Observe a child; any one Will do. You Will see that not a day passes in which he does not find something or other to make him happy, though he may be in tears the next moment.
仔细观察一个小孩-任何一个都行,你会发现,每天都会找到一两件令人快乐的事情,尽管过一会儿他可能会哭哭啼啼.
Then look at a man; any one of us Will do. You Will notice that weeks and months can pass in which day is greeted with nothing more than resignation, and endure with every polite indifference.
然后看看大人-我们中的任何一个人都可以,你会发现,周而复始,月复一月,无非是以顺从的心情迎接新一天的到来,礼貌般地漠然忍受着每一天的消逝.
Indeed, most men are as miserable as sinners, though they are too bored to sin - perhaps their sin is their indifference. But it is true that they so seldom smile that when they do we do not recognize their face, so distorted is it from the fixed mask we take for granted.
尽管他们太百无聊赖以至于不屑犯罪,但确实大多数人都跟罪人一样可怜,也许漠然就是他们的罪孽.但事实上,他们极少露出笑容,以至于他们偶尔笑了我们也认不出了,那只是我们理所当然认为的面具扭曲而已.
And even then a man can not smile like a child, for a child smiles with his eyes, whereas a man smiles with his lips alone. It is not a smlle; but a grin; something to do with humor, but little to do with happiness. And then, as anyone can see, there is a point when a man becomes an old man, and then he Will smile again.
纵然在笑的时候,大人也不会像小孩儿那样,小孩儿用眼睛笑,大人则只用嘴唇.这不是笑,只是咧嘴,表示一种幽默,但无关快乐.然而,人人都能发现,人活到老的时候,他又会笑了.
It would seem that happiness is something to do with simplicity, and that it is the ability to extract pleasure form the simplest things - such as a peach stone, for instance. It is obvious that it is nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Stewart was certainly successful.
看起来,幸福同纯真、简单有关.幸福感来自最简单的事物,比如核桃这种东西.幸福显然同成功毫不相干,比如亨利•斯图亚特爵士.当然,他是个十分成功的人.
It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London, and bought a couple of old cottages, which he had knocked into one. He used his house as weekend refuge. He was a barrister. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride.
20年前,他从伦敦来到我们的村子,买了好几座旧房屋,推倒后建了一所大房子,把它当做周末避难所.他是位律师,村里人带着一种几近父辈的自豪心情追随他的辉煌业绩.
I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King's Counsel. Amos and I, seeing him get off the London train, went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure; he merely looked as miserable as though he'd received a penal sentence.
我记得大概10年前他被任命为王室法律顾问,当他走下从伦敦来的火车,阿莫斯和我上前表示祝贺.我们咧嘴笑着；而他的表情却跟接到判刑通知书一样痛苦.
It was the same when he was knighted; he never smiled a bit, he didn't even bother to celebrate with a round of drinks at the "Blue Fox" .He took his success as a child does his medicine. And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes.
他受封当爵士时也是如此,没有一丝笑容,他甚至不愿意在蓝狐狸酒馆请我们大家喝杯酒.他对待成功就像小孩吃药一样,任何一项成就都未能让他疲惫的眼睛里露出一丝笑意.
I asked him one day, soon after he'd retired to potter about his garden, what was like to achieve all one's ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said "The only value in achieving one's ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving."
他退休后不久,一天他在花园里闲逛,干些轻松的闲活.我便问他,一个人实现了自己所有的雄心之后是什么感觉?他低头看这玫瑰花,继续浇水.过了一会儿,他说："实现雄心壮志的唯一价值是你发现他们根本不值得你去追求."
Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level, and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago.
随后,他立刻改变话题讨论更有实际意义的事情,不一会儿,我们返回到安全话题-天气.这是两年前的事了.
And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement - his achievement of simplicity.
之后亨利爵士跑开了,叫他的妻子来看他的杰作-那个纯朴简单的成果.
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