You are young. All your years slant¹ upward. Before you life stretches out as a vast untried adventure. Love is yet to come, and success, and a career. Let me, who am over the hillcrest and on the westering slope, talk to you a bit.

 

And looking back on all that I have had and felt and lived, let me say to you that the best of all was the dream. Not what I got but what I longed for, not what I attained² 119 unto but what I aimed at, these are my harvest, my treasures.

 

I fished in the sea, but the biggest fish got away. I hunted in the wood, but the brightest birds, the fleetest deer, were those I glimpsed and saw as they vanished.

 

The things I have seen, gazed at with full vision, were cheap and tawdry compared to those that flashed by and were caught only by the tail of my eye.

 

What I have done is a poor compromise. What I dreamed of doing was wonderful. I have composed music such as the angels might covet³ to sing. I have painted pictures, carved statues, built palaces, such as no hands of flesh could accomplish.

 

I have said words that broke hearts with their infinite tragedy, and healed them again with their divine accent of consolation⁴. I have written books that swayed the world’s 120 heart as the summer wind bends the wheat-field.

 

But it was all in the realm of might-have-been, beyond the mountains of the possible.

 

This real self I am afraid for you to know. It is so commonplace. I am just a man, and the worse for wear. I am not a bit splendid nor dazzling, but by way of being shop-worn.

 

It is only my beautiful secret that comforts me to take of what I dreamed; it is only this that encourages me to take my journey hopefully among the stars when my release comes; perhaps there, in some cozy⁵ planet among the Pleiades, or dwelling

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1 slant
v.倾斜，倾向性地编写或报道；n.斜面，倾向
参考例句：
The lines are drawn on a slant.这些线条被画成斜线。 The editorial had an antiunion slant.这篇社论有一种反工会的倾向。

2 attained
（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）
参考例句：
She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。 Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

3 covet
vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西)
参考例句：
We do not covet anything from any nation.我们不觊觎任何国家的任何东西。 Many large companies covet these low-cost acquisition of troubled small companies.许多大公司都觊觎低价收购这些陷入困境的小公司。

4 consolation
n.安慰，慰问
参考例句：
The children were a great consolation to me at that time.那时孩子们成了我的莫大安慰。 This news was of little consolation to us.这个消息对我们来说没有什么安慰。

5 cozy
adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的
参考例句：
I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。 We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

6 dwelling
n.住宅，住所，寓所
参考例句：
Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。 He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

7 petals
n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )
参考例句：
white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣 The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 disillusioned
a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的
参考例句：
I soon became disillusioned with the job. 我不久便对这个工作不再抱幻想了。 Many people who are disillusioned in reality assimilate life to a dream. 许多对现实失望的人把人生比作一场梦。

9 withered
adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句：
The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。 The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。

10 foam
v./n.泡沫，起泡沫
参考例句：
The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。 The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

11 noisome
adj.有害的，可厌的
参考例句：
The air is infected with noisome gases.空气受到了有害气体的污染。 I destroy all noisome and rank weeds ,I keep down all pestilent vapours.我摧毁了一切丛生的毒草，控制一切有害的烟雾。

12 uproar
n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸
参考例句：
She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。 His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

13 residue
n.残余，剩余，残渣
参考例句：
Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。 Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。