關於大自然的著名英語美文

　　那平凡的土地呀，是怎樣的樸實又是怎樣的博愛?人類生活在土地上，享受著大自然的恩澤與大地媽媽的厚愛。本文是，希望對大家有幫助!

　　：Nature 論自然

　　When we speak of nature in this manner,we have a distinct but most poetical sense in themind.

　　談論自然時，心靈倍感清晰，而詩意盎然。

　　We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects.

　　留存諸多自然物體之完整印象，

　　It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet.

　　而此恰可區分伐木工手中的圓木，與詩人心中之樹。

　　The charming landscape which I saw this morning,is indubitably made up of some twenty orthirty farms.

　　今晨我見迷人景色，無疑由二十至三十個農場組成。

　　Miller owns this field, Locke that,and Manning the woodland beyond.

　　米勒擁有這片土地，洛克擁有那片，而曼寧則為遠處樹林之主，

　　But none of them owns the landscape.

　　然而他們都無法擁有這片風景。

　　There is a property in the horizonwhich no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet.

　　地平線上有一財產，卻無人擁有，除非有慧眼者可將各處景緻整合為一，這就是詩人。

　　This is the best part of these men's farms,yet to this their warranty-deeds give no title.

　　此為所有農場中最珍貴者，卻無人能憑產權而據為己有。

　　To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature.

　　說實話，只有極少數成年人見到過自然。

　　Most persons do not see the sun.

　　多數人不見太陽，

　　At least they have a very superficial seeing.

　　至少，只是浮光掠影。

　　The sun illuminates only the eye of the man,but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.

　　陽光只照亮成年人雙目，卻可射入兒童的眼睛和心田。

　　The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to eachother;

　　大自然熱愛者的內、外感覺和諧共處;

　　who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.

　　雖為成人卻童心未泯，

　　His intercourse with heaven and earth,becomes part of his daily food.

　　其與天地之交流已成每日之食糧;

　　In the presence of nature,a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.

　　儘管心情悲愴，但面對自然時，仍會欣喜若狂。

　　Nature says, he is my creature,and maugre all his impertinent griefs,he shall be glad with me.

　　大自然言：“彼，吾所造也，應湮滅其無謂之悲傷，與吾同處應歡樂。”

　　Not the sun or the summer alone,but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight;

　　不僅是陽光和夏天，四季中每一時辰都獻出歡欣;

　　for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind,frombreathless noon to grimmest midnight.

　　因為從悶熱的正午，到嚴酷的子夜，每一時刻和變化都符合並佐證著人們不同的心裡狀態。

　　Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece.

　　大自然真可謂悲劇與喜劇同臺上演。

　　In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue.

　　人健康時，空氣也會異常熱忱友好。

　　Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles,at twilight, under a clouded sky,without having in mythoughts any occurrence of special good fortune,I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration.

　　越過空曠公地，逗留雪潭，烏雲之下，暮光之中，雖未覺鴻運當頭，卻興奮異常，

　　I am glad to the brink of fear.

　　竟樂而生懼。

　　In the woods too, a man casts off his years,as the snake his slough,and at what period soeverof life, is always a child.

　　在樹林中也是如此，人們拋落歲月如同蛇蟒蛻皮，人生無論處於何種階段，總是孩童。

　　In the woods, is perpetual youth.

　　樹林之中，青春永恆。

　　：人類不可能與大自然徹底隔絕

　　We cannot command Nature except by obeying her.

　　—Francis Bacon ***弗蘭西斯·培根***

　　Graced by beautiful rings and ridges on their shells, diamondbacks1*** look like a field of galaxies on the move. They inhabit neither freshwater nor sea, but the brackish2*** slurry3*** of coastal marshes. Mating in the spring, they need to lay their eggs on land, so in June and July they migrate to the sandy dunes of Jamaica Bay4***. The shortest route leads straight across the tarmac5*** at Kennedy International Airport.

　　Never mess with6*** a female ready to give birth. On June 29, 2011, more than 150 diamondback terrapins scuttled7*** across Runway No. 4, delaying landings, halting takeoffs, foiling8*** air traffic controllers, crippling9*** timetables and snarling traffic for hours. Cold-blooded reptiles they may be, but they are also ardent and single-minded.

　　Don’t the plucky turtles notice the jets? Probably not as monsters. Even with polka-dot necks stretched out, diamondbacks don’t peer up very high. And unlike, say, lions, they don’t have eyes that dart after fast-moving prey. So the jets probably blur into background—more of a blowy weather system than a threat. But planes generate a lot of heat, and the turtles surely find the crossing stressful.

　　Mounted on the shoreline of Jamaica Bay and a federally protected park, indeed almost surrounded by water, J.F.K. occupies land where wildlife abounds, and it’s no surprise that planes have collided with gulls, hawks, swans, geese, and osprey. Or that every summer there’s another turtle stampede, sometimes creating two-hour delays.

　　People around the world became obsessed with the plight of the quixotic turtles, a drama biblical in its proportions ***slow, sweater-necked Davids vs. steely Goliaths***. It defied reason that small reptiles would take on whirring leviathans whose gentlest tap may crush them and whose breath can blow them to kingdom come.

　　Many people also felt a quiver of disquiet, of something elemental out of place. Supposedly, in our snug, walled-in cities, we’re keeping nature in check, growing docile plants, adopting pets and erecting a buffer of steel and cement. If wild turtles can find their way into suburbia, can larger animals be far behind, ones with fangs and teeth, whose red eyes pierce the night?

　　The answer is yes; it happens more often than one supposes. Chicago is home to hundreds of coyotes, which have been tracked near strip malls, in parks, and even in residential neighborhoods. In 2010, New Jersey hosted a six-day black bear hunt. Moose regularly pay house calls in Alaska, stomping into yards and onto porches, looking for grub. Giant antlers and all, they can leap chain-link fences. On many a golf course in Florida, alligators create an extra water hazard, and lakeside settlers know to keep their Chihuahuas indoors. Mountain lions forage in Montana cities; cougars stalk joggers in California; elk stroll through housing tracts in Colorado. At least one Brooklyn woman found a 7-foot-long python in her toilet. We forget that the animal kingdom is a circle of neighbors who often drop by unannounced.

　　The myth of our sprawly, paved-over cities and towns is that we’ve driven native animals out and stolen their habitat. Not entirely true. We may drain the marshes, level forests and replace meadows with malls, exiling some animals. But because we also need nature, we create a new ecology that happens to be very hospitable to wild animals. In some ways, it’s more inviting than wilderness. We install ponds, lawns, groves of edible trees. We leave garbage on the curb and design flowerbeds that are well-watered and well-fed, serving a smorgasbord of delicacies.

　　We can’t help ourselves; we evolved to feel part of nature’s web. So we erect walls to keep nature out and take pride in scrubbing dirt and dust from our homes. Then we fill our houses with bouquets of flowers, adopt pets and scent absolutely everything that touches our lives. We seat windows in our walls, install seasons ***air-conditioning and heat*** and fasten at least one noonday sun in every room to shower us with light. Confusing, isn’t it?

　　In my hometown upstate, we’re blessed by lots of wild animal visitors, from star-nosed moles and foxes to eagles, otters and skunks. White-tailed deer are so numerous that they qualify as residents. Each year, I line up behind a dozen cars on a busy highway as a caravan of Canada goose chicks waddles across in a single line between guardian geese, apparently unfazed by motorized honking.

　　Like the turtles at J.F.K., they remind us that, even with egos of steel and concrete plans, we’re easily humbled by nature in the shape of snowflakes, goslings or turtles—all able to stop traffic. They also remind us how conflicted we really are about nature.

　　鑽紋龜的背甲上長著漂亮的圓圈和稜脊，它們一起爬動的時候呈現出一片璀璨，非常奪目。鑽紋龜既不生活在淡水裡，也不生活在海中，而是棲息於海濱沼澤地那微鹹的泥漿裡。春天交配的季節過後，它們要去陸地產卵。所以，在六七月份的時候，它們會遷徙到牙買加灣的沙丘地，而遷徙的最短路線就是橫穿肯尼迪國際機場的柏油跑道。

　　永遠都別招惹準備產仔的雌性動物。2011年6月29日這天，150多隻鑽紋龜從機場的4號跑道匆匆爬過，造成飛機落地晚點，起飛中斷，空中交通管制員們束手無策，飛機時刻表亂成一團，交通癱瘓長達數小時。雖然鑽紋龜不過是冷血的爬行動物，但是它們也滿懷熱情，一門心思地只想著一件事情。

　　難道這些勇往直前的烏龜沒有注意到周圍的噴氣式飛機嗎?估計它們沒把這些飛機當成什麼龐然大物。即便鑽紋龜把滿是圓點花紋的脖子使勁朝前伸，它們能看到的高度仍然有限。而且，與獅子之類的動物不同，它們的眼睛無法跟蹤快速移動的獵物。所以，在它們眼裡，噴氣式飛機可能只是背景中模糊的一團，更像是大風類的天氣現象，而不是一個危險事物。不過，飛機會產生大量熱量，所以從機場穿行的烏龜一定不輕鬆。

　　肯尼迪國際機場坐落於牙買加灣的海岸線上，那裡有一個受聯邦政府保護的公園。機場幾乎四面環水，其所佔據的這塊地方野生動物資源非常豐富，所以，飛機撞上海鷗、老鷹、天鵝、野鵝和魚鷹這樣的事都不足為怪。同樣不足為怪的是，每年夏天烏龜一窩蜂地遷徙都會造成交通癱瘓，有時會導致長達兩小時的交通延誤。

　　這些具有堂吉訶德精神的烏龜們所處的困境讓全世界的人都感到困惑。從力量對比的懸殊程度來看，這簡直是一出聖經故事***一邊是行動遲緩、穿著龜領毛衣的大衛們，一邊是鋼筋鐵骨的巨人歌利亞們***。這些轟隆作響的龐然大物只消輕輕一碰就能讓小烏龜粉身碎骨，吹一口氣就能把它們送上西天，但這些小小的爬行動物卻毫無畏懼地跟大飛機叫上了板，這真是匪夷所思。

　　許多人為此還感到心中一顫，他們體會到一絲不安，覺得有什麼事從根子上出了問題。我們一直相信，在溫暖舒適、高牆圍守的城市裡，我們將自然掌控在自己手中：種植溫順的植物，豢養寵物，建起一個用鋼筋和水泥鑄就的緩衝地帶。可是如果野生龜能夠爬進市郊，那些爪尖牙利、眼睛在夜裡閃著紅光的大型動物們離城市還會遠嗎?

　　答案是它們一樣會闖進市郊。這種情況發生的頻率比人們想象的要高。芝加哥是數百隻叢林狼的大本營，在商業街、公園甚至居民區附近都曾發現過它們的蹤跡。2010年，新澤西州組織了一次為期六天的獵捕黑熊行動。在阿拉斯加，駝鹿是上門常客，經常闖進院落，踏入門廊，到處尋找食物。它們儘管頂著巨大的鹿角，有著諸多不便，居然也能躍過鐵鏈連線的柵欄。在佛羅里達的許多高爾夫球場上，短吻鱷為水障礙區增添了新的挑戰。而住在湖邊的人們都明白，他們得把自己的吉娃娃狗關在屋子裡。在蒙大拿州，北美山獅覓食的足跡遍佈州內各個城市;在加利福尼亞州，美洲豹常尾隨慢跑者;在科羅拉多州，美洲大角鹿常出沒於居民區。在布魯克林，至少有一位女士在衛生間發現過一條七英尺長的蟒蛇。我們忘記了一個事實：動物王國是一群常常不請自來的鄰居。

　　關於規模恣意擴張和道路整飭有序的城鎮，我們抱有這樣一個謬見：我們已經趕走了原本在當地土生土長的動物，盜走了它們的棲息地。但這並不完全符合事實。我們也許排幹了沼澤地的淤水，將森林夷為了平地，用購物中心代替了草地，將某些動物驅逐了出去。但是，因為我們也需要自然，我們創造了一個新的生態環境，而這一新環境卻碰巧非常適合野生動物生存。從某些方面來講，它比荒野更有吸引力。我們在這個新的生態環境中“安置”了池塘、草坪以及小樹林，林中的樹木就是某些動物的食物。我們把垃圾扔在路邊，還設計了花圃，殷勤灌溉，精心施肥，這無異於為動物們佈下了什錦盛宴。

　　我們這麼做也是情非得已。我們已漸漸習慣將自己看做是大自然網路中的一部分。所以，我們一方面豎起高牆把自然關在門外，以把家裡打掃得一塵不染為榮;又在家裡擺滿鮮花，養上寵物，再想方設法把與我們生活密切相關的所有一切弄得芳香撲鼻。我們在牆上開了窗戶，在房間裡裝上了季節***空調和暖氣***，並且每個房間至少裝一盞正午的太陽，使我們永沐光明。挺自相矛盾的，不是嗎?

　　在我位於北部的家鄉，我們常常有幸碰到許多野生動物來訪，從星鼻鼴和狐狸到老鷹、水獺和臭鼬。這裡的白尾鹿數量非常多，簡直有資格取得那裡的常住居民身份。每一年，我的車都會困在一溜堵在繁忙高速公路的汽車後面，因為公路上有一群加拿大黑雁幼崽正排成一列，從負責守衛的黑雁中間搖搖擺擺地穿過，完全無視旁邊震天響的汽車喇叭聲。

　　像肯尼迪國際機場的烏龜一樣，它們提醒著我們，就算我們心高氣傲，滿腦子都是使用鋼筋混凝土的規劃，但大自然輕而易舉地就能讓我們威風掃地——即使它只是以雪、黑雁幼崽或是烏龜的形式出現都能讓我們的交通陷於停滯。同時，它們也在提醒我們，人類對自然的態度是多麼自相矛盾。

　　：土地

　　I am the soil.

　　我是土地。

　　I am in the hills, and in the valleys, the farms, the orchards.

　　我存在於高山上，山谷中，農場裡，果園間。

　　Without me humans could not exist. But you treatme like dirt.

　　沒有我，人類無法生存。但你們卻把我看得一文不值。

　　Do you realize that I am just a thin skin on this planet?

　　你們意識到了嗎，我只是這個地球薄薄的一層面板?

　　And that I'm actually alive.

　　我也是有生命的。

　　Full of organisms that grow your food.

　　充滿了讓你們的食物得以生長的有機物。

　　But I am broken, aching, overused, sick.

　　但是我被你們破壞、傷害、過度開發、損害。

　　Because of you. You have withered me away to less than half of what I used to

　　be just over100 years ago.

　　就是因為你們。你們讓我萎縮，現在我只剩下不及100年前一半的厚度。

　　Are you paying attention? I am turning to dust.

　　你們注意到了嗎?我正在逐漸化為一片荒漠。

　　So maybe you could treat me with a little more respect.

　　所以也許你們能對我多一些尊重。

　　I suppose you still want to eat, right?

　　我想你們不想餓肚子，對吧?