(中英)現(xiàn)代散文:“兒時” Childhood

Childhood

“兒時”

◎ Qu Qiubai

◎　瞿秋白

One who lives a life without high aspirations will treasure all the more the memory of his own youth and childhood. As it is, the sentimental recollection marks his awareness of post-middle age decline rather than his discovery of anything truly remarkable in the bygone days. Life is of course precious to anyone because he will pass through it but once. But one will long remain fresh and vigorous, if he identifies himself with the broad masses of people and day in, day out does his bit for the good of the public. Although, being subject to the law of nature, he too will eventually become aged and die, yet his cause — the public cause — will be everlasting. He will enjoy perennial youth in spirit. Those who dream away their life without doing anything useful are taking from this world much more than they are giving to it until at last they are too enfeebled to take any more and die of weariness. Consequently, a sad feeling of getting senile weighs heavily on their mind like a lump of lead. All they do is bemoan the transience of youth!

生命沒有寄托的人，青年時代和“兒時”對他格外寶貴①。這種浪漫諦克的回憶②其實③并不是發(fā)見了“兒時”的真正了不得，而是感覺到“中年”以后的衰退。本來，生命只有一次④，對于誰都是寶貴的。但是，假使他的生命溶化在大眾的里面⑤，假使他天天在為這世界干些什么⑥，那末，他總在生長⑦，雖然衰老病死仍舊是逃避不了⑧，然而他的事業(yè)——大眾的事業(yè)是不死的，他會領略到“永久的青年”⑨。而“浮生如夢”的人⑩，從這世界里拿去的很多，而給這世界的卻很少，——他總有一天會覺得疲乏的死亡：他連拿都沒有力量了。衰老和無能的悲哀，像鉛一樣的沉重，壓在他的心頭?。青春是多么短呵?！

Childhood is lovely in terms of our erstwhile childish ignorance. In those early days, everything was new to us. Every day we were something of a great scientist or philosopher. Every day we discovered something new — new phenomena or new truth. What about now? Now we know everything only too well. We are tired of seeing every familiar human face. The whole universe and society seem stale and boring to us though, in fact, they have a lot more new things now than when we were in our childhood. Hence I feel nostalgic for my childhood and pray for it.

“兒時”的可愛是無知?。那時候，件件都是“知”，你每天可以做大科學家和大哲學家?，每天在發(fā)見什么新的現(xiàn)象，新的真理?，F(xiàn)在呢？“什么”都已經(jīng)知道了，熟悉了，每一個人的臉都已經(jīng)看厭了。宇宙和社會是那么陳舊，無味，雖則它們其實比“兒時”新鮮得多了。我于是想念“兒時”，禱告“兒時”。

When we cease to advance any more, we are inclined to fall back a few paces and indulge in reminiscences of the path we have already trodden. We pray for the return of "childish ignorance" so as to re-experience the joy of knowledge-seeking. O this cessation of life! How horrible it is!

不能夠前進的時候，就愿意退后幾步，替自己恢復已經(jīng)走過的前途。請求“無知”回來，給我求知的快樂。可怕呵，這生命的“停止”。

What is gone is gone, and what is to come is to come. What are my innermost feelings of it?

過去的始終過去了，未來的還是未來。究竟感慨些什么——我問自己。

瞿秋白（1899—1935），江蘇常州人，是中國共產(chǎn)黨早期主要領導人之一。他既是政治家，又是文學家。《“兒時”》是他寫于1933年9月28日的一篇雜文，選自人民文學出版社1986年版《瞿秋白文集》第2卷。文章認為那些留戀“兒時”的人們，往往是由于缺乏積極向前的人生觀，只有面對現(xiàn)實，與人民大眾打成一片，獻身人類進步事業(yè)，才能領略到“永久的青春”。