雙語|現(xiàn)代散文:季羨林 長壽之道

The Secret of Longevity 長壽之道

◎ Ji Xianlin ◎ 季羨林

Approaching ninety，I'm really old．People often ask me for advice on how to keep fit and live a long life.

我已經(jīng)到了望九之年，可謂長壽矣。因此經(jīng)常有人向我詢問長壽之道，養(yǎng)生之術(shù)。

The answer I would give is，“The best way to keep fit is by making no efforts towards it.”

我敬謹答曰：“養(yǎng)生無術(shù)是有術(shù)。”

That sounds profound，but is in fact very simple．Two friends of mine put in great efforts to keep in good health．They spent at least two hours per day doing physical exercise．Cao Cao[1] says in one of his poems like this：

這話看似深奧，其實極為簡單明了。我有兩個朋友，十分重視養(yǎng)生之道。每天鍛煉身體，至少要上兩個鐘頭。曹操詩曰：

Cup to cup calls for song，

對酒當歌，

Man's life—how long？

人生幾何?

Few people live to be 100．Two hours per day during one's lifetime—what a tremendous amount of time it would add up to！And what a lot could be done with that much time！It would have been all right though if my two friends' physical exercise had really helped．But fact is，one of the two has passed away before me and the other now never shows up，being confined to bed with illness.

人生不過百年，每天費上兩個鐘頭，統(tǒng)計起來，要有多少鐘頭啊!利用這些鐘頭，能做多少事情呀!如果真有用，也還罷了。他們二人，一個先我而走，一個臥病在家，不能出門。

I'm known to all for having initiated three Nos，namely，no exercising，no picky eating，no grumbling.

因此，我首創(chuàng)了三“不”主義：不鍛煉，不挑食，不嘀咕，名聞全國。

My three Nos，however，are apt to be misunderstood．So I need to take this opportunity to make an explanation．Exercise，if moderate，is all right，but I disapprove of overdoing it．One who overrates physical training while dreaming of living a long life must be mentally unbalanced．He should learn to let things take their own course.

我這個三不主義，容易招誤會，我現(xiàn)在利用這個機會解釋一下。我并不絕對反對適當?shù)捏w育鍛煉。但不要過頭。一個人如果天天望長壽如大旱之望云霓，而又絕對相信體育鍛煉，則此人心態(tài)恐怕有點失常，反不如順其自然為佳。

As to picky eating，I often find people barely over forty becoming very choosy about food．They abstain from eating egg yolks and tripe．They behave gingerly at table as if treading on thin ice．The embarrassment they show cannot but evoke laughter from all．Acting with such a mentality，they can only end up in defeating their own purpose of increased longevity.

至于不挑食，常見有人年才逾不惑，就開始挑食，蛋黃不吃，動物內(nèi)臟不吃，每到吃飯，戰(zhàn)戰(zhàn)兢兢，如履薄冰，窘態(tài)可掬，看了令人失笑。以這種心態(tài)而欲求長壽，豈非南轅而北轍！

To my mind，the last of the three Nos，i.e.，avoid grumbling under any circumstances，is the most important．Be broad-minded，optimistic and cheerful，and you will be able to eat with a good appetite and enjoy a sound sleep．When you are faced with problems，try every means to solve them．When you meet with difficulties，do your best to overcome them．Neither fret over trifles，nor take an attitude of cynical indifference towards life．That's the way to be long-lived.

我個人認為，第三點最為重要。對什么事情都不嘀嘀咕咕，心胸開朗，樂觀愉快，吃也吃得下，睡也睡得著，有問題則設(shè)法解決之，有困難則努力克服之，決不視芝麻綠豆大的窘境如蘇迷盧山般大，也決不毫無原則地隨遇而安，決不玩世不恭。有這樣的心境，焉能不健康長壽？

One more important point：According to my personal experience of the past eighty years or so，one should put his brain to frequent use instead of letting it stay idle．The result of experiments made by some foreign scientists has shown that frequent use of the brain leads to longevity instead of doing harm to it as people used to believe．Man's aging is mainly caused by the death of cerebral cells．However，though the cerebral cells of middle-aged and elderly people keep dying every day，man uses up in his lifetime only one fourth of the total cerebral cells，and new cerebral cells will，under normal conditions，keep growing up daily．As long as you use your head regularly，dead cerebral cells will always be outnumbered by new ones．Regular use of the head will ensure the normal circulation of cerebral blood and our control of the whole bodily function through its coordination.

我現(xiàn)在還想補充一點，很重要的一點。根據(jù)我個人七八十年的經(jīng)驗，一個人決不能讓自己的腦筋投閑置散，要經(jīng)常讓腦筋活動著。根據(jù)外國一些科學家實驗結(jié)果，“用腦傷神”的舊說法已經(jīng)不能成立，應(yīng)改為“用腦長壽”。人的衰老主要是腦細胞的死亡。中老年人的腦細胞雖然天天死亡，但人一生中所啟用的腦細胞只占細胞總量的四分之一，而且在活動的情況下，每天還有新的腦細胞產(chǎn)生。只要腦筋的活動不停止，新生細胞比死亡細胞數(shù)目還要多。勤于動腦筋，則能經(jīng)常保持腦中血液的流通狀態(tài)，而且能通過腦筋協(xié)調(diào)控制全身的功能。

I used to urge，“Never have an idle head！”And I myself have acted accordingly．Some people have consequently saddled me with the epithets：“agile like a swallow”and“walking as if on wings.”They are exaggerating to be sure，but it's true that I'm in better health than people of the same age．The above has come of plain intuition，without any scientific basis.

我過去經(jīng)常說：“不要讓腦筋閑著。”我就是這樣做的，結(jié)果是有人說我“身輕如燕，健步如飛”。這話有點過了頭，反正我比同年齡人要好些，這都是真的。原來我并沒有什么科學根據(jù)，只能算是一種樸素的直覺。

So mush for my“secret of longevity”.

這就是我的“長壽之道”。

《長壽之道》是我國著名教育家、印度學家、散文家季羨林寫于1997年10月的一篇隨筆。