美食祈祷和恋爱 Eat, Pray, Love
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Chapter 41

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 We are all given work here, and it turns out that my work assignment is to scrub the temple floors. So that's where you can find me for several hours a day now--down on my knees on the cold marble with a brush and a bucket, working away like a fairy-tale stepsister. (By the way, I'm aware of the metaphor--the scrubbing clean of the temple that is my heart, the polishing of my soul, the everyday mundane1 effort that must be applied2 to spiritual practice in order to purify the self, etc., etc.)

My fellow floor-scrubbers are mainly a bunch of Indian teenagers. They always give teenagers this job because it requires high physical energy but not enormous reserves of responsibility; there's a limit to how much damage you can do if you mess up. I like my coworkers. The girls are fluttery little butterflies who seem so much younger than American eighteen-year-old girls, and the boys are serious little autocrats3 who seem so much older than American eighteen-year-old boys. Nobody's supposed to talk in the temples, but these are teenagers, so there's a constant chatter4 going on all the time as we're working. It's not all idle gossip. One of the boys spends all day scrubbing beside me, lecturing me earnestly on how to best perform my work here: "Take seriously. Make punctual. Be cool and easy. Remember--everything you do, you do for God. And everything God does, He do for you."
It's tiring physical labor5, but my daily hours of work are considerably6 easier than my daily hours of meditation7. The truth is, I don't think I'm good at meditation. I know I'm out of practice with it, but honestly I was never good at it. I can't seem to get my mind to hold still. I mentioned this once to an Indian monk8, and he said, "It's a pity you're the only person in the history of the world who ever had this problem." Then the monk quoted to me from the Bhagavad Gita, the most sacred ancient text of Yoga: "Oh Krishna, the mind is restless, turbulent, strong and unyielding. I consider it as difficult to

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mundane F6NzJ     
adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的
参考例句：
  • I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
  • I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。
2 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的；v.应用，适用
参考例句：
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
3 autocrats 92e67e78a04b062dc8e88d4b9ab0d11c     
n.独裁统治者( autocrat的名词复数 )；独断专行的人
参考例句：
  • Still, the widespread pessimism doesn't explain the relatively high scores enjoyed by the autocrats. 不过，普遍的悲观情绪并没有解释为何独裁者得到相对较高的分数。 来自互联网
4 chatter BUfyN     
vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战
参考例句：
  • Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
  • I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。
5 labor P9Tzs     
n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦
参考例句：
  • We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
  • He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。
6 considerably 0YWyQ     
adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上
参考例句：
  • The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
  • The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。
7 meditation yjXyr     
n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录
参考例句：
  • This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
  • I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。
8 monk 5EDx8     
n.和尚，僧侣，修道士
参考例句：
  • The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
  • Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。
9 subdue ltTwO     
vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制
参考例句：
  • She tried to subdue her anger.她尽力压制自己的怒火。
  • He forced himself to subdue and overcome his fears.他强迫自己克制并战胜恐惧心理。
10 prattle LPbx7     
n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音
参考例句：
  • Amy's happy prattle became intolerable.艾美兴高采烈地叽叽喳喳说个不停，汤姆感到无法忍受。
  • Flowing water and green grass witness your lover's endless prattle.流水缠绕，小草依依，都是你诉不尽的情话。
11 descend descend     
vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降
参考例句：
  • I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
  • We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。
12 depressed xu8zp9     
adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的
参考例句：
  • When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
  • His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。
13 Buddhists 5f3c74ef01ae0fe3724e91f586462b77     
n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • The Jesuits in a phase of ascendancy, persecuted and insulted the Buddhists with great acrimony. 处于地位上升阶段的耶稣会修士迫害佛教徒，用尖刻的语言辱骂他们。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
  • The return of Saivite rule to central Java had brought no antagonism between Buddhists and Hindus. 湿婆教在中爪哇恢复统治后，并没有导致佛教徒与印度教徒之间的对立。 来自辞典例句
14 touching sg6zQ9     
adj.动人的，使人感伤的
参考例句：
  • It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
  • His letter was touching.他的信很感人。
15 attachment POpy1     
n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附
参考例句：
  • She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
  • She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。
16 obsessive eIYxs     
adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的
参考例句：
  • Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
  • He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。
17 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地，敏捷地
参考例句：
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
18 poking poking     
n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢
参考例句：
  • He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
  • He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。
19 persuasive 0MZxR     
adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的
参考例句：
  • His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
  • The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。
20 dedicated duHzy2     
adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的
参考例句：
  • He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
  • His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。
21 syllable QHezJ     
n.音节；vt.分音节
参考例句：
  • You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
  • The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。
22 syllables d36567f1b826504dbd698bd28ac3e747     
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • a word with two syllables 双音节单词
  • 'No. But I'll swear it was a name of two syllables.' “想不起。不过我可以发誓，它有两个音节。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
23 dual QrAxe     
adj.双的；二重的，二元的
参考例句：
  • The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
  • He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。
24 glide 2gExT     
n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝
参考例句：
  • We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
  • So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。
25 clench fqyze     
vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住
参考例句：
  • I clenched the arms of my chair.我死死抓住椅子扶手。
  • Slowly,he released his breath through clenched teeth.他从紧咬的牙缝间慢慢地舒了口气。
26 nauseated 1484270d364418ae8fb4e5f96186c7fe     
adj.作呕的，厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • I was nauseated by the violence in the movie. 影片中的暴力场面让我感到恶心。
  • But I have chewed it all well and I am not nauseated. 然而我把它全细细咀嚼后吃下去了，没有恶心作呕。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
27 inhale ZbJzA     
v.吸入(气体等)，吸(烟)
参考例句：
  • Don't inhale dust into your lung.别把灰尘吸进肺里。
  • They are pleased to not inhale second hand smoke.他们很高兴他们再也不会吸到二手烟了。
28 exhale Zhkzo     
v.呼气，散出，吐出，蒸发
参考例句：
  • Sweet odours exhale from flowers.花儿散发出花香。
  • Wade exhaled a cloud of smoke and coughed.韦德吐出一口烟，然后咳嗽起来。
29 meditating hoKzDp     
a.沉思的，冥想的
参考例句：
  • They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
  • The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

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