英文散文佳作賞析：《生命的三分之一》

生命的三分之一
One Third of Our Lifetime

一個人的生命究竟有多大的意義，這有什麼標準可以衡量嗎？提出一個絕對的標準當然很困難；但是，大體上看一個人對待生命的態度是否嚴肅認真，看他對待勞動、工作等等的態度如何，也就不難對這個人的存在意義做出適當的估計了。
What is the significance of life? Is there any gauge to measure it? It would be very difficult, of course, trying to advance an absolute standard. However, the significance of one's existence can more or less be rated by examining his attitude toward life and work.

古來一切有成就的人，都很嚴肅的對待自己的生命，當他活着一天，總要儘量多勞動、多工作、多學習，不肯虛度年華，不讓時間白白的浪費掉。我國曆代的勞動人民以及大政治家、大思想家等等都莫不如此。
Since ancient times all people of accomplishment are very serious about their lives. While they are alive, even if there is only one day left to live, they try to work as hard as they can and learn as much as possible, never letting a single day slip by without any gain. This is true of the working people as well as of the great statesmen and great thinkers in our history.

班固寫的《漢書•食貨志》上有下面的記載：“冬，民既人；婦人同巷相從夜績，女工一月得四十五日。”
In the chapter “Foods and Goods" of The Chronicles of the Han Dynasty, the great historian Ban Gu states:"In winter people stay indoors. Women get together to spin hemp threads at night. They manage to work forty-five days in a month."

這幾句讀起來很奇怪，怎麼一月能有四十五天呢？再看原文底下顏師古做了註解，他說：“一月之中，又得夜半爲十五日，共四十五日。
”It sounds strange. How come there are forty-five days in a month? Let us look at its annotations given by Yanshigu:"They gain half a day 's time every night and, they have forty-five days in a month."

這就很清楚了。原來我國的古人不但比西方各國的人更早地懂得科學地、合理地計算勞動日；而且我們的古人老早就知道對於日班和夜班的計算方法。
Now it’s clear. Our ancestors had, earlier than the westerners, learned how to calculate workdays accurately and reasonably. They had also learned how calculate day shift and night shift as well.

一個月本來只有三十天，古人把每個夜晚的時間算作半天，就多了十五天。從這個意義張說來，夜晚的時間實際上不就等於生命的三分之一嗎？
It is common knowledge that there are only thirty days in a month. Counting the time of one night for half a day, our forefathers managed to expend the month by fifteen days. In this sense the night time gained amounts to one third of our lives, doesn't it?

對於這三分之一的生命，不但歷代的勞動者如此重視，而且有許多大政治家也十分重視。班固在《漢書•刑法志》裏還寫道：
This one third of life is not only treasured by the working people but also by the great statesmen in our history. In the chapter "Criminal Law" of The Chronicles of the Han Dynasty, Ban Gu also states:

“秦始皇躬操文墨，晝斷獄，夜理書。”
"The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty set a good example in being industrious, disposing of lawsuits during the day and reading at night ,"This is about how he tried to find time to read at night.

有的人一聽說秦始皇就不喜歡他，其實秦始皇畢竟是中國歷史上的一個偉大的人物，班固對他也還有一些公平的評價。這裏寫的是秦始皇在夜間看書學習的情形。
To some people the The First Emperor of the Qin isn’t a pleasant name to recall but there is no denying that he was a great figure in the history of China. Even BanGu has an impartial opinion of him.

據劉向的《說苑》所載,春秋戰國時有許多國君都很注意學習。
Liu Xiang, the great scholar of the Han Dynasty ,cites in his historical Anecdotes many princes of the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period who paid great attention to learning.

爲什麼古人對於夜晚的時間都這樣重視，不肯輕易放過呢？我認爲這就是他們對待自己生命的三分之一的嚴肅認真的態度，這正是我們所應該學習的。
Why did the people in the set such great store by the night time? I think this is positive proof of their attitude toward the one third of their lives. This is exactly what we should learn from them.

我之所以想利用夜晚的時間，向讀者同志們做這樣的談話，目的也不過是要大家引起注意珍惜這三分之一的生命，是大家在整天的勞動，工作以後，以輕鬆的心情，領略一些古今有用的知識而已。
My intention of writing this little essay tonight is to call the readers’ attention to the one third of his lifetime so that , after working for a whole day, he can sit relaxed at home, browsing through and appreciating the useful knowledge of the past and of the present.