新概念英语4册第11课

How to grow old

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 battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. 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. 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 rive -- small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders 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 merged in 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 thethings he cares for will continue. And it, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will be not unwelcome. 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.

一些老人因为害怕死亡而情绪低落。若是年轻人，这可以理解。年轻人对于在战斗中牺牲的恐惧是来自于他们认为还没有享受到生命中美好的东西。而老人已经了解了人生的欢乐与痛苦，已经完成了他的工作，因此对死亡的恐惧有些不进情理。而就我来说，克服恐惧的最好方法是使你的兴趣广泛，不要太个人化，直到自己的思想一点点淡化，这样你的生活就会渐渐融合到大众的生活当中去。人的一生就象一条河流--开始时很小，在自己的河床中。越过石头和瀑布，渐渐地河流变的宽广，河岸变的遥远，而水流变的平缓，直到最后，没有任何障碍，汇入海洋，毫无痛苦地失去他们的个体个性。人在年老的时候可以这样看待自己的生命，就不会感到死亡的恐惧，因为事情仍然会继续。而且，随着生命力的衰退，疲劳的增加，休息的想法渐渐变的不那么不受欢迎。我希望在自己仍然在工作时消逝，知道别人会继续我没有完成的工作，会有一种思想上的满足。