书城外语当幸福来敲门
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第26章 三颗桃核 (2)

“Come and see, Jan. Look! I have done it at last! I have done it at last!”

There he was, holding a small box of earth in his hand. I observed three tiny shoots out of it.

“And there were only three!” he said, his eyes laughing to heaven.

“Three what?” I asked.

“Peach stones,” he replied.

“I’ve always wanted to make peach stones grow, ever since I was a child, when I used to take them home after a party, or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them, and then forgot where I planted them. But now at last I have done it, and, what’s more, I had only three stones, and there you are, one, two, three shoots,” he counted.

And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement—his achievement of simplicity.

观察任何一个孩子你都会发现,他每天都能找到一两件令自己开心的事,虽然他可能在下一秒就哭哭啼啼。再观察我们中的任何一个成人,你会发现,数星期或数月过去了,他总是无可奈何地面对每一天的到来,然后以漠然的礼貌方式来忍受。的确,很多人像罪人一样痛苦,虽然他们有太多烦恼,但总不至于去犯罪——或许罪过就在于他们的冷漠。但他们的确很少笑,以至于他们笑的时候,我们都认不出他们的面孔,因为我们已经习惯了那一成不变的严肃表情,这时候反倒觉得他们的脸都扭曲了,而且大人也不能像孩子那样笑,因为孩子笑的时候,眼里满含笑意,而大人们只用嘴唇微笑,这就不是笑了,而只是咧咧嘴;只是幽默,没有快乐。于是,每个人都会发现,当人们变老时(不过谁能说清楚到底是什么时候呢?),他就又会笑了。

快乐似乎就是简单地做事,是一种能从最简单的事物中——比如桃核——提炼出乐趣的能力。

显然,快乐与成功无关。因为亨利·斯图尔特爵士的确已经很成功了。他是个高级律师。20年前,他从伦敦来到我们村,推倒了几栋买来的旧房子,然后建了所大房子,把它作为周末的休憩之所。他那辉煌的业绩,让全村人觉得,与这么一位了不起的人住在一个村子,是几辈子修来的福分。

我记得10年前,他被任命为国王的法律顾问,看到他走下从伦敦开来的火车,我和阿莫斯都跑过去祝贺他。我们高兴地笑着,他看起来却那么痛苦,像接到判刑通知似的。他被封为爵士时也是这样,没露出一丝笑容,甚至不屑于在“蓝狐狸”摆酒庆祝一番。他就像小孩子看待吃药一样看待成功,似乎任何成功都不能给他带来一丝快乐。

他退休后不久,有一天,在花园里浇花时,我问他,一个人实现了所有的雄心壮志时是什么感觉。他俯下身看了看玫瑰花,继续给它们浇水。然后说,“实现雄心壮志的唯一价值,是你马上会意识到它们不值得你去实现。”很快,他把话题转到更实际的事情上,一会儿我们就又开始谈到稳妥的天气问题了。那是两年前的事了。

昨天,当我路过他家,在花园的墙外停下手推车时又想起了这件事。我把车子拉到路边,以免堵住公共汽车。当我坐在车上装烟斗时,突然听到一个欣喜若狂的欢呼声从墙那边传来。

我向里望去,亨利爵士正在狂蹦乱跳着,像是在跳部落出征舞。甚至当他看到我正迷惑地往里张望时,都没有停下来,也没露出任何尴尬的神情,只是叫我翻墙进去。

“过来看看,简,看呐,我终于成功了!我终于成功了!”

他手里拿着一小盒土,站在那里。我看到土里有三棵小芽。

“只有三个!”他说着,眼睛笑开了花。

“三个什么?”我问。

“桃核。”他答道。

“小时候,我就一直想种桃核,每次参加晚会后,我总把桃核带回家,长大后参加宴会后也这样。过去我常常把它们种下去,可过后就忘了种在哪里了。现在,我终于成功了。而且,我只有三颗桃核。你看,一、二、三,共三棵芽。”他数着。

然后,亨利爵士跑开了,叫妻子来看他的杰作——他的纯朴之作。

1. You will that weeks and months can pass in which every day is greeted

nothing more than resignation, endured with polite indifference. Indeed, most men are as miserable as sinners, though they are bored to sin?—perhaps their sin is their indifference.

2. It would that happiness is to do with simplicity, and that it is the ability to extract pleasure the simplest things—such as a peach _______, for instance.

3. I recall this incident, yesterday, I was passing his house, and had drawn up my cart just outside his wall. I had pulled in from the road for no other _______ than to let a bus pass me.

1. 于是,每个人都会发现,当人们变老时(不过谁能说清楚到底是什么时候呢?),他就又会笑了。

2. 他就像小孩子看待吃药一样看待成功,似乎任何成功都不能给他带来一丝快乐。

3. 过去我常常把它们种下去,可过后就忘了种在哪里了。

1. ...so distorted it is from the fixed mask we take for granted.

take for granted:认为……理所当然

2. ...that it is the ability to extract pleasure from the simplest things—such as a peach stone, for instance.

for instance:例如;比如