2024年4月26日发(作者：)

Painting as a pastime

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1 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 to argue

with the mind in this condition. The stronger the will, the more futile the task. One

can only gently insinuate something else into its convulsive grasp. And if this

something else is rightly chosen, if it is really attended by the illumination of

another field of interest, gradually, and often quite swiftly, the old undue grip

relaxes and the process of recuperation and repair begins.

一位天才美国心理学家说过：“烦恼是感情的发作；此时大脑缠住了某种东西不肯放

手。”在这种情况下，和头脑争论（让它放手）是无用的。愿望越强烈，与之争论就越是

徒劳。你只能温和地将另一种东西慢慢灌输到痉挛状态的头脑中。如果（这一东西）选得

恰当，而且它真的从另一领域的情趣中受到启迪的话，那么逐渐地，往往也是迅速地，原

先不适当的“不肯放手”就会慢慢放松，恢复和补救的过程就会开始。

2 The cultivation of a hobby and new forms of interest is therefore a policy of

first importance to a public man. But this is not a business that can be undertaken

in a day or swiftly improvised by a mere command of the will. The growth of

alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be carefully chosen;

they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying

fruits are to be at hand when needed.

因此，对于公众人物而言，培养业余爱好和新的兴趣才是上策。但这并非一日之功，

也不是单凭意志力就能做到的事情。精神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，种子就必须精挑细选，必须播种在肥沃的土壤里，还必须

辛勤地护理。

3 To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three

hobbies, 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 the strain of mental

effort. A man may acquire great knowledge of topics unconnected with his daily

work, and yet hardly get any benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you like; you

have got to like what you do. Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into

three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and

those who are bored to death. It is no use offering the manual labourer, tired out

with a hard week's sweat and effort, the chance of playing a game of football or

baseball on Saturday afternoon. It is no use inviting the politician or the

professional or businessman, who has been working or worrying about serious

things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

要想真正快乐，真正安全，一个人至少应有两三种业余爱好，而且必须是实际可行的。

到了晚年才开始说：“我会培养对这或对那的兴趣”，这是没有用的。这种愿望只能加剧

精神紧张。一个人可能会获得大量与其日常工作无关的知识，却不能从中得到任何益处或

宽慰。做你喜欢做的事是没有用的，你要喜欢你做的事。泛而言之，人可以分为三类：极

其劳累的人，极其操心的人，极其无聊的人。对于卖了一周力气、流了一周汗水的体力劳

动者来说，让他们在星期六下午踢足球或打棒球是不合适的。同样，对于工作了六天、一

直为公务操心的政界人士、专业人员或商人来说，在周末再让他们为鸡毛蒜皮的琐事而操

心劳累也是无益的。

4 As for the unfortunate people who can command everything they want, who

can gratify 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. In vain they

rush frantically round from place to place, trying to escape from avenging

boredom by mere clatter and motion. For them discipline in one form or another is

the most hopeful path.

那些能够支配一切、能够肆意妄为、能够染指一切追求目标的人是“不幸的”。对于

他们而言，多一种新的乐趣、多一种新的刺激只是增加一分厌腻而已。他们到处狂奔乱跑，

企图靠喧闹和骚动来摆脱无聊对他们的报复，但这么做是徒劳的。对他们来说，某种形式

的纪律约束是最有希望让他们走出困境、走上正道的。

5 It may be said that rational, industrious, useful human beings are divided

into two classes: first, those whose work is work and whose pleasure is pleasure;

and secondly, those whose work and pleasure are one. Of these the former are the

majority. They have their compensations. The long hours in the office or the

factory bring with them as their reward, not only the means of sustenance, but a

keen appetite for pleasure even in its simplest and most modest forms. But

Fortune's favoured children belong to the second class. Their life 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 as enforced interruptions in

an absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes the need of 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 are those who most need the means of

banishing it at intervals from their minds.

可以这样说，理智的、勤劳的、有用的人可以分为两类：第一类人认为工作是工作，

娱乐是娱乐；第二类人认为工作和娱乐是一回事。这两类人当中，第一类人占大多数。他

们是能够得到补偿的。在办公室或工厂里长时间工作给他们带来了报酬，这不仅是谋生的

手段，也使他们对寻找快乐充满了渴望，哪怕是最简单、最质朴的快乐。但是，幸运之神

偏爱的是第二类人。他们的生活是一种自然的和谐。对他们来说，工作时间永远都不够长，

每一天都是假日，而当普通节日来到时，他们会感到厌恶，因为这强行打断了他们埋头从

事的工作。然而对这两种人来说，换换脑子，改变一下气氛，转移一下注意力都是不可缺

少的。其实，把工作当作乐趣的人，很可能是最需要每隔一段时间就把工作放下，让头脑

放松的人。