简单容易快乐Simple Life, Happy Life

林巍

生活，在不知不觉中，会变得累起来。究其原因，在于欲望;有物质的，也有精神的。

东西会越积越多，总觉得，即使现在不用，以后也总会有用的。其实，凡留下來的，就意味着你要保管它，就要分散精力;而积少成多2之后，就会影响到你最应关注的事。

人们常说，“人生如旅途”，又说“路远无轻物”，显然在旅途跋涉中，以轻装为佳。所以，就需要经常清理3。

所存放的、“说不定哪天用得到”的东西，到该用的（且不说是否真的用得上）那一天之前，其实都是一种时空上的消耗。

就生活而言，“生”容易，“活”也不难4，因为一个人物质上的消耗是有范围的;但是“生活”却不容易，因为生活是要有思想、有目标的5。任何外在、物质上给人带来的快乐，都是短暂、有限的，而内在、精神上的愉悦则是更深刻、持久的。

但是，目标若太大、太多，也会活得累起来。所以要像清理物品那样，经常“清理”目标6，将其简化、再简化。须知，人生很短，一生真正做好一件事已经很不容易。

随着现代科技的发展，人们每日得到的信息，不但充足，甚至“过量”。人们的正常生活，其实未必需要那么多信息7，因为信息并不等于知识，过多了也会造成干扰，使人劳累，所以要学会随时过滤、清除信息。

不妨写出一个清单，将自己的目标、所需列出来，而将其他所有可有可无的删去或拒绝8。那样，生活不但不会受到影响，反而会更加轻松、快活，“腿脚敏捷”9。

人生旅途中只有负担少了，才能静下心来，慢慢体味生活，而不会让宝贵的时光在无味的纷扰10中消耗掉。

简单并不等于简陋，而是对于生活在更高层次上的理解和把握，是一种生活质量的升华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，杭州師范大学外国语学院翻译研究所特聘教授。  2没有译成many a little make a mickle、many small makes a great等，而是结合在前面的“越积越多”里，一同译为gradually accumulated。  3未译成通常的clean up、put in order、clean、disentangle、check up等，而是就“人生旅途”的具体含义，用了get rid of the superfluous。

4这里将“生”（包括“活”）和“生活”分别译为exist和live，类似的，如《21世纪大英汉词典》的例句：Shes not living， shes merely existing.（她不是在过活，只不过是在挨日子。）再如，迈克尔·杰克逊（Michael Jackson）在《拯救地球》（Heal the World）里的一句歌词“We stop existing / And start living”（我们不再苟活，而开始生活）;《圣经》里也有“If you havent known the purpose of life， you arent truly living; youre merely existing”（若没有生活目的，你就不是真正地生活， 而只不过是活着而已）。  5未必分别译成thought and objectives，而不妨整合为objective-orientated thought等。  6不是一般意义上的clear up objectives， 而是就个人所关注的事情（personal focus）而言的，故可check and narrow down。  7未必正译，而不妨与后面的意思合并，反译为it is oversupplied。

8这里指的是推辞那些unnecessary commitments。  9这里是以“人生如旅途”为比喻而用的俗语，不必实译，而可变通为lively and dynamic 等。  10不宜译成一般意义上的confusion、turmoil、disturbance 等，而可对应the simple life，不妨译为complexity。  11未必译成the sublimated quality of life，而可将全句意思融会贯通，综合译出。