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第10章 Three Passions I Have …我的三个愿望

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

Three Passions I Have …

Bertrand Russell

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly overwhelmingly adv.压倒性地, 不可抵抗地 strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearableunbearable adj.无法忍受的, 承受不住的 pitypity v.(觉得)可怜n.憾事, 怜悯, 同情 for the suffering of mankind.

我一生中有三个愿望,纯朴但却激情满怀:一是渴望爱情,二是对知识的求索,三是悲悯人类所承受的无尽苦难。

我的三个愿望

伯特兰·罗素

我一生中有三个愿望,纯朴但却激情满怀:一是渴望爱情,二是对知识的求索,三是悲悯人类所承受的无尽苦难。

These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither thither adv.到那边, 向那方adj.在那边的, 那边的 , in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish anguish n.痛苦, 苦恼vt.使极苦闷,痛苦vi.感到痛苦 , reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy ecstasy n.入迷 —ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness loneliness n.孤独, 寂寞 —that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness consciousness n.意识, 知觉, 自觉, 觉悟, 个人思想 looks over the rim rim n.边, 轮缘, 蓝框vt.镶边, 为……装边, 沿……边缘滚动 of the world into the cold unfathomable lifelesslifeless adj.无生命的, 无生气的 abyss abyss n.深渊 .

这三个愿望,就像疾风一样,吹得我摇摆不定,在深水苦海之中苦苦抗争,直到抵达绝望的彼岸。

我追求爱情,是因为它能让我痴迷——痴迷至足以让我宁肯放弃余生而去享受那获得爱情的片刻。我追求爱情,还因为它能驱除掉我内心的落寞。每当我心发寂寞之情时便专心去找寻世间的缘份,但总归于那似无底深渊的绝望。

I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mysticmystic adj.神秘的, 神秘主义的n.神秘家, 神秘主义的鼓吹者 miniatureminiature n.缩小的模型, 缩图, 缩影adj.微型的, 缩小的 , the prefiguring prefigure v.预示 vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine…A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth.

我追求爱情还因为假如拥有,就可以发现古往今来的圣哲诗人所描述的神秘天地,这是我一生的追求,因为它是人一生的至善至美,所以我要始终去寻觅,永不言弃。

我对知识的求索也怀着这种激情,我渴望与别人的心灵沟通,我想知道星星闪光的奥秘……能得到的仅此而已,别无所求。

知识与爱情的伟大, 几乎使我体会到天堂之感,但内心存在的悲悯又把我带回到现实。

Echoesecho n.回声,回音,回波 of cries of pain reverberatereverberate v.反响 in my heart. Children in famine famine n.饥荒, <古>饥饿, 严重的缺乏 , victims tortured torture n.折磨, 痛苦, 拷问, 拷打vt.拷问, 曲解, 折磨, 使弯曲 by oppressorsoppressor n.压迫者, helpless old people a hated burden burden n.担子, 负担v.负担 to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, povertypoverty n.贫穷, 贫困, 贫乏, 缺少, and pain make a mockery mockery n.嘲笑 of what human life should be. I long to alleviate alleviate vt.使(痛苦等)易于忍受, 减轻 the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

人世间的痛苦呼喊常在我心中回响:饥饿无助的儿童,受剥削敲榨的人民,被不孝儿女遗弃而孤苦无靠的老人,再加上天下人的孤独,穷困,苦痛,这些都让我们不忍卒睹。我情愿用我的全部精力去改变,但我不能遂愿,所以我只有痛苦。

我的一生假如如此度过,则感到不枉此生;如果上天依许,我愿重整旗鼓去实现这些愿望。

这是英国逻辑学家伯特兰·罗素写的一篇文章,文章中通过对自己平生三个愿望的阐述,展现出作者心灵的伟大。爱情、知识与对人世间的悲悯,这些都是一个拥有善良与责任心的人应当具备的。人人都想此生有意义,那我们就应该找准自己的目标,然后坚持走下去。