Appetite
One of the major pleasures in life is appetite, and one of our major duties should be to preserve it. Appetite is the keenness of living: it is one of the senses that tells you that you are still curious to exist, that you still have an edge on your longings and want to bite into the world and taste its numerous flavors and juices. By appetite, of course, I don’t mean just the desire for food, but any condition of unsatisfied desire, any burning in the blood that proves you want more than you’ve got, and that you haven’t used up your life. Wilde said he felt sorry for those who never got their heart’s desire, but sorrier still for those who did. For appetite, for me, is this state of wanting, which keeps one’s expectations alive.
I remember learning this lesson long ago as a child, when treats and indulgence were few, and when I discovered that the greatest pitch happiness was not in actually eating a toffee but in gazing at it beforehand. True, the first bite was delicious, but once the toffee was gone one was left with nothing, neither toffee nor lust. Besides, the whole toffeeness of toffees was imperceptibly diminished by the gross act of having eating it. No, the best was in wanting it, in sitting and looking at it, when one tasted an endless treasure house of flavors. So, for me, one of the keenest pleasures of appetite remains in the wanting, not the satisfaction. In wanting a peach, or a whisky, or a particular texture or sound, or to be with a particular friend, for in those condition, of course, I know that the object of desire is always at its most flawlessly perfect. For that matter, I don’t want three square meals a day — I want one huge, delicious, orgiastic, table groaning blow out, say every four days, and then not be too sure where the next one is coming from①. A day of fasting is not for me just a device for denying oneself a pleasure, but rather a way of anticipating a rarer moment of supreme enjoyment.
[360 words]
行文点评
作者开篇点题，指出One of the major pleasures in life is appetite。进而作者给appetite下了一个定义，即对任何事物的渴望。接着用王尔德的话引出作者的观点： Appetite is the state of wanting。在第二段中，作者用I remember...讲述了自己吃太妃糖的亲身经历，描述生动形象，贴近生活，由这段经历作者引出了文章的主题——欲望最大的乐趣在于对之渴求，而非满足。
作者谈的是食欲(appetite)，却又不仅仅谈对食物的热望。作者由小见大，由食欲谈及欲望(desire)，及其满足(satisfaction)。文章充满智慧(wits)，是一篇上佳的小品文。读者应能够体会作者刻意营造的一种轻灵跳跃(staccato)之感：No, the best was in wanting it, in sitting and looking at it(不，最重要的是对它的渴望和坐下来盯着它看的感觉)。这句话充分体现了作者有极高的驾驭语言的能力。
好文妙译
欲望
生活中一项最大的乐趣便是有个好胃口，而我们的主要职责之一便是保持这一好胃口。胃口是对生活的一种强烈的愿望，这是一种感觉，它告诉你你仍渴望着，你还有许多渴望尚待实现，还想继续生活在这世界上，品尝各种风味。所谓胃口(欲望)，当然，我不仅仅指对食物的热望，而且指任何未满足的渴望的情形，任何血液的沸腾都证明了你要的不仅仅是这些，你还未好好享受人生。王尔德说他对那些从未得到满足的人表示遗憾，但对那些已经心满意足的人更感到悲哀。欲望对我来说，是一种渴求的状态，它使希望永存。
我记得懂得这一点是在很久以前，还是个孩子的时候，那时有人款待和纵酒享乐的机会很少。而我发觉最大的幸福不在于吃太妃糖，而在于吃前凝视它的那一段时间。诚然，咬第一口时味道不错，但一旦太妃糖吃完了，一切皆化为乌有，无论是太妃糖还是欲望全都没了。此外，太妃糖的味道也在大口咀嚼中毫无觉察地消失了。不，最棒的是对它的渴望和坐下来盯着它看时的感觉，仿佛置身于
美食宝库遍尝天下美味佳肴时才有的感觉。所以对我而言，欲望的最大乐趣之一在于对之渴求，而非满足感。想吃一个桃子，或喝一杯威士忌，或是期待一个特别的质感或声音，又或是渴望能和一个特别的朋友在一起,在这些情况下，我当然知道欲望的目的通常在于其无瑕疵的完美。对此，我不想过一天三顿的正常生活，而想每四天来一顿丰富可口的美味佳肴，大吃大喝一顿，接下来不知下一顿从何而来。一天的禁食对我来说并非像是被剥夺了快乐，而是期待更多纵情享乐的时刻。
词汇斟酌
appetite n.①胃口，食欲②欲望
keenness n.渴望
numerous a.众多的，许多的
flavor n.①味，滋味，味道②特色，风味
indulgencen.放任
pitchn.程度，强度
beforehandad.预先，事先
lustn.渴望，欲望vi.(after, for)对…有强烈的欲望
imperceptibly ad.察觉不到地, 微细地
diminish vi.变少，变小，降低vt.减少，减小，降低
orgiastic a.狂欢的
groan vi.①呻吟，抱怨②发出呻吟的声音
fast v.禁食，斋戒
device n.手段，策略
supremea.①最高的，至上的②极度的，最重要的
佳句临摹
①【注释】blow out 减弱;停止;熄灭
【临摹】Somebody opened the door and the candle blew out.有人打开了门，蜡烛随之被吹灭了。
思如泉涌
A sound mind is in a sound body. 健全的精神寓于健康的身体中。
All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income. 世人莫不怀着一种与生俱来的欲望，要把支出超过收入，此乃一切进步的动力。
何为伟大的作品?其伟大之处在哪里?既然是伟大的作品，为何人们又望而却步、不想去读呢?本文作者就这几个问题进行了深入探讨。
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