(中英)现代散文:“儿时” Childhood

Childhood

“儿时”

◎ Qu Qiubai

◎　瞿秋白

One who lives a life without high aspirations will treasure all the more the memory of his own youth and childhood. As it is, the sentimental recollection marks his awareness of post-middle age decline rather than his discovery of anything truly remarkable in the bygone days. Life is of course precious to anyone because he will pass through it but once. But one will long remain fresh and vigorous, if he identifies himself with the broad masses of people and day in, day out does his bit for the good of the public. Although, being subject to the law of nature, he too will eventually become aged and die, yet his cause — the public cause — will be everlasting. He will enjoy perennial youth in spirit. Those who dream away their life without doing anything useful are taking from this world much more than they are giving to it until at last they are too enfeebled to take any more and die of weariness. Consequently, a sad feeling of getting senile weighs heavily on their mind like a lump of lead. All they do is bemoan the transience of youth!

生命没有寄托的人，青年时代和“儿时”对他格外宝贵①。这种浪漫谛克的回忆②其实③并不是发见了“儿时”的真正了不得，而是感觉到“中年”以后的衰退。本来，生命只有一次④，对于谁都是宝贵的。但是，假使他的生命溶化在大众的里面⑤，假使他天天在为这世界干些什么⑥，那末，他总在生长⑦，虽然衰老病死仍旧是逃避不了⑧，然而他的事业——大众的事业是不死的，他会领略到“永久的青年”⑨。而“浮生如梦”的人⑩，从这世界里拿去的很多，而给这世界的却很少，——他总有一天会觉得疲乏的死亡：他连拿都没有力量了。衰老和无能的悲哀，像铅一样的沉重，压在他的心头⑪。青春是多么短呵⑫！

Childhood is lovely in terms of our erstwhile childish ignorance. In those early days, everything was new to us. Every day we were something of a great scientist or philosopher. Every day we discovered something new — new phenomena or new truth. What about now? Now we know everything only too well. We are tired of seeing every familiar human face. The whole universe and society seem stale and boring to us though, in fact, they have a lot more new things now than when we were in our childhood. Hence I feel nostalgic for my childhood and pray for it.

“儿时”的可爱是无知⑬。那时候，件件都是“知”，你每天可以做大科学家和大哲学家⑭，每天在发见什么新的现象，新的真理。现在呢？“什么”都已经知道了，熟悉了，每一个人的脸都已经看厌了。宇宙和社会是那么陈旧，无味，虽则它们其实比“儿时”新鲜得多了。我于是想念“儿时”，祷告“儿时”。

When we cease to advance any more, we are inclined to fall back a few paces and indulge in reminiscences of the path we have already trodden. We pray for the return of "childish ignorance" so as to re-experience the joy of knowledge-seeking. O this cessation of life! How horrible it is!

不能够前进的时候，就愿意退后几步，替自己恢复已经走过的前途。请求“无知”回来，给我求知的快乐。可怕呵，这生命的“停止”。

What is gone is gone, and what is to come is to come. What are my innermost feelings of it?

过去的始终过去了，未来的还是未来。究竟感慨些什么——我问自己。

瞿秋白（1899—1935），江苏常州人，是中国共产党早期主要领导人之一。他既是政治家，又是文学家。《“儿时”》是他写于1933年9月28日的一篇杂文，选自人民文学出版社1986年版《瞿秋白文集》第2卷。文章认为那些留恋“儿时”的人们，往往是由于缺乏积极向前的人生观，只有面对现实，与人民大众打成一片，献身人类进步事业，才能领略到“永久的青春”。