在日常生活中尋找幸福

Mow the Lawn

在日常生活中尋找幸福

LONDON — My youngest child, Adele, graduated from the American School in London this week. She’s off to college in California, whence I suspect she will never return. As places to stay go, California is up there. Whenever I’m there I wonder why I leave. Unencumbered by too much past, it offers the sunlit tug of the future.

倫敦——我最小的孩子阿黛爾(Adele)這周從倫敦美國(guó)學(xué)校畢業(yè)了。她要去加州上大學(xué)，我覺(jué)得那種地方人去了就不會(huì)再回來(lái)。在諸多讓人向往的地方中，加州是數(shù)得著的。我每次去都會(huì)想，干嘛還要離開(kāi)。那里沒(méi)有太多歷史負(fù)累，又有大把的陽(yáng)光擺在眼前。

So, dear reader, you find me at a juncture. You put four children through high school, and you find yourself reflecting less on the collapsing Sykes-Picot order and the post-carbon economy than on the happiness whose pursuit America at its founding declared an inalienable right.

所以，親愛(ài)的讀者，你看到我正在一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)上。你供四個(gè)孩子上完高中，接著就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己對(duì)賽克斯-皮科協(xié)議(Sykes-Picot)體系的崩潰和后碳經(jīng)濟(jì)問(wèn)題沒(méi)那么上心了，你會(huì)更多考慮幸福這個(gè)問(wèn)題，而追求幸福在美國(guó)建國(guó)之初就宣稱(chēng)為不可剝奪的權(quán)利。

The founders were not wrong. It is a self-evident truth that people, whether in creating a new nation or simply beginning a new relationship, seek happiness. That they often go about it in the wrong way does not detract from the sincerity of their quest. Sure as there are acorns beneath the oak tree, people keep rekindling their hopes.

建國(guó)者們這么做沒(méi)有錯(cuò)。不管是創(chuàng)立一個(gè)國(guó)家還是開(kāi)啟一段關(guān)系，人們總會(huì)追求幸福，這是不言而喻的。盡管方式不見(jiàn)得對(duì)，但不會(huì)減損這種追求本身的真摯。就像橡樹(shù)下總會(huì)有橡子，人們的希望會(huì)不斷重燃。

In this commencement season, there is inevitably much reflection on the nature of those hopes and how to fulfill them. These tend toward the mawkish. Life is a succession of tasks rather than a cascade of inspiration, an experience that is more repetitive than revelatory, at least on a day-to-day basis. The thing is to perform the task well and find reward even in the mundane.

在這樣的畢業(yè)季，有很多人不免會(huì)反思這些希望的本質(zhì)，考慮如何實(shí)現(xiàn)它們。這樣似乎有些矯情。生活是一個(gè)接一個(gè)的任務(wù)，而非靈感如泉涌不止，它是一種更具重復(fù)性的體驗(yàn)，而非啟示性的，至少啟示不是每天都會(huì)發(fā)生。重要的是好好完成每天的任務(wù)，能夠在哪怕是比較日常的事物中找到樂(lè)趣。

I have no idea if Malcolm Gladwell is onto something with the “10,000-hour rule” — the notion that this is the time required for the acquisition of perfected expertise in a particular field — but I am sure grind is underappreciated in our feel-good culture. Don’t sweat the details, but do sweat.

我不知道馬爾科姆·格拉德威爾(Malcolm Gladwell)的“一萬(wàn)小時(shí)定律”算不算一個(gè)大發(fā)現(xiàn)——這個(gè)理論認(rèn)為，要精通某一種特定的技能，需要投入一萬(wàn)小時(shí)的學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)間——但我可以肯定，刻苦在我們這種講求感覺(jué)良好的文化里是不被賞識(shí)的。別為了旁枝末節(jié)嚇出一頭汗，但出汗是必要的。

I’ve grown suspicious of the inspirational. It’s overrated. I suspect duty — that half-forgotten word — may be more related to happiness than we think. Want to be happy? Mow the lawn. Collect the dead leaves. Paint the room. Do the dishes. Get a job. Labor until fatigue is in your very bones. Persist day after day. Be stoical. Never whine. Think less about the why of what you do than getting it done. Get the column written. Start pondering the next.

我越來(lái)越懷疑啟發(fā)的重要性。它被高估了。我覺(jué)得，責(zé)任這個(gè)幾乎要被人們淡忘的詞，跟幸福的關(guān)系要比我們想象的更大。想要幸福嗎?那就修草坪，掃落葉，粉刷房間，洗碗，找工作，直到疲憊的感覺(jué)深入骨髓。日復(fù)一日。學(xué)會(huì)堅(jiān)韌。從不抱怨。少考慮為什么要做這些事，多想想怎么做完。寫(xiě)完手上的專(zhuān)欄文章。開(kāi)始考慮下一篇。

A few years ago, when my son Blaise graduated, I was asked to give the commencement speech at the American School in London. Among other things, I said:

幾年前，我兒子布萊斯(Blaise)畢業(yè)時(shí)，我受邀在倫敦美國(guó)學(xué)校的畢業(yè)典禮上講話(huà)。我當(dāng)時(shí)說(shuō)到：

“Everyone has something that makes them tick. The thing is it’s often well hidden. Your psyche builds layers of protection around your most vulnerable traits, which may be very closely linked to your precious essence. Distractions are also external: money, fame, peer pressure, parental expectation. So it may be more difficult than you think to recognize the spark that is your personal sliver of the divine. But do so. Nothing in the end will give you greater satisfaction — not wealth, not passion, not faith, not even love — for if, as Rilke wrote, all companionship is but “the strengthening of two neighboring solitudes,” you have to solve the conundrum of your solitude.

“每個(gè)人都有讓他們?yōu)橹徽竦臇|西。只是它經(jīng)常隱藏的比較深。人們會(huì)在自己靈魂最脆弱的部分裹上層層外衣，這個(gè)部分可能與一個(gè)人最寶貴的本質(zhì)聯(lián)系最深。干擾也是外在的：金錢(qián)、名譽(yù)、同伴壓力、父母期望。所以要認(rèn)清哪些是屬于自己的神圣之所的閃光，并不容易。但是找到它吧。到最后，沒(méi)什么能比它帶來(lái)的滿(mǎn)足感更大——財(cái)富、激情、信仰都不行，甚至愛(ài)也比不上——就像詩(shī)人里爾克(Rilke)所說(shuō)，所有的友誼都不過(guò)是‘兩種相鄰的孤獨(dú)相加’，你的孤獨(dú)只有自己能解。”

“No success, however glittering, that denies yourself will make you happy in the long run. So listen to the voice from your soul, quiet but insistent, and honor it. Find what you thrill to: if not the perfect sentence, the beautiful cure, the brilliant formula, the lovely chord, the exquisite sauce, the artful reconciliation. Strive not for everything money can buy but for everything money can’t buy.”

“不管是多么耀眼的成就，也無(wú)法給你帶來(lái)長(zhǎng)期的幸福。所以?xún)A聽(tīng)你的內(nèi)心，安靜而持久地傾聽(tīng)，尊重它。找到讓自己感到興奮的事物：也許是完美的句子、漂亮的治療方案、絕妙的配方、動(dòng)人的和弦、精致的醬汁、或巧妙的和解。不要為那些金錢(qián)可以買(mǎi)到東西奮斗，而要為那些花錢(qián)買(mǎi)不來(lái)的東西努力。”

It’s not precisely that I would retract any of that today — well, maybe a little — it’s just that I’d put the emphasis elsewhere. I am less interested in the inspirational hero than I am in the myriad doers of everyday good who would shun the description heroic; less interested in the exhortation to “live your dream” than in the obligation to make a living wage.

倒不是說(shuō)我今天要收回當(dāng)時(shí)說(shuō)的話(huà)——要收回也只是其中一小部分——而是我會(huì)把重點(diǎn)放在別的地方。相比于一個(gè)鼓舞人心的英雄，我更感興趣的是無(wú)數(shù)每天都有所成就的實(shí)干家，他們會(huì)避諱英雄之類(lèi)的字眼;相比于“讓夢(mèng)想成真”之類(lèi)的箴言，我更愿意討論賺取維持生活的工資的責(zé)任。

When you think of Sisyphus — the Greek mythological figure whose devious attempt to defy the gods was punished with his condemnation to pushing a boulder up a hill and repeating the task through all eternity when it rolled down again — think above all that he has a task and it is his own. Rather than a source of despair, that may be the beginning of happiness.

當(dāng)你想到西緒弗斯(Sisyphus)——希臘神話(huà)中的人物，因心思狡黠觸犯了諸神，被懲罰將一個(gè)巨大的石頭推上山頂，落下來(lái)就再次推上去，永無(wú)休止——跳開(kāi)來(lái)看，他有一項(xiàng)任務(wù)，是他一個(gè)人的任務(wù)。這可以不是絕望的源頭，反倒是幸福的開(kāi)端。

In Camus’ book, “The Plague,” the doctor at the center of the novel, Bernard Rieux, battles pestilence day after day. It is a Sisyphean task. At one point he says, “I have to tell you this: This whole thing is not about heroism. It’s about decency. It may seem a ridiculous idea, but the only way to fight the plague is with decency.”

加繆的《鼠疫》(The Plague)的中心人物伯納德·里厄(Bernard Rieux)醫(yī)生日復(fù)一日地對(duì)抗鼠疫。這也是一項(xiàng)西緒弗斯式的任務(wù)。他一度講到，“這一切不是為了搞英雄主義，而是實(shí)事求是。這種想法可能令人發(fā)笑，但是同鼠疫作斗爭(zhēng)的唯一辦法就是實(shí)事求是。”(本文中的《鼠疫》譯文皆摘自《局外人/鼠疫》，漓江出版社1990年11月第一版，顧方濟(jì)、徐志仁譯。——譯注)

Asked what decency is, he responds: “In general, I can’t say, but in my case I know that it consists of doing my job.” Later, he adds, “I don’t think I have any taste for heroism and sainthood. What interests me is to be a man.”

有人問(wèn)什么是實(shí)事求是，他回應(yīng)說(shuō)：“我不知道它的普遍意義。但是就我而言，我知道它的意思是做好我的本分工作。”后來(lái)他又說(shuō)，“我對(duì)英雄主義和圣人之道都不感興趣。我所感興趣的是做一個(gè)真正的人。”

In the everyday task at hand, for woman or man, happiness lurks.

無(wú)論你姓甚名誰(shuí)，每天要面對(duì)的工作才是幸福隱藏的所在。