《11 On Getting Off to Sleep》歌词

[00:00:00] 11 On Getting Off to Sleep - 有声读物

[00:00:12] Lesson Eleven On Getting off to Sleep

[00:00:14] What a bundle of contradictions is a man!

[00:00:18] Surety, humour is the saving grace of us,

[00:00:21] for without it we should die of vexation.

[00:00:24] With me, nothing illustrates the contrariness

[00:00:28] of things better than the matter of sleep.

[00:00:31] If, for example, my intention is to write an essay,

[00:00:35] and 1 have before me ink and pens and several sheets of virgin paper,

[00:00:40] you may depend upon it that before I have gone very far

[00:00:43] I feel an overpowering desire for sleep,

[00:00:47] no matter what time of the day it is.

[00:00:50] I stare at the reproachfully blank paper until sights

[00:00:55] and sounds become dim and confused,

[00:00:58] and it is only by an effort of will that I can continue at all.

[00:01:04] Even then, I proceed half-heartedly, in a kind of dream.

[00:01:09] But let me be between the sheets at a late hour,

[00:01:14] and I can do any-thing but sleep.

[00:01:17] Between chime and chime of the clock I can write essays by the score.

[00:01:23] Fascinating subjects and noble ideas come pell-mell,

[00:01:28] each with its appropriate imagery and expression.

[00:01:33] Nothing stands between me and half-a-dozen imperishable masterpieces

[00:01:38] but pens, ink, and paper.