英语美文:我为何而活

 　　伯兰特·罗素（1872年5月18日－1970年2月2日）是二十世纪最有影响力的哲学家、数学家和逻辑学家之一，同时也是活跃的政治活动家，并致力于哲学的大众化、普及化。无数人将罗素视为这个时代的先知，而与此同时罗素的许多政治立场却又是十分有争议性的。1950年，罗素获得诺贝尔文学奖。

　　What I Have Lived For我为什么而活--- The Prologue¹ to Bertrand Russell's Autobiography²  伯兰特·罗素自传序言

　　Three passion simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing³ for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable⁴ pity for the suffering of mankind. These passion like great wind have blown me hither and thither⁵, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish⁶, reaching to the very verge⁷ of despair.

　　三种单纯而强烈的感情支配了我的一生：对爱情的渴望，对知识的追求，对人类苦难不可遏制的同情。这些感情如阵阵巨风，吹拂我动荡不定的生涯，吹过那深沉痛苦的海洋，直抵绝望的边缘。

　　I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy⁸ - ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness--that terrible loneliness in which one  shivering consciousness looks over the rim⁹ of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring 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.

　　我寻求爱情，是因为它带来狂喜,它是如此令人心醉神迷，我常常会为了这种短暂的欢乐而牺牲余生。我寻求爱情，是因为它能摆脱孤寂,身临这种难耐的孤寂。一个人战栗的目光会瞥过尘世的边缘，直透那冰冷而不可测的无生命的深渊。我寻求爱情，还因为在爱的结合中，我看到了古今圣贤和诗人在梦想中描绘的天堂的神秘缩影。这正是我追求的境界，虽然它对于人类的生活可能显得过分美妙了，但它却是我最终在爱情中发现的东西。

　　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. And I have tried to apprehend¹⁰ the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux¹¹. A little of thi but not much, I have achieved.

　　我以同样的激情追求知识。我想理解人类的心。我想知道星星为什么闪耀。我试图悟出毕达哥拉斯的力量，这力量使得数成为变动不居的世界的本质。在这方面我有所得，但所获并不很多。

　　Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate¹² in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressor helpless old people a burden to their son and the whole world of lonelines poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate¹³ this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

　　爱情和知识，在其最大的可能中，将我引升到天堂。但悲悯之心总是使我回到现实的大地。那些痛苦的呼号在我心中回荡。忍饥挨饿的小孩，被压迫者欺凌的不幸者，被子女视为可厌负担的孤苦无助的老人，以及这整个孤寂、贫穷和痛苦的世界，对于人类生活的理想，不啻是一种嘲讽。我切盼减缓苦难，但我无能为力，同时亦身受其害。

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

　　这就是我的一生，我没有白活。如果有谁再给我一次生活的机会，我将欣然接受这难得的赐予。

1 prologue   

n.开场白，序言；开端，序幕

参考例句：

• A poor wedding is a prologue to misery.不幸的婚姻是痛苦的开始。
• The prologue to the novel is written in the form of a newspaper account.这本小说的序言是以报纸报道的形式写的。

2 autobiography   

n.自传

参考例句：

• He published his autobiography last autumn.他去年秋天出版了自己的自传。
• His life story is recounted in two fascinating volumes of autobiography.这两卷引人入胜的自传小说详述了他的生平。

3 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

4 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

5 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

6 anguish   

n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼

参考例句：

• She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时，她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
• The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。

7 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

8 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

9 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

10 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

11 flux   

n.流动；不断的改变

参考例句：

• The market is in a constant state of flux.市场行情在不断变化。
• In most reactors,there is a significant flux of fast neutrons.在大部分反应堆中都有一定强度的快中子流。

12 reverberate   

v.使回响，使反响

参考例句：

• The decision will reverberate and will jar the country.这项决定将引起反响并震撼这个国家。
• Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my hear.痛苦呼喊的一遍遍的在我的心中回响。

13 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。