the handsome and deformed leg

TheHandsomeandDeformedLegBenjaminFranklinQuestionforDiscussion•Inyouropinion,howcanwedevelopanoptimisticviewtowardslife?•Ifyoufeeldepressed,whatwillyoudotoovercomesuchkindofbademotion?Text•Therearetwotypesofpeopleintheworld.Althoughtheyhaveequaldegreesofhealthandwealthandtheothercomfortsoflife,onebecomeshappy,theotherbecomesmiserable.(1)Thisarisesfromtheirdifferentwaysinwhichtheyconsiderthings,personsandevents,andtheresultingeffectsupontheirminds.这是因为他们对物、对人和对事的观点不同，以及这些不同的观点对于他们心灵上所产生的不同影响.arisefrom产生于,起因于•Thecountry'spresentdifficultiesarisefromthereducedvalueofitsmoney.Inwhateversituationmencanbeplaced,theymayfindconveniencesandinconveniences.Inwhatevercompany,theymayfindpersonsandconversationsmoreorlesspleasing.Atwhatevertabletheymayfindgoodmeatanddrinksofbetterandworsetaste,dishesbetterorworseprepared.Inwhateverclimate,theymayfindgoodandbadweather.Mancanfindgoodandbadineverything人无论处于什么境况，总会遇到顺利和不顺利的事情.Underwhatevergovernment,theymayfindgoodandbadlawsandgoodandbadadministrationoftheselaws.Ineverypoemorworkofgenius,theymayseebeautiesandfaults.Inalmosteveryfaceandeveryperson,theymaydiscoverfinefeatures（面部特征）anddefects,goodandbadqualities.无论他生活在什么政府的统治下，他总会发现它的法律有好的，也有不好的，而法律的实施也有好有坏。天才所写的诗文里，他会发现有优美之处，但也会找到若干瑕疵；差不多每一张脸上，他总可找到优点和缺点，差不多在每一个人身上都找得到长处和短处。Underthesecircumstances,thepeoplewhoaretobehappyfixtheirattentionontheconveniencesofthings,thepleasantpartsofconversation,thewellprepareddishes,thegoodnessofthewines,thefineweather.Theyenjoyallwithcheerfulthings.Thosewhoaretobeunhappythinkandspeakonlyofthecontraries.Hencetheyarecontinuallydiscontentedthemselves.在这些情形之下，乐观的人所注意的只是顺利的际遇、谈话之中有趣的部分、精制的菜肴、美味的好酒、晴朗的天气等等，同时尽情享乐；悲观的人所想的和所谈的却只是坏的一面，因此他们永远感到怏怏不乐。（2）Bytheirremarks,theysourthepleasuresofsociety（扫兴）,offendmanypeople,andmakethemselvesdisagreeable（不友善，难相处）everywhere.Ifthisturnofmind（性情）wasfoundedinnature,suchunhappypersonswouldbethemoretobepitied.（3）Thedispositiontocriticizeandbedisgustedisperhapstakenup（开始从事）originallybyimitation.Itgrowsintoahabit,unknowntohisprocessor.他们的言论在社交场所大煞风景，个别的还得罪许多人，以致他们到处和人格格不入。如果这种性情是天生的，这些怏怏不乐的人倒是更堪怜悯。但那种吹毛求疵令人厌恶的脾气，也许根本从模仿而来，于不知不觉中养成了习惯。turnofmind性情，气质倾向，才能•turnofmind:acharacteristicmood,style,orhabit;wayofthinking•1)Hehasacuriousandspeculativeturnofmind.•2)Shehasaseriousturnofmind.•3)Maryhasaoptimisticturnofmind.takeup开始从事•takeup:tobegin;tostart•1)Hehastakenupteaching.•2)IwishI'dnevertakenupsmoking.•3)WhendidJanefirsttakeupmusic?（4）Thehabitmaybestrong,butitmaybecuredwhenthosewhohaveitareconvincedof（明白）itsbadeffectsontheircongeniality（意气相投，亲和力）.Ihopethislittleadmonition（忠告）maybeofservicetothemandhelpthemchangethishabit.Althoughinfactitischieflyanactofimagination,ithasseriousconsequencesinlife,asitbringsonrealgriefandmisfortune.bringon呈现，导致；使发展•bringon;tocausetohappen;toresultin•1)Readinginapoorlightmaybringonaheadache.•2)Thesuddencoldweatherbroughtonhisfeveragain.Thiswarmweathershouldbringonthecrops.•暖和的天气会促使农作物生长。•（5）Thesepeopleoffendmanyothers,nobodylovesthem,andnoonetreatsthemwithmorethanthemostcommoncivilityandrespect,andscarcelythat.Thisfrequentlyputsthemoutofhumor（情绪不好；易怒）anddrawsthemintodisputes.（6）Iftheyaimatobtainingsomeadvantageinrankorfortune,nobodywishesthemsuccess.Norwillanyonestirastep（出力）,orspeakawordtofavortheirambitions（成全其抱负）.•Thepeopleshouldchangethisbadhabitandcondescend（屈尊，俯就）tobepleasedwithwhatispleasing,withoutfretting（使烦躁，不愉快）themselvesandother.Iftheydonot,itwillbegoodforotherstoavoidanacquaintancewiththem.Otherwise,itcanbedisagreeable,andsometimesveryinconvenient,particularlywhenonebecomesentangledin（纠缠于；陷入）theirquarrels.•如果这些人不愿矫正恶习，不肯迁就，不肯喜欢一切别人认为可爱的东西，而总是怨天尤人，为一切不可爱东西自寻烦恼，那么大家还是避免和他们交往好；因为这种人总是和人难以相处，一旦你发觉自己被纠缠在他们的争吵中时，你将感到很大的麻烦。Anoldphilosophicalfriendofminegrewverycautious（谨慎）fromexperience,andcarefullyavoidedanycontactwithsuchpeople.Hehadathermometer（温度计）toshowhimthetemperature,andabarometer（晴雨表）toshowwhentheweatherwaslikelytoprovegoodorbad.Sincethereisnoinstrumenttodiscoveratfirstsightthisunpleasingdispositioninaperson,hemadeuseofhislegs.我有一位研究哲学的老朋友，由于饱经世故，非常谨慎，总是避免和这种人亲近。他像一般哲学家一样，备有一个显示气温的寒暑表，和一具预示晴雨的气压计；但什么人有这种坏脾气，世界上还没有发明什么仪器，可以使他一看便知，因此他就利用他的两条腿；Oneofhislegswasremarkablyhandsome,theother,bysomeaccidentcrookedanddeformed.Ifastrangerlookedathisuglylegmorethanhishandsomeone,hedoubtedhim.Ifhespokeofit,andtooknonoticeofthehandsomeleg,myfriendhadsufficientreasonnottobotherwithhim（找麻烦与...交往）anylonger.一条长得非常好看，另一条却因曾逢意外事件而呈畸形。陌生人初次和他见面，如果对他的丑腿比对他的好腿更为注意，他就有所疑忌。如果此人只谈起那条丑腿，不注意那条好腿，这就足以使我的朋友决定不再和他作进一步的交往。（7）Noteveryonehasthistwo-leggedinstrument,buteveryone,withalittleattention,mayobservesignsofthatkindoffault-findingdispositionandmakethesameresolutiontoavoidthoseinfectedwith（患病；有这种毛病的人）it.Ithereforeadvisethesecritical,argumentative,discontented,unhappypeople,thatiftheywishtobelovedandrespectedbyothers,andhappyinthemselves,theyshouldstoplookingattheuglyleg.