ON BEAUTY 《談美》

海外逸士

ON  BEAUTY

       Beauty often dwells in youth.  At sight of a charming girl, everyone will exclaim,  "My eyes!   What a great beauty!"   The  male stares with a thrill of admiration; the female gazes with a sigh of envy.  Wherever she goes, she becomes the focus of the attention.  Men all yearn to win her heart; women all feel a regret  unable to stand in her shoes.  A glance or  a smile from her makes the stingy  empty his hoard of gold  and the coward  give up his life for her.  She enjoys her queenly  position in society,  proud of the  possession  of  such a beauty.   But the  merciless  Time dogs her steps, too.  Her beauty is worn out with the years. She begins to fade away and the hardship in life,  if any would befall her, will bring more wrinkles on her face.   Then men turn their backs on her politely with a bow;  women look at her with indifference.The younger generation is magnetized round another focus.  The old queen has to abdicate and leave the throne for a young one to occupy. Only a photo or portrait can preserve her beauty in youth and no Tme is capable of doing any injury to her preserved beauty but the preserver itself.
       Therefore, admire not the beauty without, but the beauty within.  Such a beauty will never  wither  though Time also plots to do it harm.  In the struggle against the adversities of life and the ruthlessness  of Time, it grows  radiant, or even  dazzling, just like a rock in midstream  made smooth and  glossy  by the current of both the stream and Time. Everyone, in spite of the age and sex, if aware of it, will sing its  praise either openly in words and letters  or secretly  in mind.   It  lives as long as the possessor, or even much longer after her dust may be blended into a vase with the clay around it.
      The outward beauty can only be the object of admiration or envy  while the inward  beauty,  besides being a theme of the ode,  can serve as an example to learn from, for the former is always  endowed by birth,  but the latter by self-acquirement.  However, every  man  is free  to hold  his own  notion of what the beauty is and to choose whichever of the two beauties he prefers.
  
      Only his love for his bride select should not degenerate with the shrunken beauty.

童天鉴日

重新编辑了一下

firefly

学了不少
仍有疑问
She begins to fade away and the hardship in life,
----hardship 前面不需要动词么
Only a photo or portrait can preserve her beauty in youth and no Time is capable of doing any injury to her preserved beauty but the preserver itself.
---preserver itself 指什么？我理解句意但无法组织语言
Only his love for his bride select should not degenerate with the shrunken beauty.
---select 是名词么

宛城卧龙

问好海外老师
通篇仔细读完,一篇精致的小短文,感觉像是老师年轻时候的文笔吧?另外,感觉题目有问题, 用  谈美   这个题目和文章内容不和谐. 题目太大,而且美的内涵太多,细看全文,只是谈论了 一个小方面.总知还是对生命的感悟.和老师的上篇文章<时间>属于一个写作类型..
美也有无言之美, 比如:子曰:"子欲无言' 子贡曰:"子如不言,则小子何述焉?"  子曰:"天何言哉?四时行焉,百物生焉.天何言哉?"这段赞美无言的话,可从美学的观点来看.孟买先生<谈美>一书,到也详尽.
从英文的角度看,学生就不赞扬了,很佩服,但从文章的整体思想层面来看,不能说是上乘之作.
第一段,写得道也俏皮,读到有些地方,我也是哈哈一笑后转入沉思, 老师讲的确实和晚辈现在想的一样哈(学生王婆卖瓜了.........呵呵)
从第一段的尾部开始到后面深入到老师个人的感悟的思想层面,并提.出自己的看法.对年轻男女很有警示.
这样的文章我们年轻人应该多读读,
并推荐给大家

宛城卧龙

文章流畅 段落鲜明  观点有启示作用
文字俏皮 论理清晰  是篇英文的好文
推荐加入精华

海外逸士

Thank Tongtian for editing for me.
----hardship 前面不需要动词么?
the verb behind is "will bring".
---preserver itself 指什么？
denoting the photo or portrait.  (the beauty itself preserved on the photo can't be destroyed, but the photo can be destroyed.)
select 是名词么?
是形容詞﹐作後置定語﹐是特例結構。GALORE也作後置定語的。
Thank Mr. Dragon for appreciating it.

firefly

这么一说就都明白了 谢谢啦:D :D :D

一旦数学系

受不了

firefly

问好楼上的朋友
如有不同意见请直说

周道模

汉语标题《谈美人》更接近文章内容。