關於感到憂鬱：英語精讀講義

We're not talking about the extreme, most paralyzing regions of despair, where external medical help is vital. 表達脈絡

我們不是在討論那種需要外部醫療援助的、最極端且令人癱瘓的絕望。

Our target is rather the times when we feel, as indicated by Thoreau's phrase,

我們的目標是那些時候，正如梭羅的話所說，

"mired in moods of quiet desperation." 慣用語

「陷入了平靜的絕望情緒之中。」

A large gray hinterland 慣用語

這是一片廣袤的灰色地帶，

in which beneath an outward surface of endurance,

在這看似堅忍的外表之下，

we feel exhausted, close to tears,

我們感到精疲力竭、瀕臨落淚，

beyond the sympathetic understanding of others.

無法得到他人的同情與理解。

Easily irritated and daunted by the simplest tasks. 用詞

容易煩躁，連最簡單的任務都讓我們望而生畏。

There will probably have been certain triggers for our melancholy, 文法

也許有一些觸發我們憂鬱的原因，

an intimate rejection,

一次親密關係的拒絕，

a humiliation around work,

一次工作上的屈辱，

the growing realization that the ambitious plans of earlier years have come to very little. 片語搭配

越來越意識到早年雄心勃勃的計畫落了空。

Unfortunately, sadness feels very taboo.

不幸的是，悲傷常常被視為一種禁忌。

Societies tend slyly to insist on cheerfulness.

社會往往暗中堅持讓人保持開朗。

We end up not only struggling, but humiliated that we're in such difficulties. 講解

結果我們不僅在掙扎，還因為身陷困境而感到羞恥。

Yet, in truth,

然而，事實上，

there is nothing more natural or routine than grief. 文法

沒有什麼比悲傷更自然、更尋常的了。

We have so much to feel morose about.

我們有太多理由感到鬱悶。

Simply by virtue of being alive, 片語搭配

僅僅因為活著，

we will inevitably so often feel badly misunderstood,

我們就不可避免地常常感到被深深誤解，

unfairly criticized,

受到不公正的批評，

overlooked, and rejected.

被忽視，被拒絕。

We'll be struck by our own stupidity 用詞

我們會為自己的愚蠢感到震驚，

and appalled by our inner ugliness and cowardice.

為內心的醜陋和懦弱感到駭然。

We will make some shockingly poor decisions.

我們會做出一些極其糟糕的決定。

We will let others down, 片語動詞

我們會讓別人失望，

and we will witness those we love suffer and die

我們會目睹我們所愛的人遭受痛苦並死去，

before ourselves having to give up the keys to life. 慣用語

然後我們自己也不得不交出生命的鑰匙。

The reasons for feeling low and demoralized

感到低落和沮喪的原因

touch more or less everyone.

或多或少影響著每一個人。

It is the universality, the normality of suffering, 文法

正是因為痛苦的普遍性和常態化，

that makes the sight of small happy children so poignant.

才讓那些快樂的小孩顯得如此令人心酸。

We know, as they cannot yet, 文法

我們知道，而他們還無法知道，

how much they're going to suffer.

他們將來會遭受多少痛苦。

We don't know the precise details,

我們不知道確切的細節，

but we know that in some way or another, 片語搭配

但我們知道，以某種方式，

a distinctive range of horrors will, in time, befall them. 用詞

一系列可怕的事情遲早會降臨在他們身上。

Every day, almost without noticing it,

每一天，幾乎在不知不覺中，

we have to fight off a range of incoming powerful reasons not to despair. 片語動詞

我們都不得不與一系列強有力的理由作鬥爭，以免陷入絕望。

We rely on an internal engine or muscle of hope to pump out consoling thoughts. 慣用語

我們依靠內在的引擎或名為希望的肌肉，泵出帶來安慰的想法。

Then one day,

然後有一天，

the task seems too much.

任務似乎變得太重了。

The muscle can't take it anymore.

肌肉再也承受不住了。

At such times, 表達脈絡

在這樣的時候，

we need to keep a few ideas in mind.

我們需要記住幾個理念。

For a start,

首先，

that sorrow is not an individual failing.

悲傷不是個人的失敗。

It is a basic reality for our entire species.

它是我們整個物種的基本現實。

We are so extremely sensitive,

我們是如此極其敏感，

such fragile constructions,

如此脆弱的構造，

constantly exposed to danger,

經常暴露在危險之中，

for the most part blind,

大多數時候是盲目的，

hopeful without regard to reality, 片語搭配

懷抱著不切實際的希望，

and with unquenchable needs for love and sympathy.

對愛和同情有著難以滿足的需求。

Our tribulations are a symptom of being human, 表達脈絡

我們的苦難是作為人類的一種症狀，

never just a curse attached to our sliver of existence.

絕不僅僅是我們這渺小存在的詛咒。

Others who might seem successful,

其他那些看起來成功、

buoyant, and composed will travel, 慣用語

樂觀、鎮定的人，也會在

at moments they shield us from,

那些他們對我們隱瞞的時刻，

to the very same places of despair we have been exiled to.

走向與我們相同的流放之地——絕望。

We live so close to ourselves,

我們與自己太過親近，

we know so much about our own private failings,

我們對自己私下的缺點了解得太多，

we miss that our flaws are in fact general,

導致我們忽略了，我們的缺陷其實是普遍存在的，

present even in the outwardly placid,

甚至存在於那些表面平靜、

the beautiful, the rich, and the people next door.

美麗、富有以及鄰家的人身上。

If only we could see into their minds, 文法

只要我們能看透他們的心思，

we would feel so much less alone.

我們的孤獨感就會大大減輕。

We are, it's true,

確實，我們

sometimes hard to be around.

有時很難相處。

We're easy to caricature as grumpy and a pain. 講解

我們很容易被諷刺為脾氣暴躁和招人煩。

But in truth, we're sad rather than mean, 文法

但事實上，我們是悲傷而不是刻薄，

anxious rather than bad.

是焦慮而不是學壞。

It's hard to make our despair sound charming,

很難讓我們的絕望聽起來迷人，

to present ourselves in the way that would win us the compassion we so require.

很難以贏得我們極其需要的同情的方式來展示自己。

Yet, we're being harder on ourselves than we would be on a friend. 文法

然而，我們對自己比對朋友更苛刻。

We should, at the least,

至少，我們應該

accord ourselves the same degree of forgiveness we wouldn't hesitate to direct to an acquaintance. 用詞

給自己與毫不猶豫地給予熟人同等程度的寬恕。

In the end,

最後，

however tempting it is, 文法

無論誘惑有多大，

we can't just abandon our lives.

我們都不能放棄自己的生活。

There are too many people who rely on us,

有太多的人依賴著我們，

even if their presence doesn't feel real right now.

即使現在感覺不到他們的存在。

Above all,

最重要的是，

we don't know the future.

我們不知道未來會怎樣。

It's the other side of our dependence on chance. 慣用語

這是我們依賴機遇的另一面。

Things can get slightly better

事情可能會變得好一點，

for reasons it's hard to foresee. 文法

因為難以預見的原因。

Just as pleasures fade and can seem meaningless in retrospect, 文法

正如快樂會褪色，回想起來可能毫無意義一樣，

so pains, at least sometimes,

痛苦，至少有時，

can pass or soften.

也會過去或減輕。

Things we thought we'd never be able to get over gradually become bearable. 片語動詞

我們以為永遠無法釋懷的事情，漸漸變得可以承受了。

We adjust our mental posture. 慣用語

我們調整了自己的心理姿態。

We stoop to accommodate a new reality.

我們彎下腰來適應一個新的現實。

Being miserable does not exclude us from the human community.

感到痛苦並不會將我們排除在人類群體之外。

It's a sure sign that we are very normal

這是一個確鑿的信號，證明我們非常正常，

and that life is progressing in its own dark way, 表達脈絡

生活正在以它自己黑暗的方式前行，

more or less exactly to plan.

多少是完全按計畫進行的。