美丽新世界Brave New World 第17章(3)

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　　“就拿这一段为例，”他说，然后就以他那深沉的声音念了起来，

　　A man grows old; he feels in himself that radical¹ sense of weakness, of listlessness, of discomfort², which accompanies the advance of age;

　　人是要衰老的；他从内心强烈地感到衰弱、阴暗、烦恼，这种感觉是随年龄的增长而增长的。

　　and, feeling thus, imagines himself merely sick, lulling³ his fears with the notion that this distressing⁴ condition is due to some particular cause,

　　最初有这种感觉时他以为是病了，以为这种痛苦处境是某种特殊原因造成的，用这种想法来减少恐惧。

　　from which, as from an illness, he hopes to recover.

　　他希望那病跟别的病一样，能够治好。

　　Vain imaginings! That sickness is old age; and a horrible disease it is.

　　这是幻想！那病叫做衰老，是一种令人毛骨悚然的病。

　　They say that it is the fear of death and of what comes after death that makes men turn to religion as they advance in years.

　　有人说对死亡和死亡后的恐惧使人到老年之后转向宗教，

　　美丽新世界.jpg

　　But my own experience has given me the conviction that, quite apart from any such terrors or imaginings,

　　但是我自己的体会使我深信：与这一类的恐惧或想象并无关系。

　　the religious sentiment tends to develop as we grow older; to develop because, as the passions grow calm, as the fancy and sensibilities are less excited and less excitable,

　　宗教情绪是随着年龄的增长而增长的，宗教情绪会发展，因为那时激情平静了，幻想和感受力随之减弱，

　　our reason becomes less troubled in its working, less obscured by the images, desires and distractions⁵, in which it used to be absorbed;

　　难于唤起，于是理智活动受到的干扰减少，能引起人们的想象、欲望和妄想的东西对理智的影响也减少，

　　whereupon God emerges as from behind a cloud; our soul feels, sees, turns towards the source of all light;

　　这样上帝就出现了，宛如云开日出。我们的灵魂感觉到了，看见了，向诸般光明的源头转了过去

　　turns naturally and inevitably⁶; for now that all that gave to the world of sensations its life and charms has begun to leak away from us,

　　很自然地，无可避免地转了过去。因为现在给予感官世界以生命和勉力的东西已经被筛掉，离开了我们；

　　now that phenomenal existence is no more bolstered⁷ up by impressions from within or from without,

　　那惊人的存在现在已不再受到内在和外在印象的支持；

　　we feel the need to lean on something that abides⁸, something that will never play us false–a reality, an absolute and everlasting⁹ truth.

　　我们感到需要依靠一种永恒的东西，一种永远不会欺骗我们的东西——一种现实，一种绝对的永恒的真理。

　　Yes, we inevitably turn to God;

　　是的，我们无可逃避地要转向上帝。

　　for this religious sentiment is of its nature so pure, so delightful¹⁰ to the soul that experiences it, that it makes up to us for all our other losses.

　　因为这种宗教情绪的本质是如此纯洁，使能够体会到它的灵魂如此愉悦，可以弥补我们在其他方面的损失。

　　Mustapha Mond shut the book and leaned back in his chair.

　　穆斯塔法蒙德合上书，身子往椅背上一靠。

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