Alfred Nobel — A Man of Contrasts
艾尔弗雷德·诺贝尔——一个反差鲜明的人
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and industrialist, was a man of many contrasts. He was the son of a bankrupt (破产者) , but became a millionaire; a scientist with a love of literature, an industrialist who managed to remain an idealist. He made a fortune but lived a simple life, and although cheerful in company he was often sad in private. A lover of mankind, he never had a wife or family to love him; a patriotic son of his native land, he died alone on foreign soil. He invented a new explosive, dynamite (甘油炸药) ,to improve the peacetime industries of mining and road building, but saw it used as a weapon of war to kill and injure his fellow men. During his useful life he often felt he was useless: "Alfred Nobel," he once wrote of himself, "ought to have been put to death by a kind doctor as soon as, with a cry, he entered life." World-famous for his works he was never personally well known, for throughout his life he avoided publicity. "I do not see," he once said, "that I have deserved any fame and I have no taste for it," but since his death his name has brought fame and glory to others.
瑞典发明家、实业家艾尔弗雷德·诺贝尔是个集多种对立现象于一身的人。他是破产者的儿子,日后却成了百万富翁;他是科学家,却爱好文学;他是个始终保持理想主义者本色的实业家。他发了大财,生活却很俭朴;与人相处时他笑逐颜开,独处时却常常郁郁寡欢。他热爱人类,却从未享受过妻室与子女的天伦之乐。他热爱祖国,却客死异国。为了发展和平时期的采矿业和筑路业,他发明了一种新型炸药——甘油炸药,却目睹此发明被用作残杀、伤害同类的战争武器。在他颇有建树的一生中,他常常觉得自己渺小无用。“艾尔弗雷德·诺贝尔,”他曾这样写到他自己,“本该在呱呱坠地之时就让一位好心的医生给弄死。”他虽因自己的发明而名闻全球,但其个人生活世人向来知之甚少,因为他毕生都始终避免抛头露面。“我真不明白自己何以浪得虚名,”他这么说过,“我对虚名不感兴趣。”可在他身后,他的名字却给别人带来名声与荣耀。
来源:可可英语 //m.moreplr.com/daxue/201610/473650.shtml