美文欣赏 Hour in the Sun

　　Some people insist that only today and tomorrow matter. But how much poorer we would be if we really lived by that rule! So much of what we do today is frivolous and futile and soon forgotten. So much of what we hope to do tomorrow never happens.

　　The past is the bank in which we store our most valuable possession: the memories that give meaning and depth to our lives.

　　Those who truly treasure the past will not bemoan the passing of the good old days, because days enshrined in memory are never lost. Death itself is powerless to still a remembered voice or erase a remembered smile. And for one boy who is now a man, there is a pond which neither time nor tide can change, where he can still spend a quite hour in the sun.

　　阳光下的时光

　　----约翰.布莱德利

　　“......我虽然不富甲天下，却拥有无数个艳阳天和夏日。”

　　----亨利.大卫.梭罗

　　写这句话时，梭罗想起孩提时代的瓦尔登湖。

　　当时伐木者和火车尚未严重破坏湖畔的美丽景致。小男孩可以走向湖中，仰卧小舟。自一岸缓缓漂向另一岸，周遭有鸟儿戏水，燕子翻飞。梭罗喜欢回忆这样的艳阳天和夏日，“慵懒是最迷人也是最具生产力的事情！”

　　我也曾经是热爱湖塘的小男孩，拥有无数个艳阳天与夏日。如今阳光、夏日依旧，男孩和湖塘却已改变。那男孩已长大成人，不再有那么多时间泛舟湖上。而湖塘也为大城市所并。曾有苍鹭觅食的沼泽，如今已枯竭殆尽，上面盖满了房舍。睡莲静静漂浮的湖湾。现在成了汽艇的避风港。总之，男孩所爱的一切已不复存在----只留在人们的回忆中。

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