In China, there is an old saying: "An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time." This means that time is as precious as gold. While we can earn gold through hard work, once time has passed, it can never be regained.

中国有一句古谚，“一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴。”意思是说，时间就像金子一样珍贵。可是，金子我们还可以通过努力去赚取，但是时间一旦过去了，就再也回不来了。

In his famous essay "Hasty", the writer Zhu Ziqingdescribes how time slips away: “When I wash my hands, the days pass by in thebasin; when I eat, the days flow away from my bowl; in silence, they glide pastmy eyes. I notice how hurriedly it goes, and when I reach out to grasp it, itslips right by my hand. When night falls, and I lie in bed, it dances away fromme, crossing over my feet. By the time I open my eyes to greet the sun again,another day has slipped away. I cover my face and sigh, but the the new daybegins to flicker by amidst my sighs.”

朱自清先生在他的散文名篇《匆匆》里写到，“洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地从我身上跨过，从我脚边飞去了。等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。我掩着面叹息。但是新来的日子的影儿又开始在叹息里闪过了。”

Time is perhaps the fairest force in the world, treating everyoneequally by giving each person 24 hours a day. Whether you are poor or wealthy,a commoner or a senior official, not a single second can be held back.

时间大概是这世间最公平的东西，对每个人不偏不倚，每天都是24小时。不管你是穷人还是富翁，不管你是平民还是高官，任谁也无法挽留它哪怕一秒钟。

What we can do is cherish every moment, striving hard when it’s timeto work and fully investing ourselves when we are with our families. We mustnot wait until time is gone to regret not having cherished it properly. Onlythen can life be lived fully and meaningfully.

而我们能做的，唯有珍惜当下的每一分每一秒，在该努力的时候奋力拼搏，在该陪伴家人的时候全心投入。切勿等到时光不再，才后悔当初没有好好珍惜。如此，人生才能过得充实而有意义。

资料来源：微信公众号“英语桥文化传播”