The Rose
Logan Pearsall Smith
The old lady had always been proud of the great rose-tree in her garden, andwas fond of telling how it had grown from a cutting she had brought years before from Italy, when she was first married. She and her husband had been travelling back in their carnage from Rome （it was before the time of railways）, and on a bad piece of road south of Siena they had broken down, and had been forced to pass the night in a little house by the roadside. The accommodation was wretched of course; she had spent a sleepless night, and rising early had stood, wrapped up, at her window, with the cool air blowing on her face, to watch the dawn. She could still, after all these years, remember the blue mountains with the bright moon above them, and how a far-off town on one of the peaks had gradually grown whiter and whiter, till the moon faded, the mountains were touched with the pink of the rising sun, and suddenly the town was lit as by an illumination, one window after another catching and reflecting the suns beams, till at last the whole little city twinkled and sparkled up in the sky like a nest of stars.
That morning, finding they would have to wait while their carriage was beingrepaired, they had driven in a local conveyance up to the city on the mountain, where they had been told they would find better quarters, and there they had stayed
河之歌
威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆
沿着整条河都可以听见歌声。它洪亮而有力，那是船夫的歌声，他们划着木船顺流而下，船尾翘得很高，船边系着桅杆。这也许是比较急促的号子。那些纤夫拉着纤逆流而上，如果拉的是小木船，也许只要五六个人，如果拉的是要过急滩、扬着横帆的大船，就要二百多人。一个汉子站在船中央不停地击鼓助威，让他们加劲。于是他们用尽全身的力量，像着了魔似的，腰弯成两折，有时力量要全部用完了就全身趴在地上匍匐前进，像田里的牲口。他们用力，拼命用力，对抗着水流无情的磅礴之力。领头的在纤绳前后不停地奔跑，见到有人没有用尽全力，就用竹板打他的光背。每个人都必须竭尽全力，否则就要前功尽弃。就这样他们还是唱着激昂热烈的号子，那汹涌澎湃的河水号子。我不知道用怎样的词语才能描写出这其中的拼搏，它体现了紧绷的心弦，几乎要断裂的筋肉，同时也体现了人类以顽强的精神搏击着无情的自然力。虽然绳子可能扯断，大船可能倒退，但险滩最终能通过，在结束筋疲力尽的一天之后，可以痛快地吃上一顿饱饭……
生活如此艰难、如此残酷，这喊声正是最后的绝望的抗议。这就是河之歌。感悟……
团结就是力量。任何困难，都阻挡不了人们的齐心协力，只要人们以顽强的精神面对困难．最终会成为胜利者。
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