双语对照 ● Youth　年轻人

Youth　年轻人

◎ Aristotle

To begin with the Youthful type of character. Young men have strong passions, and tend to gratify them indiscriminately[4]. They are changeable and fickle in their desires, which are violent while they last, but quickly over: their impulses are keen but not deep-rooted, and are like sick people’s attacks of hunger and thirst. They are hot-tempered, and quick-tempered, and apt to give way to their anger; bad temper often gets the better of them, for owing to their love of honour they cannot bear being slighted, and are indignant if they imagine themselves unfairly treated. While they love honour, they love victory still more; for youth is eager for superiority over others, and victory is one form of this. They love both more than they love money, which indeed they love very little, not having yet learnt what it means to be without it—this is the point of Pittancus, remark about Amphiaraus. They look at the good side rather than the bad, not having yet witnessed many instances of wickedness. They trust others readily, because they have not yet often been cheated.

首先讨论一下年轻人的性格特征。年轻人激情似火，而且经常不加思索就予以满足。他们的愿望变化莫测、反覆无常，来时强烈无比，去时转瞬即逝。他们极易冲动，但并非根深蒂固，就像病人遭到饥渴的侵袭一样。他们热情似火、性情暴躁，常常管不住自己的脾气。他们珍惜荣誉，他们无法忍受被人忽视，因此，一旦发现自己遭遇不公平的对待，便会义愤填膺。他们珍惜荣誉，但他们更爱胜利。因为年轻人总喜欢胜人一筹，而胜利就是一种绝好的表现方式。他们钟爱荣誉和胜利要多过金钱，他们之所以不在意金钱，是因为他们还未明白缺少金钱意味着什么——庇塔喀斯就是这样评论安菲阿劳斯的。他们未曾亲眼目睹过多少邪恶之事，所以他们总是看到事物好的一面，而非不好的那一面。他们全心全意相信别人，只因为他们很少上当受骗。

They are sanguine[5]; nature warms their blood as though with excess of wine; and besides that, they have as yet met with few disappointments. Their lives are mainly spent not in memory but in expectation; for expectation refers to the future, memory to the past, and youth has a long future before it and a short past behind it: on the first day of one’s life one has nothing at all to remember, and can only look forward.

他们面色红润，大自然好像用了过多的葡萄酒来温暖他们的血液；除此之外，他们没有遇过多少挫折。他们总是在期盼中度日，而不是在回忆中缅怀；因为期盼意味着未来，而回忆意味着过去。未来还有很长的日子等着年轻人，过去的岁月只是微小的一部分。一个人来到世上的第一天，他没有什么能回忆的事情，他能做的只有期盼未来。

They are easily cheated, owing to the sanguine disposition just mentioned. Their hot tempers and hopeful dispositions make them more courageous than older men are; the hot temper prevents fear, and the hopeful disposition creates confidence; we cannot feel tear so long as we are feeling angry, and any expectation of good makes us confident.

他们容易上当受骗，只因上面提到的精力旺盛的脾性。火一般的热情、满怀希望的天性让他们比老年人更有胆量。如火的热情让他们不知恐惧，希望的天性让他们自信满满。我们感到愤怒的时候，便全然不知泪水，而对美好事物的憧憬又让我们充满自信。

They are shy, accepting the rules of society in which they have been trained, and not yet believing in any other standard of honor. They have exalted notions, because they have not yet been humbled by life or learnt its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning; and whereas reasoning leads us to choose what is useful, moral goodness leads us to choose what is noble.

他们是害羞的，顺其自然地遵守社会惯例，却不相信任何荣誉标准。他们有着崇高的理想，因为生活还未教会他们如何谦卑，如何理解那些必要的束缚。再者，他们满怀希望的天性，让他们以为自己和日月无异——这就是他们所谓的崇高理想。他们宁可做一些高尚之事，也不做有用之事。他们的生活多由道德感观操控，而非理智。尽管理智指引我们去做有用之事，而道德品质则指引我们去做高尚之事。

They are fonder of their friends, intimates, and companions than older men are, because they like spending their days in the company of others, and have not yet come to value either their friends or anything else by their usefulness to themselves. All their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently[6]. They disobey Chilon’s precept by overdoing everything, they love too much and hate too much, and the same thing with everything else. They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it; this, in fact, is why they overdo everything... They are ready to pity others, because they think everyone an honest man, or anyhow better than he is: they judge their neighbor by their own harmless natures, and so cannot think he deserves to be treated in that way. They are fond of fun and therefore witty, wit being well-bred insolence.

和老年人相比，他们更喜欢自己的朋友、密友和伙伴，因为有人相伴的日子才是他们的最爱，而且不论是朋友或是其他东西，都不以其实用性作为价值的判断标准。他们所犯的错，都是因为做事过度或者过猛。他们不遵守齐隆法则，凡事做得太过头，他们不是爱得太深，就是恨得太多，做其他事也是如此。他们总觉得自己无所不知，而且自信满满。实际上，这就是他们行事过头的症结所在……他们随时准备着同情别人，因为他们觉得每个人都是诚实的，或者要比自己的为人好——他们用自己的善良本性来判断邻里，总觉得自己不该得到这样的对待。他们喜欢玩乐，因而非常机智幽默——这就是一种低调的傲慢。

美丽语录

One day I passed, one day I missed...one day left, I gotta grasp it.

一天路过，一天错过……还有一天，好好把握。

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