Lesson 46

Hobbies

A gifted American psychologist has said, 'Worry is a spasm of the emotion; the mind catches hold of something and will not let it go.'
一位有天赋的美国心理学家曾经说过：“担忧是一种情绪的痉挛；思想抓住某物并且不会放手。”
It is useless to argue with the mind in this condition.
在这种状态下，与思想争论是无用的。
The stronger the will, the more futile the task.
意志越强，任务就越徒劳。
One can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsive grasp.
一个人只能温和地将别的东西植入它痉挛的抓握中。
And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins.
如果这个别的东西被正确地选择，如果它确实伴随着另一个兴趣领域的启发，那么旧的过度控制会逐渐地、往往相当迅速地放松，恢复和修复的过程就开始了。
The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is therefore a policy of the first importance to a public man.
因此，培养一种爱好和新的兴趣形式，对于公众人物而言是一项至关重要的策略。
But this is not a business that can be undertaken in a day or swiftly improvised by a mere command of the will.
但这并不是一项可以在一天之内承担，或仅凭意志命令就能迅速即兴完成的业务。
The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process.
替代性心理兴趣的增长是一个漫长的过程。
The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying fruits are to be at hand when needed.
如果想要在需要时获得充满活力的果实，种子就必须被仔细挑选；它们必须落在肥沃的土地上；它们必须被勤勉地照料。
To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real.
为了真正快乐且真正安全，一个人应该至少拥有两到三个爱好，并且它们必须全部是真实的。
It is no use starting late in life to say: 'I will take an interest in this or that.'
到了晚年才说“我要对这个或那个产生兴趣”是没用的。
Such an attempt only aggravates the strain of mental effort.
这样的尝试只会加剧精神努力的压力。
A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily work, and yet get hardly any benefit or relief.
一个人可能获得与他的日常工作无关的主题的巨大知识，然而却几乎没有得到任何利益或解脱。
It is no use doing what you like; you have got to like what you do.
做你喜欢的事是没用的；你必须喜欢你所做的事。
Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death.
广义地说，人类可以分为三类：那些被劳累致死的人，那些被忧虑致死的人，以及那些被无聊致死的人。
It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week's sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon.
对于一个经过艰苦的一周的汗水与努力而筋疲力尽的体力劳动者来说，在周六下午提供玩一场足球或棒球比赛的机会是没用的。
It is no use inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.
邀请那些已经为严肃事务工作或担忧了六天的政治家、专业人士或商人，在周末去处理琐碎的事情是毫无意义的。
As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who can gratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire—for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation.
至于那些能够支配一切想要之物、能够满足每一个突发奇想并触及几乎每一个欲望对象的不幸者而言，对他们来说，一种新的快乐或刺激仅仅是额外的厌腻。
In vain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from avenging boredom by mere clatter and motion.
他们徒劳地从一个地方疯狂地冲向另一个地方，试图通过仅仅的喧闹和运动来逃避报复性的无聊。
For them discipline in one form or another is the most hopeful path.
对他们来说，某种形式的纪律是通往希望的最有希望的路径。
It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure; and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one.
也可以说，理性的、勤奋的、有用的人类被分为两类：首先，那些工作就是工作、乐趣就是乐趣的人；其次，那些工作和乐趣是一体的人。
Of these the former are the majority.
在这些之中，前者占大多数。
They have their compensations.
他们有他们的补偿。
The long hours in the office or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms.
办公室或工厂里的漫长时间随之带来的回报，不仅是维持生计的手段，而且是对快乐的强烈渴望，即使是在其最简单和最朴素的形式中。
But Fortune’s favoured children belong to the second class.
但是命运受宠的孩子属于第二类。
Their life is a natural harmony.
他们的生活是一种自然的和谐。
For them the working hours are never long enough.
对他们来说，工作时间永远都不够长。
Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays, when they come, are grudged as enforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation.
每一天都是假期，而普通的假期到来时，反而被视为引人入胜的职业中强制性的中断。
Yet to both classes, the need of an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort, is essential.
然而对于这两个阶层来说，一种替代性的视角、一种氛围的改变、一种努力的转移，都是必不可少的。
Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure are those who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.
确实，那些以工作为乐的人，很可能正是最需要间歇性地将工作从脑海中消除的人。