簡單容易快樂Simple Life, Happy Life

林巍

生活，在不知不覺中，會變得累起來。究其原因，在于欲望;有物質的，也有精神的。

東西會越積越多，總覺得，即使現在不用，以后也總會有用的。其實，凡留下來的，就意味著你要保管它，就要分散精力;而積少成多2之后，就會影響到你最應關注的事。

人們常說，“人生如旅途”，又說“路遠無輕物”，顯然在旅途跋涉中，以輕裝為佳。所以，就需要經常清理3。

所存放的、“說不定哪天用得到”的東西，到該用的（且不說是否真的用得上）那一天之前，其實都是一種時空上的消耗。

就生活而言，“生”容易，“活”也不難4，因為一個人物質上的消耗是有范圍的;但是“生活”卻不容易，因為生活是要有思想、有目標的5。任何外在、物質上給人帶來的快樂，都是短暫、有限的，而內在、精神上的愉悅則是更深刻、持久的。

但是，目標若太大、太多，也會活得累起來。所以要像清理物品那樣，經常“清理”目標6，將其簡化、再簡化。須知，人生很短，一生真正做好一件事已經很不容易。

隨著現代科技的發展，人們每日得到的信息，不但充足，甚至“過量”。人們的正常生活，其實未必需要那么多信息7，因為信息并不等于知識，過多了也會造成干擾，使人勞累，所以要學會隨時過濾、清除信息。

不妨寫出一個清單，將自己的目標、所需列出來，而將其他所有可有可無的刪去或拒絕8。那樣，生活不但不會受到影響，反而會更加輕松、快活，“腿腳敏捷”9。

人生旅途中只有負擔少了，才能靜下心來，慢慢體味生活，而不會讓寶貴的時光在無味的紛擾10中消耗掉。

簡單并不等于簡陋，而是對于生活在更高層次上的理解和把握，是一種生活質量的升華11。? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

Consciously or unconsciously， our life may become burdensome in one way or another. And the reason for that can after all be found in desires， either material or spiritual.

Stuff， gradually accumulated for later use one day in the future， requires mindful care and energy， which may deviate one from the most important thing concerned.

It is said “Life is a long journey” and “Every little thing may become a heavy burden in a trek”. Packing light and constantly getting rid of the superfluous during a journey thus seem always to be desirable.

Stuff being stored for future use （whether it can be useful in future remains uncertain） is actually a kind of consumption in terms of space and time.

Concerning livelihood， it may be less difficult to exist than to live， which requires objective-orientated thought instead of mere physical consumption. Profound and everlasting happiness is in fact drawn not from external and material satisfaction， which can only infuse temporary elation， but from internal and spiritual contentment.

Objectives one sets out to pursue， however， may overwhelm ones life should they be too remote or multiple. In the same way as cleaning a house， we should regularly check and narrow down our personal focus， bearing in mind that it will take a lifetime to accomplish a masterpiece.

As technology advances， we daily receive quite sufficient， if not excessive， information which， we have to realize， is not the same thing as knowledge， and can be disruptive to us if it is oversupplied. One has therefore to be competent in filtering and eliminating information.

It may be a good idea to write down an inventory， listing all your objectives and necessities， meanwhile deleting everything redundant， including unnecessary commitments. You may find that your life is in a better shape： instead of being inconvenienced， you will feel more lively and dynamic.

Having eliminated all those burdens will leave room for tranquility to savor the taste of life， or else ones valuable time may just be wasted on complexity.

Simple is not equivalent to rudimentary; rather， it reflects sublimation where the quality of life has been better understood and managed.

1博士，杭州師范大學外國語學院翻譯研究所特聘教授。? 2沒有譯成many a little make a mickle、many small makes a great等，而是結合在前面的“越積越多”里，一同譯為gradually accumulated。? 3未譯成通常的clean up、put in order、clean、disentangle、check up等，而是就“人生旅途”的具體含義，用了get rid of the superfluous。

4這里將“生”（包括“活”）和“生活”分別譯為exist和live，類似的，如《21世紀大英漢詞典》的例句：Shes not living， shes merely existing.（她不是在過活，只不過是在挨日子。）再如，邁克爾·杰克遜（Michael Jackson）在《拯救地球》（Heal the World）里的一句歌詞“We stop existing / And start living”（我們不再茍活，而開始生活）;《圣經》里也有“If you havent known the purpose of life， you arent truly living; youre merely existing”（若沒有生活目的，你就不是真正地生活， 而只不過是活著而已）。? 5未必分別譯成thought and objectives，而不妨整合為objective-orientated thought等。? 6不是一般意義上的clear up objectives， 而是就個人所關注的事情（personal focus）而言的，故可check and narrow down。? 7未必正譯，而不妨與后面的意思合并，反譯為it is oversupplied。

8這里指的是推辭那些unnecessary commitments。? 9這里是以“人生如旅途”為比喻而用的俗語，不必實譯，而可變通為lively and dynamic 等。? 10不宜譯成一般意義上的confusion、turmoil、disturbance 等，而可對應the simple life，不妨譯為complexity。? 11未必譯成the sublimated quality of life，而可將全句意思融會貫通，綜合譯出。