朗读英语美文（76）我决定从此过上幸福的生活
It was many years ago.
I was a young dad sitting on the couch
reading a fairy tale to my little girl.
很多年前我还是个年轻的爸爸，
坐在沙发上给小女儿讲童话故事。
She sat next to me with her head on my arm
as I told the tale.
她坐在我身边，
头枕在我胳膊上听我讲故事。
When it came to the end I finished
with those famous words:
‘And they lived happily ever after.’
故事的最后我用那句经典的话作结束语：
“从此他们过上了幸福的生活。”
As I looked over to her with her wavy, brown hair
and big, innocent eyes,
I could see the smile on her face
and I never wanted it to end.
我看着她，
她有着卷曲的棕色头发
和大大的、天真的眼睛，
我能从她的脸上看到微笑，
我希望能永远这样看着她。
It dawned on me then that the ending of the book
was what I wanted for her.
I wanted her to ‘live happily ever after.’
那时我明白了故事的结尾也是我对她的期望，
我希望她“从此过上幸福的生活。”
Still, deep in my heart
I knew that this couldn’t always be so.
I knew that there would be times
when her heart was broken.
然而内心深处我知道现实并非总能如我所愿，
我知道有时她会伤心。
I knew there would be times
when she cried in grief and I couldn’t comfort her.
我知道有时她会伤心地哭泣，
而我却不能给她安慰。
I knew there would be times
when all she felt
was fear, sadness, sorrow, and despair.
我知道，
有时她只会感到，
恐惧、伤心、懊悔和绝望。
As I stroked her hair and smiled at her
I hoped that those times would be brief
and that she would have joy in her life more often than not.
Living happily ever after,
though
seemed out of the question.
我抚摸着她的头发，对她微笑，
我希望那些时刻都能很快过去，
希望她的生活中更多的是快乐，
然而，
从此过上幸福生活似乎是不可能的。
It took me a lot of years to realize
that it IS possible to live happily ever after.
很多年以后我才意识到，
从此过上幸福生活是可以实现的。
You just have to do it ‘one day at a time.’
Happiness you see isn’t some reward
hat you get at the end of your journey.
你只需要“认真过好每一天”。
你看到的幸福
并非你人生旅程最终的奖励。
Happiness isn’t something dependent
on what life hands you.
Happiness is something you create in your life
choice by choice
and day by day.
幸福不是取决于生活赐予你什么，
而是你日复一日通过一个个选择
在生活中创造出来的。
The truth is happiness comes when you love.
Love is a gift from God.
事实是幸福就是付出爱时的体验，
爱是上帝恩赐的礼物。
It is love that mends broken hearts.
It is love that heals grief.
It is love that gives us joy.
只有爱才能修复受伤的心灵，
只有爱才能抚平伤痛，
只有爱才能给我们带来快乐。
Choose to ‘live happily ever after,
one day at a time.’
选择“从此过上幸福的生活，
过好每一天。”