How To Grow Old 老有老的活法

微茫的曙光

HOW TO GROW OLD

老有老的活法

英国著名哲学家伯特兰.罗素著

陈胜良原创翻译

Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death.In the young there is a justification for this feeling.Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in a battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer.

有些上了年纪的人一想到死就忧心忡忡，寝食难安。其实，年轻人要有这样的担心，那是可以理解的。他们有可能战死沙场，身首异处。他们一想到自己宝贵的生命说没就没了，人生里的花样年华如水漂流，他们会不寒而栗，恐惧不已。

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 abject and ignoble.

然而，经历了人世沧桑，感受了人间冷暖，尝到了工作的酸甜苦辣，老年人还怕死，那是被人耻笑的事。

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 ego recede,and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life.An individual human existence should be like a river--small at first, narrowly contained within its banks,and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls.

那么，何以克服死亡的恐惧呢？我认为，最好的方法莫过于培养兴趣，让兴趣广泛，涉猎多多，忘掉自我。这样，封闭自我的墙就会消失，个体的人生就会慢慢融入人生的汪洋大海。人的一生其实像一条河。河之源，狭而小，窄且浅，河水缓缓，堤岸巍巍。慢慢地，水流湍急，河水汹涌，澎湃流淌，流过巨石，飞流直下。

Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly,and in the end,without any visible break, they become merged in the sea,and painlessly lose their individual being.

渐渐地，河变宽了，河水汤汤，舟行款款，河岸退了，河面静了。最后，水流大海。就这样，个体就不知不觉地荡然无存了。

The man who,in old age can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear o f death，And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases,the thought of rest will be not unwelcome.

说实在的，一个人，进了耄耋之年，倘能看到这般人生光景，何有死亡之忧？人倘若年老力衰，何不停下匆匆脚步，好好欣赏人生的落日余晖？

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.

我自己一想到有人续我未竟之业，也想到自己能做的事都已做了，功德圆满，没留遗憾，我就觉得死不足惜，哪怕殉职，也何乐不为？

作者简介

湖南省作家协会会员

广东省侨界作家协会会员

湖南省翻译协会会员

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