Control Your Temper 张红一.doc

Lesson 66Control Your TemperJohn Todd, D.D. (b.1800,d.1873) , was born in Rutland, Vt. In 1842 he was settled as a pastor of a Congregational Church, in Pittsfield, Mass, In 1834, he published “Lectures to Children”, in 1835, “The Students Manual,” a valuable and popular work, which has been translated into several European languages; in 1836, “The Sabbath-School Teacher”, and in 1841, “The Lost Sister of Wyoming.” He was one of the founders of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary.1. No one has a temper naturally so good that it does not need attention and cultivation; and no one has a temper so bad but that by proper culture it may become pleasant. One of the best disciplined tempers ever seen was that of a gentleman who was naturally quick, irritable, rash, and violent; but by having the care of the sick, and especially of deranged persons, he so completely mastered himself, that he was never known to be thrown off his guard. 没有人天生就有一个好脾气，好到这个脾气都不用加以注意和培养。也没有人的脾气坏到无可救药，通过合理培养，坏脾气也能变好。我就遇到过这样一位绅士，加以训练，最好的脾气甚至可以出现在他这样一个天生急躁易怒，鲁莽粗暴的人身上；通过照顾病人，尤其是通过对精神病患者的照顾，他完全掌控了自己的脾气，以至于人们自然而然误以为他从不失控。2. The difference in the happiness which is received or bestowed by the man who governs his temper, and that by the man who does not, is immense. There is no misery so constant, so distressing, and so intolerable to others, as that of having a disposition which is your master, and which is continually fretting itself. There are corners enough, at every turn in life, against which we may run, and at which we may break out in impatience, if we choose.掌控好自己脾气的人和未能掌控好脾气的人因此所获得的幸福天差地别/具有天壤之别。你的性格主宰着你，又一而再再而三地困扰着你，没有什么事情比这更持续不断，更让人痛苦烦恼，更让他人难以忍受的了。在人生的每个转角，我们都会碰到很多困难，遇到这些困难时如果我们选择失去耐心，大可以爆发。3. Look at Roger Sherman, who rose, from a humble occupation, to a seat in the first Congress of the United States, and whose judgment was received with great deference by that body of distinguished men. He made himself master of his temper, and cultivated it as a great business in life. There are one or two instances which show this part of his character in a light that is beautiful.就拿罗杰谢尔曼来说吧，他一开始做的工作很低贱，慢慢爬上去做到了美国国会的议员。国会中的议员们都很尊重他做的决定。这是因为他做自己脾气的主人/不受脾气所左右，毕生都把培养自己的好脾气当做一件大事来看待。有一两个例子可以充分看出他这种出色的性格。4. One day, after having received his highest honors, he was sitting and reading in his parlor. A roguish student, in a room close by, held a looking-glass in such a position, as to pour the reflected rays of the sun directly in Mr. Shermans face. He moved his chair, and the thing was repeated. A third time the chair was moved, but the looking-glass still reflected the sun in his eyes. He laid aside his book, went to the window, and many witnesses of the impudence expected to hear the ungentlemanly student severely reprimanded. He raised the window gently, and thenshut the window-blind!有一天，他获得最高荣誉，坐在客厅里看书。一个爱捣蛋的学生，在隔壁房间里握着一面镜子，他握着镜子的方向刚好使从镜面折射的太阳光线直接照到了谢尔曼先生的脸上。谢尔曼先生挪动了椅子，但还是老样子。谢尔曼先生再次挪动椅子，太阳光仍旧从镜面反射到了他的眼睛里。他把书放在一边，走向窗户。很多在场的人目睹了学生无礼的行为，以为谢尔曼先生会对这位没有教养的学生大加指摘。结果，他只是温和地支起了窗户，然后把百叶窗给关上了。5. I can not forbear adducing another instance of the power he had acquired over himself, He was naturally possessed of strong passions; but over these he at length obtained an extraordinary control. He became habitually calm, sedate, and self-possessed. Mr. Sherman was one of those men who are not ashamed to maintain the forms of religion in their families. One morning he called them all together, as usual, to lead them in prayer to God; the old family Bible was brought out, and laid on the table.我忍不住想再举个例子，来说说他超凡的自控力。他天性情感充沛，但最后却很好地掌控了这一切。他养成了冷静沉着的习惯，自控力很强。谢尔曼先生是这样一类人，他并不羞于在家里举行宗教仪式。一天早上他把家人们叫到了一起，如同往常那样带领大家一起为主祈祷；他拿出了古老的家族圣经，将它放在桌上。6. Mr. Sherman took his seat, and placed beside him one of his children, a child of his old age; the rest of the family were seated around the room; several of these were now grown up. Besides these, some of the tutors of the college were boarders in the family, and were present at the time alluded to. His aged and superannuated mother occupied a corner of the room, opposite the place where the distinguished Judge sat.谢尔曼先生在他的位子上就坐，把一个孩子放在他旁边，这个孩子是他老年所得。其他人也坐了下来；其中几个孩子已经长大成人。除了他们，房间里还坐着大学里的几个助教，他们寄宿在谢尔曼先生家里，也出席了祷告仪式。他年迈体弱的老母亲坐在房间的一角，正好坐在受人景仰的谢法官对面。7, At length, he opened the Bible, and began to read. The child who was seated beside him, made some little disturbance, upon which Mr. Sherman paused, and told it to be still. Again he proceeded; but again he paused to reprimand the little offender, whose playful disposition would scarcely permit it to be still. At this time, he gently tapped its ear. The blow, if blow it might be called, caught the attention of his aged mother, who now, with some effort, rose from the seat, and tottered across the room. At length, she reached the chair of Mr. Sherman, and, in a moment, most unexpectedly to him, she gave him a blow on the ear with all the force she could summon “There”, said she, “you strike your child, and I will strike mine.”然后，他翻开圣经，开始朗读起来。坐他旁边的孩子开始捣乱，谢尔曼先生只好停下来，叫孩子安静点。然后他又继续读起圣经，可小家伙天性好动，才不肯轻易乖乖安静下来，谢尔曼先生只好再次停下来指责这个小捣蛋鬼。这次，谢尔曼先生轻轻拍了拍小家伙的耳朵。这一拍打，其实也叫不上拍打，引起了她年迈的母亲的注意。老母亲有些吃力地从座位上起身，蹒跚地走过来。最后，她总算来到谢尔曼先生的椅子旁边。顿了顿，让谢尔曼先生没有预料到的是，她用力地往他耳朵上一巴掌打了过去，边说着：“好啊，你打你的孩子，我打我自己的。”8. For a moment, the blood was seen mounting to the face of Mr. Sherman; but it was only for a moment, when all was calm and mild as usual. He paused; he raised his spectacles; he cast his eye upon his mother; again it fell upon the book from which he had been reading. Not a word escaped him; but again he calmly pursued the service, and soon after, sought, in prayer, an ability to set an example before his househol