培根散文隨筆集中英對(duì)照，通過(guò)閱讀文學(xué)名著學(xué)語(yǔ)言，是掌握英語(yǔ)的絕佳方法。既可接觸原汁原味的英語(yǔ)，又能享受文學(xué)之美，一舉兩得，何樂(lè)不為?

2 of death 論死亡

men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark: and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin, and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. yet in religious meditations, there is sometimes mixture of vanity, and of superstition.

成人之怕死猶如兒童之怕入暗處;兒童底天然的恐懼因故事而增加，成人對(duì)于死的恐懼亦復(fù)如此。當(dāng)然，靜觀死亡，以之為罪孽底工資，通往另一世界的去路者，是虔誠(chéng)而且合乎宗教的;但是恐懼死亡，以之為我們對(duì)自然應(yīng)納的貢獻(xiàn)，則是愚弱的。然而在宗教的沉思中有時(shí)亦雜有虛妄和迷信