那些给我勇气的双语美文 （5）我们对幸福的追求
We chase after it,when it is waiting all about us
我们苦苦追寻的，其实就在我们身边。
“Are you happy?"I asked my brother, Lan, one day.
一天，我问哥哥伊恩：“你感到幸福吗?”
"Yes. No. It depends what you mean," hesaid.
他回答说：“可以说幸福，也可以说不幸福，这要看你指什么了。”
" Then tell me," I said, "when was the last time you think you were happy?"
“那你告诉我，”我说，“最近一次你感到幸福是什么时候?”
" April 1967," he said.
“1967年4月，”他答道。
It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life.
向一个游戏人生的人提问这么严肃的问题，我真是自讨苦吃。
It served me right for putting a serious question to someone who has joked his way through life.
向一个游戏人生的人提问这么严肃的问题，我真是自讨苦吃。
But Lan's answer reminded me that when we think about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, a pinnacle of sheer delight—and those pinnacles seem to get rarer the older we get.
但是伊恩的话启发了我，当我们考虑幸福的时候，我们通常想到一些不同寻常的事情和愉快无比的时刻，而随着年龄的增长，这种时刻是越来越少。
For a child, happiness has a magical quality. I remember making hide-outs in newly cut hay, playing cops and robbers in the woods, getting a speaking part in the school play.
对一个孩子来说，幸福有着梦幻般的色彩。记得我曾在新鲜的干草丛中捉迷藏；在树林里玩“警察与小偷”；在学校的戏剧里扮演有台词的角色。
Of course, kids also experience lows, but their delight at such peaks of pleasure as winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved.
当然，孩子也有情绪低落的时候；但是，因为赢得一场比赛，或得了一辆新车，他们会毫不掩饰地快乐到极点。
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love, popularity and whether that zit will clear up before prom night.
到了青少年时期，幸福观发生了变化。突然间幸福有了条件，例如：刺激、爱情、名气以及舞会前青春痘是否能消除等。
I can still feel the agony of not being invited to a party that almost everyone else was going to. But I also recall the ecstasy of being plucked from obscurity at another event to dance with a John Travolta look-alike.
我清楚地记得，大家都去参加一个舞会，而我末被邀请时的痛苦。但也记得，在另—次活动中，我意外地与—个貌似约翰·特拉沃尔塔的人共舞时的兴奋。
In adulthood the things that bring profound joy—birth, love, marriage—also bring responsibility and the risk of loss. Love may not last, it isn't always good, loved ones die. For adults, happiness is complicated.
成年后，能带来深深欢乐的事情（如出生、爱情和婚姻），同时也带来了责任和失去的危险。爱情可能会消逝，性爱也不总是如意，心爱的人可能会死去。对于成人来说，幸福很复杂。
My dictionary defines happy as “lucky” or “fortunate”, but I think a better definition of happiness is “the capacity for enjoyment”.
字典里幸福的定义是“幸运”或“好运”，但我认为幸福更好的定义是“感受快乐的能力”。
The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are. It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from loving and being loved, the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, even good health.
更多地享受我们拥有的一切，我们就能更多地享受幸福。但是，爱与被爱，友人相伴，简单的生活，甚至健康的体魄，这些细碎的快乐却很容易被我们忽视。
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