八十一歲結婚Married at Eighty-One

金圣嘆1說過：“人生三十不仕，不當再仕2，五十不娶，不當再娶3。何則？用非其時也?！?/p>

“Once you’re over thirty， you should stop thinking of landing a sought-after government career， and once you’re over fifty， you should not take a shot at nuptial bliss，” advised Jin Shengtan， a famed seventeenth-century literary critic， “because these feats can only be accomplished much earlier.”

這一種說法，可代表中國人一般的普通思想。中國人的事業(yè)觀4，最羨慕“少年得志”，最傷感“大器晚成”。為了這個原因，便是有所成就的人，到了五十以上，便有退休的意思。六十七十的人若還在事業(yè)上努力，就有抽身不得的慨嘆了。

This has， indeed， been a typical mindset among average folks in China. We tend to think success at a young age commands admiration， while failure to make it big until later in life begets self-pity. This line of thinking leads those seen as having some achievements under their belts to flirt with the idea of retirement once they reach fifty. It also leads those in their sixties or seventies still toiling away in their jobs to curse their fate for not being able to extricate themselves from the drudgery.

照人生上壽不過八十而言，為私人作一番打算，這種作風好像也有點道理。5只是就事業(yè)的觀點上說，就不對。因為越是有年紀的人，他的學識經(jīng)驗也就越豐富，大事業(yè)正需要這種人撐持。而且為人作事，也必須有個自信心。一老就覺得自己不行，那也透著我們生命力不強。

It’s true we can only expect to live to be up to eighty years old. It’s understandable that everybody likes to plan ahead to make the most out of their limited lifespan and leave enough time for leisure. On a professional note， however， an early career exit inevitably gives rise to a loss of expertise， which grows with age， and is often essential to the success of big projects. Besides， we need to have confidence in ourselves， no matter how far along in years we are. Dwindling confidence saps vitality.

擴而充之，整個民族如此，那是我們一種自餒精神，對民族興衰大有關系6。歐美人之成大事業(yè)總在晚年，恰與我們的觀點相反。7最近有兩個老人的行為，值得借鑒，正可給我們打一針興奮劑。第一是美國務卿赫爾，以七十二歲之年，飛莫斯科開那全球注意的三國會議。第二是前英國首相勞合·喬治，八十一歲結婚。這可以證明他們的生命力強，也可以證明他們精神毫不衰老。老了還活潑的干，不必退休去等死，這人生才有意味，才沒枉過“吾生也有涯”的歲月。

Not only is self-confidence important for an individual， it is also important for a nation. It powers a nation’s rise. Europeans and Americans have a different take on age. They also celebrate late bloomers. I’d like to mention in particular two elderly statesmen： U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. What they did is inspiring， and gives us a shot in the arm， so to speak. At seventy-two， Mr. Hull cut a dashing figure at the Moscow Conference， which riveted the attention of the world. Mr. Lloyd George got married at eighty-one. They are energetic. They are young at heart. It’s indeed far more rewarding to do with gusto what we like than to wait quietly for death in retirement. That’s how we can make our lives more fulfilling. While we know life is short， we can drink it to the lees8.

現(xiàn)在我國的事業(yè)，多半在四五十歲的中年人手上。中年人干吧，我們的前途還遙遠著呢！

Our nation’s future will， to a large extent， be determined by how today’s middle-aged people—those in their forties or fifties—approach life. This is no time to think of retirement. We have miles to go before we can rest.9

1考慮到金圣嘆不算人人皆知的人物，最好交代一下身份（a famed seventeenth-century literary critic）。 2中文用詞簡練，經(jīng)?？梢杂胁煌慕庾x?！叭松皇恕笨梢越庾x為：一、“人過了三十后就不應該去做官”，那么或許可以譯成“People over 30 should not become an official.”；二、“人過了三十后就難有機會做官”。根據(jù)第一種解讀，尤其是相關的譯法，官位是在等著你的，而是否選擇去做官是自己的事情，過了一定年紀就應拒絕接受官位。然而，無論根據(jù)常理，還是根據(jù)上下文，我們都可以斷定對多數(shù)人來說這種解讀（包括這種譯法）不符合事實。因此，只有第二種解讀是可以考慮的，據(jù)此，我們可翻譯成“Once you’re over thirty， you should stop thinking of landing a sought-after government career.”。筆者不用official一詞，是考慮到該詞含義不夠明確，任何實體或機構（包括工商企業(yè)）都可以有自己的officials，而“仕”僅指政府官員，因此可用a government career來表示。但在今天的讀者看來，一般的government career不一定誘人，故加上sought-after一詞。 3與前例一樣，把“五十不娶，不當再娶”譯成“People over 50 should not get married.”也不恰當。鑒于married是一種法律意義上的關系，這種譯法可有各種弦外之音，比如：You should not consider getting married even though you’ve been dating for so long. 無論“娶”還是“仕”，都是生活中追求的一個目標，而不是無需本人努力的選項，所以“追求”的含義應得到體現(xiàn)。這句話可譯成“... once you’re over fifty， you should not take a shot at nuptial bliss”。 4“事業(yè)觀”不一定死扣字面翻譯，結合上下文，不難看出，這里的“事業(yè)觀”無非是指事業(yè)成功，下文的“少年得志”（success at a young age）也就是事業(yè)成功之意，翻譯時無需贅述。

5有人把“照人生上壽不過八十而言，為私人作一番打算，這種作風好像也有點道理”這句話翻譯如下：However， considering that men seldom live up to the age of 80， their personal concerns may seem to be impeccable. 該譯文最大的問題是把“為私人作一番打算”譯成their personal concerns，這與原文意思風馬牛不相及。某人的personal concerns是某人的私事。如果你說“These things are his personal concerns.”，那就是說“These things concern him only， and don’t have anything to do with others or the organization where he works， and are therefore not your business. ”另外，稱“concerns… may seem to be impeccable”確實有些語無倫次，世界上不會有什么concern是impeccable。所謂“為私人作一番打算”，是指好好利用有限一生中的時間，給自己一些空余，不要勞累一輩子。這句話可譯成：It’s true we can only expect to live to be up to eighty years old. It’s understandable that everybody likes to plan ahead to make the most out of their limited lifespan and leave enough time for leisure.

6雖然作者提及“興衰”，但翻譯時根據(jù)譯文表達的需要不一定提及兩者。此處主語是“自餒精神”，其意思是有了自餒精神，民族就衰落，而沒有了自餒精神，民族就興旺?！皩γ褡迮d衰大有關系”不妨譯成“self-confidence powers a nation’s rise”，提及一方面，另一方面的意思已經(jīng)包含其中。 7前面談到國人對年齡和事業(yè)的看法，此處最好先談及歐美人看法的不同（Europeans and Americans have a different take on age.），然后再提及“成大事業(yè)總在晚年”。筆者不主張從字面上解讀“總”字，按字面譯成always太絕對，也不一定符合事實。對照上文“最羨慕‘少年得志’，最傷感‘大器晚成’”，這里同樣也是別人對何時“成大事業(yè)”的看法，因此不妨譯成：They also celebrate late bloomers. 8 we can drink it （life） to the lees借用了阿爾弗雷德·丁尼生（Alfred Tennyson）的詩歌Ulysses中的詩句“I cannot rest from travel： I will drink life to the lees.”，其中drink life to the lees義為live the life to the fullest。 9 “We have miles to go before we can rest.”借用了羅伯特·弗羅斯特（Robert Frost）的“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”中的詩句：But I have promises to keep， / And miles to go before I sleep.