怎样变老
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How to Grow Old
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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 river—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 the things he cares for will continue. And if, 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.
有些老年人因为对死亡的恐惧而倍感压抑。 青年人有所压抑还情有可原。 青年人有理由害怕自己战死沙场，一想到自己本来可以享受生命的馈赠，却无福消受，他们感到苦涩就很合理。 可是对于老年人来说，已然历经人间悲欢，也完成了所想做之事，还是怕死，就有些可怜且不光彩了。 克服这种恐惧，最好的办法——至少在我看来如此——是逐渐拓宽兴趣，不再事事以自己为中心，直到自我的围墙逐渐退却，自己的生活慢慢地和整个宇宙的生活融合一体。 个人的存在应该像一条河流，源头很小，紧紧地限于两岸，接着热情奔放地冲过巨石，飞下瀑布。 河面渐渐变宽，河岸逐渐退却，河水流得平缓起来，最后连绵不断地汇入大海，毫无痛苦地失去了自我的存在。 上了年纪的人如此看待生命，就不会惧怕死亡，因为自己在意的一切都会继续下去。 再者，随着精力的衰退，老年人会更为疲惫，好好休息的想法未尝不受欢迎。 我希望于工作中离去，知道他人会继续我未竟之事，想到能做的事都做了，就满足无憾了。
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译文与解析据吴应时整理资料及本站首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第47—49页，2022年2月第2版。