2、ch,atmytimeoflife,isamuchmoreimportantsubject.Myfirstadvicewouldbetochooseyourancestorscarefully.Althoughbothmyparentsdiedyoung,Ihavedonewellinthisrespectasregardsmyotherancestors.Mymaternalgrandfather,itistrue,wascutoffintheflowerofhisyouthatt
4、的去考察一下自己的宗谱。虽然我的父母去世的比较早,但是我的别的祖先都活的比较长寿。我敬爱的祖父,在67岁结束了自己像花期一样富有朝气的生命,我的其余几位祖辈的年龄都超过了80。在别的远祖当中,只有一位活的不是很长久,他死于一种被砍头的现在已经灭绝的疾病(不知道怎么很好的翻译这一句幽默)。2.Agreatgrandmotherofmine,whowasafriendofGibbon,livedtotheageofninety-two,andtoherlastdayremainedaterrortoallherdescendants.
5、Mymaternalgrandmother,afterhavingninechildrenwhosurvived,onewhodiedininfancy,andmanymiscarriages,assoonasshebecameawidow,devotedherselftowomanshighereducation.ShewasoneofthefoundersofGirtonCollege,andworkedhardatopeningthemedicalprofessiontowomen.She
6、usedtorelatehowshemetinItalyanelderlygentlemanwhowaslookingverysad.Sheinquiredthecauseofhismelancholyandhesaidthathehadjustpartedfromhistwograndchildren.“Goodgracious”,sheexclaimed,“Ihaveseventy-twograndchildren,andifIweresadeachtimeIpartedfromon
7、eofthem,Ishouldhaveadismalexistence!”“Madresnaturale,”hereplied.Butspeakingasoneoftheseventy-two,Ipreferherrecipe.Aftertheageofeightyshefoundshehadsomedifficultyingettingtosleep,soshehabituallyspentthehoursfrommidnightto3a.m.inreadingpopularscienc
8、e.Idonotbelievethatsheeverhadtimetonoticethatshewasgrowingold.This,Ithink,isproperrecipeforremainingyoung.Ifyouhavewideandkeeninterestsandactivitiesinwhichyoucanstillbeeffective,youwillhavenoreasontothinkaboutthemerelystatisticalfactofthenumber
9、ofyearsyouhavealreadylived,stilllessoftheprobablebrevityofyoufuture.我的一位祖母,她是Gibbon的朋友,活了92岁,直到生命的最后一天一直都让她的子孙后代感到惊奇。我慈爱的祖母,抚养成人9个孩子,另有一个早年夭折,其中另有流产的例子。当她成为一个寡妇的时候,全身心投入到妇女高等教育当中,她是Girton学院的创始人之一,并且在妇女医疗方面做了大量的工作。她经常给我们讲述她在意大利遇到一位年老绅士的故事,当时,这位老年人看上去很忧愁悲伤。祖母去询问缘由,老人告诉他说是因为刚和两个孙
11、avelittleexperienceofillness.IeatanddrinkwhateverIlike,andsleepwhenIcannotkeepawake.Ineverdoanythingwhateveronthegroundthatitisgoodforhealth,thoughinactualfactthethingsIlikedoingaremostlywholesome.有关于健康方面,我没有太多有用的建议可以讲,因为我很少得病。我吃喝自己喜欢的东西,困顿了就去睡觉。我从来不按照任何所谓
12、有益健康的(医生)建议行事,虽然我所做的任何喜欢的事情都是非常有益于健康的。4.Psychologicallytherearetwodangerstobeguardedagainstinoldage.Oneoftheseisundueabsorptioninthepast.Itdoesnotdotoliveinmemories,inregretsforthegoodolddays,orinsadnessaboutfriendswhoaredead.Onesthoughtsmustbedirecte
13、dtothefutureandtothingsaboutwhichthereissomethingtobedone.Thisisnotalwayseasy:onesownpastisgraduallyincreasingweight.Itiseasytothinktooneselfthatonesemotionsusedtobemorevividthantheyare,andonesmindkeener.Ifthisistrueitshouldbeforgotten,andif
14、itisforgottenitwillprobablynotbetrue.在精神生活方面老年人有两个方面的危险因素需要注意。其中之一就是老是沉浸在过去的会议中,不能在回忆当中生活,不要为逝去的好岁月感到遗憾,也不要为已经去世的朋友感到悲哀。一个人的思想必须被引导向未来和那些必须要完成的事情上。这并不是一件容易做到的事情:一个人的过去岁月在逐渐的增多,很容易沉湎于那些昔日的雄心抱负,和那些无法忘怀的情结。如果情形确实是这样的,就应当都去忘却;如果都忘记了,逝去的就不应当是真实的。5.Theotherthingtobeavoidedisclingingtoyou
15、thinthehopeofsuckingvigorfromitsvitality.Whenyourchildrenaregrownuptheywanttolivetheirownlives,andifyoucontinuetobeasinterestedinthemasyouwerewhentheywereyoung,youarelikelytobecomeaburdentothem,unlesstheyareunusuallycallous.Idonotmeanthatone
16、shouldbewithoutinerestinthem,butonesinterestshouldbecontemplativeand,ifpossible,philanthropic,butnotundulyemotional.Animalsbecomeindifferenttotheiryoungassoonastheiryoungcanlookafterthemselves,buthumanbeings,owingtothelengthofinfancy,findthisdifficult.另外一件事情,就是尽量避免抱着从青年人身上获取活力的目的去亲密接近年轻人,如果你一定要对他们抱有兴趣,除非他们冷淡无情,否则你很快会成为他们的负担。我并不是说老年人不应当对年轻人有兴趣,但是老人的兴趣应当是沉思冥想、保守的。应当是博爱的,而且不要包含太多的感情因素。动物们当自己的孩子变得能够照看自己的时候,都会对他们变得比较冷漠;但是对人类而言,因为幼年期比较长,最后发