J_00795_ch21301

Lesson Thirteen
How to Grow Old
Bertrand Russell　　
 Learning Guide
　　20世纪科学技术的长足进步大大提高了人的寿命，不少发达国家已经进入老年社会。老年人的生活和需要已经引起社会的广泛关注，因而联合国把1999年定为国际老人年。
　　老年人需要社会和子女的关怀，但更重要的是自己要正确面对迟早会到来的事实：思维的迟钝、体力的衰弱和死亡的临近。英国著名哲学家罗素的观点值得老年人借鉴，也值得目前年富力强的人深思，不仅因为他们有朝一日也会进入老年，更重要的是，因为对待老年的态度，其实也是对待人生的态度。
1. In spite of the title, this article will really be on how not to grow old, which, at my time of life, is a much more important subject. ①My parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. ②My maternal grandfather, it is true, was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty. Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age, ③and he died of a disease which is now rare, namely, having his head cut off. A great grand mother of mine lived to the age of ninety-two, ④and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants. My maternal grandmother, after having nine children who survived, ⑤one who died in infancy, and many miscarriages, as soon as she became a widow ⑥devoted herself to women's higher education. ⑦She was one of the founders of Girt on College, and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women. She used to tell of how she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad. She asked him why he was so melancholy ⑧and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren.“Good gracious,” she exclaimed, “I have seventy-two grandchildren, and ⑨if I were sad each time I parted from one of them, I should have a miserable existence! Madre snaturale,” he replied. ⑩But speaking as one of the seventy-two, I prefer her recipe. After the age of eighty she found she had some difficulty in getting to sleep, so she habitually spent the hours from midnight to 3 a.m. in reading popular science. I do not believe that she ever had time to notice that she was growing old. ⑾This, I think, is the proper recipe for remaining young. ⑿If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable shortness of your future.
　　① My parents died young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors.
　　　尽管双亲都早逝，我其余的祖先寿命却都不短。 
　　　My parents died when they were still not old, but my other ancestors lived a long life. 
　　② My maternal grandfather, it is true, was cut off in the flower of his youth at the age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty. 
　　　我的外祖父确实是在67岁正年轻力壮时就一命呜呼了。
　　　It is true my mother's father died at the age of sixty-seven when he was still very young and energetic (…died in the best years of his life.), but my other three grandparents all lived to the age of over 80. 
　　③ …and he died of a disease which is now rare, namely , having his head cut off.
　　　他死于一种现在很少见的疾病，就是说，他是被砍了头。 
　　　He was sentenced to death.( He was executed in a way which is seldom used today, he had his head cut off.
　　④ ...and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendant. 
　　　直到她去世的那天她的后代还都怕她。
　　　Throughout all her life, all her children and grandchildren were afraid of her.(Even at the age of 92, she was still clear-headed and could manage the household affairs.) 
　　⑤ ...one died in infancy
　　　一个死于襁褓之中。
　　　one died in her early childhood. 
　　⑥ …She devoted herself to women's higher education. 
　　　她投身于妇女的高等教育事业之中。
　　　She spent most of her time working at promoting university education for women. 
　　⑦ She was one of the founders of Girton College, and worked hard at opening the medical profession to women.
　　　她是格顿学院的创建人之一，为使医学行业接纳妇女而不遗余力。. 
　　　She helped establish Girton College and tried to make it possible for women to take up the medical profession.
　　⑧ …and he said that he had just parted from his two grandchildren. 
　　　He said his two grandchildren just passed away. ⑨ …if I were sad each time I parted from one of them, I should have a miserable existence.
　　　要是跟每个人告别我都伤心，那我活得可就悲惨了。 
　　　If I were sad each time I parted from them, I should have been miserable many times.
　　⑩ But speaking as one of the seventy-two, I prefer the recipe. 
　　　不过作为那72人中的一个，我觉得她（对晚辈的早逝）的态度比她在意大利遇到的那位老先生的态度强。
　　　As one of her seventy-two descendents, I think her attitude is right.
　　⑾ This, I think, is the proper recipe for remaining young. 
　　　我想这是保持年轻的诀窍。
　　　I think this is the right way to remain psychologically young. 
⑿ If you have wide and keen interests and activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived, still less of the probable shortness of your future.
　　　如果你有广泛和强烈的兴趣，如果你参加力所能及的活动，你就没有必要去掰着手算算你已经度过了多少岁月，更没有必要去考虑未来的时光会多么短暂。 
　　　If you have wide interest and are involved in activities in which you can still function well, then you will not be troubled by thinking that you have already lived many years and that the rest of your life will be short.
2. ①As regards health, I have nothing useful to say as I have little experience of illness. I eat and drink whatever I like, and sleep when I cannot keep awake. ②I never do anything whatever on the ground that it is good for health, though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.


　　① As regards health, I have nothing useful to say as I have little experience of illness. 
　　　至于健康，我没有什么建议可提，因为我几乎不生病。 
　　　As to health, I don't have much advice to offer as I seldom fall ill. 
　　② I never do anything whatever on the ground that it is good for health, though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome. 
　　　尽管我喜欢做的事情大多数是有益于健康的，但我从不因某事有益于健康而特意去做那件事情。
　　　Whenever I do things, I never think about whether they are good for my health or not, however, what I usually do is actually to help me keep fit.
 


 


3. ①Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. ②One of these is too great an absorption in the past. ③One should not live in memories, in regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. ④One's thoughts must be directed to the future, and to things about which there is something to be done. This is not always easy; ⑤one's own past is a gradually increasing weight. ⑥It is easy to think to oneself that one's emotions used to be more vivid than they are, and one's mind more keen. ⑦If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.


　　① Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age.
　　　从心理角度来说，老年事情要提防两种危险。
　　　Psychologically you should take care to avoid two dangers in old age. 
　　② One of these is too great an absorption in the past. 
　　　一是沉溺于过去。
　　　One of the two dangers is that one is too interested in his/her past life. 
　　③ One should not live in memories, in regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. 
　　　人不应该生活在记忆之中，不要总为一去不返的好时光而懊丧，不要总为故去的朋友而悲伤。 
　　　One should not be too absorbed in the past, feeling sorry for their best years that have gone ,or grieving over the death of their friends. 
　　④ One's thought must be directed to the future, and to things about which there is something to be done.
　　　人的思想应该转向未来，应该转向自己还能够有所作为的那些事情上去。 
　　　Old people should look ahead to the future, focusing their eyes on the things they have not yet done. 
　　⑤ …one's own past is a gradually increasing weight .
　　　自己的过去逐渐成为了一种精神负担。
　　　To old people，their past life is gradually becoming their mental burden. (Their past life is becoming more and more important to them.) 
　　⑥ It is easy to think to oneself that one's emotions used to be more vivid than they are, and one’s mind more keen. 
　　　人很容易自思自量，感到自己的情感不如以往强烈，思维不如以往敏锐。 
　　　Old people often think that their emotions and mind were not as strong and keen as they used to be. 
　　⑦ If this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true. 
　　　如果真是如此，就别去想它，假如你根本不去想它，也许这不是真的。 
　　　Don't bother about that your emotions and mind are not as strong and keen as they used to be. Forget it. If you forget about it, then probably your emotions and mind are not as dulled as you think.
4. ①The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of finding strength in its 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, ②you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually insensible. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, ③but one's interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not too emotional. ④Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves, but human beings, owing to the length of infancy, find this less easy.


　　① The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of finding strength in its vitality. 
　　　另一件要避免的事，就是依恋子女，希望从他们身上的活力中获取生命的力量。 
　　　The second danger the old should guard against is to be emotionally dependent on the young , hoping to obtain strength in their vigor. 
　　② …you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually insensible. 
　　　你很可能会成为他们的负担，除非他们十分麻木而感觉不到这点。 
　　　You probably will become a burden to them, unless they are indifferent to other people. 
　　③ …but one's interest should be contemplative and, it possible philanthropic, but not too emotional. 
　　　不过对他们的关注应该是多为他们着想，如有可能则帮助他们，但感情上不要过于依赖他们。 
　　　You should think about them, give them some of your suggestions; if possible you may help them financially. But don't be too emotionally dependent on them. 
　　④ Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves, but human beings, owing to the length of infancy, find this less easy. 
　　　动物对自己的后代的态度是：一旦它们能够自立，就不再关注它们；但是由于人的婴儿时期太长，父母很难停止关注自己的孩子。
　　　Once the young animals grow old enough to take care of themselves, their parents will not treat them as well as before, while human beings find it hard to do so because their period of early childhood is comparatively long.
5. I think that a successful old age is easiest for ①those who have strong impersonal interests leading to suitable activities. ②It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and that the wisdom born of experience can be used without becoming a burden. ③It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not believe you, and because mistakes are an essential part of education. ④But if you are one of those who are 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 help them in material ways, ⑤as by making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.


　　① …those who have strong impersonal interests leading to suitable activities. 
　　　…those who have strong interests that do not related in any particular persons and take part in activities in which they are still effective. 
　　② It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful and that the wisdom born of experience can be used without becoming a burden.
　　　正是在这些活动中，长期的经验能解除硕果，也正是在这些活动中，经验所赋予你的智慧才有用武之地，而不是成为负担。 
　　　In these activities you benefit from the experience you gained over a long time. In these activities you can use your wisdom without telling your children what to do. (Here the author suggests that old people should use their rich experience and wisdom in the matters that have nothing to do with their descendents.) 
　　③ It is no use telling grown-up children…because mistakes are an essential part of education.
　　　叫成年的子女不犯错误是毫无用处的。其一，他们不会相信你的话，其二，错误是他们应该接受的教育之重要的组成部分。 
　　　To tell your children not to make mistakes has no effect because everyone makes mistakes. One can learn valuable things from mistakes. 
　　④ But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests, you may find your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with your children and grandchildren. 
　　　If you can’t direct your attention to impersonal interests, your interests in your children and grandchildren will help you to find something to live for. Otherwise you might think your life is meaningless and not worth living. 
　　⑤ …as by making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company. 
　　　比如定期给他们点补贴，或是给他们织件毛衣等，但不要期望他们喜欢和你在一起。 
　　　By giving them some financial support or knitting sweaters for them, you should not expect that they would like to be constantly with you.
6. Some old people are troubled by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. ①Young men who have reason to fear 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. ②But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows and has done whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat ignoble. The best way to overcome it — so at least it seems to me — is ③to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly part of the universal life. ④An 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 visible break, they become part of 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 thing he cares for will continue. ⑤And if, with the loss of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. ⑥I 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.


　　① Young men who have reason to fear 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.
　　　那些尚有理由害怕在战场丧命的年轻人，想到自己享受不到生命所赋予的种种乐趣会感到忿忿不平，这倒是情有可原。 
　　　When the young men think that they will probably be killed in the war, their fear of death can be excused because they will feel it a great pity that they have not enjoyed the pleasure of life to the utmost. 
　　② But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows and has done whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of dearth is somewhat ignoble. 
　　　可是对一个既享受过人间欢乐也尝到了人间悲哀、做了自己力所能及的工作的老人来说，仍然贪生怕死就多少有些不光彩了。 
　　　It is not justifiable for an old man to fear death, especially for these who have experienced whatever human emotions and done everything they could do. 
　　③ ...to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly part of the universal life. 
　　　就是使你的兴趣更加广博，更加超越具体的个人，直至围绕自我的墙壁一点点地消失，直至你的生命逐渐融入整个宇宙生命之中，成为它的一部分。 
　　　To broaden your visions and interests until gradually you no longer concern with your own gains and losses and you care for the well beings of others. 
　　④ An individual human existence should be like a river small at first narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the bank recede, the water flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become part of the sea, and painlessly loss their individual being. 
　　　一个人的生命历程应该是像江河一样——上游很窄，让两岸紧紧抱住，于是奔腾直泻，流过山岩，飞越瀑布，然后河面渐渐变宽，堤岸慢慢后退，水流趋缓，最后不留下一丝痕迹的融入大海，毫无痛苦的失去了自身的存在。 
　　　Here the author compares the course of human life to that of river. When he is small, he needs intense parental care just as a river，small at first, is narrowly contained by its bank. When he is young, brimming with vigor，he lives an active life full of passion, excitement, challenge, risks and dangers just like a river rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. As he gets old, he is no longer as energetic as before, his emotions become less strong, but he becomes mature, and his wisdom grows just as a river becomes wider but less swift as it runs on. In an old age, he should lift himself above personal joys and sorrows and integrate himself with the continuous cycle of the human race just in the way a river empties into the sea without leaving any trace and becomes part of the sea, and eventually loses his individual being painlessly. 
　　⑤ And if, with the loss of vitality, weariness increase, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. 
　　　如果因丧失了活力而倍感疲劳，想歇息歇息并不是一件坏事。 
　　　When you feel extremely tired and hard to stay alive, the idea of death would be acceptable. 
　　⑥ I should wish to die while still at work, knowing the others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done. 
　　　知道他人会继续我已不能再做的事情，想到凡是能做到的我都已经都做了，我会心满意足，我愿意这样伏案而去。 
　　　Death is inevitable. As long as I live, I will work. I wish to die when I am still at work. But when death really falls on me, I will not feel regretted for I have done what I am able to in my lifetime, and I know others will carry on the cause I have not yet been able to accomplish.
Three Passions l Have Lived For


7. Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. ①These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.


　　① These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair. 
　　　这三个牵挂像风一样把我吹来吹去，让我在痛苦深渊的上空身不由己的飘荡，把我逼到绝望的边缘。
　　　The search of the three passions has been by no means smooth. It has driven me from place to place, caused great pain，and almost crush all my hopes and confidence.
8. I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy — so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours of this joy. ①I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness — that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. ②I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. ③This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what — at last — I have found.


　　① I have sought it, next, because it release loneliness－that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. 
　　　其次，我寻觅爱情是因为它能使人摆脱孤独，在那种极度的孤独之中，冻得颤抖的智慧目光，越过世界的边缘，投到了冷酷无情、没有生命的无底深渊。 
　　　The other reason for me to search for love is that love helps me shake off the loveliness I feel in the world where no one seems to understand me, and people are cold and indifferent to one another. 
　　② I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saint and poets have imagined.
　　　我寻觅爱情，首先是因为它使人心醉神迷，常常令我愿用后半生换得几个小时爱的愉悦。
　　　The third reason I search for love in that in the love relationship with my dear ones, I have found what life should be like on earth—the kind of life that saints and poets have imagined. (The author thinks that relationship between men should be like that between lovers: People really understand and care for each other. But this kind of relationship does not exist. He just hopes one day the human relationship should be like that.) 
　　③ This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life…
　　　这就是我所寻求的爱情，尽管人间真爱看似难觅，但我终于找到了它。 
　　　…though it seemed to exist only in heaven and not on earth.
9. With equal passion I have sought knowledge. ①I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.


　　① I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I've wished to know why the start shine…
　　　I have wished to understand the human emotions, natural laws
10. ①Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. ②But always pity brought me back to earth. ③Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and ④the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be . ⑤I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.


　　① Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heaven.
　　　爱情和知识在其可能的范围内把我带到了天堂。 
　　　Love and knowledge have brought me great joy as if I were living in the heaven. 
　　② But always pity brought me back to earth.
　　　但怜悯心总是又把我带回人间。 
　　　But when I see the sufferings of the human race, I cannot fully enjoy the happiness that love and knowledge have brought to me. 
　　③ Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. 
　　　痛苦的叫喊声在我心中回响。 
　　　I cannot put the sufferings of others off my mind. 
　　④ ...the whole world of loneliness, poverty and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. 
　　　以及普遍存在的孤独、贫苦和痛苦，这一切，对人类应该享有的美好生活是极大的讽刺。 
　　　…the loneliness, poverty and sufferings are each a far cry from my dream of what human life should be. 
　　⑤ I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. 
　　　我渴望减少邪恶，但我无能为力，因而我也感到痛苦。
　　　I wish to eliminate the evil, but I can't, so I also suffer.
11. ①This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. (304 words)


　　① This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me. 
　　　我就这样生活的。我认为这样活得值得，如果上天赐我良机，我愿意这样再活一次。 
　　　This is the life I have been living. I think it is worth living. If I were offered a chance to live it again, I would readily choose this way of living again.

（单选题）48.In the foreigners’ eyes, table tennis is _____.


A． very a soft game
B． very soft a game
C． a too soft game
D． too soft a game
【答案】D


【解析】本题考查重要结构too+adj.+a(n)+n.。该句句意是“在外国人看来，乒乓球作为一项运动太温和了。”

【知识点】重要结构too+adj.+a(n)+n.