《闲暇颂》中英文对照InPraiseofIdleness.doc

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1、In Praise of Idleness By Bertrand Russell闲暇颂中英文对照正如和我同时代的大多数人一样，我是在这样的谚语中长大的：“游手好闲，魔鬼也嫌。”Like most of my generation, I was brought up on the saying: Satan finds some mischief for idle hands to do.我是个乖孩子，人们说什么，我就信什么。这种道德信条，让我勤奋工作至今。Being a highly virtuous child, I believed all that I was told, and ac

2、quired a conscience which has kept me working hard down to the present moment.但是，尽管我的道德信条仍控制着我的行动，我的看法却已经历了一场革命。But although my conscience has controlled my actions, my opinions have undergone a revolution.我认为在这个世界上，人们做的工作实在是过多了。工作即美德的观念，对人们造成了极大的损害。现代工业国家需要宣扬一些与过去全然不同的信念。I think that there is far t

3、oo much work done in the world, that immense harm is caused by the belief that work is virtuous, and that what needs to be preached in modern industrial countries is quite different from what always has been preached. 大家都知道这个故事：到那不勒斯的游人看到十二个叫花子躺着晒太阳（事情发生在墨索里尼时代之前），要给其中最懒的一个一里拉，有十一个跳起来说自己最懒，该给自己，他却把钱

4、给了第十二个。Everyone knows the story of the traveler in Naples who saw twelve beggars lying in the sun (it was before the days of Mussolini), and offered a lira to the laziest of them. Eleven of them jumped up to claim it, so he gave it to the twelfth. 这个游人是对的。但是，在不欣赏地中海阳光的国家里，想要闲散就困难多了，得要大规模的宣传来开新风气。thi

5、s traveler was on the right lines. But in countries which do not enjoy Mediterranean sunshine idleness is more difficult, and a great public propaganda will be required to inaugurate it. 我希望，在读了下面的文字后，基督教青年会的领袖们能掀起一场运动，劝导好青年们闲散一些。这样的话，我也算没白活了。I hope that, after reading the following pages, the leade

6、rs of the YMCA will start a campaign to induce good young men to do nothing. If so, I shall not have lived in vain. 在我为懒惰进行辩解之前，我得先撇清一种我无法接受的说法：一个生活已经富足的人，如果还打算从事日常的职业，比如教书或打字，人们会说他（或她）这种行为是恶劣的，无异于从别人嘴里抢面包。Before advancing my own arguments for laziness, I must dispose of one which I cannot accept. W

7、henever a person who already has enough to live on proposes to engage in some everyday kind of job, such as school-teaching or typing, he or she is told that such conduct takes the bread out of other peoples mouths, and is therefore wicked.如果这种说法不错，那我们大家就都只须闲呆着，我们的嘴里就能塞满面包了。If this argument were val

8、id, it would only be necessary for us all to be idle in order that we should all have our mouths full of bread.说这话的人忘了，一个人赚的，通常都会花掉。花费的时候就提供了就业。What people who say such things forget is that what a man earns he usually spends, and in spending he gives employment. 把收入都花费掉时往别人嘴里塞的面包，同他赚的时候从别人嘴里挖出来的面包，

9、是一样多的。 As long as a man spends his income, he puts just as much bread into peoples mouths in spending as he takes out of other peoples mouths in earning. 由此看来，真正的坏蛋是存钱不用的人。The real villain, from this point of view, is the man who saves. 如果像寓言中的法国农民那样，把省下来的钱都藏在袜子里，显然就不能提供就业。If he merely puts his savi

10、ngs in a stocking, like the proverbial French peasant, it is obvious that they do not give employment. 如果把储蓄拿去投资，事情就不那么显而易见了，会出现一些不同的情况。If he invests his savings, the matter is less obvious, and different cases arise. 最常出现的一种情况是把储蓄借给政府。One of the commonest things to do with savings is to lend them t

11、o some Government. 鉴于最文明的政府的大部分公共开支都用来支付过去的战争，或准备未来的战争，借钱给政府无异于莎士比亚剧中那些雇佣杀手的坏蛋。 In view of the fact that the bulk of the public expenditure of most civilized Governments consists in payment for past wars or preparation for future wars, the man who lends his money to a Government is in the same posit

12、ion as the bad men in Shakespeare who hire murderers.人们节俭习惯的净效应是让借到钱的国家扩张军备。显然，人们倒不如把钱花掉更好些，即便是花在喝酒、赌博上。The net result of the mans economical habits is to increase the armed forces of the State to which he lends his savings. Obviously it would be better if he spent the money, even if he spent it in

13、drink or gambling. 不过，会有人对我说，如果把储蓄投资在企业上，情况会完全不同。But, I shall be told, the case is quite different when savings are invested in industrial enterprises.如果这些企业成功，生产些有用的东西，那倒还说得过去。可是，谁也不能否认，眼下多数企业是失败的。When such enterprises succeed, and produce something useful, this may be conceded. In these days, howe

14、ver, no one will deny that most enterprises fail.这就是说，大量的人类劳动，本来可以用来生产些可供人享乐的东西，却生产了机器，而且一生产出来就被闲置，没给任何人带来益处。That means that a large amount of human labor, which might have been devoted to producing something that could be enjoyed, was expended on producing machines which, when produced, lay idle an

15、d did no good to anyone.把储蓄投给濒临破产的企业，既害人也害己。The man who invests his savings in a concern that goes bankrupt is therefore injuring others as well as himself. 如果把钱花在，比如说，搞些派对，朋友们会得到乐趣（我们希望如此），那些赚到钱的卖肉的、烤面包的、走私酒的，也都会高兴。If he spent his money, say, in giving parties for his friends, they (we may hope) wo

16、uld get pleasure, and so would all those upon whom he spent money, such as the butcher, the baker, and the bootlegger.但是，如果把钱花在（比如说）替路面车辆铺设轨道，而那个地方根本没人要这种车子，那就是把大量的劳动耗费在没人得到快乐的道路上了。But if he spends it (let us say) upon laying down rails for surface card in some place where surface cars turn out not

17、to be wanted, he has diverted a mass of labor into channels where it gives pleasure to no one. 尽管如此，当他因投资失败而穷困时，他只会被人们视为时运不济的可怜的受害者，或者是一个挥霍浪费的家伙，仅此而已；而花钱做善事的人，却成了人们看不起的傻瓜和轻浮之人。Nevertheless, when he becomes poor through failure of his investment he will be regarded as a victim of undeserved misfortun

18、e, whereas the gay spendthrift, who has spent his money philanthropically, will be despised as a fool and a frivolous person. 说了这么多只是开场白。我要极其严肃地说的是：在当今世界上，工作即美德的信念，正在造成大量的祸害，幸福和繁荣之路在于有组织地减少工作。All this is only preliminary. I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in

19、the modern world by belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work. 首先，什么叫工作？工作有两种。第一是改变地面上或地面附近的物品与其他物品的相对位置；第二是让别人这么做。First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the e

20、arths surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so.第一种工作是不愉快的，报酬很少；第二种则令人愉快，报酬丰厚。 The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.第二种工作可以无限扩张：不仅得有下命令的人，还有那些出谋划策提意见的人。The second kind is capable of indefinite extension: there are not

21、only those who give orders, but those who give advice as to what orders should be given. 通常由两个有组织的团体同时提出两种相反的意见，这就叫政治。Usually two opposite kinds of advice are given simultaneously by two organized bodies of men; this is called politics. 第二种工作所需要的技能，不是对所提意见相关事物的知识，而是说服他人的舌辩弄文之术，例如广告术。The skill requir

22、ed for this kind of work is not knowledge of the subjects as to which advice is given, but knowledge of the art of persuasive speaking and writing, i.e. of advertising. 整个欧洲还有第三种人（美洲似乎没有），比前面两种工作者都更受尊重。Throughout Europe, though not in America, there is a third class of men, more respected than eithe

23、r of the classes of workers.这些人靠着对土地的占有，能使别人为得到生存和工作的权利而付出代价。There are men who, through ownership of land, are able to make others pay for the privilege of being allowed to exist and to work.这些地主是闲适的，有人也许觉得我会因此而颂扬他们。These landowners are idle, and I might therefore be expected to praise them.不幸的是，他们的

24、闲散只是因为别人的劳作才成为可能。事实上，他们对闲适的渴求，是历史上所有工作说教的根源。Unfortunately, their idleness is only rendered possible by the industry of others; indeed their desire for comfortable idleness is historically the source of the whole gospel of work. 他们最不希望的事就是别人学他们的样。The last thing they have ever wished is that others sh

25、ould follow their example. 从人类文明起源直到工业革命时代，人辛苦工作生产出来的东西，通常仅够维持他一家的生存而略有余。他的妻子得像他一样苦干，孩子们稍有劳动能力，也得参加劳作。From the beginning of civilization until the Industrial Revolution, a man could, as a rule, produce by hard work little more than was required for the subsistence of himself and his family, although

26、 his wife worked at least as hard as he did, and his children added their labor as soon as they were old enough to do so.除维持生存外仅有的一点剩余，却不属于他们自己，都被战争贩子、祭司们掠去了。The small surplus above bare necessaries was not left to those who produced it, but was appropriated by warriors and priests. 碰上饥荒，没有剩余了，战争贩子、

27、祭司们照拿不误，结果是许多做工的都饿死了。In times of famine there was no surplus; the warriors and priests, however, still secured as much as at other times, with the result that many of the workers died of hunger. 这种制度在俄国延续到1917年注；在东方至今仍无变化；在英国，尽管经历了工业革命，到拿破仑战争期间依然如故，直到一百年前新生的制造商阶级取得政权才告结束；This system persisted in Rus

28、sia until 1917 1, and still persists in the East; in England, in spite of the Industrial Revolution, it remained in full force throughout the Napoleonic wars, and until a hundred years ago, when the new class of manufacturers acquired power. 在美国，这种制度在革命后就结束了，除了南方还一直持续到内战之后。In America, the system cam

29、e to an end with the Revolution, except in the South, where it persisted until the Civil War.一种制度持续了如此长久，直到最近才结束，自然会对人的思想和观念产生深刻影响。A system which lasted so long and ended so recently has naturally left a profound impress upon mens thoughts and opinions. 我们深以为然的工作乃本性需要的观念，大多来自这一制度，这种观念属于前工业时代，并不适合现代世

30、界。Much that we take for granted about the desirability of work is derived from this system, and, being pre-industrial, is not adapted to the modern world. 现代技术已经使休闲成为可能，在一定限度内，已不再为少数特权阶级所独享，而是可以由社会大众分享的权利。Modern technique has made it possible for leisure, within limits, to be not the prerogative of

31、small privileged classes, but a right evenly distributed throughout the community. 工作的道德是奴隶的道德，现代世界已不再需要奴隶。The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery. 在早期社会中，农夫们的本意显然是不愿把微薄的剩余，拿来供养战争贩子和祭司们的，他们宁愿少生产，或者多消费。It is obvious that, in primitive communities, p

32、easants, left to themselves, would not have parted with the slender surplus upon which the warriors and priests subsisted, but would have either produced less or consumed more.起初，全然由于武力强迫，他们才多生产并让人拿走剩余。At first, sheer force compelled them to produce and part with the surplus.后来逐渐发现一种办法，就是诱使许多人接受这样的道

33、德观念：努力工作是他们的责任，而且他们得用一部分工作的成果供养那些闲散的人。Gradually, however, it was found possible to induce many of them to accept an ethic according to which it was their duty to work hard, although part of their work went to support others in idleness.有了这个办法，强迫手段用得少了，政府的开销也少了。By this means the amount of compulsion

34、required was lessened, and the expenses of government were diminished.到了今天，如果有人宣称国王的收入不应该比工作的人多，那么在英国百分之九十九挣工资的人都会觉得不可思议。To this day, 99 per cent of British wage-earners would be genuinely shocked if it were proposed that the King should not have a larger income than a working man. 从历史来看，责任观念是掌权者用来诱

35、使别人为主子的利益而不是为自己的利益干活的一种手段。The conception of duty, speaking historically, has been a means used by the holders of power to induce others to live for the interests of their masters rather than for their own. 当然，掌权者会把自己伪装起来，设法让人相信他们的利益同人类更大的利益是一致的。Of course the holders of power conceal this fact from t

36、hemselves by managing to believe that their interests are identical with the larger interests of humanity. 有时这倒是实情，例如，雅典的奴隶主们把部分闲暇持久地贡献给了人类的文明，而这在公平的经济制度下，可能是做不到的。Sometimes this is true; Athenian slave-owners, for instance, employed part of their leisure in making a permanent contribution to civiliz

37、ation which would have been impossible under a just economic system.休闲是文明的基础。在过去的年代，只有多数人的劳作，才使少数人的休闲成为可能。但是，多数人劳作的价值，并不是因为劳作好，而是因为休闲好。运用现代技术，已有可能公平地分配休闲，同时不损害文明。Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. But th

38、eir labors were valuable, not because work is good, but because leisure is good. And with modern technique it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to civilization. 现代技术已有可能大大减少每个人获取生活必需品所需要的劳动量。这点在战时尤为明显。军队中所有的男人，以及从事军火生产的男男女女，从事谍报、战争宣传、或与战争有关的政府工作的男男女女，都从生产岗位上撤出来了。尽管如此，协约国这

39、边挣工资的非熟练劳动者的福利水平却比此前还要高。Modern technique has made it possible to diminish enormously the amount of labor required to secure the necessaries of life for everyone. This was made obvious during the war. At that time all the men in the armed forces, and all the men and women engaged in the production of

40、 munitions, all the men and women engaged in spying, war propaganda, or Government offices connected with the war, were withdrawn from productive occupations. In spite of this, the general level of well-being among unskilled wage-earners on the side of the Allies was higher than before or since.这一事实

41、的意义被财务数据所遮蔽：借贷则使这一意义重新显现，似乎未来正养育着现在。但这显然是不可能的：一个人不能吃一片还不存在的面包。战争证明的结论是，靠科学组织的生产，可以只用现代世界一小部分的劳动能力使全体人民生活得相当舒适。如果战争结束时，将人解放出来以便参与战斗和制造军火的那些科学的生产组织能保存下来，把每天的工作时间减到 4小时，一切都会好好的。The significance of this fact was concealed by finance: borrowing made it appear as if the future was nourishing the present.

42、But that, of course, would have been impossible; a man cannot eat a loaf of bread that does not yet exist. The war showed conclusively that, by the scientific organization of production, it is possible to keep modern populations in fair comfort on a small part of the working capacity of the modern w

43、orld. If, at the end of the war, the scientific organization, which had been created in order to liberate men for fighting and munition work, had been preserved, and the hours of the week had been cut down to four, all would have been well.可是，相反地，旧时的喧嚣重又回潮，有工作的人还得长时间工作，没工作的人只得失业挨饿。为什么呢？因为工作是责任。人不是按照

44、他的产量多少拿工资，而是按照他的由行业证明的德行好坏拿工资。Instead of that the old chaos was restored, those whose work was demanded were made to work long hours, and the rest were left to starve as unemployed. Why? Because work is a duty, and a man should not receive wages in proportion to what he has produced, but in proporti

45、on to his virtue as exemplified by his industry.这是奴隶制国家的道德，却仍用在与形成这种道德的时代完全不同的现代环境中，产生灾难性的结果也就毫不足奇了。让我们作进一步说明。假如在某一特定时刻，一定数目的人给雇来制造大头针。世界需要多少，他们就造多少，每天（比如说）工作8小时。有人做了一项发明让同样多的人可以生产两倍的大头针，大头针已经很便宜了，即便再压低价格也卖不出更多的大头针。This is the morality of the Slave State, applied in circumstances totally unlike thos

46、e in which it arose. No wonder the result has been disastrous. Let us take an illustration. Suppose that, at a given moment, a certain number of people are engaged in the manufacture of pins. They make as many pins as the world needs, working (say) eight hours a day. Someone makes an invention by wh

47、ich the same number of men can make twice as many pins: pins are already so cheap that hardly any more will be bought at a lower price. 在一个明智的世界里，会让生产大头针有关的人都只工作4小时，而不是8小时，其余一切仍旧可以照常进行。In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacturing of pins would take to working four hours instead of e

48、ight, and everything else would go on as before.但在现实世界里，这却被视为道德败坏。人们仍得工作8小时，大头针生产得太多了，一些雇主破产了，生产大头针的人有一半失了业。结果呢，就休闲时间总体而言，和另一种做法是一样多的，只是现在有一半人完全闲着，另一半却劳累过度。这样一来，无可避免的闲暇只能造成广泛的苦难，而没能成为普遍的幸福之源。还能想像出比这更愚蠢的事吗？But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. The men still work eight hours, the

49、re are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. In this way, it is insured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause