Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have r

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问题     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 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.

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答案 有些老年人因怕死而感到烦恼。青年人有这种感觉情有可原。有理由害怕自己战死沙场的年轻人,想到自己被剥夺了生活所能给予的最美好的东西时,他们感到痛苦是可以理解的。可是老年人已饱尝人间甘苦,能做的都做了,怕死就有点儿可怜又可鄙。克服怕死的最好办法——至少在我看来如此——是逐渐拓宽自己的兴趣,减弱兴趣的个人色彩,直到自我的围墙一点点向外退去,生活渐渐与整个宇宙的生活融合。个人的存在应像河流,起初是涓涓细流,夹在窄窄的两岸之间,接着热情澎湃地冲过巨石,飞下瀑布。渐渐地,河面变宽,两岸离得越来越远,河流逐渐平缓,最后连绵不断地汇入大海,毫无痛苦地失去自我的存在。上了年纪的人如此看待生命,就不会再惧怕死亡,因为自己关心的一切都会继续。假如随着精力衰退,倦意日增,安息的想法未尝不是件好事,我希望自己死于工作之时,这样便知道有人会继续我未竟的事业,想到一切力所能及之事都做了,也就心满意足了。

解析     本文选自20世纪英国哲学家Bertrand Russel(伯特兰.罗素)的散文How to grow old (《如何安度晚年》)。作者将人的一生比作河流,用这种巧妙的比喻生动地为读者呈现了生命的状态。本文文字充满睿智,思辨性强,且读来朗朗上口,翻译时也要体现出这些特点。
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