Three Days to live

假如我有三天的时光

All of us have read thrilling stories

大家都读过一些扣人心弦的故事，

in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live.

里面的主人公只有一点有限的时间可以活了，

Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours

有时长达一年，有时短到只有24小时。

But always we were interested in discovering

然而，我们总是能感动地发现，

just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours.

这些注定要死亡的人是如何想办法度过他最后的几天或最后的几小时。

I speak,of course,of free men who have a choice,

当然，我所说的是有选择的自由人，

not condemned cri- minals whose sphere of activities is strictly delimited.

而不是活动范围受到限制的被判刑的罪犯。

Such stories set us thinking,

这类故事使人们思索，

wondering what we should do under similar circumstances.

很想知道我们在同样的境况下将会怎么办。

What events,what experiences,what associations,

我们会充满什么样的遭遇，什么样的感受，什么样的联想

should we crowd into those last hours as mortal beings?

作为必死的生物，处在这几小时内。

What happiness should we find in reviewing the past,what regrets?

我们回顾往事，会找到哪些幸福，哪些遗憾呢？

Sometimes I have thought it would be an excellent rule

有时我认为，最好的规则就是

to live each day as if we should die tomorrow.

我们像明天就会死去那样生活。

Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life.

这样一种态度可以尖锐地强调生命的价值。

We should live each day with a gentleness,

我们每天都应该怀着友善，

a vigor and a keenness of appreciation

朝气和渴望去生活，

which are often lost

这些品质往往会丧失，

when time stretches before us

当时间在我们面前不断地延伸开去，

in the constant panorama of more days and months and years to come.

日复一日，月复一月，年复一年。

There are those,of course,

当然，也有那些人

who would adopt the epicurean motto of'Eat,drink,and be merry,'

愿意把"吃吧，喝吧，及时行乐吧"作为座右铭的人，

but most people would be chastened by the certainty of impending death.

然而大多数人却为死神的来临所折磨。

In stories,

在许多故事中，

the doomed hero is usually saved at the last minute by some stroke of fortune,

命运已定的主人公通常在最后一分钟，由于遭遇好运而得到拯救，

but almost always his sense of values is changed.

然而他的价值观念几乎总是改变了。

He becomes more appreciative of the meaning of life

他更加领悟了生命

and its permanent spiritual values.

及其永恒的精神价值的意义。

It has often been noted that those who live,or have lived,

常常可以看到，那些活在或者曾经活在

in the shadow of death bring a mellow sweetness to everything they do.

死亡阴影中的人们，对他们所做的每件事情都赋予了一种醇美香甜之感。