08自由飞翔
Free to Soar

Anonymous佚名

One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes flled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.

Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled , but the restraining string and the cumbersome tail kept them in tow, facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They soared beautifully even as they fought the restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last," it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."

Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the frst obstruction.

How much like kites we sometimes are. The Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.

在一个有风的春日，我看到一群年轻人正在迎风放风筝玩乐，各种颜色、各种形状和大小的风筝就好像美丽的鸟儿在空中飞舞。当强风把风筝吹起，牵引线就能够控制它们。

风筝迎风飘向更高的地方，而不是随风而去。它们摇摆着、拉扯着，但牵引线以及笨重的尾巴使它们处于控制之中，并且迎风而上。它们挣扎着、抖动着想要挣脱线的束缚，仿佛在说：“放开我！放开我！我想要自由！”即使与牵引线奋争着，它们依然在美丽地飞翔。终于，一只风筝成功挣脱了。“终于自由了，”它好像在说，“终于可以随风自由飞翔了！”

然而，脱离束缚的自由使它完全处于无情微风的摆布下。它毫无风度地震颤着向地面坠落，落在一堆乱草之中，线缠绕在一颗死灌木上。“终于自由”使它自由到无力地躺在尘土中，无助地任风沿着地面将其吹走，碰到第一个障碍物便毫无生命地滞留在那里了。

有时我们真像这风筝啊！上苍赋予我们困境和约束，赋予我们成长和增强实力所要遵从的规则。约束就如同逆风。我们中有些人是如此强硬地抵制规则，以至我们从来无法飞到本来能够达到的高度。我们只遵从部分戒律，因此永远不会飞得足够高，使尾巴离开地面。

让我们每个人都飞到高处吧，并且认识到这一点：有些可能会令我们生气的约束，实际上是帮助我们攀升和实现愿望的平衡力。

单词解析 Word analysis

windy ['windi] a.有风的

例句 It can be quite windy there in spring. 那里的春季多风。

multicolored ['mʌlti,kʌləd] adj.多色的

例句 She bought a multicolored carpet for her new house. 她为她的新房买了块五彩斑斓的地毯。

gust [gʌst] vi.猛吹

例句 Snow gusted past the street lamps. 阵阵大雪从路灯前翻卷而过。

string [striŋ] n.弦，线；一串，一行

例句 He saw a string of pearls on the table. 他看见桌上有一串珍珠。

pull [pul] v.拉，拖,拔；移动

例句 She pulled the van to the left to avoid a dog. 她把客货车向左一闪以免轧着狗。

restrain [ri'strein] vt.阻止，控制；抑制，遏制

例句 If I don’t restrain my dog, it chases the cat. 我如果不管住我的狗，它就要追猫了。

cumbersome ['kʌmbəsəm] a.笨重的

例句 It can be cumbersome to have to read the English text with a dictionary. 读英语文章必须要用字典的确有点麻烦。

upward ['ʌpwəd] a. / ad. [-(s)]向上(的)地，上升(的)地

例句 The production of their factory goes steadily upward. 他们工厂的生产稳步上升。

unsympathetic ['ʌn,simpə'θetik] adj.不表同情的，无情的，不共鸣的

例句 He is unsympathetic about the accident. 他对事故无动于衷。

flutter ['flʌtə vi.振翼；飘动；快速跳动

例句 Banners fluttered in the breeze. 旗帜在微风中飘扬。

ungracefully adv.笨拙地，没有风度地，不雅地

例句 He acted ungracefully at the party. 他在派对上举止很不雅。

tangle ['tæŋgəl] v.(使)乱作一团

例句 The wool got in a fearful tangle. 毛线乱成了一团。

weed [wi:d] n.杂草，野草 v.除草

例句 I spent the whole day weeding in the garden. 我一整天都在锄园子里的草。

counterpart ['kauntəpɑ:t] n.与对方地位作用相当的人(或物)

例句 He is the counterpart of his twin brother. 他和他的孪生兄弟长得一模一样。

commandment [kə'mɑ:ndmənt] n.戒律

例句 Can you recite the Ten Commandants ?你能背诵十诫吗？

chafe [tʃeif] vt.擦痛

例句 The loud noise chafed him. 吵闹声使他烦躁。

语法知识点 Grammar points

I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes flled the skies like beautiful birds darting and dancing.

此处句型:observe sb+adj/doing/do 观察到某人处于某一种状态或正在做某事

区别后面加doing和do的区别。doing表示这个动作正在进行，观察到的是动作的一个点，是一系列动作中的一个。而do,是指整个动作的过程。

例句

经典名句Famous classic

1. Yet freedom from restraint simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic breeze. It fluttered ungracefully to the ground and landed in a tangled mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last" free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to lodge lifeless against the first obstruction.

然而，脱离束缚的自由使它完全处于无情微风的摆布下。它毫无风度地震颤着向地面坠落，落在一堆乱草之中，线缠绕在一颗死灌木上。“终于自由”使它自由到无力地躺在尘土中，无助地任风沿着地面将其吹走，碰到第一个障碍物便毫无生命地滞留在那里了。

2. The Heaven gives us adversity and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Restraint is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us tug at the rules so hard that we never soar to reach the heights we might have obtained. We keep part of the commandment and never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.

苍赋予我们困境和约束，赋予我们成长和增强实力所要遵从的规则。约束是逆风的必要匹配物。我们中有些人是如此强硬地抵制规则，以至我们从来无法飞到本来能够达到的高度。我们只遵从部分戒律，因此永远不会飞得足够高，使尾巴离开地面。

3. Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the restraints that we may chafe under are actually the steadying force that helps us ascend and achieve.

让我们每个人都飞到高处吧，并且认识到这一点：有些可能会令我们生气的约束，实际上是帮助我们攀升和实现愿望的平衡力。