Listen to this article
八十一岁结婚
◎ 张恨水
金圣叹说过[1]：“人生三十不仕，不当再仕，五十不娶，不当再娶。何则？用非其时也[2]。”这一种说法，可代表中国人一般的普通思想。中国人的事业观[3]，最羡慕“少年得志”，最伤感“大器晚成”。为了这个原因，便是有所成就的人，到了五十以上[4]，便有退休的意思。六十七十的人若还在事业上努力，就有抽身不得的慨叹了[5]。照人生上寿不过八十而言，为私人作一番打算，这种作风好像也有点道理。只是就事业的观点上说[6]，就不对。因为越是有年纪的人，他的学识经验也就越丰富，大事业正需要这种人撑持。而且为人作事[7]，也必须有个自信心。一老就觉得自己不行[8]，那也透着我们生命力不强。扩而充之，整个民族如此，那是我们一种自馁精神，对民族兴衰大有关系。欧美人之成大事业总在晚年，恰与我们的观点相反。最近有两个老的行为，值得借鉴，正可和我们打一针兴奋剂[9]。第一是美国务卿赫尔[10]，以七十二岁之年，飞莫斯科开那全球注意的三国会议。第二是前英国首相劳合·乔治[11]，八十一岁结婚。这可证明他们的生命力强，也可以证明他们精神毫不衰老。老了还活泼的干，不必退休去等死，这人生才有意味，才没枉过“吾生也有涯”的岁月[12]。
现在我国的事业，多半在四五十岁的中年人手上。中年人干吧[13]，我们的前途还遥远着呢!
张恨水（1895—1967），原名张心远，安徽潜山人，生于江西广信，是著名章回小说家、报人，人称“章回小说大师”。他一生创作了100多部中长篇通俗小说，其中《啼笑因缘》、《春明外史》、《金粉世家》、《八十一梦》等长篇小说影响尤为深远，在我国文学史上有着重要的地位。他是中国20世纪创作数量最多、最受读者欢迎的作家之一。老舍曾称他是“国内唯一的妇孺皆知的老作家”。但由于历史原因，建国后他在国内却一直遭到冷落，变得默默无闻。张恨水还是一位优秀的散文家，现选译了他的散文小品《八十一岁结婚》，以飨读者。
[1]“金圣叹说过”中的“说过”可译为said或says，只是后者常指有书面记载的言论。
[2]“用非其时也”意即“在错误的时候做错误的事”，故译doing the wrong thing at the wrong time。
[3]“中国人的事业观”可译为According to the Chinese outlook on life，或According to the Chinese，或According to the Chinese view on one’s career。
[4]“到了五十以上”译为on the wrong side of 50，意同older than 50。
[5]“就有抽身不得的慨叹了”现按“谅必为自己的处境叫苦”而译为must bemoan their plight，其中must作“想必”、“谅必”解。
[6]“就事业的观点上说”译为from the standpoint of a worthy cause，其中worthy作“好的”、“有意义的”解，是译文中的增益词。
[7]“为人作事”不宜按字面直译，现译为to conduct oneself。
[8]“一老就觉得自己不行”译为Calling yourself a good-for-nothing on account of age，其中good-for-nothing作“无用的人”解，on account of age意同because of old age, age（单独用）可指“年迈”。
[9]“和我们打一针兴奋剂”译为serve to give us a shot in the arm，其中to give one a shot in the arm是成语，意思是“给某人打气（或刺激、鼓励等）”。
[10]“赫尔”全名“科德尔·赫尔”Cordell Hull（1871—1955），1933至1944年任美国国务卿，主张改变高关税壁垒，改善美国与拉丁美洲国家的关系，反对日本对中国的军事侵略，协助筹建联合国，获1945年诺贝尔和平奖。
[11]“劳合·乔治”全名“大卫·劳埃德·乔治”David Lloyd George（1863—1945），第一次世界大战期间任英国首相（1916—1922），大战结束后于1919年参加巴黎和会。
[12]“没枉过‘吾生也有涯’的岁月”可按“没有浪费短暂的一生”从正面译为fully utilize the transient days of one’s life，其中transient作“转瞬即逝”解。
[13]“中年人干吧”译为Middle-aged fellow countrymen, roll up your sleeves，其中用fellow countrymen（同胞们）替代men，较为亲切，又roll up your sleeves也是成语，意即“准备大干”。
Getting Married at 81
◎ Zhang Henshui
Jin Shengtan[1] says,“People over 30 should not become an official, and people over 50 should not get married. Why? Because otherwise they would be doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.”That is representative of the mentality of people at large in China. According to the Chinese outlook on life, it is most enviable“to achieve success in one’s early years”but most sorrowful“to fail to achieve it until one’s old age.”Hence, even a successful man will feel like going into retirement when he is on the wrong side of 50. And those who continue to work out of necessity in their sixties or seventies must bemoan their plight. However, considering that men seldom live up to the age of 80, their personal concerns may seem to be impeccable. But, from the standpoint of a worthy cause, they are wrong. Because the older one is, the more knowledgeable and experienced he is, and therefore the more indispensable he is to a great cause. Moreover, one should conduct oneself with self-confidence. Calling yourself a good-for-nothing on account of age manifests your lack of vitality. The same is true of a nation. Self-confidence has a lot to do with its rise and fall. Unlike us Chinese, Westerners usually go in for great undertakings in late life. The recent cases of two Western senior politicians set a good example for us and serve to give us a shot in the arm. One was 72-year-old US Secretary of State Cordell Hull, who went to Moscow to attend the 3-power conference in the limelight of the world. The other was former British prime minister Lloyd George, who got married at the age of 81. Their activities afforded proof of their vitality and youthful spirit. The way to live a meaningful life and fully utilize the transient days of one’s life is by continuing to work vigorously in old age rather than retire.
Our national cause now rests, for the most part, on the shoulders of our middle-aged men — men in their forties or fifties. Middle-aged fellow countrymen, roll up your sleeves to strive for our ultimate goal!
[1]Jin Shengtan （1608—1661）, a native of Wuxian, Jiangsu Province, was a remarkable scholar in the early years of the Qing Dynasty, known for his creative thinking in literary criticism.
