Lesson 11 How to grow old

第十一课论老之将至

by BERTRAND RUSSELL

from Portraits from Memory

11-1. Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death.

【译文】 有些老人因恐惧死亡而苦恼。

【单词和短语】

oppress：使（心情等）沉重；使烦恼，折磨（to make someone feel unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable），

例如：

A sense of trouble ahead oppressed my spirits.

前面的重重困难使我心情沉重。

be oppressed by the unpleasant climate 被讨厌的气候弄得烦恼

a writer oppressed by his shortcomings

对自己的短处感到苦恼的作家

Somehow, the room oppressed him. 这房间不知怎么使他感到压抑。

11-2. In the young there is a justification for this feeling.

【译文】年轻人害怕死亡是可以理解的。

【讲解】in the young意为“在年轻人身上”。in sb.即为“在某人身上”。the young指年轻人。

【单词和短语】

justification：正当的理由；借口（a good and acceptable reason for doing something），

例如：

believe with amplejustification that someone is guilty

有充分理由相信某人有罪

You have no justification for criticizing his in that way.

你没有理由那样批评他。

11-3. 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.

【译文】有些年轻人担心他们会在战斗中丧生。一想到会失去生活能给予他们的种种美好事物，他们就感到痛苦。这种担心并非无缘无故，也情有可原。

【讲解】who have reason…battle为定语从句，修饰young men。that they have cheated…offer为同位语从句，说明thought的内容。that life has to offer为定语从句，修饰things。

【单词和短语】

与cheat someone（out）of something类似的结构还有rob someone of something。

11-4. 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.

【译文】但对于经历了人世悲欢、履行了个人职责的老人，害怕死亡就有些可怜且可耻了。

【讲解】whatever work it was in him to do作achieved的宾语从句。这里的in表示能力。in him即他有能力。whatever work相当于any work，作do的宾语。it是形式主语，to do才是真正的主语。who has known…him to do为定语从句，修饰an old man， has known和has achieved为who的并列谓语。

【单词和短语】

abject：可鄙的，卑鄙的（an abject action or expression shows that your feel very ashamed），

例如：

an abject coward 可鄙的懦夫

an abject fear 卑怯

abject另一常见意为“绝望无助的，凄苦可怜的（the state of being extremely poor, unhappy, unsuccessful etc）”，

例如：

abject poverty 赤贫

abject failure 惨败

ignoble：卑鄙的；不光彩的；可耻的（ignoble thoughts, feelings, or actions are ones that you should feel ashamed or embarrassed about），

例如：

an ignoble purpose 卑鄙的目的

There’s something cowardly and ignoble about such an attitude.

这样的态度有点怯懦可鄙。

11-5. 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.

【译文】克服这种恐惧的最佳办法是——至少我这样看——逐渐扩大你的兴趣范围并不为个人情感所左右，直至像一堵高墙的自我一点一点离开你，而你的生活则越来越融合于大众的生活之中。

【讲解】so at least it seems to me系插入语，是倒装语序，自然语序是at least it seems so to me，这里的it指整个句子。overcome后的it指fear of death。to make your interests…impersonal作表语。the walls of the ego系暗喻（metaphor）修辞手法，意为“像一堵高墙的自我”。

【单词和短语】

impersonal：非个人的；非特指某一个人的；不受个人感情（或偏见）影响的，客观的（not showing any feelings of sympathy, friendliness, etc），

例如：

The teacher’s criticism of the class was impersonal.

教师对班级的批评并非针对某个同学。

impersonal assessment 客观的评价

11-6. 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.

【译文】每个人的生活都应像河水一样——开始是涓涓细流，限制在狭窄的两岸之间，然后热烈地冲过巨石，滑下瀑布。

【讲解】an individual human…a river是明喻（simile）修辞手法，small at first…over waterfalls构成延伸比喻（extended metaphor），延伸比喻是把原比喻加以延伸，对原比喻作进一步说明。这里的破折号引出说明语。

【单词和短语】

passionately的形容词形式为passionate，的名词形式为passion。

11-7. 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.

【译文】其后河面逐渐展宽，两岸相距愈远，水流也愈趋平缓，最后则注入大海，与海水浑然一体，了无痕迹，河水自然而然就此消失了。

【讲解】本句作者仍然运用延伸比喻手法，是对明喻like a river进一步延伸说明。与上句不同之处在于，前句的延伸比喻由一系列短语构成，本句的延伸比喻则由一系列短句构成。

【单词和短语】

painless：不难的，不费力的（not difficult or unpleasant to do），

例如：

the painless way to learn Chinese

学汉语的简易方法

11-8. 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.

【译文】能够这样理解自己一生的老人将不会因害怕死亡而痛苦，因为他所珍爱的一切都将继续存在。

【讲解】who, in old age, can see his life in this way为定语从句，修饰man。he cares for是定语从句，作things的定语。

11-9. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will be not unwelcome.

【译文】而且，如果随着精力的衰退，疲倦之感与日俱增，长眠并非是不受欢迎的念头。

【讲解】with the decay of vitality作状语，修饰increases。提前乃是为了强调。the thought of rest，这里的rest指death，乃是委婉语（euphemism）。委婉语即是把粗鲁或不中听的话改用温和顺耳的话表达。will be not unwelcome是双重否定结构。否定式谓语＋含否定意义的词构成双重否定，表示委婉语气。

又如：

What’s done cannot be undone. 已经做了的事后悔也无用。

I could not disobey him. 我是不得不服从他的。

【单词和短语】

unwelcome：（自己）不想要的，（令本人）讨厌的，尴尬的（something that is unwelcome is not wanted, especially because it might cause embarrassment or problems），

例如：

I feared that my arrival might draw the unwelcome attention of officials.

我担心我的到达可能会引起官员们的注意，而这正是我不希望的。

11-10. 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.

【译文】我倒希望死于尚能劳作之时，因为知道他人将继续我未竟的事业，我大可因为已竭尽所能而心存安慰。

【讲解】I should wish to die中用should表示委婉语气，意为“我倒希望”。while still at work中while和still之间省略了I am。时间状语从句中主语与主句的主语相同或是it时，这从句里的主语和动词be可省略。knowing that…no longer do作原因状语，修饰wish to die。content in the thought…done与knowing…do并列作原因状语，形容词content前省略了being。what was possible是主语从句。

【单词和短语】

carry on：继续，进行；经营（if you carry on a particular kind of work or activity, you do it or take part in it），

例如：

They carried on the discussion late into the night.

他们一直讨论到深夜。

参考译文

    有些老年人因为怕死而感到烦恼。青年人有这种感觉是情有可原的。有理由害怕自己会死在战场上的年轻人，想到自己被剥夺了生活所能给予的最美好的东西时，感到痛苦，这是可以理解的。可是老年人已经饱尝了人间的甘苦，一切能做的都做了，如果怕死，就有点儿可怜又可鄙。克服怕死的最好办法 -- 至少在我看来是这样 -- 就是逐渐使自己的兴趣更加广泛，逐渐摆脱个人狭小的圈子，直到自我的围墙一点一点地倒塌下来，自己的生活慢慢地和整个宇宙的生活融合在一起。个人的存在应该像一条河流，开始很小，被紧紧地夹在两岸中间，接着热情奔放地冲过巨石，飞下瀑布。然后河面渐渐地变宽，两岸后撤，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。上了年纪的人这样看待生命，就不会有惧怕死亡的心情了，因为自己关心的一切事件都会继续下去。 再者，随着精力的衰退，老年人的疲惫会增长，有长眠的愿望未尝不是一件好事情，我希望工作到死为止，明白了有人会继续我的未竟事业，想到能做的事都做了，也就坦然了。