◎ William Hazilitt
No young man believes he will ever die. It was a saying of my brother’s, and a fine one.
年輕人不相信自己會(huì)死。這是我哥哥說的一句話,也算得上一句金玉良言。
There is a feeling of eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything.
青春有種永生之感,它能彌補(bǔ)一切。
To be young is to be as one of the immortal Gods.
永葆年輕就像是成為一尊不朽的神明。
One half of time indeed is flown—the other half remains in store for us with all its countless treasures, for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes.
誠(chéng)然,生命的一半已然消逝——而保留下的另一半將給我們帶來無盡的財(cái)富,對(duì)此我們懷著無限的希望和企盼。
We make the coming age our own—the vast, the unbounded[75]prospect lies before us.
未來的日子掌握在我們自己手中——眼前展現(xiàn)一片無限遼闊的前景。
Death, old age is words without a meaning that pass by us like the idea air which we regard not.
死亡,衰老,這些毫無意義的字眼,我們只當(dāng)耳旁風(fēng)那樣聽過便忘了。
Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them—we “bear a charmed life”, which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. As in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward—bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail!
這一切,也許其他人早已經(jīng)歷,亦或正在承受——我們的生活備受祝福,所以面對(duì)這些脆弱的想法,只需一笑置之。就像踏上一段愉快的旅程,我們極目遠(yuǎn)眺——向著遠(yuǎn)處的美景歡呼。
And see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance.
前進(jìn)的路上,看見的是無限的山水美景和不斷涌現(xiàn)的新目標(biāo)。
So, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them.
因此,生命伊始,讓我們的志趣自由馳騁,自由尋求一切滿足的機(jī)會(huì)。
We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag; and it seems that we can go on so forever.
然而,我們未曾碰上障礙,也未曾感到疲憊??礃幼游覀兛梢杂肋h(yuǎn)前進(jìn),直到永遠(yuǎn)。
We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseless progress; and feel in ourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave.
我們環(huán)視這個(gè)嶄新的世界——生機(jī)盎然、日新月異、進(jìn)取不斷。我們深感自己活力四射、精神奕奕,可以跟上宇宙的腳步。眼前也沒有跡象表明,在大自然的發(fā)展過程中,我們會(huì)落伍,會(huì)老去,會(huì)死去。
It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth, that identifies us with nature, and deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it.
年輕時(shí)單純率真,也就是天真無知,讓我們誤以為自己與大自然無異,并相信自己能和它一樣永恒不朽。
Our short lives connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves is an indissoluble and lasting union—a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation.
我們一廂情愿地把自己在世上的短暫停留當(dāng)作永恒不變、千古永存的結(jié)合——就像沒有冷淡、爭(zhēng)執(zhí)和離別的蜜月。
As infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us—we quaff[76]the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more objects press around us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death.
我們就躺在自己用幻想編織而成的搖籃里,像嬰兒那般微笑入睡。世間萬物發(fā)出的聲音就像是催眠曲般哄著我們安然入眠。我們渴望地、急切地飲著生命之杯里的美酒,可杯中的美酒怎么也喝不干,反而永遠(yuǎn)那樣滿滿欲溢。森羅萬象和種種欲望占據(jù)了一切,就連死亡我們都無暇去想。
美麗語(yǔ)錄
Don’t let the sadness of your past and the fear of your future ruin the happiness of your present.
別讓過去的悲催和未來的憂慮,毀掉自己當(dāng)下的快樂。