五四青年节刚刚过去,突然想起了一篇经典文章,送给所有生命中的“年轻人”。
一起走进塞缪尔 · 厄尔曼的短文——《年轻》。
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind.
It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees.
It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigour of the emotions.
It is the freshness of the deep spring of life.
青春不是年华,而是心境;
青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志、恢宏的想象、炽热的感情;
青春是生命的深泉在涌流。(译文1)
年轻,并非人生旅程中一段时光,它是心灵中的一种状态,并非粉颊红唇和体魄的矫健,而是头脑中的一个意念,是理性思维中的创造潜力,是情感活动中的一股勃勃朝气,是人生春色深处的一缕清新。(译文2)
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.
This often exists in a man of 60, more than a boy of 20.
Nobody grows merely by the number of years; we grow old by deserting our ideas.
青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯弱,进取压倒苟安。如此锐气,二十后生有之,六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加,并非垂老;理想丢弃,方堕暮年。(译文1)
年轻,意味着甘愿放弃温馨浪漫的爱情去闯荡生活,意味着超越羞涩、怯懦和欲望的胆识与气质。而六十岁的男人可能比二十岁的小伙子更多地拥有这种胆识和气质。没有人仅仅因为时光的流逝而变得衰老,只是随着理想的毁灭,人类才出现了老人。(译文2)
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓唐必至灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。(译文1)
岁月可以在皮肤上留下皱纹,却无法为灵魂刻上一丝痕迹。忧虑、恐惧、缺乏自信才使人佝偻于时间的尘埃之中。(译文2)
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next and the joy of the game of living.
In the centre of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from menand from infinite, so long as you are young.
无论年届花甲,抑或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线,只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号,你就青春永驻,风华常存。(译文1)
无论是六十岁还是十六岁,每个人都会被未来所吸引,都会对人生竞争中的欢乐怀着孩子般无穷无尽的渴望。在你我心灵的深处,同样有一个无线电台,只要它不停地从人群中、从无限的时空中接受美好、希望、欢欣、勇气和力量的信息,你我就永远年轻。(译文2)
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you've grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there's hope you may die young at 80.
一旦天线降下,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即便年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要竖起天线,捕捉乐观的信号,你就有望在八十离龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。(译文1)
一旦这无线电台坍塌,你的心便会被玩世不恭和悲观绝望的寒冰酷雪所覆盖,你便衰老了--即使你只有二十岁,但如果这座电台始终矗立在你的心中,捕捉着每一个乐观向上的电波,你便有希望死于年轻的八十岁。(译文2)