约瑟失·艾迪生(Joseph Addison)
When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow: when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.
- epitaph [ˈepɪtɑːf] n. 墓志铭
- inordinate [ɪnˈɔːdɪnət] a. 过分的，无节制的
- depose [dɪˈpəʊz] v. 废黜
每当我瞻仰伟人之墓，对他们的妒羡便一扫而光；每当我读到美女纪念碑文，每一丝放荡的欲念之火就会熄灭；每当我见到做父母的在墓碑前凭吊时的哀伤，我的心都充满了同情；每当我看到这些父母本人葬身的坟墓时，我就在想为我们也必然很快跟着一起去的人凭吊哀伤，实属虚幻无用。每当我看见国王躺在废除他们的那些人的身旁，每当我想到生前争斗不息的智者权贵并排安放着，或者每当我想到圣人们用竞争和争辩瓜分世界，我忧伤而惊愕，思索着人类那些微不足道的小争斗、派系和辩论。当我读到墓碑上的好些个日期时，有的死于昨天，有的死于六百年前，我想到总有那么一天，我们全部都会成为同一个时代的人，全都在一起出现。
约瑟夫·艾迪生(1672—1719)，英国散文家。著作有长诗《远征》(The Campaign ,1704)，剧本《卡托》(Cato ,1713)。擅长写小品文，对社会观察细致入微，作品风格优雅、简明，文笔生动、流畅。