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 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. BERTRAND RUSSELL How to grow old from Portraits from Memory

New words and expressions 生词和短语

oppress

v. 忧郁，压抑

justification

n. 正当理由

justifiably

adv. 无可非议地

cheat

v. 欺骗

abject

adj. 可怜的

ignoble

adj. 不体面的，可耻的

impersonal

adj. 超脱个人感情影响的

ego

n. 自我

receded

v. 退去

increasing

adv. 日益，不断

passionately

adv. 激昂地

painlessly

adv. 毫无痛苦地

vitality

n. 精力

weariness

n. 疲惫感

参考译文

有些老年人因为怕死而感到烦恼。青年人有这种感觉是情有可原的。有理由害怕自己会死在战场上的年轻人，想到自己被剥夺了生活所能给予的最美好的东西时，感到痛苦，这是可以理解的。可是老年人已经饱尝了人间的甘苦，一切能做的都做了，如果怕死，就有点儿可怜又可鄙。克服怕死的最好办法 -- 至少在我看来是这样 -- 就是逐渐使自己的兴趣更加广泛，逐渐摆脱个人狭小的圈子，直到自我的围墙一点一点地倒塌下来，自己的生活慢慢地和整个宇宙的生活融合在一起。个人的存在应该像一条河流，开始很小，被紧紧地夹在两岸中间，接着热情奔放地冲过巨石，飞下瀑布。然后河面渐渐地变宽，两岸后撤，河水流得平缓起来，最后连绵不断地汇入大海，毫无痛苦地失去了自我的存在。上了年纪的人这样看待生命，就不会有惧怕死亡的心情了，因为自己关心的一切事件都会继续下去。 再者，随着精力的衰退，老年人的疲惫会增长，有长眠的愿望未尝不是一件好事情，我希望工作到死为止，明白了有人会继续我的未竟事业，想到能做的事都做了，也就坦然了。

 

第二篇：新概念美文欣赏——How To Grow Old

新概念美文欣赏——How To Grow Old

罗素（1872-1970），是一个活了99岁的哲学家。然而，他最大的魅力却不是哲学，而是文学。曾经获得诺贝尔文学奖——文学中最高奖项的他，用自己的朴实优美的语言为你讲述怎样才能度过一个成功的晚年。

HOW TO GROW OLD

By Bertrand Russell

1. In spite of the title, this article will really be on how not to grow old,

which, at my time of life, is a much more important subject. My first advice

would be to choose your ancestors carefully. Although both my parents died

young, I have done well in this respect as regards my other ancestors. My

maternal grandfather, it is true, was cut off in the flower of his youth at the

age of sixty-seven, but my other three grandparents all lived to be over eighty.

Of remoter ancestors I can only discover one who did not live to a great age,

and he died of a disease which is now rare, namely, having his head cut off。

2. A great grandmother of mine, who was a friend of Gibbon, lived to the age

of ninety-two, and to her last day remained a terror to all her descendants. My

maternal grandmother, after having nine children who survived, one who died in

infancy, and many miscarriages, as soon as she became a widow, devoted herself

to woman’s higher education. She was one of the founders of Girton College, and

worked hard at opening the medical profession to women. She used to relate how

she met in Italy an elderly gentleman who was looking very sad. She inquired the

cause of his melancholy and he said that he had just parted from his two

grandchildren. “Good gracious”, she exclaimed, “I have seventy-two

grandchildren, and if I were sad each time I parted from one of them, I should

have a dismal existence!” “Madre snaturale,” he replied. But speaking as one of

the seventy-two, I prefer her recipe. After the age of eighty she found she had

some difficulty in getting to sleep, so she habitually spent the hours from

midnight to 3 a.m. in reading popular science. I do not believe that she ever

had time to notice that she was growing old. This, I think, is

proper recipe for remaining young. If you have wide and keen interests and

activities in which you can still be effective, you will have no reason to think

about the merely statistical fact of the number of years you have already lived,

still less of the probable brevity of you future.

3. As regards health I have nothing useful to say since I have little

experience of illness. I eat and drink whatever I like, and sleep when I cannot

keep awake. I never do anything whatever on the ground that it is good for

health, though in actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.

4. Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One

of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories, in

regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. One’s

thoughts must be directed to the future and to things about which there is

something to be done. This is not always easy: one’s own past is gradually

increasing weight. It is easy to think to oneself that one’s emotions used to be

more vivid than they are, and one’s mind keener. If this is true it should be

forgotten, and if it is forgotten it will probably not be true.

5. The other thing to be avoided is clinging to youth in the hope of sucking

vigor from its vitality. When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives, and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young, you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are unusually callous. I do not mean that one should be without interest in them, but one’s interest should be contemplative and, if possible, philanthropic, but not unduly emotional. Animals become indifferent to their young as soon as their young can look after themselves, but human beings, owing to the length of infancy, find this difficult.

6. I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not

believe you, and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests, you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with you children and grandchildren. In that case you must realize that while you can still render them material services, such as making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.

7. 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 rocks 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 not be 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.