IF 如果

If you can keep your head

When all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you，

But make allowance1) for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting，

Or being lied about， don't deal in lies，

Or being hated， don't give way to hating，

And yet don't look too good， nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors2) just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves3) to make a trap for fools，

Or watch the things you gave your life to， broken，

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of 4) all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss5)，

And lose， and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve6) and sinew7)

To serve your turn long after they are gone，

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: \"Hold on!\"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue8)，

Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch，

If neither foes9) nor loving friends can hurt you，

If all men count with you， but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run，

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it，

And—which is more—you'll be a Man， my son!

Rudyard Kipling (拉迪亞德·基普林，1865~1936)，印裔英國人，短篇小說家和詩人。他一生著作頗豐，其代表作品有反映印度生活的現實主義小說《山中故事》(Plain Tales from the Hills，1888)，為兒童創作的充滿神奇色彩的童話故事《叢林之書》(The Jungle Book，1894)，偵探小說《基姆》(Kim，1901)，詩集《營房謠》(Gunga Din，1892)和短篇故事集《如此故事》(Just So Stories，1902)等。1907年，他獲得了諾貝爾文學獎，他的作品對20世紀初的世界文壇產生了很大影響。

Kipling的詩詞創作豐富多彩，感情真摯，這首小詩《如果》(If)就是其代表作之一。Kipling憑借手中妙筆，將人生的種種境遇躍然紙上，借此告誡即將參軍的兒子:做人最重要的是要有堅定的信心和持久的耐心。面臨考驗時，要百折不撓，頑強拼搏;與人交往時，要不卑不亢，以智者的胸襟包容一切;成功時戒驕戒躁，失敗時絕不氣餒，再接再厲;更要珍惜時光，堅持夢想，奮斗不息。短短的一首詩，語言質樸，風格簡約，于平淡之中蘊含深刻的哲理，令人回味無窮。

Vocabulary

1.allowance [E5lauEns] n. 容忍

2.impostor [Im5pCstE(r)] n. 冒名頂替者;江湖騙子

3.knave [neIv] n. 狡詐的人，惡棍，無賴

4.one heap of: 大量，許多

5.pitch-and-toss [5pItFEn5tCs] n. 投硬幣游戲

6.nerve [nE:v] n. 力氣;精力;耐力

7.sinew [5sInju:] n. 力量，精力

8.virtue [5vE:tju:，-tFu:] n. 高尚的道德;正直的品性

9.foe [fEu] n. <詩> 敵人，仇敵