死亡教会了我们永生 About Secrets and Falling Tiles

卡罗尔·宾德/Carroll Binder

“We are all at the mercy of a falling tile.”Julius Caesar reminds us in Thornton Wilder's Ides of March. None of us knows at what hour something we may love may suffer some terrible blow by a force we can neither anticipate nor control.

Fifty-five years of living, much of the time in trouble centers of a highly troubled era, have not taught me how to avoid being hit by falling tiles. I have sustained some very severe blows. My mother died when I was three years old. My first-born son, a gifted and idealistic youth, was killed in the war. While I was still cherishing the hope that he might be alive, circumstances beyond my control made it impossible for me to continue work into which I had poured my heart's blood for twenty years.

I speak of such things here in the hope of helping others to believe with me that there are resources within one's grasp which enable one to sustain such blows without being crushed or embitteredby them.

I believe the best hope of standing up to falling tiles is through developing a sustaining philosophy and state of mind all through life. I have seen all sorts of people sustain all sorts of blows in all sorts of circumstances by all sorts of faiths, so I believe anyone can fnd a faith that will serve his needs if he persists in the quest.

One of the best ways I know of fortifying oneself to withstand the vicissitudes of this insecure and unpredictable era is to school oneself to require relatively little in the way of material possessions, physical satisfactions or the praise of others. The less one requires of such things the better situated one is to stand up to changes of fortune.

I am singularly rich in friendships. Friends of all ages have contributed enormously to my happiness and helped me greatly in times of need. I learned one of the great secrets of friendship early in life—to regard each person with whom one associates as an end in himself, not a means to one's own ends. That entails trying to help those with whom one comes in contact to fnd fulfllment in their own way while seeking one's own fulfllment in one's own way.

Another ethical principle that has stood me in good stead is：Know thyself！I try to acquaint myself realistically with my possibilities and limitations. I try to suit my aspirations to goals within my probable capacity to attain. I may have missed some undiscovered possibilities for growth but I have spared myself much by not shooting for stars it clearly was not given me to attain.

I have seen much inhumanity, cheating, corruption, sordidness and selfshness but I have not become cynical. I have seen too much that is decent, kind and noble in men to lose faith in the possibility for a far fner existence than yet has been achieved. I believe the quest for a better life is the most satisfying pursuit of men and nations.

I love life but I am not worried about death. I do not feel that I have lost my son and a host of others dear to me by death. I believe with William Penn that“they that love beyond the World cannot be separated by it. Death is but Crossing the World, as Friends do the Seas；they live in one another still.”Death, I believe, teaches us the things of deathless.

在桑顿·怀尔德的《三月的爱德斯》中，朱利叶斯·恺撒这样提醒我们：“我们所有人都处在落瓦的掌控之下。”没有人知道，我们的所爱会在何时遭到难以估量的力量的沉重打击。

五十五年来，我的绝大多数日子都是在多事的年月中度过，然而，我还是没有学会如何避免遭到落瓦的重击。我经历了好几次沉痛的打击。母亲在我三岁时离开人世。我的长子——一个拥有天赋的理想主义青年，在战争中阵亡。而我依然抱着他可能存活的希望，倾尽心血苦苦寻找了二十年，最终，在无法控制的环境的逼迫下，我放弃了努力。

我之所以讲这些事情，是希望人们能够像我一样，坚信人一定要有精神依托，这样才能在遭受严重打击时，不致被打垮或是痛苦不堪。

我相信，人一生中若能信仰并保持一种哲学与思想状态，便拥有了能够承受落瓦打击的最大希望。我看见过拥有各种信仰的形形色色的人们，在各种不同的环境中承受着各种不同的打击。因此我相信，只要坚持不懈地寻求，每个人都能找到需求的信仰。

对物质拥有、身体满足及他人的赞赏不予奢求，这是我所知道的最佳办法之一。它能使我们更坚强地承受不安全、难以预知的时代兴衰。人的所求越少，那他对命运变化的应对能力就越强。

友谊是我最大的财富。不同年龄段的朋友带给我莫大的愉悦，在我需要时给予我最大的帮助。孩提时，我便明白了维持友谊的最大秘诀之一——将每一位朋友都视为自己最重要的人，而不是利用他们来达到自己的目的。当我们在用自己的方式实现自我价值时，也应帮助身边的人通过他们的途径来实现自身的价值。

认知自己，这是令我颇为受益的另一个道德准则。我总是努力实事求是地了解自己的能力与局限，并在自己的能力范围之内树立目标。也许我会错过一些发展自我潜能的机会，但我并没有浪费精力去奢求遥不可及的事物。

我看到过无数的残暴、欺诈、腐败、肮脏与自私，但我并未因此变得愤世嫉俗。我看到过太多正直、善良与高尚的人失去了创造更美好生活的信念。我相信，无论是对人类，还是国家而言，更美好的生活都是最令人满意的追求目标。

我热爱生命，但我不惧怕死亡。我并不认为，死亡让我失去了儿子和其他许多亲人。我相信威廉·佩恩所说的话：“在那个世界中，死亡无法将那些有爱心的人分开。死亡不过是去另一个世界的过渡，就像朋友跨越海洋一样；他们依然活在另一个世界里。”我坚信，是死亡教会了我们永生。

W词汇笔记

suffer['sʌfə]v.遭受；经验；忍受

例 How can you suffer such insolence?

你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度？

era['iərə]n.纪元；时代；年代

例 We are in a new era of information.

我们现在正处于一个新的信息时代。

fortify['fɔ：tifai]v.设要塞；加强

例 It’s the act of fortifying or strengthening defenses.

这是增强或加固防御的行为。

inhumanity[,inhju（：）'mæniti]n.不人道；残暴

例 Man’s inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn.

人类对人类的不人道，令无数人悲哀。

S小试身手

没有人知道，我们的所爱会在何时遭到难以估量的力量的沉重打击。

译____________________________

这样才能在遭受严重打击时，不致被打垮或是痛苦不堪。

译____________________________

我相信，人一生中若能信仰并保持一种哲学与思想状态，便拥有了能够承受落瓦打击的最大希望。

译____________________________

P短语家族

I speak of such things here in the hope of helping others.

in the hope of：期待着；以期；希望；期待

造____________________________

……I believe anyone can find a faith that will serve his needs if he persists in the quest.

persist in：坚持；坚决

造____________________________