幸福的形状

幸福的形状Observeachild;anyonewilldo.Youwillseethatnotadaypassesinwhichhedoesnotfindsomethingorothertomakehimhappy,thoughhemaybeintearsthenextmoment.Thenlookataman;anyoneofuswilldo.Youwillnoticethatweeksandmonthscanpassinwhicheverydayisgreetedwithnothingmorethan1)resignation,andendurewithpoliteindifference.Butitistruethattheysmilesoseldomthatwhentheydo,theydon’trecognizetheirface.Sodistorteditisfromthefixedmasktheytakeforgranted.Andeventhen,amancannotsmilelikeachild,forachildsmileswithhiseyes,whereasamansmileswithhislipsalone.Itisnotasmile,butagrin;ithassomethingtodowithhumor,butlittletodowithhappiness.Andthen,asanyonecansee,thereisapoint(andwhocandefinethatpoint)whenamanbecomesanoldman,andthenhewillsmileagain.仔细观察一个小孩，随便哪个都行。你会发现，他每天都会发现一些令他快乐的事情，尽管下一秒他可能会哭哭啼啼。再看一看大人，我们中随便哪个都行。你会发现，一周复一周，一月复一月，他总是以无可奈何的顺从心理来迎接新一天的到来，并以礼貌的冷漠来忍受。真的，他们难得一笑，因此即使是偶尔笑了，他们也会认不出自己那张脸——相对于他们习以为常的假面具，一张笑脸显得多么扭曲啊。而且即使即使是在笑，大人也不会像小孩那样笑，小孩用眼睛传达笑意，而大人只用嘴唇。这实际上不是笑，只是咧咧嘴，它和幽默感有点关系，但跟快乐无关。然后，正如任何人看到的那样，人到了一定阶段（但又有谁能说明这是什么阶段呢？），成了老人，他又会笑了。Itwouldseemthathappinesshassomethingtodowithsimplicity,andthatitistheabilitytoextractpleasurefromthesimplestthings—suchasapeachstone,forinstance.幸福似乎和单纯有些关系，幸福是一种能从最简单的事物里——譬如说，从一颗桃核中——汲取快乐的能力。Itisobviousthatithasnothingtodowithsuccess.For,2)SirHenryStewartwascertainlysuccessful.IthasbeentwentyyearssincehecamedowntoourvillagefromLondonandboughtacoupleofoldcottages,whichhethenhadknockedintoone.Heusedhishouseasaweekendrefuge.Hewasa3)barristerandthevillagefollowedhisbrilliantcareerwithsomethingamountingtoalmost4)paternalpride.幸福显然同成功毫不相干，因为亨利·斯图尔特爵士当然是个十分成功的人。20年前，他从伦敦来到我们的村子，买了好几座旧房屋，推倒后建了一所大房子。他把这所房子当作度周末的别墅。他是位律师，我们村里的人怀着一种近似父辈的自豪，一直关注着他那辉煌的事业。Iremember,sometenyearsago,whenhewasmadea5)King’sCounsel,AmosandI,uponseeinghimgettingofftheLondontrain,wenttocongratulatehim.Wegrinnedwithpleasure;helookedmerelyasmiserableasthoughhe’dreceiveda6)capitalsentence.Itwasthesamewhenhewas7)knighted.Heneversmiledabitanddidn’tevenbothertocelebratewitharoundofdrinksatthe“BlueFox”.Hetookhissuccessasachilddoeshismedicine.Andnotoneofhisachievementsbroughtevenaghostofasmiletohistiredeyes.我记得，大约10年前他被任命为王室法律顾问，我和阿莫斯看见他走下从伦敦开来的火车，便上前去祝贺他。我们高兴地笑着，而他的表情却像被判了死刑一样痛苦。他受封为爵士时也是如此。他从来不笑，甚至懒得在“蓝狐狸酒馆”和我们大家举杯庆祝。他对待成功就像小孩对待吃药一样，他的任何一项成就都未能使他疲惫的眼睛里流露出一丝笑意。Iaskedhimoneday,soonafterhe’dretiredto8)potterabouthisgarden,whatitwasliketoachieveallofone’sambitions.Helookeddownathisroses,andwentonwateringthem.Thenhesaid,“Theonlyvalueinachievingone’sambitionisthatthenyourealizethattheywerenotworthachieving.”Quicklyhemovedtheconversationontoamorepracticallevel,andwithinamomentwewerebacktoasafediscussionontheweather.Thatwastwoyearsago.他退休后常在花园里闲逛。就在他退休后不久，有一天，我问他，一个人实现了一切抱负是什么滋味？他低头看着他的玫瑰花，继续给它们浇水。过了一会儿，他说：“实现抱负的惟一价值是你会意识到它们都不值得追求。”他很快把话题转向讨论更有实际意义的事情。不一会儿，我们又谈论起天气这个安全的话题。那是两年前的事了。Irecallthisincident,foryesterdayIwaspassinghishouse,andhaddrawnupmycartjustoutsidehisgardenwall.Ihad9)pulledinfromtheroadfornootherreasonthantoletabuspassme.AsIsettherefillingmypipe,Isuddenlyheardashoutof10)sheerjoycomefromtheothersideofthewall.我想起这件事情，是因为昨天我经过他家，并刚好把马车停在他花园的墙外边。我从大路上把马车拉到一边停着，是为了给一辆公共汽车让路。当我坐在车上装烟斗时，忽然听见墙的另一头传来一声欣喜若狂的欢呼。Ipeeredover.TherestoodSirHenrydoingnothinglessthana11)tribalwardanceofsheerunashamed12)ecstasy.Evenwhenheobservedmybewilderedfacestaringoverthewallhedidnotseem13)putoutorembarrassed,butshoutedformetoclimbover.我向墙内张望，亨利爵士正在里面欢蹦乱跳着，像在跳部落出征舞，表现出毫无顾忌的狂喜。即使当他注意到我那张在墙外张望的迷惑不解的脸孔时，也似乎毫不生气或窘迫，而是大声呼喊我爬过墙去。“Comeandsee,Jan.Look!Ihavedoneitatlast!Ihavedoneitatlast!”“快来看，简，看呀！我终于成功了！我终于成功了！”Therehewas,holdingasmallboxofearthinhishand.Iobservedthreetiny14)shootsoutofit.他站在那里，手里拿着一小盒土。我发现土里有三棵嫩芽。“Andtherewereonlythree!”hesaid,hiseyeslaughingtoheaven.“而且正好是三个！”他眉开眼笑地说。“Threewhat?”Iasked.“三个什么？”我问。“Peachstones,”hereplied.“I’vealwayswantedtomakepeachstonesgrow,eversinceIwasachild,whenIusedtotakethemhomeafteraparty,orasamanafterabanquet.AndIusedtoplantthem,andthenforgotwhereIplantedthem.ButnowatlastIhavedoneit.And,what’smore,Ihadonlythreestones,andthereyouare,one,two,threeshoots,”hecounted.“桃核。”他回答道，“我一直想把桃核种活，从小就想，那时我参加完晚会后老把桃核带回家，后来长大成人参加宴会后也这样。我以前常常种桃核，可是过后就忘了我把它们种在什么地方了。但现在，我总算成功了！而且，我只有三颗桃核。你瞧，一、二、三，三棵芽。”他边数边说。AndSirHenryranoff,callingforhiswifetocomeandseehisachievement—hisachievementofsimplicity.然后，亨利爵士跑去叫他妻子来欣赏他的成就——单纯的成就。Notes:King’sCounsel:王室法律顾问capitalsentence：死刑pullout:激怒，困扰shoot：发芽pullin：进站，靠站