优秀英语散文分析欣赏：状元与乞丐

One day one of God’s messengers descended to the world and happened to meet an eminent monk who was telling fortunes for two boys. The monk pointed at one of the boys saying “Number One Scholar”, and at another one “Beggar”.

Twenty years later, the messenger came down to the world again. When he saw the previous two boys, he was puzzled about the outcome: the original “Number One Scholar” now became a beggar while the original “Beggar” turned into a Number One Scholar instead.

So the messenger went to ask God.

God answered, “I endow everyone with talent, which only decides one third of his destiny while the rest lies in how he grasps it.”

Life is just like this.

重点词汇：

• -Eminent 杰出的

• -Descended 降临

• -Fortunes 命运

• -Destiny 命运

重点句子

• "The monk pointed at one of the boys saying 'Number One Scholar', and at another one 'Beggar'." 这句话描述了当时这位杰出的僧人正在为两个男孩占卜。他指着其中一个男孩称他为“状元”，指着另外一个称他为“乞丐”。

  
  

• "God answered, 'I endow everyone with talent, which only decides one third of his destiny while the rest lies in how he grasps it.'" 这句话是上帝给信使的回答。他说，他赋予每个人天赋，这只决定了他命运的三分之一，其余则在于他如何把握。

  
  

• "Life is just like this." 这句话是在前面故事的基础上总结所得出的结论，表达了生命的各种变化和不确定性。

  
  

参考翻译

有一天，上帝的使者来到了人间。他碰到了一位高僧正在为两个孩子占卜前程。高僧指着其中一个孩子说“状元”，然后又指着另一个孩子说“乞丐”。

20年后，上帝的使者又来到了人间，看到了先前的那两个孩子，结果让他百思不得其解：当初的“状元”如今成了乞丐，而当初的“乞丐”反而成了状元。

于是，使者去问上帝。

上帝说：“我赋予每个人的天分只决定他命运的三分之一，其余的则在于他如何去把握。”

人生就是这样。

寓意

三分天注定，七分靠打拼。