英语名篇诵读 人生之暮年（在线收听）

The Man in Old Age

人生之暮年

Bertrand Russell(伯特兰·罗素)

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 can 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.

有些老人对死亡深感恐惧。年轻时有此感受情有可原。年轻人有理由害怕在战场上被

杀死，一想到被剥夺了生命赋予的最好的东西，感到痛苦，倒也在理。但是老年人尝遍了

人生的酸甜苦辣，对死亡尚有恐惧，这多少有点低贱，不那么光彩。最好的解决办法——

至少在我看来是这样——是使你的兴趣越来越广，越来越不受个人感情影响，直到自我的

壁垒一点点消失，你的生命渐渐融入宇宙万物中。人生就像一条河，开头河面狭小，夹于

两岸之间，河水奔腾咆哮，流过巨石，飞下悬崖。后来，河面渐渐开阔起来，两岸相隔越

来越远，河水也流得较为平缓，最后汇入大海，与海水浑然一体，结束了其单独存在的那

一段历程，融入自然的大美之中。人到晚年，能这样看待生命，就不会为死亡而恐惧，因

为他所关爱的东西将继续留存于世。精力已衰，日见倦怠，安然入眠，回归自然，与天地

同在，福莫大焉。我愿意自己尚在工作时离开人世，因为我知道别人会继续我已做不了的

事情，想到责任已尽，才华已展，便心满意足了。