悠游度過一天的24小時：第十二章 要規(guī)避的危險

CHAPTER XII Dangers To Avoid

第十二章 要規(guī)避的危險

I cannot terminate these hints, often, I fear, too didactic and abrupt, upon the full use of one's time to the great end of living (as distinguished from vegetating) without briefly referring to certain dangers which lie in wait for the sincere aspirant towards life. The first is the terrible danger of becoming that most odious and least supportable of persons—a prig. Now a prig is a pert fellow who gives himself airs of superior wisdom. A prig is a pompous fool who has gone out for a ceremonial walk, and without knowing it has lost an important part of his attire, namely, his sense of humour. A prig is a tedious individual who, having made a discovery, is so impressed by his discovery that he is capable of being gravely displeased because the entire world is not also impressed by it. Unconsciously to become a prig is an easy and a fatal thing.

關(guān)于如何利用時間以達到美好的生活境界（而不是像植物人一樣過活）的建議，恐怕自己過于說教、毫不謙卑、不太連貫，但我還是不能就此結(jié)束，必須簡短地談?wù)剬θ松е嬲\熱望的人們可能遭遇的某些危險。第一個可怕的危險是成為最討厭、最不受歡迎的人——假正經(jīng)。這種人魯莽無禮，總是擺出一幅有極高智商的神態(tài)。這種人是自命不凡的傻瓜，走在外面，會煞有介事地昂首闊步，渾然不覺自己的矯飾中缺乏很重要的一部分，也就是幽默感。這種乏味的家伙要是有什么發(fā)現(xiàn)，就會視之為偉大的壯舉，如若他人對此不以為然，他就大為不快。人們很容易不自覺地變成這樣的人，這是致命的危險。

Hence, when one sets forth on the enterprise of using all one's time, it is just as well to remember that one's own time, and not other people's time, is the material with which one has to deal; that the earth rolled on pretty comfortably before one began to balance a budget of the hours, and that it will continue to roll on pretty comfortably whether or not one succeeds in one's new role of chancellor of the exchequer of time. It is as well not to chatter too much about what one is doing, and not to betray a too-pained sadness at the spectacle of a whole world deliberately wasting so many hours out of every day, and therefore never really living. It will be found, ultimately, that in taking care of one's self one has quite all one can do.

因此，當(dāng)一個人要展開好好利用自己時間的大業(yè)時，記住時間是自己的，不是別人的，你要自己安排。你對時間做出平衡預(yù)算之前，地球一直在順利運轉(zhuǎn)；不論你是否勝任時間的財務(wù)大臣這一新職務(wù)，地球還是會一如既往地運轉(zhuǎn)。切莫過多念叨自己正在做的事情；也不要因為看到整個世界每天故意浪費這么多時間而沒有真正的生活，就感到過分悲傷并形諸于色。最終你將發(fā)現(xiàn)，只要管好自己分內(nèi)的事，你就盡了最大努力。

Another danger is the danger of being tied to a programme like a slave to a chariot. One's programme must not be allowed to run away with one. It must be respected, but it must not be worshipped as a fetish. A programme of daily employ is not a religion.

另一危險就是被計劃捆縛，仿佛是拉馬車的奴隸。計劃不能超出一個人所能承受的范圍。必須尊重計劃，但不能將它奉為神明；每天要施行的計劃并非宗教。

This seems obvious. Yet I know men whose lives are a burden to themselves and a distressing burden to their relatives and friends simply because they have failed to appreciate the obvious. "Oh, no," I have heard the martyred wife exclaim, "Arthur always takes the dog out for exercise at eight o'clock and he always begins to read at a quarter to nine. So it's quite out of the question that we should…” etc., etc. And the note of absolute finality in that plaintive voice reveals the unsuspected and ridiculous tragedy of a career.

這似乎顯而易見。然而我知道正因為有些人不懂得這道理，不僅自己背包袱，他們的親人朋友也因此甚為惱火。“哦，不，”我曾聽一位備受折磨的妻子抱怨道，“亞瑟總是8點鐘出去遛狗，9點差一刻開始讀書，所以我們毫無疑問是應(yīng)該……”等等、等等。這種悲哀的控訴流露出絕對要終結(jié)的意味，顯示出一項事業(yè)的悲劇性，始料不及又滑稽可笑。

On the other hand, a programme is a programme. And unless it is treated with deference it ceases to be anything but a poor joke. To treat one's programme with exactly the right amount of deference, to live with not too much and not too little elasticity, is scarcely the simple affair it may appear to the inexperienced.

另一方面，計劃就是計劃。若不遵從計劃，計劃就不成其為計劃，只是個蹩腳的玩笑罷了。適當(dāng)?shù)刈駨挠媱?，不必過度緊張，也不能太過于放松，對沒有經(jīng)驗的人而言，這說起來簡單，做起來難。

And still another danger is the danger of developing a policy of rush, of being gradually more and more obsessed by what one has to do next. In this way one may come to exist as in a prison, and one's life may cease to be one's own. One may take the dog out for a walk at eight o'clock, and meditate the whole time on the fact that one must begin to read at a quarter to nine, and that one must not be late.

另一危險就是變得匆忙，被一件件接踵而來的事情困住。這樣一來就仿佛身陷牢籠，生活不再屬于自己。8點鐘出去遛狗，可整個過程中都在想必須9點差一刻開始看書，千萬不能耽誤。

And the occasional deliberate breaking of one's programme will not help to mend matters. The evil springs not from persisting without elasticity in what one has attempted, but from originally attempting too much, from filling one's programme till it runs over. The only cure is to reconstitute the programme, and to attempt less.

有時故意不按計劃行事也于事無補。罪惡并非源于一板一眼的堅持，而是源于從一開始貪求太多，把計劃填得滿滿的以致滿溢出來。唯一的辦法是重定計劃，降低企望。

But the appetite for knowledge grows by what it feeds on, and there are men who come to like a constant breathless hurry of endeavour. Of them it may be said that a constant breathless hurry is better than an eternal doze.

隨著知識的積累，求知欲愈加旺盛，有的人如果不忙得暈頭轉(zhuǎn)向、氣喘吁吁，心里就不踏實。對他們來說，不停歇的忙碌比總是打盹兒好。

In any case, if the programme exhibits a tendency to be oppressive, and yet one wishes not to modify it, an excellent palliative is to pass with exaggerated deliberation from one portion of it to another; for example, to spend five minutes in perfect mental quiescence between chaining up the St. Bernard and opening the book; in other words, to waste five minutes with the entire consciousness of wasting them.

無論怎樣，如果計劃讓人覺得壓抑，而這個人又不愿更改計劃，一大良方就是把一部分時間極其從容地挪到其他地方；比如，從圣.伯納德大街回來后、打開書本之前，花五分鐘時間讓大腦徹底休息；換句話說，刻意浪費這五分鐘時間。

The last, and chiefest danger which I would indicate, is one to which I have already referred—the risk of a failure at the commencement of the enterprise.

最后我要指出的最大危險，也是我已經(jīng)提到過的，即事業(yè)一開始就夭折的危險。

I must insist on it.

我必須堅持強調(diào)這一點。

A failure at the commencement may easily kill outright the newborn impulse towards a complete vitality, and therefore every precaution should be observed to avoid it. The impulse must not be over-taxed. Let the pace of the first lap be even absurdly slow, but let it be as regular as possible.

一開始就失敗很容易立即扼殺想成就事業(yè)的新動機，因此必須相當(dāng)謹慎地避免這一點，千萬不要有過重的負擔(dān)。起初的步伐要緩慢，慢到出奇也無妨，但盡可能確保勻速。

And, having once decided to achieve a certain task, achieve it at all costs of tedium and distaste. The gain in self-confidence of having accomplished a tiresome labour is immense.

在決心完成一項任務(wù)后，不論任務(wù)是多么沉悶無趣，要不計一切代價完成。完成煩悶的任務(wù)后，自信會有極大增長。

Finally, in choosing the first occupations of those evening hours, be guided by nothing whatever but your taste and natural inclination.

最后，如何利用晚上那幾小時，最初的選擇只能由你的品味和習(xí)性決定。

It is a fine thing to be a walking encyclopaedia of philosophy, but if you happen to have no liking for philosophy, and to have a like for the natural history of street-cries, much better leave philosophy alone, and take to street-cries.

成為哲學(xué)的活百科全書固然是好，但若你偏偏對哲學(xué)沒興趣，而鐘情于街頭叫賣聲的變遷史，那就把哲學(xué)放到 一邊，去研究街頭叫賣吧。