英譯現(xiàn)代散文●八十一歲結婚 ◎ 張恨水

Getting Married at 81

◎　張恨水

◎　Zhang Henshui

金圣嘆說過：“人生三十不仕，不當再仕，五十不娶，不當再娶。何則?用非其時也。”這一種說法，可代表中國人一般的普通思想。中國人的事業(yè)觀，最羨慕“少年得志”，最傷感“大器晚成”。為了這個原因，便是有所成就的人，到了五十以上，便有退休的意思。六十七十的人若還在事業(yè)上努力，就有抽身不得的慨嘆了。照人生上壽不過八十而言，為私人作一番打算，這種作風好像也有點道理。只是就事業(yè)的觀點上說，就不對。因為越是有年紀的人，他的學識經(jīng)驗也就越豐富，大事業(yè)正需要這種人撐持。而且為人作事，也必須有個自信心。一老就覺得自己不行，那也透著我們生命力不強。擴而充之，整個民族如此，那是我們一種自餒精神，對民族興衰大有關系。歐美人之成大事業(yè)總在晚年，恰與我們的觀點相反。最近有兩個老的行為，值得借鑒，正可和我們打一針興奮劑。第一是美國務卿赫爾，以七十二歲之年，飛莫斯科開那全球注意的三國會議。第二是前英國首相勞合·喬治，八十一歲結婚。這可證明他們的生命力強，也可以證明他們精神毫不衰老。老了還活潑的干，不必退休去等死，這人生才有意味，才沒枉過“吾生也有涯”的歲月。

Jin Shengtan says,“People over 30 should not become an official, and people over 50 should not get married. Why? Because otherwise they would be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.”That is representative of the mentality of people at large in China. According to the Chinese outlook on life, it is most enviable“to achieve success in one's early years”but most sorrowful“to fail to achieve it until one's old age.”Hence, even a successful man will feel like going into retirement when he is on the wrong side of 50. And those who continue to work out of necessity in their sixties or seventies must bemoan their plight. However, considering that men seldom live up to the age of 80, their personal concerns may seem to be impeccable. But, from the standpoint of a worthy cause, they are wrong. Because the older one is, the more knowledgeable and experienced he is, and therefore the more indispensable he is to a great cause. Moreover, one should conduct oneself with self-confidence. Calling yourself a good-for-nothing on account of age manifests your lack of vitality. The same is true of a nation. Self-confidence has a lot to do with its rise and fall. Unlike us Chinese, Westerners usually go in for great undertakings in late life. The recent cases of two Western senior politicians set a good example for us and serve to give us a shot in the arm. One was 72-year-old US Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who went to Moscow to attend the 3-power conference in the limelight of the world. The other was former British prime minister Lloyd George, who got married at the age of 81. Their activities afforded proof of their vitality and youthful spirit. The way to live a meaningful life and fully utilize the transient days of one's life is by continuing to work vigorously in old age rather than retire.

現(xiàn)在我國的事業(yè)，多半在四五十歲的中年人手上。中年人干吧，我們的前途還遙遠著呢!

Our national cause now rests, for the most part, on the shoulders of our middle-aged men — men in their forties or fifties. Middle-aged fellow countrymen, roll up your sleeves to strive for our ultimate goal!

張恨水(1895—1967)，原名張心遠，安徽潛山人，生于江西廣信，是著名章回小說家、報人，人稱“章回小說大師”。他一生創(chuàng)作了100多部中長篇通俗小說，其中《啼笑因緣》、《春明外史》、《金粉世家》、《八十一夢》等長篇小說影響尤為深遠，在我國文學史上有著重要的地位。他是中國20世紀創(chuàng)作數(shù)量最多、最受讀者歡迎的作家之一。老舍曾稱他是“國內(nèi)唯一的婦孺皆知的老作家”。但由于歷史原因，建國后他在國內(nèi)卻一直遭到冷落，變得默默無聞。張恨水還是一位優(yōu)秀的散文家，現(xiàn)選譯了他的散文小品《八十一歲結婚》，以饗讀者。