Howtogrowold英漢對(duì)照如何安度晚年

1、HowtoGrowOldByBertrandRussellInspiteofthetitle,thisarticlewillreallybeonhownottogrowold,which,atmytimeoflife,isamuchmoreimportantsubject.Myfirstadvicewouldbetochooseyourancestorscarefully.Althoughbothmyparentsdiedyoung,Ihavedonewellinthisrespectasregardsmyotherancestors.Mymaternalgrandfather,itistru

2、e,wascutoffintheflowerofhisyouthattheageofsixty-seven,butmyotherthreegrandparentsalllivedtobeovereighty.OfremoterancestorsIcanonlydiscoveronewhodidnotlivetoagreatage,andhediedofadiseasewhichisnowrare,namely,havinghisheadcutoff。Agreatgrandmotherofmine,whowasafriendofGibbon,livedtotheageofninety-two,a

3、ndtoherlastdayremainedaterrortoallherdescendants.Mymaternalgrandmother,afterhavingninechildrenwhosurvived,onewhodiedininfancy,andmanymiscarriages,assoonasshebecameawidow,devotedherselftowomanshighereducation.ShewasoneofthefoundersofGirtonCollege,andworkedhardatopeningthemedicalprofessiontowomen.Sheu

4、sedtorelatehowshemetinItalyanelderlygentlemanwhowaslookingverysad.Sheinquiredthecauseofhismelancholyandhesaidthathehadjustpartedfromhistwograndchildren.“Goodgracious”,sheexclaimed,“Ihaveseven-twyograndchildren,andifIweresadeachtimeIpartedfromoneofthem,Ishouldhaveadismalexistence!”“Madresnaturale,”he

5、replied.Butspeakingasoneoftheseventy-two,Ipreferherrecipe.Aftertheageofeightyshefoundshehadsomedifficultyingettingtosleep,soshehabituallyspentthehoursfrommidnightto3a.m.inreadingpopularscience.Idonotbelievethatsheeverhadtimetonoticethatshewasgrowingold.This,Ithink,isproperrecipeforremainingyoung.Ify

6、ouhavewideandkeeninterestsandactivitiesinwhichyoucanstillbeeffective,youwillhavenoreasontothinkaboutthemerelystatisticalfactofthenumberofyearsyouhavealreadylived,stilllessoftheprobablebrevityofyoufuture.AsregardshealthIhavenothingusefultosaysinceIhavelittleexperienceofillness.IeatanddrinkwhateverIli

7、ke,andsleepwhenIcannotkeepawake.Ineverdoanythingwhateveronthegroundthatitisgoodforhealth,thoughinactualfactthethingsIlikedoingaremostlywholesome.Psychologicallytherearetwodangerstobeguardedagainstinoldage.Oneoftheseisundueabsorptioninthepast.Itdoesnotdotoliveinmemories,inregretsforthegoodolddays,ori

8、nsadnessaboutfriendswhoaredead.Onesthoughtsmustbedirectedtothefuture,andtothingsaboutwhichthereissomethingtobedone.Thisisnotalwayseasy;onesownpastisagraduallyincreasingweight.Itiseasytothinktooneselfthatonesemotionsusedtobemorevividthantheyare,andonesmindmorekeen.Ifthisistrueitshouldbeforgotten,andi

9、fitisforgottenitwillprobablynotbetrue.Theotherthingtobeavoidedisclingingtoyouthinthehopeofsuckingvigourfromitsvitality.Whenyourchildrenaregrownuptheywanttolivetheirownlives,andifyoucontinuetobeasinterestedinthemasyouwerewhentheywereyoung,youarelikelytobecomeaburdentothem,unlesstheyareunusuallycallou

10、s.Idonotmeanthatoneshouldbewithoutinterestinthem,butonesinterestshouldbecontemplativeand,ifpossible,philanthropic,butnotundulyemotional.Animalsbecomeindifferenttotheiryoungassoonastheiryoungcanlookafterthemselves,buthumanbeings,owingtothelengthofinfancy,findthisdifficult.Ithinkthatasuccessfuloldagei

11、seasiestforthosewhohavestrongimpersonalinterestsinvolvingappropriateactivities.Itisinthisspherethatlongexperienceisreallyfruitful,anditisinthisspherethatthewisdombornofexperiencecanbeexercisedwithoutbeingoppressive.Itisnousetellinggrownupchildrennottomakemistakes,bothbecausetheywillnotbelieveyou,and

12、becausemistakesareanessentialpartofeducation.Butifyouareoneofthosewhoareincapableofimpersonalinterests,youmayfindthatyourlifewillbeemptyunlessyouconcernyourselfwithyourchildrenandgrandchildren.Inthatcaseyoumustrealisethatwhileyoucanstillrenderthemmaterialservices,suchasmakingthemanallowanceorknittin

13、gthemjumpers,youmustnotexpectthattheywillenjoyyourcompany.Someoldpeopleareoppressedbythefearofdeath.Intheyoungtherethereisajustificationforthisfeeling.Youngmenwhohavereasontofearthattheywillbekilledinbattlemayjustifiablyfeelbitterinthethoughtthattheyhavebeencheatedofthebestthingsthatlifehastooffer.B

14、utinanoldmanwhohasknownhumanjoysandsorrows,andhasachievedwhateverworkitwasinhimtodo,thefearofdeathissomewhatabjectandignoble.Thebestwaytoovercomeitsoatleastitseemstomeistomakeyourinterestsgraduallywiderandmoreimpersonal,untilbitbybitthewallsoftheegorecede,andyourlifebecomesincreasinglymergedintheuni

15、versallife.Anindividualhumanexistenceshouldbelikeariversmallatfirst,narrowlycontainedwithinitsbanks,andrushingpassionatelypastrocksandoverwaterfalls.Graduallytherivergrowswider,thebanksrecede,thewatersflowmorequietly,andintheend,withoutanyvisiblebreak,theybecomemergedinthesea,andpainlesslylosetheiri

16、ndividualbeing.Themanwho,inoldage,canseehislifeinthisway,willnotsufferfromthefearofdeath,sincethethingshecaresforwillcontinue.Andif,withthedecayofvitality,wearinessincreases,thethoughtofrestwillnotbeunwelcome.Ishouldwithtodiewhilestillatwork,knowingthatotherswillcarryonwhatIcannolongerdoandcontentin

17、thethoughtthatwhatwaspossiblehasbeendone.WORDS:附在.上，堅(jiān)守.，抓住.生機(jī)，生命力undueclingtovitalitycallouscontemplative好沉思的philanthropic博愛的，慈善的sphere范圍，領(lǐng)域render給予，提供justifiably正當(dāng)?shù)?，無可非議地abject卑下的，可憐的ignoble不體面的，可恥的recede退去，收回部分參考譯文：如何安度晚年BA羅素從心理上說，老年時(shí)期要防止兩種危險(xiǎn)。其一是過分沉湎于過去。生活于回憶之中，為以往的好時(shí)光而抱憾，或因朋友作古而悲傷，這些皆無濟(jì)于事。人的思想必須朝

18、著未來，朝著還可以有所作為的方面。這并非總是容易做到；因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)人的過去是一份不斷加重的負(fù)擔(dān)。人們?nèi)菀渍J(rèn)為自己的感情，過去比現(xiàn)在充沛，自己的思想，過去比現(xiàn)在敏銳。如果這是事實(shí)，就應(yīng)該忘掉它。如果它被忘掉，那它也許將不成其為事實(shí)。另一件要避免的事是緊拽著年輕人，希望從他們的生機(jī)中吸取活力。當(dāng)你的孩子們已經(jīng)長大，他們就要過他們自己的生活，如果你還是想他們小時(shí)侯那樣對(duì)他們關(guān)心備至，你就可能成為他們的包袱，除非他們特別麻木不仁。我不是說他們應(yīng)該不聞不問，但是你所給予的關(guān)心應(yīng)當(dāng)是理性的，解囊相助的(如果可能的話)，而非過于感情沖動(dòng)。動(dòng)物在自己的后代一旦能夠生活自理時(shí)，便不再給予關(guān)懷，但是人類，由于幼年時(shí)期

19、太長，很難做到這一點(diǎn)。我想一個(gè)人能做到對(duì)合適的活動(dòng)興趣盎然、不計(jì)較個(gè)人得失，那么，他就極易享有成功的晚年，因?yàn)殚L期積累的經(jīng)驗(yàn)在此可以結(jié)出累累碩果，而由經(jīng)驗(yàn)產(chǎn)生的在此時(shí)既有用武之地，而又不至咄咄逼人。叫已經(jīng)成人的孩子不要犯錯(cuò)誤是沒有益處的，因?yàn)樗麄儾粫?huì)相信你，同時(shí)也因?yàn)榉稿e(cuò)誤是接受教育的不可少的一環(huán)。但假如你做不到不計(jì)個(gè)人得失，那么，不將心放在孫兒身上，你便會(huì)覺得生活空虛無望。假使如此，你必須明白：雖然你還能給他們物質(zhì)上的幫助，諸如給點(diǎn)補(bǔ)貼或織幾件毛衣，但你千萬不要指望他們會(huì)喜歡和你在一起。有些老人為死的恐懼所困擾。如果年輕人有這種恐懼，那倒無可厚非。年輕人有理由害怕戰(zhàn)死沙場；當(dāng)他們想到被騙走了生命所能給予的美好生活，他們有理由憤憤不平。但對(duì)于一個(gè)備嘗人生甘苦，業(yè)已完成該做的一切的老人來說，怕死就有點(diǎn)不大可取了?？朔@種恐懼的最好方法是至少在我看來如此使你的興趣逐漸擴(kuò)大，越來越超出