It was an early-winter morning. I was at the moment sitting calmly in the hall. Opposite me was a clock hanging high on the wall.

In tranquility it is easy to set one's mind working; it is also easy to catch light sounds hardly audible¹ in usual times， among which is the ticking of the clock's second hand. It ticks away 60 times a minute to fulfill its duty— the only work it does， and persistently. It is kept busy all the time， and thus regarded as \"a non-stop working hand\".

Listening to the rhythmical² tapping of the clock， I suddenly found out that the sound emitted³ by the second hand was not uniform either in volume or in strength.

A close observation revealed that it \"went downhill\" from 0 to 30 seconds and then \"climbed upwards\" from 31 to 60 seconds.

While it is descending⁴ it seemingly goes effortlessly. Benefited by gravitation it can walk down evenly step by step. When it comes to the point of 20 it gives the impression of acceleration⁵， for this leg of journey seems the most facilitating. Actually of course the hand never accelerates as a result of descending.

\"Climbing upwards\" seems to entail efforts. It shows up the meaning of the phrase \"aim high\". When the hand goes from 31 to 60 seconds it is aiming high and its sound becomes weaker and weaker. It seems to tell us that it immerses itself in hard work reticently striving for the highest point. Don't you see the composure and steadiness of those heroic personalities that have put their shoulders to the wheel?

The clink of the second hand in descending suddenly begins to \"weaken\" when it starts to climb. Does it mean that Heaven， through the clock's ticking， gives us a hint of some hidden truth?

此刻，一個初冬的早晨，我正面對著客廳里的壁鐘靜坐。

靜下來的時候，最容易想這想那，也最容易傾聽平常很難聽見的聲音。壁鐘秒針忙碌的聲音就是其一。每一分鐘，秒針都會不停地發(fā)出60次聲音，這是它的責任，也是它惟一而又持續(xù)的工作。它真是個忙家，難怪一般人都把秒針稱為“忙針”。

傾聽對面墻上壁鐘秒針的“忙音”，我突然注意到一種現(xiàn)象，那就是：秒針所發(fā)出來的聲音大小不同，強弱不一。

待我仔細觀察后發(fā)現(xiàn)，原來從0秒到30秒，針是“走下坡”；從31秒到60秒，針是“爬上坡”。

“走下坡”，似乎不太費功，受地心吸力影響，很均勻地逐步下來便可。而秒針到了20秒時，似乎你會“感覺”到它在“加速”了，這一段路程“似乎走得最輕快”。當然，秒針的速度實際上并沒有因為“下坡”而加快。

“爬上坡”似乎很吃力。這就應驗了成語“力爭上游”所含的意義。從31秒到60秒，就在這種“力爭上游”的情況中，秒針所發(fā)出的聲音漸趨微弱，這似乎在教我們“埋頭苦干”，“不動聲色”地“力爭上游”——君不見，那些埋頭苦干的英雄人物，他們都有一種既含蓄、又穩(wěn)健的神態(tài)嗎?

秒針“走下坡”時的“鏗鏘”之聲，在“爬上”坡”時突然“微弱”了下來，豈不是上天在用秒針暗示一種真理?

注釋：

1 audible adj. 聽得見的

2 rhythmical adj．節(jié)奏的，合拍的

3 emit vt．發(fā)出

4 descend v. 下去

5 acceleration n.加速度