英语学习
They did not like such quarrelling.
But after a while the noise stopped and the very old man and the very old woman peeped out of the window to see what had happened.
They could not see a single cat!
"I think they must have eaten each other all up," said the very old woman, "It's too bad!"
"But look!" said the very old man, and he pointed to a bunch of high grass.
In it sat one little frightened kitten.
They went out and picked it up. It was thin and scraggly.他们不喜欢这种争吵。
但是过了一会儿，噪音停止了，老男人和老女人从窗户向外窥视，看看发生了什么事。
他们一只猫都看不见！
“我想他们一定把对方都吃掉了，”老妇人说，“太糟糕了！”
“但是看！”老人指着一堆高高的草说。
里面坐着一只受惊的小猫。
他们出去捡了起来。它又瘦又乱。
"Poor little kitty," said the very old woman.
"Dear little kitty," said the very old man,
"how does it happen that you were not eaten up with all those hundreds and thousands and millions and billions and trillions of cats?"
"Oh, I'm just a very homely little cat," said the kitten,
"So when you asked who was the prettiest, I didn't say anything. So nobody bothered about me."
They took the kitten into the house, where the very old woman gave it a warm bath and brushed its fur until it was soft and shiny.
Every day they gave it plenty of milk, and soon it grew nice and plump.“可怜的小猫，”老妇人说。
“亲爱的小猫，”老人说，
“你怎么会没有被那些成百上千、数百万、数十亿、万亿的猫吃掉呢？”
“哦，我只是一只非常普通的小猫，”小猫说，
“所以当你问谁最漂亮时，我什么也没说。所以没人关心我。”
他们把小猫带到屋里，老太婆给它洗了个热水澡，把它的毛刷得又软又亮。
他们每天给它大量的牛奶，很快它就长得又漂亮又丰满。
"And it is a very pretty cat, after all!" said the very old woman.
"It is the most beautiful cat in the whole world," said the very old man.
"I ought to know, for I've seen —
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats —
and not one was as pretty as this one."“它毕竟是一只非常漂亮的猫！”老太婆说。
“它是世界上最美丽的猫，”老人说。
“我应该知道，因为我看到了-
几百只猫，
成千上万只猫，
数以百万计、数十亿计、万亿计的猫-
没有一个比这更漂亮。”
阅读笔记
㈠仔细想了一下，苦难有很多种，有的是世界给你的，有的是你自讨苦吃的。前者你没有办法去绕过，而后者你完全可以规避。的确，让自己更好一点、舒服点，你完全可以做到。正如迷信科学也是一种迷信一样，永远不要相信苦难是有价值的——苦难就是苦难，它不一定带来成功。
苦难不值得去追求，也不值得去崇拜，除非你是一个心理自虐狂，所谓的磨炼意志只不过是因为苦难无法躲开而已。
苦难不值得迷恋，除非你别无选择。
㈡那些被物欲蒙蔽了眼睛的人，照旧在过着灰暗的、时时无聊的生活。在那漫长的绝望里头，文学给我们的生活不是锦上添花，而是雪中送炭。
㈢“最佳的选择往往不是最后的选择，最后选择的，常是次佳的选择。”
这倒是说出了人生中一个很普遍、很真实的道理。这原本是一个人人必须面对的缺陷世界，“次佳的选择”其实可视为一种人生哲学。平心想想，你青年时期所读的学校、所读的科系，中年时期所任的职位、所达成的使命，以及老年时期总计一生功名利禄的成果，哪样是一等一最满意的选择？纯然决定于自身的尚且如此，何况牵连决定于他人的呢？能有次佳的选择，已经很幸运了！
人生的路上，我们会错过许多有人卖金块，我们当时却买不起的机会。金块买不起，更觉得错失的金块最可爱，就像追不到凤凰，更觉得那飞走的是天上最好的凤凰，才把“最佳选择”的第一把交椅空留着，而总觉得自己仅仅得了个次佳的选择。
明白了人生原本有许多无奈的缺陷，实在不必为次佳的选择而自怨自艾，更应乐观地勇于面对缺陷——没有最佳的，就选次佳的；次佳的也选不到，再选更次佳的。能不能选到最佳的，取决于上天。选到了最佳的，结局也不一定就最佳。要使结局成为最佳，那便决定于自我。
上天只决定前一半，只有极少数人得到上天的钟爱，绝大多数的人要靠自我努力实现后一半。即使选到次佳的，也要用后天十倍的努力，把七十分、八十分、九十分的选择，增足成一百分，补足人生的缺陷。
