英语PK台 第345期:罗素名篇《论工作与快乐》节选赏析

 　　Whether work should be placed among the causes of happiness may perhaps be regarded as a doubtful question.

　　工作是否是产生快乐的众多原因之一，似乎还是个令人疑惑的问题。

　　There is certainly much work which is exceedingly irksome, and an excess of work is always very painful.

　　的确有许多工作令人极度厌烦，而且超负荷地工作更是让人叫苦不迭。

　　I think, however, that provided work is not excessive in amount, even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness.

　　然而，我却认为，如果工作量不是很大的话，对于大多数人来说即便是最无聊的工作也比闲着无事要好得多。

　　There are in work all grades, from mere¹ relief of tedium² up to the profoundest delights, according to the nature of the work and the abilities of the worker.

　　根据工作性质和工人的能力，工作被划分为不同的等级，包括从仅能为人消除烦闷的到可以为人提供更深层次快乐的。

　　Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages.

　　大多数人不得不从事的工作本身大都无乐趣可言，但是，即便是这样的工作也有很多益处。

　　To begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day without the needs of deciding what one shall do.

　　首先，它将一天中的大部分时间都占满了，人们不需要去决定做什么。

　　Most people, when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice, are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently³ pleasant to be worth doing, and whatever they decide on, they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been pleasanter.

　　对于大多数人来说，当他们能够自由支配时间，完全按照自己的选择来做事情的时候，他们往往不知所措，想不出任何有趣而又值得去做的事情。不管最后决定做什么，他们都会心存困扰，总觉得还会有更令人开心的事情可做。

　　To be able fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.

　　能够明智地利用闲暇时间是文明社会的最终产物，而现在，很少有人能达到这种程度。

　　Moreover, the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome⁴. Except to people with unusual initiative, it is positively⁵ agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day, provided that the orders are not too unpleasant.

　　此外，做出选择本身就很无聊。除了那些有非凡的主动性的人之外，其他人肯定乐于被告知在一天的每时每刻应该做些什么，前提是命令他们做的事不能太令人厌烦。

　　Most of the idle rich suffer unspeakable boredom⁶ as the price of their freedom from drudgery⁷. At times they may find relief by hunting big game in Africa, or by flying round the world, but the number of such sensations is limited, especially after youth is past.

　　因此，比较聪明的有钱男人会像穷人一样努力地工作，而大多数富有的女人则忙碌于琐事，并坚持认为自己所做的事情异常重要。

　　Accordingly, the intelligent rich men work nearly as hard as if they were poor, while rich women for the most part keep themselves busy with innumerable trifles of whose earthshaking importance they are firmly persuaded.

　　作为大多数无所事事的有钱人摆脱单调乏味工作之苦的代价，他们都忍受着一种无以言表的无聊。有时，他们通过去非洲狩猎或环球旅行来解闷，但这类刺激毕竟数量有限，尤其到了中年以后更是如此。

　　Work therefore is desirable, first and foremost, as a preventive of boredom, for the boredom that a man feels when he is doing necessary though uninteresting work is nothing in comparison with the boredom that he feels when he has nothing to do with his days.

　　所以，工作是值得期待的，首先因为它能够防止无聊情绪的产生，因为与整天无所事事的无聊相比，人们做着尽管无趣却必需的工作时所带来的烦躁就显得无所谓了。

　　With this advantage of work another is associated, namely that it makes holidays much more delicious when they come. Provided a man does not have to work so hard as to impair⁸ his vigour⁹, he is likely to find far more zest¹⁰ in his free time than an idle man could possibly find.

　　与此相关的优点还有一个，就是假日的到来会令人感觉更加美妙。如果一个人不必因工作而累得体力不支的话，他就可能比那些无事可做的人发现更多的闲暇乐趣。

　　The second advantage of most paid work and of some unpaid¹¹ work is that it gives chances of success and opportunities for ambition.

　　多数有报酬的工作和某些没有报酬的工作还有第二个好处，那就是它们提供了成功的机会和实现抱负的可能。

　　In most work success is measured by income and while our capitalistic society continues, this is inevitable¹². It is only where the best work is concerned that this measure ceases to be the natural one to apply.

　　在多数工作中，收入的多少是衡量成功与否的标准，当我们这个资本主义社会继续存在时，这是不可避免的。只有在工作最好的情况下收入才不再被用作当然的衡量标准。

　　The desire that men feel to increase their income is quite as much a desire for success as for the extra comforts that a higher income can procure¹³.

　　人们想增加收入当然是出自钱多了可以获得更多的舒适享受这一愿望，但同样也出自想获得成功的愿望。

　　However dull work may be, it becomes bearable if it is a means of building up a reputation, whether in the world at large or only in one's own circle.

　　无论工作多么枯燥单调，如果它是能够使人逐渐成名的手段，无论是在世界上出名还是就在自己的圈子里出名，那么这工作就不再难以忍受了。

　　Continuity of purpose is one of the most essential ingredients of happiness in the long run, and for most men this comes chiefly through their work.

　　归根结底，幸福的最重要的因素之一是有始终如一的目的感。而对多数人来说这样的目的感主要来自他们的工作。

1 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

2 tedium   

n.单调；烦闷

参考例句：

• We played games to relieve the tedium of the journey.我们玩游戏，来解除旅行的沉闷。
• In myself I could observe the following sources of tedium. 从我自己身上，我所观察到的烦闷的根源有下列一些。

3 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

4 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

5 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

6 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

7 drudgery   

n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作

参考例句：

• People want to get away from the drudgery of their everyday lives.人们想摆脱日常生活中单调乏味的工作。
• He spent his life in pointlessly tiresome drudgery.他的一生都在做毫无意义的烦人的苦差事。

8 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

9 vigour   

（=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力

参考例句：

• She is full of vigour and enthusiasm.她有热情，有朝气。
• At 40,he was in his prime and full of vigour.他40岁时正年富力强。

10 zest   

n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣

参考例句：

• He dived into his new job with great zest.他充满热情地投入了新的工作。
• He wrote his novel about his trip to Asia with zest.他兴趣浓厚的写了一本关于他亚洲之行的小说。

11 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

12 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

13 procure   

vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条

参考例句：

• Can you procure some specimens for me?你能替我弄到一些标本吗？
• I'll try my best to procure you that original French novel.我将尽全力给你搞到那本原版法国小说。