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1、The Secret of True Happiness 幸福的真谛1 I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistakes about the nature of happiness.1 我居住在全年阳光普照的好莱坞迪斯尼乐园。你可能认为在那么富有魅力，充满乐趣的地方生活的人一定比其他地方人更为幸福。如
2、果这样想，那么你对幸福的本质多少有点误解。2 Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during the act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is deeper, more abiding2 emotion. 2 许多聪明的人仍然将幸福和乐趣等同起来。实际上乐
3、趣和幸福不但并不一样甚至是截然不同的两件事。乐趣是我们行为过程中感受到的，而幸福却是我们在行为过后的体验。幸福是更深刻、更持久的情感。3 Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end
4、when the fun ends. 3 逛游乐园或玩球，看电影或电视是令人快乐的娱乐活动，使我们休息放松，暂时忘记令人困惑的事，甚至能使我们欢笑。但这些活动本身并不能带来幸福，因为其正面效应随着娱乐的结束而消逝。4 I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamor
5、ous parties, fancy Notes cars, and expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriage, troubled children, profound loneliness. 4 我常思忖如果好莱坞影星还有一角色能充当的
6、话，那就是教给我们幸福同欢乐是完全不相于的两件事。这些富裕而又漂亮的人物视豪华晚会、时髦轿车、宽敞寓所为司空见惯寻常物，一切能给“幸福”加冕的东西，他们都拥有。但接二连三的事例显示，这些闪光耀眼名人所有欢乐底隐藏的不幸：沮丧消沉、酗酒吸毒、家庭破裂、儿女肇事以及深切的孤独感。5 Yet people continue to believe that the next, more glamorous party, more expensive car, more luxurious vacation, fancier home will do what all the other parties
7、, cars, vacations, homes have not been able to do. 5 但人们继续相信下一个更富丽豪华的晚会，更昂贵高档的轿车，更奢侈的假日消遣，更宽敞时髦的寓所能够带来其它的晚会、轿车、假日消遣、别墅公馆所没有实现的东西。6 The way people cling to the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equals happiness actually diminishes their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and plea
8、sure are equated with happiness, then pain must be equated with unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true More times than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain. 6 人们坚信充满欢乐、毫不费力的生活方式就等于幸福，实际上反而减少了他们真正获得幸福的机会。如果欢乐和愉快等于幸福，则痛苦就等于不幸福。但事实真相恰恰相反，经常的情况是：能导致幸福的事往往与痛苦相联系。7 As a result, man
9、y people avoid the very endeavors that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, civic or charitable work, and self-improvement. 7 因此，许多人逃避了能成为真正幸福源泉的艰苦努力，他们害怕诸如结婚、抚育子女、专业发展、宗教
10、承担的义务、社会服务和慈善事业和自我进步所必然带来的痛苦。8 Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If hes honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, exciteme
11、nt. Marriage has such movement, but they are not its most distinguishing features. 8 独身者为什么不想结婚，倘若能说实话，他会告诉你原因是害怕承担责任，因为承担责任的确是一件很痛苦的事。独身生活充满欢乐、冒险、激情。婚姆虽也有这类体验，但程度上要大为逊色。 9 Similarly, couples who choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine
12、out whenever they want, travel wherever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole nights sleep or a three-day vacation. I dont know any parents would choose the word fun to describe raising children. 9 同样地，不想要孩子的夫妻决定宁要不痛苦的欢乐也不要痛苦的幸福。他们能随时上馆子用餐，到处
13、旅游，想多晚睡都行，而有婴儿的夫妻能睡一晚好觉，或有三天假期就算幸运的了。我想任何父母都不会用欢乐这一词来形容他们养育子女的过程。10 But couples who decide not to have children never experience the pleasure of hugging them or tucking them into bed at night. They never know the joy of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild. 10 但不要孩子的夫妻永远体会不到拥抱孩子或
14、晚上把孩子塞进被窝的那种愉快，他们永远不知道看着一个孩子成长时，或逗弄孙儿孙女时的乐趣。待添加的隐藏文字内容311 Of course I enjoy doing fun things. I like to play racquetball, joke with kids (and anybody else), and I probably have too many hobbies. 11 当然我喜欢做欢乐的事，喜欢打短网墙球，同孩子们（或任何人）开玩笑。我也可能有太多的兴趣爱好。12 But these forms of fun do not contribute in any way t
15、o my happiness. More difficult endeavors writing, raising children, creating deep relationship with my wife, trying to do good in the world will bring me more happiness than can ever be found in fun, that least permanent of things. 12 但这些形形色色的娱乐在任何意义上都不构成我的幸福。更为艰难的事情写作、抚养子女、同我妻子建立更深厚的关系，在世界上做好事将比寻求娱
16、乐给我带来更多幸福，因为娱乐只是暂时的，一瞬间就消逝的。13 Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buyin
17、g that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy; we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all. 1
18、3 了解并接受真正幸福与娱乐是毫不相干的两回事，能使我们最大限度地获得自由。在时间上自由了：现在我们可以集中更多时间从事那些能增进我们真正幸福的活动中去。在金钱上自由了：购买那种新车或那些流行新款时装如不能增加幸福则对我们毫无意义。同时也使我们从妒忌的心态中解放出来：现在知道我们曾经如此确信为幸福的那些富豪权贵们，由于他们拥有的娱乐享受太多，实际上也许根本没有幸福。14 The moment we understand that fun does not bring happiness, we began to lead our lives differently. The effect can be, quite literally, life- transforming. 14 一旦知道欢乐并不带来幸福，我们就会开始用不同的态度来生活。其实际效果将会是人生的一种真正转折点。
