迪文小说

第27章 每日皆奇迹 1（第1页）

eDailyMiracle

阿诺德·贝内特

ArnoldBennett

“Yes，he’soneofthosementhatdon’tknowhowtomanage。Goodsituation。Regularincome。Quiteenoughforluxuriesaswellasneeds。Notreallyextravagant。Andyetthefellow’salwaysindifficulties。Somehowhegetsnothingoutofhismoney。Excellentflat—halfemty！Alwayslooksasifhedhadthebrokersin。Newsuit—oldhat！Magnificentnecktie—baggytrousers！Asksyoutodinner：cutglass—badmutton，orTurkishcoffee—crackedcu！Hecan’tunderstandit。Exlanationsimlyisthathefrittershisincomeaway。WishIhadthehalfofit！Idshowhim—”

Sowehavemostofuscriticised，atonetimeoranother，inoursueriorway。

Wearenearlyallchancellorsoftheexchequer：itistherideofthemoment。Newsaersarefullofarticlesexlaininghowtoliveonsuch-and-suchasumandthesearticlesrovokeacorresondencewhoseviolencerovestheinteresttheyexcite。Recently，inadailyorgan，abattleragedroundthequestionwhetherawomancanexistnicelyinthecountryonL85ayear。Ihaveseenanessay，“Howtoliveoneightshillingsaweek。”ButIhaveneverseenanessay，“Howtoliveontwenty-fourhoursaday。”Yetithasbeensaidthattimeismoney。Thatroverbunderstatesthecase。Timeisagreatdealmorethanmoney。Ifyouhavetimeyoucanobtainmoney—usually。Butthoughyouhavethewealthofacloak-roomattendantattheCarltonHotel，youcannotbuyyourselfaminutemoretimethanIhave，orthecatbythefirehas。

Philosohershaveexlainedsace。Theyhavenotexlainedtime。Itistheinexlicablerawmaterialofeverything。Withit，allisossible；withoutit，nothing。Thesulyoftimeistrulyadailymiracle，anaffairgenuinelyastonishingwhenoneexaminesit。Youwakeuinthemorning，andyoururseismagicallyfilledwithtwenty-fourhoursoftheunmanufacturedtissueoftheuniverseofyourlife！Itisyours。Itisthemostreciousofossessions。Ahighlysingularcommodity，showereduonyouinamannerassingularasthecommodityitself！

Forremark！Noonecantakeitfromyou。Itisunstealable。Andnoonereceiveseithermoreorlessthanyoureceive。

Talkaboutanidealdemocracy！Intherealmoftimethereisnoaristocracyofwealth，andnoaristocracyofintellect。Geniusisneverrewardedbyevenanextrahouraday。Andthereisnounishment。Wasteyourinfinitelyreciouscommodityasmuchasyouwill，andthesulywillneverbewithheldfromyou。Momysteriousowerwillsay：—“Thismanisafool，ifnotaknave。Hedoesnotdeservetime；heshallbecutoffatthemeter。”Itismorecertainthanconsols，andaymentofincomeisnotaffectedbySundays。Moreover，youcannotdrawonthefuture。Imossibletogetintodebt！Youcanonlywastetheassingmoment。Youcannotwastetomorrow；itisketforyou。Youcannotwastethenexthour；itisketforyou。

Isaidtheaffairwasamiracle。Isitnot？

Youhavetoliveonthistwenty-fourhoursofdailytime。Outofityouhavetosinhealth，leasure，money，content，resect，andtheevolutionofyourimmortalsoul。Itsrightuse，itsmosteffectiveuse，isamatterofthehighesturgencyandofthemostthrillingactuality。Alldeendsonthat。Yourhainess—theelusiverizethatyouareallclutchingfor，myfriends！—deendsonthat。Strangethatthenewsaers，soenterrisingandu-to-dateastheyare，arenotfullof“Howtoliveonagivenincomeoftime”insteadof“Howtoliveonagivenincomeofmoney”！Moneyisfarcommonerthantime。Whenonereflects，oneerceivesthatmoneyisjustaboutthecommonestthingthereis。Itencumberstheearthingrossheas。