经典英语散文阅读精选

学习英语，阅读真的很重要，多阅读一些短篇英语文章也是提高英语阅读能力的一种,小编整理了一些英文散文，下面小编就和大家分享，来欣赏一下吧。

英语散文：The Song of the River(河之歌)

The Song of the River

河之歌

W.S Maugham

毛姆

You hear it all along the river. You hear it, loud and strong, from the rowers as they urge the junk with its high stern, the mast lashed alongside, down the swift running stream. You hear it from the trackers, a more breathless chant, as they pull desperately against the current, half a dozen of them perhaps if they are taking up wupan, a couple of hundred if they are hauling a splendid junk, its square sail set, over a rapid.

沿河上下都可以听见那歌声。它响亮而有力，那是船夫，他们划着木船顺流向下，船尾翘得很高，桅杆系在船边。它也可能是比较急促的号子，那是纤夫，他们拉纤逆流而上。如果拉的是小木船，也许就只五六个人;如果拉的是扬着横帆的大船过急滩，那就要200来人。

On the junk, a man stands amidships beating a drum incessantly to guide their efforts, and they pull with all their strength, like men possessed, bent double; and sometimes in the extremity of their travail they craw on the ground, on all fours, like the beasts of the field. They strain, strain fiercely, against the pitiless might of the stream.

船中央站着一个汉子不停地击鼓助威，引导他们加劲。于是他们使出全部力量，像着了魔似的，腰弯成两折，有时力量用到极限就全身趴在地上匍匐前进，像田里的牲口。

The leader goes up and down the line and when he sees one who is not putting all his will into the task he brings down his split bamboo on the naked back. Each one must do his utmost or the labour of all is vain. And still they sing a vehement, eager chant, the chant of the turbulent waters.

领头的在纤绳前后跑来跑去，见到有人没有全力以赴，竹板就打在他光着的背上。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而热切的号子，那汹涌澎湃的河水号子。

I do not know words can describe what there is in it of effort. It serves to express the straining heart, the breaking muscles, and at the same time the indomitable spirit of man which overcomes the pitiless force of nature. Though the rope may part and the great junk swing back, in the end the rapid will be passed; and at the close of the weary day there is the hearty meal...

我不知道词语怎样能描写出其中所包括的拼搏，它表现的是绷紧的心弦，几乎要断裂的筋肉，同时也表现了人类克服无情的自然力的顽强精神。他们使劲，拼命使劲，对抗着水流无情的威力。虽然绳子可能扯断，大船可能倒退，但最终险滩必将通过，在筋疲力尽的一天结束时可以痛快地吃上一顿饱饭…..

But the most agonizing song is the song of the coolies who bring the great bales from the junk up the steep steps to the town wall. Up and down they go, endlessly, and endless as their toil rises their rhythmic cry. He, aw --ah, oh. They are barefoot and naked to the waist. The sweat pours down their faces and their song is a groan of pain.

然而最令人难受的却是苦力的歌，他们背负着船上卸下的大包，沿着陡坡爬上城墙。他们不停地上上下下，随着无尽的劳动响起有节奏的喊声：嗨，呦——嗬，嗨。他们赤着脚，光着背，汗水不断地从脸上流下。

It is a sigh of despair. It is heart-rending. It is hardly human. It is the cry of souls in infinite distress, only just musical, and that last note is the ultimate sob of humanity. Life is too hard, too cruel, and this is the final despairing protest. That is the song of the river.

他们的歌是痛苦的.失望的叹息，听来令人心碎，简直不像是人的声音。它是灵魂在无尽悲戚中的呼喊，只不过有着音乐的节奏而已。那终了的一声简直就是人性泯灭的低泣。生活太艰难、太残酷，这喊声正是最后绝望的.这就是河之歌。

英语散文：The Living Seas(富有生命的海洋)

The Living Seas

The ocean covers three quarters of the earth's surface, produces 90 percentof allits life-supporting oxygen, and is the driving force behind the entireweather system. There are over 450 million cubic miles of sea water on theearth; and each cubic mile contains over 150 million tons of minerals.

So vast and so pervasive is the sea that if the earth's crust were made level,ocean water would form a blanket over 8,000 feet deep.

The oceans contribute immeasurably to the earth's life support system aswell as provide an untapped storehouse of food, minerals, energy, and ar-chaeological treasureAdvanced atmospheric diving suits permit researchers to descend to depthsof l,500 feet. Yet the ocean's average depth is greater than 12,000 feet. It is atthese depths that remarkable discoveries are being made, discoveries whichonly a short time ago would have been impossible.

In that depth, where darkness is absolute and pressure exceeds eight tons persquare inch, robotic submersibles have discovered enormous gorges, fourtimes deeper than the Grand Canyon Here, too, are volcanoes that vastlyoutnumber those on land. Landslides the size of Rhode Island have beenrecorded, as well as raging undersea storms that go completely unnoticed oitthe surface while dramatically rearranging the underwater landscapes.

And under these seas the largest single geological feature on earth hasbeen found-a mountain range that dwarfs the Himalayas. It's a range thatcovers nearly one quarter of the earth's surface.

All these discoveries have come from the exploration ofless than one-tenthof this undersea mountain range.

The earth is the only planet we know that has an ocean. The ocean is tlielargest feature on earth. Yet it's the one feature we know the least about. Weknow more about the moon 240,000 miles away than we know about thethree-fourths of the earth covered with water. Man has set foot on the moon,but not on the most remote part of the earth, 35,000 feet under the sea.

Technology is changing all that. It's literally parting the waves for today'sundersea explorers. And it's bringing about the opportunity to transformvision, curiosity and wonder into practical knowledge.

Properly managed as a tool to serve society, technology is the best hopefor overcoming economic and social problems facing people everywhere. Italways has been. The earliest relics of human life are tools. And our ancientancestors used these tools to understand and change the world around themand make it better. The same is true today.

The deep sea is the last frontier left to explore.

富有生命的海洋

海洋占地球表面四分之三。地球上维持生命的氧气，90%产生于海洋，整个天气体系变化的动力也是海洋。地球上的海水超过4亿5千万立方英里，每立方英里含有的矿物超过1亿5千万吨。

海洋如此广大浩翰，如此分布辽阔，地球表层如果使之平整起来，那么海水可以形成深8，000多英尺的覆盖层。

海洋对地球上的维持生命系统做出了不可估量的贡献，同时又是一座尚未打开的宝库，储有食物、矿物、能源和具有很大考古价值的东西。

先进的常压潜水衣可以使研究人员下沉到1，500英尺的深度。但海洋的平均深度超过12，000英尺。现在正是在这个深度才发现了惊人的情况，这些发现在不久以前是不可能办到的。

这个深度的海中完全是漆黑一片，每平方英寸的压力超过8吨，潜水机器人在这里发现了巨大的峡谷，比美国科罗拉多大峡谷深3倍。这里火山之多，大大超过陆地上的火山，也曾有过规模大到和罗得岛一样的山崩，还有猛烈的海底风暴，这种风暴在海面上一点也觉察不到，却剧烈地改变着水下的景观。 ，就在这些海洋中发现了地球上惟一的地质构成——一条使喜马拉雅相形见绌的大山脉，这条山脉覆盖了地球表面几乎四分之一。

上述那些发现都是来自探索这条水下山脉不到十分之一的地区所见到的。

地球是我们所知有海洋存在的行星。海洋是地球构成的部分，而正是这部分我们知道得最少，这一覆盖地球四分之三的水域我们所知的情况还不如我们对远离地球24万英里的月球所知道的多。

人类已涉足月球，但对海面以下3万5千英尺地球最深邃的地方却从未涉足过。

技术正在改变这一切，它正在劈波斩浪为今日的水下探索者开路。它正在创造机会使幻想、求知欲和高深莫测的事情转化成实实在在的知识。

把技术当作服务于社会的工具适当地加以掌握，它就是克服各地人民所面临的经济与社会问题的希望所在。技术历来都是如此。

人类生活的最早遗物就是工具。我们远古的祖先使用那些工具来认识世界改造、世界使之日趋完善。今天的情况也还是如此。

深海是尚待探索的最后一个领域。

英语散文：The Date Father Didnt Keep(父亲失约)

It happened in one of those picturesque Danish taverns that cater to tourists and where English is spoken. I was with my father on a business-and-pleasure trip, and in our leisure hours we were having a wonderful time.

“It’s a pity your mother couldn’t come,” said Father. “It would be wonderful to show her around.”

He had visited Denmark when he was a young man. I asked him, “How long is it since you were here?”

“Oh, about 30 years. I remember being in this very inn, by the way.” He looked around, remembering. “Those were gracious days—” He stopped suddenly, and I saw that his face was pale. I followed his eyes and looked across the room to a woman who was setting a tray of drinks before some customers. She might have been pretty once, but now she was stout and her hair was untidy. “Do you know her?” I asked..

“I did once,” he said.

The woman came to our table. “Drinks?” she inquired.

“We’ll have beer,” I said. She nodded and went away.

“How she has changed! Thank heaven she didn’t recognize me,” muttered Father mopping his face with a handkerchief. “I knew her before I ever met your mother, “he went on. “I was a student, on a tour. She was a lovely young thing, very graceful. I fell madly in live with her, and she with me.”

“Does Mother know about her?” I blurted out, resentfully.

“Of course,” Father said gently. He looked at me a little anxiously. I felt embarrassed for him.

I said, “Dad, you don’t have to-“

“Oh, yes, I want to tell you. I don’t want you wondering about this. Her father objected to our romance. I was a foreigner. I had no prospects, and was dependent on my father. When I wrote Father that I wanted to get married he cut off my allowance. And I had to go home. But I met the girl once more, and told her I would return to America, borrow enough money to get married on, and come back for her in a few months.”

“We know,” he continued, “that her father might intercept a letter, so we agreed that I would simply mail her a slip of paper with a date on it, the time she was to meet me at a certain place; then we’d married. Well, I went home, got the loan and sent her the date. She received the note. She wrote me:” I’ll be there.” But she wasn’t. Then I found that she had been married about two weeks before, to a local innkeeper. She hadn’t waited.”

Then my father said,” Thank God she didn’t. I went home, met your mother, and we’ve been completely happy. We often joke about that youthful love romance.”

The woman appeared with our beer.

“You are from America?” she asked me.

“Yes,” I said.

She beamed. “A wonderful country, America.”

“Yes, a lot of your countrymen have gone there. Did you ever think of it?”

“Not me. Not now,” she said. “I think so one time, a ling time ago. But I stay here. It much better here.”

We drank our beer and left. Outside I said,” Father, just how did you write that date on which she was to meet you?”

He stopped, took out an envelope and wrote on it. “Like this,” he said. “12/11/73, which was, of course, December 11, 1973.”

“No!” I exclaimed. “It isn’t in Denmark or any European country. Over here they write the day first, then the month. So that date wouldn’t be December 11 but the 12th of November!”

Father passed his hand over his face. “So she was there!” he exclaimed. “And it was because I didn’t show up that she got married.” He was silent a while. “Well,” he said., “I hope she’s happy. She seems be.”

As we resumed walking I blurted out, “It is a lucky thing it happened that way. You wouldn’t have met Mother.”

He put his arm around my shoulders, looked at me with a heart-warming smile, and said, “I was doubly lucky, young fellow, for otherwise I wouldn’t have met you, either!”

【参考译文】

事情发生在丹麦的一个富有画意的客栈里。这种客栈专逢迎游客，通用英语。我和父亲这次旅行也是办事，也游乐，空闲的时候，玩得很痛快。

父亲说：“可惜你 妈不能来。如果能带她来逛逛，多好。”

父亲年轻时到过丹麦。我问他，“从你上次来，有多久了?”

“哦，差不多三十年了。我记得那时就住在这家小客栈里。”

父亲四下望望，回忆道：“那些日子真美……”他忽然住口不言，脸色转白。我顺着他的眼光看去，只见房间那边有个女人正端着托盘在客人面前上酒。她从前可能很美，但是现在已经发胖，头发也很乱。我问父亲：“你认识她吗?”

他说：“从前认识。”

女人走到我们的桌前。问道“要酒吗?”

我说：“我们要啤酒。”她点点头，去了。

父亲掏出手巾擦额，低声说道：“她真变了!谢天谢地，幸而她没认出我来。我认识她在你的妈妈之前，那时候我是学生，假期旅行到这里。她年轻漂亮，非常可爱。我爱她到了极点，她也爱我。”

我很不高兴地冲口问道：“妈晓得她的事吗?”

“当然知道。”父亲略感不安地望着我。我都替他难为情。

我说：“爸爸，你用不着……”

“哦，我要告诉你，我不要你乱猜。她的父亲反对我们相爱。我是外国人，又没有好前途，还要依靠父亲。我写信给父亲说要结婚，父亲就不寄钱来。我只好回家。但是我又和她见了一次面，告诉她我要回美国去借结婚的钱，过几个月就来找她。”

“我们知道，”他接着说，“她父亲可能会拆看我们的信件，所以商量好我只寄给她一张纸，上面写个日期，那是要她在某处和我见面的时间，然后我们就结婚。后来我回家去，借到钱把日期寄给她。”

“她收到了信，回信道，‘我准来。’但是她没来。后来我才知道她已在两个星期前嫁给一位当地客栈的老板了。她没有等我。”

父亲又说：“感谢上帝，她没有等我，我回家去，遇见了你 妈妈，我们始终极为快乐。常把这一段年轻时的恋爱作为笑谈。”

那个女人把啤酒送到我们面前。

她问我：“你们从美国来的吗?”

我说：“是的。”

她笑道：“美国是好地方。”

“是的。那边有许多你们的同胞。你有没有想过要去?”

她说：“我不想，现在不想。我想过一次，那是很久以前的事了，但是我留在了此地。此地好得多。”

我们喝完啤酒就出来。一出客栈，我就问父亲：“爸，你叫她等你的日期到底是怎样写的?”

他停下来，拿出一个信封，在上面写了几个字。他说：“这样写的，12/11/13，这当然是1913年12月11日。”

我叫道：“不对!在丹麦和欧洲任何国家都不是这样写的!他们先写日子，后写月份。所以那个日期不是12月11日，而是11月12日!”

父亲抬起手摸了摸脸，叫道“那么她是去过了!因为我没有到，所以她嫁了别人!”他沉默了一会儿，说道：“也好。我希望她快乐，她似乎很快乐。”

我们再往前走时，我又冲口说：“幸而如此，不然你不会遇见妈妈。”

父亲伸手搂着我的肩膀，很温暖地向我笑道：“小伙子，我是锦上添花，要不然我也不会有你了。”

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