名稱：2 The Two Roads
內容簡介：
晨讀英語美文 勵志感悟
[00:00.11]　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 The Two Roads
[00:04.36]It was New Year's Night. An aged man was standing at a window.
[00:08.03]He raised his mournful eyes towards the deep blue sky,
[00:12.69]where the stars were floating like
[00:15.62]white lilies on the surface of a clear calm lake.
[00:17.70] Then he cast them on the earth,
[00:22.50] where few more hopeless people than himself now
[00:26.70] moved towards their certain goal-the tomb.
[00:29.96] He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it,
[00:34.25]and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse.
[00:38.33]Now his health was poor, his mind vacant, his heart sorrowful,
[00:43.76]and his old age short of comforts.
[00:46.43]The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him,
[00:50.66]and he recalled the serious moment
[00:53.59]when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads—
[00:57.28]one leading to a peaceful, sunny place,
[01:00.64] covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft,
[01:05.15]sweet songs; the other leading to a deep,
[01:08.62]dark cave, which was endless,
[01:11.32]where poison flowed instead of water and
[01:14.28] where devils and poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.
[01:17.84]He looked towards the sky and cried painfully,
[01:21.64]“O youth, return! O my father,
[01:25.04]place me once more at the entrance to life,
[01:28.00] and I'll choose the better way!”
[01:30.13]But both his father and the days of his youth
[01:34.03] had passed away.
[01:35.91]He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness.
[01:39.03]These were the days of his wasted life;
[01:42.70]he saw a star fall from the sky and disappear,
[01:47.58] and this was the symbol of himself. His remorse,
[01:52.12]which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart.
[01:56.96]Then he remembered his friends in his childhood,
[02:00.88]who entered on life together with him.
[02:03.90]But they had made their way to success
[02:06.62]and were now honoured and happy
[02:09.46] on this New Year's Night.
[02:11.87]The clock in the high church tower struck
[02:14.39] and the sound made him remember his parents' early love for him.
[02:18.67]They had taught him and prayed to God for his good.
[02:22.30]But he chose the wrong way.
[02:24.51]With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven
[02:29.63] where his father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears,
[02:33.24]and with a despairing effort, he burst out a cry:
[02:36.97]“Come back, my early days! Come back!”
[02:40.18]And his youth did return,
[02:42.38] for all this was only a dream
[02:44.56]which he had on New Year's Night.
[02:47.20] He was still young though his faults were real;
[02:50.51]he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave,
[02:53.63]and he was still free to walk on the road
[02:56.89] which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.
[03:00.01]Those who still linger on the entrance of life,
[03:03.50] hesitating to choose the bright road,
[03:06.01] remember that when years are passed
[03:09.20] and your feet stumble on the dark mountains,
[03:11.83]you will cry bitterly, but in vain:
[03:14.59]“O youth, return! Oh give me back my early days!”