Middle Age, Old Age
中年，老年

世界上最让人感觉无力的或许就是时间了，它无声无息地流逝，我们则一天天老去，这难免让人沮丧。在很多人看来，变老意味着失去活力和与年轻人做朋友的机会。但人到中年和老年并不只是代表失去，与之相伴而来的，还有岁月能够教给我们的智慧。譬如，待到年长，我们会明白，坦然面对自己的不足其实很简单，生活也会因此而多了一些自由自在。

William Somerset Maugham
威廉·萨摩赛特·毛姆

It is not a very pleasant thing to recognize that for the young you are no longer an equal. You belong to a different generation. For them your race is run. They can look up to you; they can admire you, but you are apart from them, and in the long run they will always find the companionship of persons of their own age more grateful than yours.

But middle age has its compensations. Youth is bond hand and foot with the shackles of public opinion. Middle age enjoys freedom. I remember that when I left school I said to myself: “Henceforward I can get up when I like and go to bed when I like.” That of course was an exaggeration, and I soon found that the trammeled life of the civilized man only permits of a modified independence. Whenever you have an aim you must sacrifice something of freedom to achieve it. But by the time you have reached middle age you have discovered how much freedom it is worthwhile to sacrifice in order to achieve any aim that you have in view. When I was a boy I was tortured by shyness, and middle age has to great extent brought me a relief from this. I was never of great physical strength and long walks used to tire me, but I went through them because I was ashamed to confess my weakness. I have now no such feeling and I save myself much discomfort. I always hated cold water, but for many years I took cold baths and bathed in cold seas because I wanted to be like everybody else. I used to dive from heights that made me nervous. I was mortified because I played games worse than other people. When I did not know a thing I was ashamed to confess my ignorance. It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say: “I don't know.” I find with middle age that no one expects me to walk five and twenty miles, or to play a scratch game of golf, or to dive from a height of thirty feet. This is all to the good and makes life pleasant; but I should no longer care if they did. That is what makes youth unhappy, the vehement anxiety to be like other people, and that is what makes middle age tolerable, the reconciliation with oneself.

发现自己和年轻人不再是同一辈人，这可不是一件多么令人愉快的事情。你属于另一代人。在他们看来，你们这一代人的活力已经所剩无几了。他们可以仰视你，可以崇拜你，但你已经脱离了他们，而且长远来看，他们会在同龄人中找到比你更好的伙伴。

不过，人到中年也有相应的补偿。年轻人的手脚都被公众观点束缚住，而中年人却能享受自由。我记得我毕业时曾经对自己说：“从今以后，我可以想什么时候起床就什么时候起床，想什么时候睡觉就什么时候睡觉。”这当然是夸张的说法，而且我很快发现现代人的生活总会受束缚，所享受的自由也只是被重新定义的自由。无论何时，只要你设定了一个目标，你就必须牺牲一些自由来实现。但到了中年，你就会知道为了实现一个目标值得牺牲多少自由。小时候，害羞的性格折磨着我，而到了中年，这种痛苦得到了很大的缓解。我的体力向来不行，走得久了就会感觉十分疲惫，但我都坚持下来了，因为我羞于承认自己的弱点。我现在没有那种感觉了，也免去了诸多不适。我一直讨厌凉水，但多年以来，我洗过很多次凉水澡，也在冰冷的海水里泡过，因为我想和别人一样。我曾经在自己害怕的高度跳水。我曾经因为游戏玩得比别人差而觉得丢人。我如果对某个事物不了解，也羞于承认自己的无知。直到生命的中后期，我才发现说一句“我不知道”是如此的简单。我发现没人指望我一个中年人能走5到20英里，或者打一场临时的高尔夫球赛，或者完成30英尺的高台跳水。这些都是有益处的，能让我们的生活更加舒适宜人。但是，如果人们真的希望我能做到这些的话，我也不会再放在心上。正是这种强烈的要同他人一样的焦虑感让年轻人活得不快乐，而正是这种对自己的包容心，让中年人感觉安然。

巧记词汇

shackle [ˈʃækl] n. 镣铐；桎梏

【拓】tackle [ˈtækl] v. 解决

trammel [ˈtræml] v. 束缚，拘束

【拓】constrain [kənˈstreɪn] v. 约束

ashamed [əˈʃeɪmd] a. 羞耻的；惭愧的

【拓】shameful [ˈʃeɪmfl] a. 可耻的

confess [kənˈfes] v. 承认，坦白

【拓】confession [kənˈfeʃn] n. 忏悔

mortify [ˈmɔːtɪfaɪ] v. 使窘迫

【拓】embarrassed [ɪmˈbærəst] a. 窘迫的

ignorance [ˈɪɡnərəns] n. 无知

【拓】learned [ˈlɜːnɪd] a. 博学的

vehement [ˈviːəmənt] a. 强烈的

【拓】strong [strɒŋ] a. 强烈的

reconciliation [ˌrekənsɪliˈeɪʃn] n. 和谐；和解

【拓】reconcile [ˈrekənsaɪl] v. 使和谐一致

趣学短语

in the long run 从长远来看

【例】It takes time and energy to acquire the skill, but it will pay off in the long run. 掌握这门技术需要花费很多的时间和精力，但从长远来看，它会取得很好的结果。