雙語(yǔ)美文：小圓點(diǎn)的意義

In the middle of his dream, an artist awoke. He reached for his pencil and started to draw. He started with a single dot. It took the artist hours to finish his picture, and afterwards he collapsed back into bed. Soon he was asleep again, still smiling from thoughts of what he had drawn.

藝術(shù)家從睡夢(mèng)中醒來(lái)，拿起鉛筆，開(kāi)始作畫(huà)。他從一個(gè)孤零零的點(diǎn)畫(huà)起，花了幾個(gè)小時(shí)才完成畫(huà)作，然后倒在床上。很快，他便再次進(jìn)入夢(mèng)鄉(xiāng)，腦海里想著他剛剛完成的畫(huà)作，臉上仍然盈滿(mǎn)了笑意。

The dot, on the other hand, was not as happy. It looked around the page and saw lines all around. They were long and colorful, and the dot was neither. "I don't belong here," it thought, "I am just a small, meaningless dot and this picture does not need me." So the dot jumped off of the page.

不過(guò)，那個(gè)點(diǎn)可沒(méi)這么開(kāi)心。它環(huán)顧畫(huà)紙，發(fā)現(xiàn)周?chē)紳M(mǎn)了線條。那些線條又修長(zhǎng)又亮麗，而點(diǎn)卻和這些一點(diǎn)都不沾邊。“我不屬于這里，”它想，“我只是一個(gè)渺小的點(diǎn)，無(wú)足輕重，這幅畫(huà)不需要我。”于是它就從畫(huà)紙上跳了出來(lái)。

It approached a newspaper that was lying nearby. There were dots all over the newspaper. "Surely this is where I am meant to be," it said aloud. As soon as the dot hopped onto the front page of the newspaper, all the other dots started to yell. "You cannot stay here!" they said. "Why not?" asked the dot. "You are dots, and you are here." "We are not dots," they said, "we are periods, and we belong in books, and stories, and newspapers. You are just a dot." The dot felt silly, so it left the newspaper. Then the dot saw a white cube with dots on every side. "This is where I belong," it thought to itself. "Excuse me," it said politely to four dots sitting on a side of the cube, "I am a dot and you are dots, so may I join you?"

它走向旁邊放著的一張報(bào)紙，上面布滿(mǎn)了圓點(diǎn)。“顯然這才是我應(yīng)該待的地方。”它大聲說(shuō)。但就在它一跳上頭版的位置時(shí)，其他點(diǎn)就立刻開(kāi)始嚷嚷了起來(lái)。“你不能待在這里!”它們說(shuō)。“為什么不行?”點(diǎn)問(wèn)，“你們也是點(diǎn)，你們不也待在這里嘛。“我們不是點(diǎn)，”它們回答說(shuō)，“我們是書(shū)、小說(shuō)和報(bào)紙上的句點(diǎn)，而你只是一個(gè)點(diǎn)。”點(diǎn)自覺(jué)愚笨，就離開(kāi)了報(bào)紙。接著點(diǎn)又看到了一個(gè)白色的立方體，每一面都布滿(mǎn)了小圓點(diǎn)。“這才是屬于我的地方，”它暗自想著。“打擾一下，”它彬彬有禮地對(duì)其中一面的四個(gè)點(diǎn)說(shuō)，“我是一個(gè)點(diǎn)，你們也是點(diǎn)，我能加入你們嗎?”

"No, you may not," said the four dots. "We are dots on a pair of dice. An extra dot would ruin a pair of dice." The dot felt silly again and hopped over to the artist who was sound asleep.

“不，不行。”那四個(gè)點(diǎn)答道，“我們是一副骰子上的點(diǎn)。多一個(gè)點(diǎn)這對(duì)骰子就沒(méi)用了。”點(diǎn)再次覺(jué)得自己愚蠢無(wú)比，就跳到了正在熟睡的藝術(shù)家那里。

"I wonder why he drew me ..." thought the dot. And that's when it saw dots on the artist's hand and arm. "Perhaps this is where I was meant to be," said the dot as it crawled onto the artist's hand and rested.

“我想知道他為什么要畫(huà)我??”點(diǎn)思忖著。就在這時(shí)，它看到了藝術(shù)家手臂上的那些點(diǎn)。“或許這才是我應(yīng)該去的地方。”點(diǎn)一邊說(shuō)著，一邊爬到藝術(shù)家手上，安頓了下來(lái)。

"Ahem," said one of the dots on his arm. "AHEM!" said the arm dot even louder. "You are not a freckle. You are a dot, and only freckles belong here." "Aren't freckles a type of dot?" asked the dot, who was not feeling welcome anymore.

“嗨，”藝術(shù)家胳膊上的一個(gè)點(diǎn)說(shuō)話了。“嗨!”胳膊上的點(diǎn)提高了嗓門(mén)。“你不是雀斑。你是一個(gè)點(diǎn);只有雀斑才能待在這里。”“難道雀斑不是一種點(diǎn)嗎?”覺(jué)得又受到了冷落的點(diǎn)問(wèn)。

"Yes, we are," said the freckle, "We are a special kind of dot, and you are definitely not one of us." The dot did not know what to do. It didn't belong with lines, or periods, or dice, or freckles.

“是，我們是點(diǎn)。”雀斑說(shuō)，“但我們不是普通的點(diǎn)，而你確實(shí)不屬于我們。”點(diǎn)有些不知所措。它不屬于線條，也不屬于句點(diǎn)、骰子和雀斑。

The artist woke up at that very moment and went to look at his picture, but he was heartbroken by what he saw. He held up the drawing and sighed. "Where has my seed gone?" he cried.

就在這時(shí)，藝術(shù)家醒了。他起身去看他的畫(huà)作，但是眼前的一切令他傷心欲絕。他拿起畫(huà)，嘆息不已。“我畫(huà)的種子怎么不見(jiàn)了?”他喊道。

"This is supposed to be a picture of a seed in the soil before it grows into a mighty tree, but without the seed, it is useless, and I cannot draw another so perfect as I did the first time," said the artist sadly.

“這幅畫(huà)是種子長(zhǎng)成參天大樹(shù)前在土壤里的情景。但現(xiàn)在種子不見(jiàn)了，這幅畫(huà)也就毫無(wú)意義了，而且我再也畫(huà)不出像第一幅畫(huà)這樣完美的作品了。”藝術(shù)家傷心地說(shuō)。

The dot began to feel silly one last time. It had not realized that all along it was not just a dot, but also a seed. A seed may start off small, but there's no telling how large it will become, how many beautiful leaves it will grow, and how many people will find shelter under it.

點(diǎn)最后一次覺(jué)得自己無(wú)比愚笨。它一直沒(méi)有意識(shí)到，原來(lái)自己一開(kāi)始就不僅僅只是一個(gè)點(diǎn)，而且還是一粒種子。種子在初期也許是渺小的，但是誰(shuí)也無(wú)法預(yù)言它會(huì)長(zhǎng)多大，會(huì)生出多少美麗的葉子，又會(huì)有多少人在下面納涼。

The dot jumped back onto the page. It jumped onto the exact spot it had left because it knew that, although it was just a small dot, it meant much more in the big picture.

點(diǎn)跳回畫(huà)紙上，回到了它當(dāng)初離開(kāi)的地方。因?yàn)樗靼琢耍鹤约弘m然只是一個(gè)小小的點(diǎn)，但是在這幅巨作中卻意義重大。