Discovery in a Thunderstorm

雷雨中的醒悟

　　Many years ago I was on a bicycle trip through some exceedingly picturesque countryside. Suddenly, dark clouds piled up overhead and rain began to fall, but strange to relate, several hundred yards ahead of me the sun shone brilliantly. Pedaling, however, as rapidly as I could, I found it impossible to get into the clear. The clouds with their rain kept advancing faster than I could race forward. I continued this unequal contest for an exhausting half hour, before realizing that I could not win my way to the bright area ahead of me.

　　多年前，我曾騎著自行車從一片風(fēng)景如畫的郊野中穿過。突然，烏云密布，大雨滂沱，然而令人驚奇的是，在前方幾百碼的地方卻是陽光燦爛。我蹬著車使勁往前沖，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)怎么也到不了那片陽光普照之地。烏云夾著大雨比我沖得還快。半小時后，精疲力盡的我停止了這場不公平的抗?fàn)?，意識到自己根本無法到達(dá)那片晴朗的天地。

　　Then it dawned upon me that I was wasting my strength in unimportant hurry, while paying no attention whatsoever to the landscape for the sake of which I was making the trip. The storm could not last forever and the discomfort was not unendurable. Indeed, there was much to look at which might otherwise have escaped me. As I gazed about with sharpened appreciation, I saw colors and lines and contours that would have appeared differently under brilliant light. The rain mists which now crowned the wooded hills and the fresh clearness of the different greens were entrancing. My annoyance at the rain was gone and my eagerness to escape it vanished. It had provided me with a new view and helped me understand that the sources of beauty and satisfaction may be found close at hand within the range of one’s own sensibilities.

　　頓時，我豁然開朗，我在毫不重要的事情上疲于奔波，卻不曾欣賞途中的景致，忘記了自己旅行的目的。暴風(fēng)雨不會永不停息，任何不適也并非難以容忍。的確，我差點錯過了途中許多美好的景致。我滿懷感激地凝望著眼前的景色，此刻所見的色彩、線條和輪廓比起陽光下別有一番風(fēng)味。樹木繁茂的山上，煙雨朦朧；別樣的綠樹清新明朗，令人神迷。大雨帶給我的煩惱頓時消散，想要逃離的欲望也不復(fù)存在。相反，它帶給我一種全新的視覺景觀，讓我懂得美與滿足就源自于我們身邊，只要細(xì)心發(fā)現(xiàn)便能唾手可得。