♣ (版主執筆翻譯英文) ♣

How to Grow Old
Bertrand Russell

《論老之將至》

As regards health, I have nothing useful to say since I have little experience of illness. I eat and drink whatever I like, and sleep when I cannot keep awake. 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.

 提及健康問題，我甚少生病，故無經驗可供分享。我從不忌口，吃喝皆隨性所至，而且只要眼皮撐不住，倒頭就睡。我從來不曾刻意經營養生之道，只不過愛做之事大都有益健康。

 

Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories, in regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. One’s thoughts must be directed to the future, and to things about which there is something to be done. This is not always easy; one’s own past is a gradually increasing weight. 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. If  this is true it should be forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will  probably not be true.

 從心理層面而言，人老了就必須留心兩種危險。其一是耽溺於過往，老是活在回憶之中、緬懷昔日美好歲月、哀傷於逝去的故舊，這些都無濟於事。人要放眼未來，思考該做之事；然而，這並不容易，流逝的歲月會逐漸加重份量。我們常認為自己過去感情較為豐富，頭腦也比較敏捷。倘若果真如此，應當將其拋諸腦後；但是說能完全遺忘，恐怕也不盡屬實。

 

The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of sucking vigor from 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, you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, but one’s interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not unduly emotional. 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 difficult.

 另一種該避免的危險就是糾纏著年輕人，妄想從那裡汲取活力。小孩長大了，就想獨立生活。倘若你依舊跟他們幼小時一樣，鎮日虛寒問暖，你很可能會成為他們的負擔；不過，他們要是冷酷無情，那可就另當別論。我可沒說父母別去關心小孩，而是關心之前得深思熟慮，可能的話，儘量從旁協助，不要過於感情用事。野獸一旦認為幼兒能夠自力更生，便會放手讓其獨立生活。人類卻很難辦到這點，因為人的嬰兒期太長了。

 

I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It 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. But 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 realize that while you can still render them material service, such as making them all allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.

 本人認為，如果擁有濃厚且不牽涉個人的愛好而去積極參與適當活動，這樣最能享有愉快的老年生活。唯有如此，長期累積的經驗才能真正發揮成效；也唯有如此，運用從經驗累積的智慧時才不會讓人難以忍受。告訴長大的孩子不要犯錯，這根本是無濟於事，一來孩子不會相信你，二來犯錯就是教育很重要的一環。你如果沒有不牽涉個人的嗜好，就只能惦念子女與孫兒，否則生活將空虛難耐。然而，你得切記，雖然你可以供應他們物質需求，譬如給點零用錢或者打打毛線衣，卻不能指望他們會喜歡與你相伴。

 

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.

 有些老人因畏懼死亡而惶惶不安。 年輕人有這種恐懼說還情有可原；害怕死於沙場的年輕人，想到自己還沒享受生命最好的事物時可能會感到悲傷悽苦，這點倒是無可厚非。然而，老人早已經歷過人生的悲歡離合，自己該做的事情也已經完成，這樣還懼怕死亡，未免有點可恥且不甚光彩。要克服死亡的畏懼，最好的方法，至少我是如此認為，就是逐步擴增自己的嗜好，讓興趣更加不涉及個人，直到自我的壁壘慢慢退卻，自我的生命逐漸與宇宙的生命融合。人生好比一條河流，起初細細涓涓，受困於狹窄的河岸，隨後洶湧翻騰，越過巨石，躍下瀑布。然後，河面逐漸開展，河岸也遠離退卻，水流變得更為平穩，最終流入大海，不激起任何波濤，於無痛無悲中釋放自我。人若在年老時能以這種眼光看待生命，將不會畏懼死亡，因為所關注的事情將會持續下去。如果隨著活力消退而日漸疲憊，人也會覺得長眠也未嘗不是好事一樁。我希望在工作時死去，知道自己未竟之業有人接續，同時感到滿足，明瞭自己業已完成所能做的事情。

 

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