英文原文YOUTH
Samuel Ullman
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness ofthe deep springs of life.
Youth means a tempera-mental predominance of courage over timidity, of theappetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust.
Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station: so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
中文译文(一)
青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝,而是深沉的意志、恢宏的想像、炽热的感情;青春是生命的深泉涌流。
青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯懦,进取压倒苟安。如此锐气,二十后生有之,六旬男子则更多见。年岁有加,并非垂老;理想丢弃,方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤;热忱抛却,颓唐必致灵魂。忧烦、惶恐、丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰。
无论年届花甲,抑或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛不衰。
人的心灵应如浩淼瀚海,只有不断接纳美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的百川,才能青春永驻、风华长存。
一旦心海枯竭,锐气便被冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生,即便年方二十,实已垂垂老矣;然则只要虚怀若谷,让喜悦、达观、仁爱充盈其间,你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。
中文译文(二)
人生匆匆,青春不是易逝的一段。青春应是一种永恒的心态。满脸红光,嘴唇红润,腿脚灵活,这些都不是青春的全部。真正的青春啊,它是一种坚强的意志,是一种想象力的高品位,是感情充沛饱满,是生命之泉的清澈常新。
青春意味着勇敢战胜怯懦,青春意味着进取战胜安逸,年月的轮回就一定导致衰老吗?要知道呵,老态龙钟是因为放弃了对真理的追求。
无情岁月的流逝,留下了深深的皱纹,而热忱的丧失,会在深处打下烙印。焦虑、恐惧、自卑,终会使心情沮丧,意志消亡。
60也罢,16也罢,每个人的心田都应保持着不泯的意志,去探索新鲜的事物,去追求人生乐趣。我们的心中都应有座无线电台,只要不断地接受来自人类和上帝的美感、希望、勇气和力量,我们就会永葆青春。倘若你收起天线,使自己的心灵蒙上玩世不恭的霜雪和悲观厌世的冰凌,即使你年方20,你已垂垂老矣;倘若你已经80高龄,临于辞世,若竖起天线去收听乐观进取的电波,你仍会青春焕发。