The Golden Age黄金时代

阿尔弗雷德·乔治·加德纳　张蝶/译

I see that Dean Inge1 has been lamenting that he did not live a couple of generations ago. He seems to think that the world was a much more desirable place then， that it has been going to the dogs2 ever since， and that the only comfortable thought that we can cultivate in this degenerate time is that we shall soon be out of it. Assuming for the moment that the world was a happier place fifty or sixty years ago， I doubt whether it follows that the Dean would have been happier in it than he is in our world today. The measure of personal happiness is fortunately not dependent on external circumstances. It is affected by them， of course. Most of us are more agreeable people when we have dined than when we are hungry， when we have slept well than when we have not slept at all， when our horse or our party has won than when it has lost， when things go right than when things go wrong. No philosophy is an anodyne for the toothache， and the east wind3 plays havoc with the feelings of the best of us. In these and a thousand other ways we are the sport of circumstance， but in this respect we are no better and no worse off than our forebears fifty years ago or five hundred years ago， or than our descendants will be fifty or five hundred years hence.

我看英奇教長一直在哀叹自己没能生活在两代人之前。他似乎认为，那时的世界更加令人向往，而自那以后，世界就一直在走下坡路，在如今这个堕落的时代，我们唯一能聊以自慰的念头就是自己很快就会摆脱这个时代。暂且假设五六十年前的世界更能令人幸福，英奇教长生活在那里是否一定会比在当今世界更幸福呢？对此我存疑。好在衡量个人的幸福并不依靠外部环境。当然，个人的幸福会受到环境的影响。我们大多数人在吃饱饭后要比饿肚子时更随和，在睡个好觉后要比彻夜未眠时更愉悦，在自己押宝的赛马或支持的党派获胜时要比他们失败时更快活，在事情进展顺利时要比出错时更舒心。没有什么哲学能止得了牙痛，即使是我们当中的杰出人才，他们的情感也要遭受东风的摧残。就以上几个以及其他无数个方面而言，我们其实是环境的玩物，而就这一点而言，相较于50年或500年前的祖先，以及50年或500年后的子孙，我们并不比他们更强，也没有更惨。

But our essential happiness or unhappiness is independent of these things. It is a quality of character. It may have a physical basis. Our happiness， said the French lady to Boswell， depends upon the circulation of the blood. It may equally depend on our nervous constitution or the functioning of our organs. I cannot doubt that the Carlyles4 would have been happier people if they had had better digestions. They lived in that period which is held up to us as the time when it was good to be alive， but it is doubtful whether two more miserable people than they were are to be found on earth today， and Carlyle himself damned his own time even more bitterly than the Dean damns this. He would have damned any time in which he had the misfortune to live， for life would always have been a sorrowful affair to him. It was his habit of mind. And the world for each of us is what the mind makes it.

但从本质上来说，我们幸福与否其实与这些事情无关。幸福是一种个人品质，可能与身体素质相关。法国夫人对博斯韦尔说，我们的幸福取决于自身的血液循环。同样还可能取决于我们的神经结构或器官运作。我毫不怀疑，如果卡莱尔夫妇的消化系统能更健康点，他们就会更幸福。如今看来，在他们生活的那个时代，活着就是一件幸事，这不禁令人怀疑当今世界是否还能找到两个比他们更悲惨的人。比起英奇教长咒骂当今时代，卡莱尔对自己所处时代的咒骂更为激烈。无论在哪个时代活得不幸，他都会咒骂时代，因为生活于他而言永远是一件悲哀的事情。这便是卡莱尔的思维习惯。对我们每个人而言，世界均由我们的思维方式决定。

In short， whether life is a comedy or a tragedy or just a humdrum affair that cannot be called either， does not depend upon the time in which we happen to live， for it is always all these things. It depends upon our point of view. I fancy Little Tich5 would have found the world as amusing as a country fair if he had lived in the Rome of Caligula， and I am sure that Carlyle would have found it as sad as a funeral if he had lived in the Garden of Eden. There is no question of merit or virtue in the matter. If there is， it is not the meritorious or the virtuous who are usually the most happy. It is they who take life lightly and indifferently who get the most fun out of it. I doubt whether there was ever a more odious monster on earth than Sulla6， whose savageries and debaucheries made him not so much a man as a satyr. Yet， except for the hideous disease from which he died， there can hardly ever have been a more fortunate man or one who found the world， in a gross sense， a more amusing place. Even when his corpse was burned with the accustomed solemnities， the wind blew and the rain fell in perfect time and sequence， “so that，” as Plutarch says， “his good fortune was firm even to the last， and did as it were officiate at his funeral.” Dean Swift cursed the day he was born， though he lived in the relatively comfortable time of Queen Anne7， and being the man he was， he would have cursed the day he was born no matter what period of history he had lived in. He carried an unhappy world in the terrific gloom of his own mind.

简而言之，生活是喜剧还是悲剧，抑或只是称不上悲喜的乏味之事，并不取决于我们碰巧生活的时代，因为生活总是那个样子。生活取决于我们的看法。我想，小提克即使生活在卡利古拉时代的罗马，也会觉得世界像乡村集市一样有趣。我也确信，卡莱尔即便生活在伊甸园，也会觉得世界像葬礼一样令人悲伤。在幸福这件事上，没有功绩或美德可言。即使有，那些功勋卓著或品德高尚的人通常也不是最快乐的。反而是那些对生活漫不经心的人会从中获得最大的乐趣。我怀疑世上是否曾有比苏拉更可憎的恶魔，就他的残暴与放荡而言，与其说他是真男人，倒不如说是个好色之徒。然而，除了他死于可怕的疾病之外，这世上几乎再也没有比他更幸运的人了，再也没有谁比他更认定这世界大体上是个非常有意思的地方。甚至就在按惯例庄严地焚烧他的遗体时，风雨都来得恰到好处。正如普鲁塔尔克所说：“他的好运直到人生最后一刻都非常有力，就像一手安排了他的丧礼。”尽管生活在安妮女王统治下相对祥和的时代，斯威夫特教长仍咒骂自己出生的那一天。对他那样的人而言，无论生活在哪个历史时期，都会咒骂自己出生的那一天。他内心可怕的阴霾之下自带一个不幸的世界。

Indeed， if we want to play with the idea of how we might have been happy， it is not the thought of living in other times that will satisfy us， but the thought of living other mens lives. If I had the privilege of antedating my birth， I would not bother about the period， but would choose very carefully my personality. Among the ancients I should select to be Herodotus8， whose immortal work is saturated with the sunshine of as delighted a spirit as ever walked the earth. And among the moderns I would choose with equal confidence to live the life of Macaulay9. It is true that he wept very copiously. I have amused myself sometimes in reading his “Life，” by collating the occasions on which he was in tears. He could have said with Michelet， “Le don que Saint Louis demande et nobtient pas， je leus ‘Le don des larmes.” Novels and poetry were bedewed with his tears. He wept whenever he was reminded of the sister he had lost， when he visited his old home in Bloomsbury， when he said “Hail！” and when he said “Farewell！” when friends fell away， and when foes， like Peel， passed into silence. But， in spite of his overcharged affection， what a rich， full， joyous life it was！ What zest， what kindliness， what noble feeling， what fine living！ I put Macaulay lower in the scale of literature than I once did， but in the scale of humanity there is none higher.

事實上，如果我们设想一下自己怎样才能幸福，那么能让我们感到满意的想法不是生活在其他时代，而是过上他人的生活。如果我能拥有提前出生的特权，我不会纠结生在哪个时代，而会仔细挑选自己的品格。在古人中，我会选择成为希罗多德，他不朽的著作总是充满阳光，洋溢着顽强生存的乐观精神。在现代人中，我同样满怀信心地选择过上麦考利的生活。的确，他总是泪流满面。有时我读他的《人生》，整理他泪眼婆娑的情景，以此自娱。他本可以和米舍莱说：“我得到了‘眼泪的礼物，这是圣路易想要却没有得到的礼物。”小说和诗歌因他的泪水而润湿。每当他想起自己失去的妹妹、访问自己位于布卢姆斯伯里的故居，每当他欢呼“万岁！”、遭朋友疏远以“再见！”作别，每当他看见像皮尔这样的对手被人忘却，他都会泪流满面。尽管他的情感过于热烈，但他的生活是多么丰富、充实和欢乐啊！这是多么热情、善良、高尚的情感，多么美好的生活！就文学而言，我把麦考利置于较以往更低的地位，但就人性而言，没有人比他的地位更高。

There never was a golden age in which happiness was the universal portion， nor one in which it was denied to those who had the gift within. It is a personal affair， not an affair of time， place or condition， and if we are sad， it is idle to lament that we were not born in days when we could have been merry. Sancho Panza10 is happy in any age， and Don Quixote is always sorrowful.

从来没有幸福随处可见的黄金时代，也没有天赋异禀之人得不到幸福的黄金时代。幸福是个人的事情，与时间、地点以及环境无关。如果我们感到悲伤，哀叹自己没有出生在本可以快乐的时代是毫无意义的。桑丘·潘沙在任何时代都感到幸福，而堂吉诃德总是感到悲伤。

（译者单位：扬州大学）