英文欣赏：A Great Friendship 伟大的友谊(上)
A Great Friendship
一段伟大的友谊
Thomas Jefferson and James Madison met in 1776. Could it have been any other year?
托马斯·杰斐逊和詹姆斯·麦迪逊相识于1776年。为什么偏偏是这一年呢？
They worked together starting then to further American Revolution and later to shape the new scheme of government.
当时他们开始共同努力推动美国革命，后来又一同为政府拟订新草案。
From the work sprang a friendship perhaps incomparable in intimacy and the trustfulness of collaboration and induration. It lasted 50 years.
在这些合作中孕育出的友谊是亲密无间、信诚以托、坚不可摧的。这份友谊维持了五十年。
It included pleasure and utility but over and above them, there were shared purpose, a common end and an enduring goodness on both sides.
当中包含有欢乐，有协作，他们更志同道合地朝共同的目标迈进，历经多年从不间断地令彼此受益。
Four and a half months before he died, when he was ailing, debt-ridden, and worried about his impoverished family, Jefferson wrote to his longtime friend.
在离开人世前四个半月时，杰斐逊重病在身，债台高筑，并为家庭的贫困感到忧心如焚，于是他提笔给这位知心好友写了封信。
His words and Madison’s reply remind us that friends are friends until death.
从他的信以及麦迪逊的回复中，我们可以看到：
They also remind us that sometimes a friendship has a bearing on things larger than the friendship itself, for has there ever been a friendship of greater public consequence than this one?
这两个朋友是一生之交；并且有时候，他们之间的友情意义之大更超越了友情本身，这份友谊给大众带来的深远影响是前所未有的。
“The friendship which has subsisted between us now half a century, the harmony of our political principles and pursuits have been sources of constant happiness to me through that long period.
“你我之间的友谊迄今已经走过了半个世纪，我们在政治原则与追求上取得的协调在过去的漫漫岁月中为我带来了源源不断的快乐。