[每天读一点英文：那些给我勇气的句子]an exhausting struggle

An Exhausting Struggle

Balzac once said artistic creation was “an exhausting strug-gle”．He
believed that only by tenacious( [te·na·cious || tɪ'neɪʃəs
]
adj.
 紧握的; 强的; 坚持的, 固执的,
顽强的; 坚韧的) work and fearing not afraid of
difficulties could you show your talent．It was just like the soldiers
charging the fortress([for·tress || 'fɔrtrɪs /'fɔːt-
]
n.
 城堡, 要塞)，not relaxing your effort foreven a moment．

 

Once Balzac wrote for hours on end， he was so tired that he could not
hold out
(坚持; 给予; 维持) any longer．He ran to a friend's home and plunged head long on the
sofa
．He wanted to sleep，but he told hisfriend he must be woken up
within an hour．His friend，seeing him so tired，did not wake him up on
time．After he woke up，Balzac got very angry at his friend．Fortunately
his friend had an intimate understanding of him
and did not quarrel with
him．

 

Balzac did not smoke cigarettes，nor did he drink any alco－hol． But he
got one habit：while he was writing he always drankvery strong coffee
that could almost anaesthetize
([æ'ni:sθitaiz

]  

vt. 使 ... 麻醉) his stomach．Hedidn't add milk，nor did he
add sugar in his coffee．It would not satisfy him until it was made
bitter．People generally did not like to drink such bitter coffee．That had
strange stimulus
( ['stimjuləs;'stimjələs

]  

n. 刺激，激励，刺激品) effect to him，and could help him drive the sleepiness
away，according to himself．