Hobbies

業(yè)余愛好

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.

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

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 get hardly 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 business man, who has been working or worrying about serious things for six days, to work or worry about trifling things at the weekend.

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.

It may also 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.

WINSTON CHURCHLL Painting as a Pastime

New words and expressions 生詞與短語

gifted

adj. 有天才的

psychologist

n. 心理學(xué)家

spasm

n. 一陣(感情)發(fā)作

futile

adj. 無用的

insinuate

v. 便潛入，暗示

convulsive

adj. 起痙攣的

illumination

n. 啟發(fā)，照明

undue

adj. 不造當(dāng)?shù)?/p>

grip

n. 緊張

recuperation

n. 休息

improvise

v. 臨時作成

sedulously

adv. 孜孜不倦地

vivify

v. 使生氣勃勃

aggravate

v. 加劇

trifling

adj. 微小的

gratify

v. 便滿意

caprice

n. 任性

satiation

n. 滿足

frantically

adv. 狂亂地

avenge

v. 替…報復(fù)

boredom

n. 厭煩

clatter

n. 喧鬧的談話

sustenance

n. 生計

appetite

n. 欲望

grudge

v. 怨恨

absorbing

adj. 引人入勝的

banish

v. 排除，放棄

本文參考譯文

一位天才的美國心理學(xué)家曾經(jīng)說過：“煩惱是感情的發(fā)作，此時腦子糾纏住了某種東西又不肯松手。”在這種情況下，你又和頭腦爭吵讓它松手是無濟于事的。這種意志越是強烈，這種嘗試越是徒勞。你只能緩和而巧紗地讓另一種東西進入痙攣僵持的頭腦中。如果選得合適，而且的確受到別的領(lǐng)域的情趣的啟迪，那么漸漸地，往往也是很順利地，原先不適當(dāng)?shù)木o張就會松弛下來，恢復(fù)和修整的過程就會開始。

因此，對一個從事社會活動的人來說，培養(yǎng)一種業(yè)余愛好和各種新的興趣是關(guān)等重要的作法。但這并非一日之功，也不是單憑一蹴而就的事。精神上多種情趣的培養(yǎng)是一個長期的過程。要想在需要的時候可隨手摘取充滿生機的果實，那就必然從選良種做起，然后將其植入肥沃的土地，還需要勤勉地護理。

一個人要想真正感到幸福和平安，至少應(yīng)有兩三種愛好，而且都比較實際。到了晚年才開始說：“我會對這些人或那個人發(fā)生興趣”，已沒有用了。這種愿望只能加劇精神緊張。一個人可能會獲得與其日常工作無關(guān)的某些課題的淵博知識，而沒有從中得到什么實益或?qū)捨俊８赡闼�喜歡的事是沒有用的，你喜歡你所干的事。泛泛地說，人可以分為3類：勞累至死的人、憂慮至死的人、無聊至死的人。對于流汗出力干了一周苦活的體力勞動者來說，讓他們在星期六下午再踢足球或打壘球是不合適的;同樣，對于為嚴肅的公務(wù)操勞或煩惱了6天的政界人士、專業(yè)人員、商人來說，在周未再讓他們?yōu)楝嵤露鴦幽X子和憂慮也是無益的。

至于那些能任意支配一切的“可憐的人”，他們能夠恣意妄為，能染指一切追求的目標(biāo)。對這種人來說，多一種新的樂趣、多一種新的刺激只是增加一分厭膩而已。他們到處奔亂跑，企圖以閑聊和亂竄來擺脫無聊對他們的報復(fù)，但這是徒勞的。對他們來說，用某種形式的紀律約束他們一下才能有希望使他們走上正道。

也可以這樣說，理智的，勤勞的、有用的人可以分為兩類：第一類是他分清工作是工作，娛樂是娛樂的人;第二類人的工作和娛樂是一回事。這兩類人當(dāng)中，第一類人是大多數(shù)，他們能夠得到補償。在辦公室或工廠里長時間工作給他們帶來了酬勞，這不僅是謀生的手段，而且還帶來了尋找樂趣的強烈欲望，那怕是最簡單的、最低等的樂趣。但是，命運之神的寵兒是第二類人，他們的生活是一種自然的和諧，對他們來說，工作時間總不會太長，每天都是假日，而通常的假期來到，他們卻惋惜這假期強制打斷了他們埋頭從事的工作。然而對這兩種人來說，都需要換一換腦子，改變一下氣氛，轉(zhuǎn)移一下注意力，這是不可缺少的。說實在的，把工作當(dāng)作享受的那些人最需要每隔一段時間把工作從頭腦中撇開。

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