讀點(diǎn)好英文:The DaffodiI PrincipIe　水仙定律

The DaffodiI PrincipIe　水仙定律

·Jaroldeen Edwards·

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say，“Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.”I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead.

“I will come next Tuesday.”I promised, a little reIuctantIy, on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy.Still, I had promised, and so I drove there.When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said，“Forget the daffodils, Carolyn！The road is invisibIe in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch！”

My daughter smiled calmly and said，“We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home！”I assured her.

“I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car.”

“How far will we have to drive?”

“Just a few blocks，”Carolyn said，“I'll drive. I'm used to this.”

After several minutes, I had to ask，“Where are we going?This isn't the way to the garage！”“We're going to my garage the long way，”Carolyn smiled，“by way of the daffodils.”

“Carolyn，”I said sternIy，“please turn around.”

“It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read，“Daffodil Garden”.

We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.Before me lay the most glorious sight.It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes.The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns-great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.There were five acres of flowers.

“But who has done this?”I asked Carolyn.

“It's just one woman.”Carolyn answered.“She lives on the property. That's her home.”Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.We walked up to the house.On the patio, we saw a poster.“Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”was the headIine.

The first answer was a simple one.“50，000 bulbs.”it read.

The second answer was，“one bulb at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and a very little brain”.

The third answer was，“Began in 1958”.

There it was. The Daffodil Principle.For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun-one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.

Just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time often just one baby-step at a time-and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things.We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way.”I admitted to Carolyn.“What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it‘one bulb at a time'through all those years?Just think what I might have been able to achieve！”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her direct way.“Start tomorrow.”she said.

賈洛德·愛(ài)德華思

好幾次了，我女兒打電話來(lái)說(shuō)：“媽媽?zhuān)銊?wù)必得在那些水仙花凋謝之前來(lái)看看它們?！蔽沂窍肴?，可從拉古娜到箭頭湖要開(kāi)兩小時(shí)的車(chē)。

“那我下周二去吧?！痹谒谌未騺?lái)電話時(shí)，我極不情愿地答應(yīng)道。到了那個(gè)周二，清晨很冷又下著雨，不過(guò)既然答應(yīng)了，我還是開(kāi)車(chē)去了。等我終于到了卡羅琳家，擁抱問(wèn)候過(guò)我的外孫們，說(shuō)：“卡羅琳，別想那水仙了！天陰又有霧，路都看不清。這世上除了你和這些孩子，沒(méi)有什么能讓我為想去看他們?cè)匍_(kāi)一步車(chē)了！”

女兒平靜地笑著說(shuō)：“媽媽?zhuān)覀円恢倍荚谶@種天氣里開(kāi)車(chē)的呀！”

“那反正你甭想讓我再開(kāi)車(chē)上路了，除非天晴了，否則我就直接開(kāi)車(chē)回家！”我重申道。

“我本來(lái)指望你能開(kāi)車(chē)捎我去修車(chē)廠取我的車(chē)呢！”

“我們得開(kāi)多遠(yuǎn)啊？”

“就幾條街，”卡羅琳說(shuō)，“我來(lái)開(kāi)，反正我習(xí)慣了這種天氣?！?/p>

過(guò)了幾分鐘，我不得不問(wèn)：“我們這是去哪兒??？這不是去修車(chē)廠的路啊！”卡羅琳笑了：“我們要去的那個(gè)修車(chē)廠很遠(yuǎn)，要經(jīng)過(guò)水仙花。”

“卡羅琳，”我嚴(yán)厲地說(shuō)，“請(qǐng)你掉頭回去。”

“沒(méi)事的，媽媽?zhuān)冶ＷC，如果你錯(cuò)過(guò)了這次經(jīng)歷，你將永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)原諒自己的。”

大概過(guò)了二十分鐘，我們轉(zhuǎn)到了一條碎石小路上，我看到一個(gè)小教堂。在教堂的稍遠(yuǎn)一側(cè)，我看見(jiàn)一個(gè)手寫(xiě)的牌子，上面寫(xiě)著“水仙花園”。

我們走下車(chē)，一人領(lǐng)著一個(gè)孩子。我跟著卡羅琳順小道而行，轉(zhuǎn)到小道的一角，我抬頭一看，驚住了。在我面前的是極為壯觀的景象，看上去仿佛有人把一大缸金子傾倒下來(lái)，覆蓋了峰頂和山坡。那些花栽種成宏偉的旋渦圖案——寬寬窄窄的條紋有很多顏色，有深橘、白、檸檬黃、橙紅、番紅和乳黃。不同色系的花種植為一組，這樣看上去每組都用自己獨(dú)特的色調(diào)一圈圈地在自己的河流中流淌。那兒有五畝花。

“這是誰(shuí)種的呢？”我問(wèn)卡羅琳。

“就一個(gè)女人，”卡羅琳回答，“她就以這片花為生。那是她的家?！笨_琳指著一座整修得很好的A字形房子，在一片壯麗的景象當(dāng)中，這房子看起來(lái)小而樸素。我們走到房子跟前，在院子里，我看到一張海報(bào)，標(biāo)題是“答案——我知道你要問(wèn)的這些問(wèn)題”。

第一個(gè)答案很簡(jiǎn)單，寫(xiě)著：“五萬(wàn)株。”

第二個(gè)答案是：“一次種一株，一個(gè)女人，兩只手，兩只腳，不需多動(dòng)腦?！?/p>

第三個(gè)答案是：“開(kāi)始于1958年?！?/p>

這就是“水仙定律”。對(duì)于我，那一刻是一次改變生活的經(jīng)歷。我在琢磨這個(gè)我從未謀面的女人，她，在三十五年前，開(kāi)始——一次種一株——給她自己帶來(lái)了美的景象和花滿山頂?shù)目鞓?lè)。

就這樣一次種一株，年復(fù)一年，這個(gè)不知名的女人永遠(yuǎn)地改變了她所居住的世界，她創(chuàng)造了無(wú)法形容的壯麗、美好和感動(dòng)。

在這個(gè)水仙花園中得出的定律是值得慶祝的最偉大的定律之一。那就是，懂得向我們的目標(biāo)邁進(jìn)，只求一步一個(gè)腳印——通常一次就一小步——懂得去熱愛(ài)正在做的事，懂得利用時(shí)間的積累。當(dāng)我們把時(shí)間的碎片疊加，再加上每天的一點(diǎn)兒努力，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)我們也能成就輝煌。我們也能改變這個(gè)世界。

“這讓我在某種意義上有點(diǎn)兒?jiǎn)蕷??！蔽腋_琳說(shuō)，“如果我三十五年前有一個(gè)宏偉的目標(biāo)，然后也像這樣，‘一次種一株’地做下去，這些年我會(huì)有什么成就呢？想想我到底能做成什么！”

女兒直截了當(dāng)?shù)乜偨Y(jié)了這一天的收獲，她說(shuō)：“從明天開(kāi)始。”

核心單詞

reIuctantIy[ri'l?kt?ntli]adv.不情愿地；勉強(qiáng)地

invisibIe[in'viz?bl]adj.看不見(jiàn)的；無(wú)形的

sternIy['st?：nli]adv.嚴(yán)格地；嚴(yán)厲地

majestic[m?'d?estik]adj.雄偉的；威嚴(yán)的

headIine['hedlain]n.（報(bào)紙等的）標(biāo)題；大標(biāo)題

obscure[?b'skju?]adj.黑暗的；朦朧的；晦澀的

increment['inkrim?nt]n.增加；增額

實(shí)用句型

She had created something of ineffabIe magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

她創(chuàng)造了無(wú)法形容的壯麗、美好和感動(dòng)。

①過(guò)去完成時(shí)：had+P.P.（動(dòng)詞的過(guò)去分詞）。

②ineffable說(shuō)不出的，類(lèi)似帶有否定前綴的詞還有imbalance不均衡狀態(tài)；illegal非法的；irresponsible不負(fù)責(zé)任的等。

翻譯練習(xí)

1.他昨晚到十二點(diǎn)才睡覺(jué)。（not until）

2.我們?cè)诖笥曛须x去。（in the midst of）

3.所有這些都說(shuō)明了同樣的結(jié)論。（point to）