評論
打印
We chase after it,when it is waiting all about us
我們苦苦追尋的，其實就在我們身邊。
“Are you happy?"I asked my brother, Lan, one day.
一天，我問哥哥伊恩：“你感到幸福嗎?”
"Yes. No. It depends what you mean," hesaid.
他回答說：“可以說幸福，也可以說不幸福，這要看你指什么了。”
" Then tell me," I said, "when was the last time you think you were happy?"
“那你告訴我，”我說，“最近一次你感到幸福是什么時候?”
" April 1967," he said.
“1967年4月，”他答道。
It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life.
向一個游戲人生的人提問這么嚴肅的問題，我真是自討苦吃。
It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life.
向一個游戲人生的人提問這么嚴肅的問題，我真是自討苦吃。
But Lan's answer reminded me that when we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a pinnacle of sheer delight---and those pinnacles seem to get rarer the older we get.
但是伊恩的話啟發了我，當我們考慮幸福的時候，我們通常想到一些不同尋常的事情和愉快無比的時刻，而隨著年齡的增長，這種時刻是越來越少。
For a child, happiness has a magical quality. I remember making hide-outs in newly cut hay, playing cops and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play.
對一個孩子來說，幸福有著夢幻般的色彩。記得我曾在新鮮的干草叢中捉迷藏；在樹林里玩“警察與小偷”；在學校的戲劇里扮演有臺詞的角色。
Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at such peaks of pleasure as winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.
當然，孩子也有情緒低落的時候；但是，因為贏得一場比賽，或得了一輛新車，他們會毫不掩飾地快樂到極點。
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love, popularity and whether that zit will clear up before prom night.
到了青少年時期，幸福觀發生了變化。突然間幸福有了條件，例如：刺激、愛情、名氣以及舞會前青春痘是否能消除等。
I can still feel the agony of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. But I also recall the ecstasy of being plucked from obscurity at another event to dance with a John Travolta look-alike.
我清楚地記得，大家都去參加一個舞會，而我末被邀請時的痛苦。但也記得，在另—次活動中，我意外地與—個貌似約翰·特拉沃爾塔的人共舞時的興奮。
In adulthood the things that bring profound joy---birth, love, marriage---also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last, it isn't always good, loved ones die. For adults, happiness is complicated.
成年后，能帶來深深歡樂的事情（如出生、愛情和婚姻），同時也帶來了責任和失去的危險。愛情可能會消逝，性愛也不總是如意，心愛的人可能會死去。對于成人來說，幸福很復雜。
My dictionary defines happy as “lucky” or “fortunate”, but I think a better definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”.
字典里幸福的定義是“幸運”或“好運”，但我認為幸福更好的定義是“感受快樂的能力”。
The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, even good health.
更多地享受我們擁有的一切，我們就能更多地享受幸福。但是，愛與被愛，友人相伴，簡單的生活，甚至健康的體魄，這些細碎的快樂卻很容易被我們忽視。
