《Time Leaps On》

In childhood’s bright and timeless seasons
summer lingers long; the blackbirds and the thrushes
sing a never-ending song, and there are always roses.
But alas as old we grow, the pace of life is quickened.
Time leaps on. The hours once slow seem to fly away from
us on wings that go too fast, and every summer passing by
is shorter than the last.

《時間飛逝》
幼年時覺得季節總是如此明亮，沒有時間流去的感覺，夏日炎炎，拉得好長好長，畫眉的歌好像永遠唱不完，玫瑰花也彷彿永遠開放著。可是我們的年齡漸漸大起來，生命的腳步加快，時間彷彿在跳躍過去，以前一度覺得一個個鐘點過得這樣慢，現在覺得好像長了翅膀一樣從我們身邊飛去，飛得太快了，每一個過去的夏天，似乎要比前一個夏天更短一些。


《As Time Goes On》
As time goes on things hurt you less. When you are
young your happiness depends so much from day to day,
on what people do and say. A word unkind will leave
a smart; lovers’ quarrels break the heart, and all
life’s small catastrophes seem like giant calamities.

As time goes on you grow a hide, protected from the
world outside; an inner life you cultivate that nobody
can violate. And so you learn philosophy. Things that
once meant misery you accept without a tear. Life
compensates you year to year. Youth’s bloom may pass;
it’s beauties wane, but so does its anguish and its pain.

《時間的修煉》
當時光流逝，事物對你的損害就越來越少。年輕時，你每天的幸福似乎都寄託在人家的一言一行。一句不客氣的話，就在你心裡留下很大的疙瘩。跟情人吵一架就使你傷心欲絕，生活上一點點小小的不幸，就像極大的災難。

可是時光流逝，你的性格就漸漸變得沉著。你培養了內心的生活，使你不致受外面世界太大的干擾。你學會了明哲的修養。以前你覺得很大的不幸，現在你能忍受下來，連一滴眼淚都不流。一年復一年，人生會給你補償。少年時的花以凋謝。美麗也消失，心靈上那種深深的痛楚，也同樣隨之消失。


---------By Patience Strong


【圖片版權為Salvador Dali 所有】