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　　人生的寫照 

　　薩繆爾·約翰遜(1709～1784)，這位值得紀念的人出生于英國斯塔福德郡的里奇菲爾德。他的父親經營圖書和文具。1728年，他進入牛津的彭布魯克學院，但是貧窮迫使他念完第三年就退學了。1736年，他結婚后不久，他就開設了一所私人學校，但是只收到了3個學生，其中的一個叫大衛·蓋瑞克，后來成為了著名的演員。1737年，他搬到了倫敦，他余生的大部分時間都在這里度過。在他無數的文學作品中最著名的是他的《詞典》，那是第一部真正用英語編就的字典。詩歌《人類欲望的虛幻》《漫游者》《拉塞靳斯》《英國詩人的生活》以及他編寫的《莎士比全集》也是很有名的作品。1762年，他被授予300英鎊的年金。

　　從外形上，約翰遜體態笨重，舉止笨拙；從儀態上，他為人粗鄙，傲慢；但是他的學識和能力讓很多顯赫的人都爭相和他交往。

　　奧巴代亞，阿比尼西那的兒子，一大清早就離開了旅店，開始了他穿越印度斯坦平原的旅程。良好的睡眠使他感到神清氣爽、精力旺盛，他覺察到生機勃勃的希望，被渴望所激勵，他輕快地穿過河谷，看到山峰漸漸顯現在自己面前。

　　當他一路行進的時候，他聽到了這個樂園里鳥兒悅耳的晨歌。一陣陣柔和的晨風迎面吹來，時不時地還會有露珠從散發著清香的果樹上滑落到他的身上。他有時會注視那高聳的橡樹——仿若君王般矗立在山丘上；有時候他會聞到迎春花的香氣，那是春天的長女。他的感官得到了享受和滿足，而他的心情是那樣無憂無慮。

　　他繼續他的行程，直到太陽升到他的頭頂，越來越高的溫度讓他感到體力的消逝。所以他停下來審視四周，以期找到一條更怡人的道路。他看到在他的右手邊，有一個樹林似乎在以它的蔭涼向他發出邀請。他走進去，發現那兒又涼快又青翠，讓人不忍離去。但是他沒有忘記他此行的目的，他找到了一條路旁開滿鮮花的小路，看起來似乎和大路通往同一方向。通過這令人愉快的體驗，他找到了折中樂趣和職責的方法，既能享受勤奮的成果，又不用忍受太多的勞苦。

　　于是，他又熱情不減地繼續向前行進。只是偶爾，那因為炎熱而躲在樹陰下的小鳥的歌聲會誘使他停下腳步；有時候，他也會摘下河岸兩邊的小花或樹枝上的果實來自娛自樂。最后那綠色小道沿著地勢開始慢慢下降，在山丘和灌木叢中蜿蜒而去，一路上只見清泉生涼，水瀑嗚咽。

　　奧巴代亞在這里停留了一會兒，考慮離開那通常走的熟悉的大路是否安全，但想到現在正是酷熱淫威最盛的時候，平原上也滿是灰尖和坑洼，他決定還是沿著新路走。他想這路應該只是根據地形的變化轉一些彎，最終它還是要和大路會合的。

　　就這樣平息他的憂慮之后，奧巴代亞又重新上路了，盡管他懷疑自己可能沒有走對路。這種隱隱的擔憂使他不錯過任何一個新鮮事物，并且想方設法讓自己感到安慰和開心。他傾聽每一個回聲，攀登每一座山丘來觀賞景色，他碰到每一個小瀑布都會折過去看一眼，他發現一條潺潺流動的小河穿過樹林，仿若有無數的曲折，澆灌著一處廣袤的區域，就很高興的沿著河道一路走去。

　　歡樂的時光很快不知不覺地過去了，他這樣七轉八彎地走下來，弄得他自己也記不清走過的路了，更不知道下一步應該去向哪里。他困惑而憂愁地站在那里，因為害怕走錯路而不敢再向前行，但是他清醒地意識到不能再閑逛了。正當他猶豫不決，非常苦惱的時候，天空上開始布滿烏云，白晝從他眼前消失，頭頂突然襲來一陣暴風雨。

　　他面臨的危險讓他對他愚蠢的行為進行了一次快速而痛苦的檢討。他現在明白了為什么貪圖安逸會導致幸福的喪失。他為自己的嬌氣和急躁感到悲痛，是它們促使他在那個樹林中尋找庇佑，他也鄙視自己為了小小的好奇心就在瑣碎的事物上糾纏不清。當他在這樣反省的時候，天色變得更暗了，一聲響雷打斷了他的沉思。

　　他現在決定去做一件他力所能及的事：按照原路返回，同時找找看有沒有從樹林通向平原的出口。他拜倒在大地上，將自己的生命托付給大自然的主宰。他爬起身的時候心中充滿自信和寧靜。他把他的刀緊緊地握在手中，因為荒野里的野獸已經出動了，到處都是充滿了憤怒和恐懼，蹂躪和死亡的含糊的吼叫。所有在黑暗和孤獨中產生的恐懼包圍著他。狂風在林間呼嘯，洪流從山頂滾滾而下。

　　就這樣，帶著無助和沮喪，他在荒野中穿行，不知道自己在走向何方，也不知道他是在走向安全之地，還是在走向毀滅。最終，不是恐懼，而是疲勞征服了他。他的呼吸開始變得短促，膝蓋開始顫抖。就在他將要倒下，想要屈服于命運的時候，他看到，一點蠟燭的微光透過荊棘閃現。他向那點光亮走去，發現那來自于一個隱士的小屋。他謙卑地叫門，得以被允許進到屋中。那位老人在他面前放下本是為自己準備的食物，奧巴代亞帶著感激之情，狼吞虎咽地吃完了。

　　用餐一結束，隱士問道：“告訴我，是什么機緣讓你來到這里，我在這荒郊野林住了二十年了，還從來沒有見過有人經過。”奧巴代亞詳細講述了他旅途中的遭遇，沒有任何的隱瞞和掩飾。

　　“孩子，”那位隱士說道，“讓今天的錯誤、愚蠢、危險和僥幸，都深深地鐫刻在你的心中。記住，我的孩子，人的一生就像是一天的旅行。我們早上起來的時候精力旺盛，充滿期望，就像是在我們年輕的時候。我們帶著信念和希望出發，那時我們是歡樂而勤奮的，我們會在筆直通向崇高目標的大道上虔誠地行進。但是過了一段時間，我們就會熱情消退，努力設法想要減輕一點我們的職責，期望著能夠更輕松地到達我們的目的地。

　　“然后我們變得松懈了，我們決意不再為遠處的罪惡行徑而擔憂，我們覺得自己能潔身自好，在世事茫茫中保持不變，開始冒險靠近我們以前決心點滴不沾的東西。這樣我們就走進了安逸的樹蔭里，開始在安全的陰涼處歇息。就是在這里，我們的心被軟化麻痹了，漸漸失去了警覺性，然后很自然地就會問：是不是非要繼續前進，難道我們就不能稍稍把目光落在歡樂的樂園一會兒嗎？我們小心翼翼、猶豫不決地接近那個樂園。我們走進去，但是依然感到膽怯和發抖。我們總是希望我們能在不偏離美德之路的前提下穿越這個樂園，時不時的，我們也會見到那條美德之路在我們面前出現，而且我們會對自己說：總有一天我們會回到那條路上去的。

　　“但是誘惑接踵而至，一次的屈服就為第二次打下了基礎。我們適時地失去了天真的快樂，只會用感官的享受慰藉我們不安的心靈。逐漸地，我們忘卻了我們的天性，放棄了我們唯一可以理智地追求的目標。我們事務纏身，花天酒地，徘徊在反復無常的迷宮中，一直到年邁時的黑暗開始侵蝕我們，疾病和憂慮讓我們步履維艱。然后我們回首一生，會感到驚恐、悲痛和悔恨。我們會希望，盡管通常是徒勞的希望，我們從來不曾放棄美德之路。

　　“真正幸福的人，我的孩子，是那些能吸取教訓，卻從不絕望的人；是那些盡管明白光陰已經逝去，青春也已不在，卻依然堅持努力的人；是那些相信悔過總不至于絕望，真誠的努力總能得到幫助的人；是那些從以上的這些獲取力量和勇氣，在危險和困難中披荊斬棘的人。去吧，我的孩子，去休息吧。當早晨的鈴聲又響起的時候，你就可以開始你新的旅程和人生。”

　　A Picture of Human Life

　　Samuel Johnson (b. 1709, d. 1784). This remarkable man was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. He was the son of a bookseller and stationer. He entered Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1728; but his poverty compelled him to leave at the end of three years. Soon after his marriage, in 1736, he opened a private school, but obtained only three pupils, one of whom was Dav Garrick, afterwards a celebrated actor. In 1737, he removed to London, where he resed most of the rest of his life. The most noted of his numerous literary works are his "Dictionary," the first one of the English language worthy of mention, "The Vanity of Human Wishes," a poem, "The Rambler," "Rasselas," "The Lives of the English Poets," and his edition of Shakespeare. An annual pension of 300 pounds was granted him in 1762.

　　In person, Johnson was heavy and awkward; in manner, boorish and overbearing; but his learning and his great powers caused his company to be sought by many eminent men。

　　Obah, the son of Abnesina, left the caravansary early in the morning, and pursued his journey through the plains of Hindostan. He was fresh and vigorous with rest; he was animated with hope; he was incited by desire; he walked swiftly forward over the valleys, and saw the hills gradually rising before him。

　　As he passed along, his ears were delighted with the morning song of the bird of paradise; he was fanned by the last flutters of the sinking breeze, and sprinkled with dew by groves of spices; he sometimes contemplated towering height of the oak, monarch of the hills; and sometimes caught the gentle fragrance of the primrose, eldest daughter of the spring; all his senses were gratified, and all care was banished from his heart。

　　Thus he went on, till the sun approached his merian, and the increasing heat preyed upon his strength; he then looked round about him for some more commodious path. He saw, on his right hand, a grove that seemed to wave its shades as a sign of invitation; he entered it, and found the coolness and verdure irresistibly pleasant. He d not, however, forget whither he was traveling, but found a narrow way, bordered with flowers, which appeared to have the same direction with the main road, and was pleased, that, by this happy experiment, he had found means to unite pleasure with business, and to gain the rewards of diligence without suffering its fatigues。

　　He, therefore, still continued to walk for a time, without the least remission of his ardor, except that he was sometimes tempted to stop by the music of the birds, which the heat had assembled in the shade, and sometimes amused himself with picking the flowers that covered the banks on each se, or the fruits that hung upon the branches. At last, the green path began to decline from its first tendency, and to wind among the hills and thickets, cooled with fountains, and murmuring with waterfalls。

　　Here Obah paused for a time, and began to conser whether it was longer safe to forsake the known and common track; but, remembering that the heat was now in its greatest violence, and that the plain was dusty and uneven, he resolved to pursue the new path, which he supposed only to make a few meanders, in compliance with the garieties of the ground, and to end at last in the common road。

　　Having thus calmed his solicitude, he renewed his pace, though he suspected he was not gaining ground. This uneasiness of his mind inclined him to lay hold on every new object, and give way to every sensation that might soothe or divert him. He listened to every echo, he mounted every hill for a fresh prospect, he turned ase to every cascade, and pleased himself with tracing the course of a gentle river that rolled among the trees, and watered a large region, with innumerable circumvolutions。

　　In these amusements, the hours passed away uncounted; his deviations had perplexed his memory, and he knew not toward what point to travel. He stood pensive and confused, afra to go forward lest he should go wrong, yet conscious that the time of loitering was now past. While he was thus tortured with uncertainty, the sky was overspread with clouds, the day vanished from before him, and a sudden tempest gathered round his head。

　　He was now roused by his danger to a quick and painful remembrance of his folly; he now saw how happiness is lost when ease is consulted; he lamented the unmanly impatience that prompted him to seek shelter in the grove, and despised the petty curiosity that led him on from trifle to trifle. While he was thus reflecting, the air grew blacker and a clap of thunder broke his meditation。

　　He now resolved to do what remained yet in his power; to tread back the ground which he had passed, and try to find some issue where the wood might open into the plain. He prostrated himself upon the ground, and commended his life to the Lord of nature. He rose with confence and tranquillity, and pressed on with his saber in his hand; for the beasts of the desert were in motion, and on every hand were heard the mingled howls of rage, and fear, and ravage, and expiration; all the horrors of darkness and solitude surrounded him; the winds roared in the woods, and the torrents tumbled from the hills。

　　Thus, forlorn and distressed, he wandered through the wild without knowing whither he was going or whether he was every moment drawing nearer to safety or to destruction. At length, not fear but labor began to overcome him; his breath grew short, and his knees trembled, and he was on the point of lying down, in resignation to his fate, when he beheld, through the brambles, the glimmer of a taper. He advanced toward the light, and finding that it proceeded from the cottage of a hermit, he called humbly at the door, and obtained admission. The old man set before him such provisions as he had collected for himself, on which Obah fed with eagerness and gratitude。

　　When the repast was over, "Tell me," sa the hermit, "by what chance thou hast been brought hither; I have been now twenty years an inhabitant of this wilderness, in which I never saw a man before." Obah then related the occurrences of his journey, without any concealment or palliation。

　　"Son," sa the hermit, "let the errors and follies, the dangers and escapes, of this day, sink deep into your heart. Remember, my son, that human life is the journey of a day. We rise in the morning of youth, full of vigor, and full of expectation; we set forward with spirit and hope, with gayety and with diligence, and travel on awhile in the straight road of piety toward the mansions of rest. In a short time we remit our fervor, and endeavor to find some mitigation of our duty, and some more easy means of obtaining the same end。

　　"We then relax our vigor, and resolve no longer to be terrified with crimes at a distance, but rely upon our own constancy, and venture to approach what we resolve never to touch. We thus enter the bowers of ease, and repose in the shades of security. Here the heart softens, and vigilance subses; we are then willing to inquire whether another advance can not be made, and whether we may not at least turn our eyes upon the gardens of pleasure. We approach them with scruple and hesitation; we enter them, but enter timorous and trembling, and always hope to pass through them without losing the road of virtue, which we for a while keep in our sight, and to which we propose to return。

　　"But temptation succeeds temptation, and one compliance prepares us for another; we, in time, lose the happiness of innocence, and solace our disquiet with sensual gratifications. By degrees we let fall the remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business, immerge ourselves in luxury, and rove through the labyrinth of inconstancy till the darkness of old age begins to invade us, and disease and anxiety obstruct our way. We then look back upon our lives with horror, with sorrow, and with repentance; and wish, but too often vainly wish, that we had not forsaken the paths of virtue. "Happy are they, my son, who shall learn, from thy example, not to despair, but shall remember that though the day is past, and their strength is wasted, there yet remains one effort to be made; that reformation is never hopeless, nor sincere endeavors ever unassisted; that the wanderer may at length return after all his errors; and that he who implores strength and courage from above, shall find danger and difficulty give way before him. Go now, my son, to thy repose; and when the morning calls again to toil, begin anew thy journey and thy life."

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