Lesson 46

Hobbies

业余爱好

Who, according to the author, are 'Fortune's favoured children'?

A gifted American psychologist has said, 'Worry is a spasm of the emotion;the mind catches hold of something and will not let it go.' It is useless toargue with the mind in this condition. The stronger the will, the more futilethe task. One can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsivegrasp. And if this something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended bythe illumination of another field of interest, gradually, and often quiteswiftly, the old undue grip relaxes and the process of recuperation and repairbegins.

The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is therefore a policyof the first importance to a public man. But this is not a business that can beundertaken in a day or swiftly improvised by a mere command of the will. Thegrowth of alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must becarefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended,if the vivifying fruits are to be at hand when needed.

To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or threehobbies, and they must all be real. It is no use starting late in life to say:'I will take an interest in this or that.' Such an attempt only aggravates thestrain of mental effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnectedwith his daily work, and yet get hardly any benefit or relief. It is no usedoing what you like; you have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, humanbeings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, thosewho are worried to death, and those who are bored to death. It is no useoffering the manual labourer, tired out with a hard week's sweat and effort, thechance of playing a game of football or baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is nouse inviting the politician or the professional or business man, who has beenworking or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry abouttrifling things at the weekend.

As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who cangratify every caprice and lay their hands on almost every object of desire --for them a new pleasure, a new excitement is only an additional satiation. Invain they rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape fromavenging boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form oranother is the most hopeful path.

It may also be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings aredivided into two classes: first,those whose work is work and whose pleasure ispleasure; and secondly those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these theformer are the majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in theoffice or the factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means ofsustenance, but a keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and mostmodest forms. But Fortune's favoured children belong to the second class. Theirlife is a natural harmony. For them the working hours are never long enough.Each day is a holiday, and ordinary holidays, when they come, are grudged asenforced interruptions in an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes, the needof an alternative outlook, of a change of atmosphere, of a diversion of effort,is essential. Indeed, it may well be that those whose work is their pleasure arethose who most need the means of banishing it at intervals from their minds.

WINSTON CHURCHLL Painting as a Pastime

New words and expressions 生词与短语

gifted

adj. 有天才的

psychologist

n. 心理学家

spasm

n. 一阵(感情)发作

futile

adj. 无用的

insinuate

v. 便潜入，暗示

convulsive

adj. 起痉挛的

illumination

n. 启发，照明

undue

adj. 不造当的

grip

n. 紧张

recuperation

n. 休息

improvise

v. 临时作成

sedulously

adv. 孜孜不倦地

vivify

v. 使生气勃勃

aggravate

v. 加剧

trifling

adj. 微小的

gratify

v. 便满意

caprice

n. 任性

satiation

n. 满足

frantically

adv. 狂乱地

avenge

v. 替…报复

boredom

n. 厌烦

clatter

n. 喧闹的谈话

sustenance

n. 生计

appetite

n. 欲望

grudge

v. 怨恨

absorbing

adj. 引人入胜的

banish

v. 排除，放弃

本文参考译文新概念作文

一位天才的美国心理学家曾经说过：“烦恼是感情的发作，此时脑子纠缠住了某种东西又不肯松手。”在这种情况下，你又和头脑争吵让它松手是无济于事的。这种意志越是强烈，这种尝试越是徒劳。你只能缓和而巧纱地让另一种东西进入痉挛僵持的头脑中。如果选得合适，而且的确受到别的领域的情趣的启迪，那么渐渐地，往往也是很顺利地，原先不适当的紧张就会松弛下来，恢复和修整的过程就会开始。

因此，对一个从事社会活动的人来说，培养一种业余爱好和各种新的兴趣是关等重要的作法。但这并非一日之功，也不是单凭一蹴而就的事。精神上多种情趣的培养是一个长期的过程。要想在需要的时候可随手摘取充满生机的果实，那就必然从选良种做起，然后将其植入肥沃的土地，还需要勤勉地护理。

一个人要想真正感到幸福和平安，至少应有两三种爱好，而且都比较实际。到了晚年才开始说：“我会对这些人或那个人发生兴趣”，已没有用了。这种愿望只能加剧精神紧张。一个人可能会获得与其日常工作无关的某些课题的渊博知识，而没有从中得到什么实益或宽慰。干你所喜欢的事是没有用的，你喜欢你所干的事。泛泛地说，人可以分为3类：劳累至死的人、忧虑至死的人、无聊至死的人。对于流汗出力干了一周苦活的体力劳动者来说，让他们在星期六下午再踢足球或打垒球是不合适的;同样，对于为严肃的公务操劳或烦恼了6天的政界人士、专业人员、商人来说，在周未再让他们为琐事而动脑子和忧虑也是无益的。

至于那些能任意支配一切的“可怜的人”，他们能够恣意妄为，能染指一切追求的目标。对这种人来说，多一种新的乐趣、多一种新的刺激只是增加一分厌腻而已。他们到处奔乱跑，企图以闲聊和乱窜来摆脱无聊对他们的报复，但这是徒劳的。对他们来说，用某种形式的纪律约束他们一下才能有希望使他们走上正道。

也可以这样说，理智的，勤劳的、有用的人可以分为两类：第一类是他分清工作是工作，娱乐是娱乐的人;第二类人的工作和娱乐是一回事。这两类人当中，第一类人是大多数，他们能够得到补偿。在办公室或工厂里长时间工作给他们带来了酬劳，这不仅是谋生的手段，而且还带来了寻找乐趣的强烈欲望，那怕是最简单的、最低等的乐趣。但是，命运之神的宠儿是第二类人，他们的生活是一种自然的和谐，对他们来说，工作时间总不会太长，每天都是假日，而通常的假期来到，他们却惋惜这假期强制打断了他们埋头从事的工作。然而对这两种人来说，都需要换一换脑子，改变一下气氛，转移一下注意力，这是不可缺少的。说实在的，把工作当作享受的那些人最需要每隔一段时间把工作从头脑中撇开。