
對那些年輕人而言，嚴(yán)格說來，面臨同樣機遇的他們，還有決定前途的其他途徑？
should be continually presenting us with such different results, and rushing to such opposite destinies?
他們?nèi)阅芾^續(xù)展示類似我們的不同生活道路，抑或倉促陷入截然不同的愿望悖反？
Difference of talent will not solve it, because that difference is very often in favor of the disappointed candidate.
天資差異無法解決這一問題，因為這種差異通常對失望的落選者更為有利。
You will see issuing from the walls of the same college, nay, sometimes from the bosom of the same family,
從學(xué)院墻報欄公示結(jié)果來看，有時，反對票甚至來自師出同門的同窗。
two young men, of whom one will be admitted to be a genius of high order, the other scarcely above the point of medioCRIty;
兩位年輕人，其中一人被公認(rèn)具有天才稟賦，另外一人幾乎難稱平庸之才，
yet you will see the genius sinking and perishing in poverty, obscurity, and wretchedness;
然而，最終結(jié)局是，天才逐漸沉淪湮沒一生默默無聞，貧窮困窘，處境悲慘；
while, on the other hand, you will observe the mediocre plodding his slow but sure way up the hill of life,
反之不難看到，那些平庸之輩正緩慢沉重地跋涉，最終抵達(dá)生活高處。
gaining steadfast footing at every step, and mounting, at length, to eminence and distinction, an ornament to his family, a blessing to his country.
他們每一步步履堅實，穩(wěn)健有力才能夠出類拔萃，成為家族的驕傲，以及國家的自豪。
Now, whose work is this? Manifestly their own.
那么，原因究竟何在？顯而易見，成功在于自己，
They are the architects of their respective fortunes.
年輕人堪為自己不同命運的設(shè)計師。
