第5章 青春常在

On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth

威廉·赫兹里特/William Hazlitt

没有一个年轻人相信自己会死。这句话是我哥哥说的，它真算得上一句妙语。年轻人有一种永生之感——它似乎能弥补一切。拥有青春的人就好像是一尊不朽的神灵。一半的生命已经流走，而蕴藏着无尽宝藏的另一半生命还没有明确的下限，因此我们对它也就抱着无穷的希望和幻想。我们把未来的时代完全据为己有——

无限辽阔的远景在我们面前展现着。

年老、死亡只不过是空话，没有任何意义。我们听了，并没有放在心上，如同拂过我们的一缕风。这些事，别人或许经历过，或者可能就要经历——但是我们自己“享受着令人着迷的生命”，对于诸如此类脆弱的念头，统统会轻蔑地一笑了之。像是刚刚走上愉快的旅程，极目远眺——

向远方的美景欢呼！

这时我们会觉得好风景应接不暇，如果往前走的话，还会有更多美不胜收的新鲜景致。在这生活的开端，我们听任自己的志趣驰骋，放手给它们一切满足的机会。到此时为止，我们还没有碰上过什么障碍，也没有感觉到什么疲倦，因而觉得可以一直这样向前走去，直到永远。我们看到四周一派新天地——生机勃勃，变动不息，日新月异；我们觉得自己充满活力，精神高涨，可与宇宙并驾齐驱。而且，眼前也没有任何迹象可以表明，在大自然的发展过程中，我们自己也会落伍、衰老、掉进坟墓。年轻人天性单纯，可以说是茫然无知，总有青春常在之感，因而将自己跟大自然画上等号，并且由于缺少经验，感情旺盛，总是以为自己也能像大自然一样永生。我们在世界上只是暂时栖身，却一厢情愿、痴心妄想地竟把它当作天长地久的结合，好像没有冷漠、争吵、离别的蜜月。就像婴儿带着微笑入睡一样，我们躺在用自己天真的幻想所编织成的摇篮里，宇宙的万籁之声将我们催眠；我们高兴而急切地畅饮生命之泉，怎么也不会饮干，它好像永远是满满欲溢的：包罗万象纷至沓来，各种欲望随之而生，我们没有时间去思考死亡！

No young man believes he shall ever die. It was a saying of my brother's， and a fine one.There is a feeling of Eternity in youth， which makes us amend for everything.To be young is to be as one of the Immortal Gods.One half of time indeed is flown—the other half remains in store for as with all its countless treasures；for there is no line drawn， and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes.We make the coming age our own—

The vast， the unbounded prospect lies before us.

Death， old age， are words without a meaning， that pass by us like the idle air which we regard not. Others may have undergone， or may still be liable to them—we"bear a charmed life"， which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies.As in setting out on a delightful journey， we strain our eager gaze forward—

Bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail.

And see no end to the landscape， new objects presenting themselves as we advance；so， in the commencement of life， we set no bounds to our inclinations， nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. We have as yet found no obstacle， no disposition to flag；and it seems that we can go on so forever.We look round in a new world， full of life， and motion， at ceaseless progress；and feel in ourselves all the vigour and spirit to keep pace with it， and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things， decline into old age， and drop into the grave.It is the simplicity， and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth， that (so to speak) identifies us with nature， and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it.Our short-lived connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves， is all indissoluble and lasting union—a honeymoon that knows neither coldness， jar， nor separation.As infants smile and sleep， we are rocked in the cradle of out wayward fancies， and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us—we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it， instead of which it only overflows the more-objects press around us， filling the mind with their magnitude and with the throng of desires that wait upon them， so that we have no room for the thoughts of death…