月亮的智慧 Lesson from the Moon
“When the moon is fullest it begins to wane, when it is darkest it begins to grow.”
There is a calm wisdom in this old saying that impressed me when I heard it first from a monk of a Buddhist monastery in China. It has often helped me to retain a good measure of equanimity under stress and hardship as well as when some unexpected success or good luck might have made me too exuberant. There is hope and consolation in the sure knowledge that even the darkest hours of pains and troubles won't last, but also a warning against overrating the passing glories of wealth, power and great good fortune. A warning and a hope, not only for the individual, but also for governments, nations and their leaders, a brief summing up of all that history and human experience can tell us. And beyond all that we might hear in it an echo of the law and order that holds our universe in safe balance.
“月盈则亏，晦则明。”
这句中国的古语里有种平静的智慧，它最初是一个中国佛教寺院中的一位和尚告诉我的，这句话给我的印象很深刻。从那时起，每当我遭遇困难阻碍，或者遇到可能使我过于兴奋的成功或好运的时候，这句话总能帮我保持镇定。这句话启示我们，不论痛苦或困难的时刻有多么暗淡，它们不会长久持续下去，我们因此会感到希望和宽慰；这句话同时也警示我们，财富、权力或鸿运当头的荣耀，都不过是过眼云烟，我们不必太放在心上。无论对于个人还是对于国家，民族乃至其领袖，这则谚语都是警示和希望，而且它还是历史与人类发展所给予我们的简要总结。除此之外，我们从这句话里面还可以聆听到使宇宙保持平衡状态的法则与秩序的回声。
词汇笔记
exuberant [igˈzju:bərənt] adj. 繁茂的；感情充溢的；极度的
例 An exuberant man came into the studio one day with his wife.
一天，一位喜气洋洋的男人携他的妻子走进了录音棚。
consolation [ˌkɔnsəˈleiʃən] n. 安慰；慰问
例 The child became her only consolation.
孩子成了她唯一的安慰。
glory [ˈglɔ:ri] n. 光荣；荣誉
例 Share the burdens and the glory!
与别人分享负担与荣誉！
individual [ˌindiˈvidjuəl] n. 个人；个体
例 You have society on one hand and the individual on the other.
你一方面是社会一员，而另一方面又是一个人。
小试身手
月盈则亏，晦则明。
译_______________
这句话启示我们，不论痛苦或困难的时刻有多么暗淡，它们不会长久持续下去，我们因此会感到希望和宽慰。
译_______________
财富、权力或鸿运当头的荣耀，都不过是过眼云烟，我们不必太放在心上。
译_______________
短语家族
……a brief summing up of all that history and human experience can tell us.
sum up：总结；概括；总计
造_______________
And beyond all that we might hear in it an echo of the law and order that holds our universe in safe balance.
beyond all：首先；首要地
造_______________