Day002

Day 002

IfI rest, I rust

Orisen Marden

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? The significant inscriptionfound on an old key - “If I rest, I rust” - would be an excellent motto for those who are afflictedwith the slightest bit of idleness. Even themost industrious person might adopt it withadvantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his faculties to rest, like the iron in the unused key,they will soon show signs of rust and, ultimately,cannot do the work required of them.

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? Those who would attain the heights reachedand kept by great men must keep their faculties polishedby constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate thatguard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature,agriculture - every department of human endeavor.

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? Industry keeps bright the key that opens thetreasury of achievement. If Hugh Miller, after toilingall day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings torest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist. Thecelebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published amathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, ifhe had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleepwhile he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position ofthe stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.

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? Labor vanquishesall - not inconstant, spasmodic, or ill-directedlabor; but faithful, unremitting, daily efforttoward a well-directed purpose. Just as truly as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, so is eternalindustry the price of noble and enduring success. （276 words）

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單詞本：

inscription [?n'skr?p??n]n. 題詞；銘文；刻印

motto?['mɑto] n. 座右銘，格言；箴言

afflict [?'fl?kt]vt. 折磨；使痛苦；使苦惱

idleness ['a?dln?s]n. 懶惰；閑散；失業(yè)

industrious [?n'd?str??s]adj. 勤勉的

faculty[?f?k?lti]n. 科，系；能力；全體教員

ultimately ['?lt?m?tl?]adv. 最后；根本；基本上

polish['pɑl??]n. 磨光，擦亮；擦亮劑；優(yōu)雅，精良vi. 擦亮，變光滑vt. 磨光，使發(fā)亮；使完美;改進(jìn)

endeavor [?n'd?v?]n. 努力；盡力（等于endeavour）

toil [t??l]n. 辛苦；苦工；網(wǎng)；圈套

quarry['kw?ri]n. 采石場(chǎng)；獵物；來源

lad[l?d]n. 少年，小伙子；家伙

astronomer[?'strɑn?m?]n. 天文學(xué)家

vanquish['v??kw??]vt. 征服；擊?。豢朔?；抑制（感情等）

spasmodic[sp?z'mɑd?k]adj. 痙攣的，痙攣性的；間歇性的

unremitting[,?nr?'m?t??]adj. 不懈的；不間斷的；堅(jiān)忍的

vigilance ['v?d??l?ns]n. 警戒，警覺；警醒癥

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[原文翻譯]

如果我休息，我就會(huì)生銹

? 在一把舊鑰匙上發(fā)現(xiàn)了一則意義深遠(yuǎn)的銘文——如果我休息，我就會(huì)生銹。對(duì)于那些懶散而煩惱的人來說，這將是至理名言。甚至最為勤勉的人也以此作為警示：如果一個(gè)人有才能而不用，就像廢棄鑰匙上的鐵一樣，這些才能就會(huì)很快生銹，并最終無法完成安排給自己的工作。

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? 有些人想取得偉人所獲得并保持的成就，他們就必須不斷運(yùn)用自身才能，以便開啟知識(shí)的大門，即那些通往人類努力探求的各個(gè)領(lǐng)域的大門，這些領(lǐng)域包括各種職業(yè)：科學(xué)，藝術(shù)，文學(xué)，農(nóng)業(yè)等。

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? 勤奮使開啟成功寶庫(kù)的鑰匙保持光亮。如果休?米勒在采石場(chǎng)勞作一天后，晚上的時(shí)光用來休息消遣的話，他就不會(huì)成為名垂青史的地質(zhì)學(xué)家。著名數(shù)學(xué)家愛德蒙?斯通如果閑暇時(shí)無所事事，就不會(huì)出版數(shù)學(xué)詞典，也不會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)開啟數(shù)學(xué)之門的鑰匙。如果蘇格蘭青年弗格森在山坡上放羊時(shí)，讓他那思維活躍的大腦處于休息狀態(tài)，而不是借助一串珠子計(jì)算星星的位置，他就不會(huì)成為著名的天文學(xué)家。

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? 勞動(dòng)征服一切。這里所指的勞動(dòng)不是斷斷續(xù)續(xù)的，間歇性的或方向偏差的勞動(dòng)，而是堅(jiān)定的，不懈的，方向正確的每日勞動(dòng)。正如要想擁有自由就要時(shí)刻保持警惕一樣，要想取得偉大的，持久的成功，就必須堅(jiān)持不懈地努力。

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