双语对照 ● Brush Past the Death 与死神擦肩而过
Brush Past the Death 与死神擦肩而过
◎ Steve Jobs
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
我17岁的时候，读过一句格言，好像是这样说的：“如果你把每一天都当作最后一天去生活的话，总有一天，你会觉得自己这么做是正确的。”这句话给我留下了深刻印象。从那以后，在过去的33年中，每天清晨我都会对着镜子问自己：“如果今天是我生命中的最后一天，那我还会去做原先计划好的那些事情吗？”可连续多日我得到的答案都是“不会”。于是，我明白我该做些改变了。
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
时刻提醒自己我即将死去，是帮我做出人生许多重大抉择的重要工具。因为几乎所有的一切——一切外来的期望、一切骄傲、一切关乎面子和失败的恐惧——在死亡面前，这些东西都将消失殆尽，留下的只是真正重要的东西。时刻提醒自己我即将死去，是不让自己陷入患得患失的最好办法。因为此时的你已然一无所有了，就没有理由不顺从你的心。
About a year ago, I was diagnosed[39]with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for preparing yourself to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
大约在一年前，我被诊断出患有癌症。我在早上7点半做了扫描，扫描结果清楚地显示我的胰腺上长了一个肿瘤。当时，我甚至都不知道胰腺是什么东西。医生很肯定地告诉我，我得的是一种基本上无法治愈的癌症。我活在世上的日子可能不会超过3到6个月。我的医生建议我回家，安排好后事，这是医生们专门对等死的病人说的话。这也就是意味着，你要把本来打算在未来10年内对孩子们说的话，在这几个月里说完；意味着你要把一切安排妥当，让你的家人尽可能地轻松些；意味着你就要说“再见”了。
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated[40], but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
那一整天我都在想着我的诊断结果。那天夜里晚些时候，我做了活组织切片检查。医生把一个内窥镜从我的喉咙伸进去，通过我的胃，进入我的肠子，然后用一根针刺进我的胰腺，在肿瘤上取出一些细胞。我被注射了镇定剂。可当时也在场的妻子后来告诉我，当医生用显微镜观察这些细胞时，突然大叫了起来。原来我患的是一种罕见的、可以用手术治愈的胰腺癌。于是，我做了手术，现在痊愈了。
This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
那就是我和死神擦肩而过的一次，我希望这也是接下来几十年最接近死神的一次。以前死亡对我来说只是一个有用却纯粹是理论上的概念，可有了这次经历之后，我可以更加确信地对你们说：
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
没有人会想死，即使人们想上天堂，也不会为了去那儿而去死。然而，死亡是我们的最终归宿，没有人能够逃脱。也许就该如此，因为死亡是生命唯一的最好发明。它是生命不断变化的源动力。它除旧呈新。如今，你们是新人，然后不久之后，你们也会慢慢变老，接着被淘汰。我很抱歉如此戏剧性，但事实就是如此。
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out[41]your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
你的时间有限，所以不要把时间浪费在重复别人的生活上。不要受教条的束缚，不然你就只能按照别人的思想生活。不要让别人纷乱的意见淹没你内心的呼声。最重要的是，要勇于听从你内心的直觉。因为内心的直觉已然知道你想要成为什么样的人。其他的一切都是次要的。
