英语名篇诵读 论青春之不朽（在线收听）

On Immortality in Youth

论青春之不朽

William Hazlitt(威廉·黑兹利特)

No young man believes he shall ever die. It was a saying of my brother's, and a fine one.

There is a feeling of eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything. To be young is

to be as one of the Immortal Gods. One half of time indeed is flown — the other half remains in

store for us with all its countless treasures; for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our

hopes and wishes. We make the coming age our own.

The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.

Death, old age, are words without a meaning, that pass by us like the idle air which we regard

not. Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them — we “bear a charmed life”, which

laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. As in setting out on a delightful journey, we strain our

eager gaze forward —

Bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail ,

— and see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance; so, in

the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestricted

opportunities of gratifying them. We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag ;

and it seems that we can go on so forever. We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion,

at ceaseless progress; and feel in ourselves all the vigour and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not

foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things,

decline into old age, and drop into the grave. It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness

of our feelings in youth, that (so to seek) identifies us with nature, and(our experience being slight

and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. Our short-lived

connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves, is an indissoluble and lasting union —

a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar , nor separation. As infants smile and sleep, we

are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the

universe around us — we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of

which it only overflows — the more objects press around us, filling the mind with their

magnitude and with the throng of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the

thoughts of death.

没有年轻人认为自己会死亡。这是我兄弟的话，说得不错。年轻时有种永恒的感觉，

使我们可以补偿一切。拥有青春的人就好像一尊不朽的神灵。生命的一半时间已经飞逝，

另一半还为我们留着，蕴藏着无尽的宝藏；没有划定的界线，我们看到的是无尽的希望和

幻想。我们把未来的时代变成我们自己的。

“无垠辽阔的远景展现在我们面前。”

死亡、衰老都不过是空话，如同从我们身边吹过的一股风，我们毫不在意。别人可能

已经衰老、死亡，或者可能会衰老、死亡——我们“享有着魔法保护的生命”，放声大笑，

嘲笑这些脆弱的念头。就像踏上愉快的旅程，我们兴奋地极目眺望——

“向远方的美景欢呼，”

——好风景应接不暇，越往前走，新鲜景致越是美不胜收。同样，年轻的时候，我们

听任志趣驰骋，放手让其得到满足。我们至今还没有遇到过障碍，不知疲倦，意气风发，

好像我们会永远如此。我们看到四周一派新天地，生机盎然，变动不息，日新月异，觉得

自己充满活力，精神焕发，堪与宇宙并驾齐驱。年轻时没有任何征兆会使我们预见到我们

会在事物的自然进程中被甩在后面，迈入老年，进入坟墓。年轻人天性纯真，可以说是茫

然无知，总感到青春常在，因而(试图)将自己与大自然画上等号，并且，(由于经验缺乏，

感情旺盛，)总以为自己也能像大自然一样永生。在这个世界上，我们只是暂时栖身，却痴

心妄想地把它当作永恒的结合，好像没有冷漠、争吵、离别的蜜月。正像婴儿带着微笑入

睡一样，我们躺在用自己一厢情愿的天真幻想所编织的摇篮里，让宇宙的万籁之音把我们

催眠；我们兴奋而急切地畅饮生命之杯，怎么也饮不干，似乎永远是满满欲溢的——我们

四周万象纷至，灯红酒绿，欲望无穷，我们根本不可能想到死亡。