A Message to Future Generations致未來(lái)書

⊙ ByBertrand Russell

翻譯：藍(lán)藍(lán)

Suppose,1)Lord Russell, this fi lm which will be looked at by our2)descendants,like a Dead Sea3)Scroll, in a thousand years’ time. What would you think it’s worth telling that generation about the life you’ve lived and the lessons you’ve learned from it?

I should like to say two things—one4)intellectual, and one moral.

The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this: When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts5)bear out.

Never let yourself be6)diverted either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have7)beneficent social effects if it were believed, but look only and8)solely at what are the facts. That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say.

The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple. I should say: Love is wise; hatred is foolish.

In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way. And if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet.

百科

◆ Dead Sea Scrolls 死海古卷：又稱死海文書，泛指1947-1956年間，在死海西北基伯昆蘭曠野的山洞里發(fā)現(xiàn)的古代文獻(xiàn)，它們的發(fā)現(xiàn)被稱為二十世紀(jì)最偉大的考古發(fā)現(xiàn)。1947年，死海附近某個(gè)小村的兒童在山洞中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些羊皮卷，這些羊皮卷后來(lái)被證實(shí)是用希伯來(lái)文書寫的早期猶太教與基督教經(jīng)文，人們將其統(tǒng)稱為死海古卷，是研究猶太教、伊斯蘭教、基督教發(fā)展史的重要文獻(xiàn)資料。

1) lord [l??d] n. 老爺，勛爵（對(duì)貴族或高級(jí)官員的尊稱）

2) descendant [d??send（?）nt] n. 子孫，后代

3) scroll [skr??l] n. 卷軸

4) intellectual [??nt??lekt???l] adj.智力的，聰明的，理性的

5) bear out 證實(shí)

6) divert [da??vз?t] v. 轉(zhuǎn)向，轉(zhuǎn)移

7) beneficent [b??nef?s?nt] adj. 行善的，有益的

8) solely [?s??（l）l?] adv. 單獨(dú)，只是

參考譯文

羅素爵士，假設(shè)這段錄像會(huì)被我們的后人看到，如同死海古卷一般，千年之后展現(xiàn)在世人面前——關(guān)于您所經(jīng)歷的人生，以及這一生的感悟，您有什么話要對(duì)他們那一代人說(shuō)的嗎？

我想說(shuō)兩點(diǎn)，其一關(guān)乎理性，其二關(guān)乎品德。

關(guān)于理性，我想說(shuō)的是：不管你在研究什么課題，或者思考任何哲學(xué)問(wèn)題，你只需專注于事實(shí)本身，以及這些事實(shí)所證明的真理。

永遠(yuǎn)不要讓自己被更愿意相信的東西，或是認(rèn)為人們相信了就會(huì)對(duì)社會(huì)更有益處的東西所影響，單單審視事實(shí)本身。關(guān)于理性，我想說(shuō)的就是這些。

關(guān)于品德，我想對(duì)他們說(shuō)的話十分簡(jiǎn)單，那就是：愛為明智，恨為愚蠢。

在這個(gè)日益緊密相連的世界，我們必須學(xué)會(huì)彼此容忍，必須學(xué)會(huì)接受這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)：總有人會(huì)說(shuō)一些我們不想聽的話。只有這樣，我們才能共同生存。假如我們渴望的是共存，而不是互相毀滅，我們就必須學(xué)會(huì)寬厚待人，互相忍讓——因?yàn)槿祟愐谶@個(gè)星球上存續(xù)下去，這些品德至關(guān)重要。