培根散文随笔集中英对照，通过阅读文学名著学语言，是掌握英语的绝佳方法。既可接触原汁原味的英语，又能享受文学之美，一举两得，何乐不为?

2 of death 论死亡

men fear death, as children fear to go in the dark: and as that natural fear in children is increased with tales, so is the other. certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin, and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. yet in religious meditations, there is sometimes mixture of vanity, and of superstition.

成人之怕死犹如儿童之怕入暗处;儿童底天然的恐惧因故事而增加，成人对于死的恐惧亦复如此。当然，静观死亡，以之为罪孽底工资，通往另一世界的去路者，是虔诚而且合乎宗教的;但是恐惧死亡，以之为我们对自然应纳的贡献，则是愚弱的。然而在宗教的沉思中有时亦杂有虚妄和迷信