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本文的作者萨缪尔·厄尔曼 1840年生于德国，儿时随家人移居美利坚，参加过南北战争，之后定居伯明翰，经营五金杂货，年逾70开始写作。《青春》一文仅400字，道出了青春的真谛，原文译文都有着自己最独特韵味。

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

青春不是年华，而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志、恢宏的想像、炽热的感情;青春是生命的深泉涌流。

Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease.This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty.Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.We grow old by deserting our ideals.

青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生有之，六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加，并非垂老;理想丢弃，方堕暮年。

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.

岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤; 热忱抛却，颓唐必致灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。

Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living.

无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。