1. 退离工作岗位，淡出社会生活，倏忽十有余年。自喜晚景静好，无虑饥寒，还赶上了百年难遇的太平岁月。虽然许多现象不免使人牵愁惹恨，总算免了提心吊胆，唯恐什么时候会来一阵防不胜防的人造风暴。坐食之余，积习难除，不免干些灾梨祸枣的闲人之业。这本来也是消磨余年的一法，犹如老农冬闲，负暄闲话，乐在其中。
　　More than ten years has quickly passed away since I retired and began to stay away from public activities. I congratulate myself， however， on spending my declining years in peace and comfort， free from hunger and cold， and on happening to live in time of peace and tranquility， which is hard to come by even once in a century. Though I still cannot help feeling concerned about many aspects of the status quo， I am， nevertheless， spared from living to live in constant fear of being overtaken unawares by an unpredictable man-made storm. In my retirement， I keep the old habit of wielding my clumsy pen. I regard it was one way of whiling away my remaining years， and also find pleasure in it， similar to an old farmer enjoying a chat while taking the sun during the slack winter season.
　　2. Temptation comes to all of us， whether or not we succumb depends on our ability to recognize its disguise， sometimes it arrives in a form of an old flame， flickering back to life， or a new friend who could end up being so much more， or a young child who wakens feelings we didn‘t know we had. And so we give in to temptation all the while knowing come morning， we’ll have to suffer the consequences。（英译汉）
　　每个人都会受到诱惑，我们是否屈服于诱惑取决于我们识破其伪装的能力。有时它们以闪回的火花形式出现；有时是一个意义深远的新朋友；有时是一个触发我们不曾有过的感觉的婴儿。不过如果我们屈服于诱惑，那么第二天我们必须承担后果。