老去之道（选段）|世道崎岖路多艰选段
时间：2019-01-08 03:23:52 来源：柠檬阅读网 本文已影响 人 
翻译：洪馥芝 ◆ 罗素（1872－1970），英国著名哲学家、史学家、数学家，亦擅长散文写作。一生著述丰富，涉及众多领域。1950年获诺贝尔文学奖。
◆ 关于本文：《老去之道》选自《回忆中的画像》（Portraits from Memory）一书。由于全文篇幅较长，这里节选了后半部分。罗素的散文清新自然，优美动人，具有极高的文学成就。而本文语言机智幽默，字字珠玑，处处体现出作者对人生的思考，值得反复诵读。另外，虽然本文讲的是老年人应该如何面对衰老这一话题，但年轻人也能从中得到启发。
阅读提示：本文词汇难度较大，对阅读者的英语水平要求较高。建议先通读全文，理解文章大意，然后再对照译文，揣摩每个单词的含义。
1)Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is 2)undue 3)absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories, in regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. One’s thoughts must be directed to the future, and to things about which there is something to be done. This is not always easy; one’s own past is a gradually increasing weight. It is easy to think to oneself that one’s emotions used to be more 4)vivid than they are, and one’s mind more 5)keen. If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.
The other thing to be avoided is 6)clinging to youth in the hope of 7)sucking 8)vigour from its 9)vitality. When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives, and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young, you are likely to become a 10)burden to them, unless they are unusually 11)callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, but one’s interest should be 12)contemplative and, if possible, 13)philanthropic, but not unduly emotional. Animals become 14)indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves, but human beings, 15)owing to the length of 16)infancy, find this difficult.
I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong 17)impersonal interests involving 18)appropriate activities. It is in this 19)sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being 20)oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not believe you, and because mistakes are an 21)essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are 22)incapable of impersonal interests, you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and grandchildren. In that case you must realise that while you can still 23)render them material services, such as making them an 24)allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your 25)company.
Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a 26)justification for the feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat 27)abject and 28)ignoble. The best way to overcome it――so at least it seems to me――is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the 29)ego 30)recede, and your life becomes increasingly 31)merged in the 32)universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river――small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any 33)visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the 34)decay of vitality, 35)weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.
从心理层面而言，人到老年有两种危险需要防范。其一便是对往日的过度沉溺。久久沉湎在回忆之中，或是叹息美好的昨日，或是哀恸过世的朋友，是没有益处的。人的思想应该指向未来，必须投入到尚有所可为的事情之上。要这么做并非易事；因为过去本身就是一项与日俱增的负担。人们总易于认为过去的情感比现在要强烈得多，而当时的头脑也更敏锐。如果这是真的，就应该把它忘记；而如果可以忘记这一点，或许它就不是真实的。
其二，人到老年还要避免依恋年轻人，以求从他们的蓬勃生机中获取活力。儿女一旦长大，便想拥有自己的生活。如果你继续像他们还处于孩童时期那样关爱他们，你便很可能成为他们的负担，除非他们异常冷酷。我并不是说老年人不应该再对孩子们投以关爱，而是说这种关爱应是含蓄的，可能的话，还应该是宽广博大的，而非过分情绪化的。动物在其幼仔一旦能自立时就会对它们不闻不问，但人类由于有较长的婴儿期，这点就变得不太容易做到了。
在我看来, 最易于度过一个成功的老年的, 是其强烈的兴趣不涉及个人情感、而出于这种兴趣所从事的活动又与人相宜的那些人。只有在此层面，长久的生活经历才会真正让人受益；而也正是在此层面，由经历所生的智慧才能不受限制地得到妥善运用。一味告诫已经成人的孩子们不要犯错是没有用的，一方面因为他们并不会相信你，另一方面也因为犯错乃是教育不可或缺的构成部分。然而，如果你不能培养起超越个人情感的兴趣，那么你或许会发现，如果不紧密关注儿孙的生活，你就会感到十分空虚。这种情况下，你便必须意识到，虽然你还能够为他们提供物质上的服务，比如为他们提供资助或者给他们织毛衣，但你决不要期望他们会喜欢你的陪伴。
有些老年人受压于对死亡的恐惧。年轻人害怕死亡是合乎情理的。年轻人有理由对战死沙场感到害怕，想到他们既降生于世上却又被白白剥夺了拥有生命中最美好的事物的机会，他们也许会理直气壮地感到怨愤不平。但对于一位已经品尝过人生苦乐、且已完成其与生俱来的使命的老年人，他对死亡的恐惧便显得多少有些可鄙而卑劣了。克服这种恐惧的最好方式――至少于我而言如此――就是令自己的兴趣逐渐变得广泛、超越个人情感，直到包围自我的围墙一点点地退却消失，而你的人生也将进一步融合到全人类的大生命之中。一个人的存在应像一条河流――初时只是涓涓细流，被限制在狭窄的河床之中，然后一路激越地奔流过岩石，飞跃过瀑布。渐渐地，河流变得宽广了，河岸退去，河流越来越平缓，最后再也看不见任何激荡的痕迹，无声地汇入大海，毫无痛苦地摆脱了作为个体的存在。老年人若能如此看待他的生命，便可以消除对死亡的恐惧，因为他所关爱的一切都将继续存在。而随着生命力逐步衰朽，人的倦怠感不断累积增长，有长眠的念头未尝不是一件好事。我愿能死于仍能工作之时，心中知晓将有其他人继续我未竞的事业，并为自己完成了力所能及的一切而感到心满意足。
