为你读英语美文·第448期

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《渐》Gradualness

作者：丰子恺，译者：张培基

The subtle factor that makes life endurable is “gradualness”. It is by this “gradualness” that the Creator deceives all humans.

使人生圆滑进行的微妙的要素，莫如“渐”；造物主骗人的手段，也莫如“渐”。

Through the process of imperceptible gradual change, innocent kids become ambitious youths, chivalrous youths become unfeeling grownups, aggressive grownups become mulish old fogeys.

在不知不觉之中，天真烂漫的孩子“渐渐”变成野心勃勃的青年；慷慨豪侠的青年“渐渐”变成冷酷的成人；血气旺盛的成人“渐渐”变成顽固的老头子。

Since the change takes place by slow degrees — year by year, month by month, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second, you feel as if you were permanently your same old self always seeing much fun and meaning in life, like one, walking a long, long way down an extremely gentle mountain slope, hardly perceives its degree of incline or notices the altered scenes as he moves along. You thus take a positive view of life and find it endurable.

因为其变更是渐进的，一年一年地，一月一月地，一日一日地，一时一时地，一分一分地，一秒一秒地渐进，犹如从斜度极缓的长远的山陂上走下来，使人不察其递降的痕迹，不见其各阶段的境界，而似乎觉得常在同样的地位，恒久不变，又无时不有生的意趣与价值，于是人生就被确实肯定，而圆滑进行了。

Suppose a kid suddenly became a young man overnight, or a young man suddenly became an old man in a matter of hours from dawn till dusk, you would definitely feel astonished, emotionally stirred and sad, or lose any interest in life due to its transience. Hence it is evident that life is sustained by “gradualness”.

假如昨夜的孩子今朝忽然变成青年；或朝为青年而暮忽成老人，人一定要惊讶，感慨，悲伤，或痛感人生的无常，而不乐为人了。故可知人生是由“渐”维持的。

This “gradualness” is particularly crucial to women. Beautiful young ladies starring in an opera or stage show will someday end up becoming grannies moping their remaining years away around a fire. This may at first sound incredible and young ladies may refuse to accept it as true. Fact is, however, all aged women you meet today have without exception “gradually” evolved from beautiful young ladies of yesterday. It is also due to this “gradualness” that one is able to reconcile himself to his reduced circumstances.

这在女人恐怕尤为必要：歌剧中，舞台上的如花的少女，就是将来火炉旁边的老婆子，这句话骤听使人不能相信，少女也不肯承认，实则现在的老婆子都是由如花的少女“渐渐”变成的。人之能堪受境遇的变衰，也全靠这“渐”的助力。

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主播介绍

DD：毕业于华中科技大学，现居美国，个人公众号：静听DD

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