全文。。不小心看过
Irecentlyturnedfifty,whichisyoungforatree,midlifeforanelephant,andancientforasportsman,FiftyisanicenumberforthestatesintheUSorforanationalspeedlimitbutitisnotanumberthatIwaspreparedtohavehungonme.Fiftyissupposedtobemyfather'sage,butnowIamstuckwiththisnumberandeverythingitmeans.
Afewdaysago,afriendtriedtocheermeupbysaying,“Fiftyiswhatfortyusedtobe.”Hehadmadeaninspirationalpoint.AmIoverthehill?Peoplekeeptellingmethatthehillhasbeenmoved,andIkeeptellingthemthathehigh-jumpbarhasdroppedfromthesixfeetIonceeasilyclearedtothefourfeetthatisimpossibleformenow.
“You’renotgettingolder,youaregettingbetter.”saysDr.JoyceBrothers.This,however,isthekindofdoctorwhoinspiresasecondopinion.
Andso,asIapproachthedaywhenIcannotevenjumpoverthetennisnet,Iammovedtosharesomethoughtsonagingwithyou.Iammovedtoshowhowagingfeelstomephysicallyandmentally.Gettingolder,ofcourse,isobviouslyabetterchangethantheonethatbringsyoueulogies(悼词).Infact,apoetnamedRobertBrowningconsidereditthebestchangeofall:
Growoldalongwithme!
Thebestisyettome.
WhetherornotBrowningwasright,mostofmyfirstfiftyyearshavebeengoldenones,soIwillsettleforwhatisaheadbeingasgoodaswhathasgoneby.Ifindmyselfmovingtowardwhatisaheadwithacuriousblend(混合)ofbothfightingandacceptingmyaging,hopingthatthephilosopher(哲学家)wasrightwhenhesaid.”Oldisalwaysfifteenyearsfromnow.”
我很快就要五十岁了。五十岁,对于一棵树来说正值青葱岁月,对于一头象则意味着中年,而对于运动员而言却已是垂垂老矣。在美国,五十是个吉祥的数字,它不仅是美国州的总数和,还是国家车速限制。可惜它不是我准备好去迎接的数字。五十应该是我父亲的岁数,但现在我却被这个数字和它所代表的一切吓着了。
很多天以前,一个朋友试着逗我开心,说道:“过去四十岁是怎么样的,现在五十岁也是怎么样。”他的话令我犹如醍醐灌顶。我上年岁了吗?在走下坡路了吗?人们一直告诉我我没有变老;我一直告诉他们:我曾经可以轻松跳过六英尺高的跳高横木,可如今把它降到四英尺高我也跳不过去。
医生跟我说:“你没有变老,而是变得更好了。”然而,这只是医生体贴安慰的话,想激发我有不同的想法。
总有一天,我会连网球网都跳不过去;当我离那天越来越近时,我转而开始跟你们分享一些我对于年老的看法。我开始展示我的身心在如何感知年老的步伐。当然了,变老显然是比死亡更好的一个改变。事实上诗人罗伯特·布朗宁认为最美妙的改变莫过于变老了,有诗为证:“与我偕老吧!好景还在后。”
不管布朗宁是对是错,我的前五十年的大部分时光都过得很精彩,所以我将满足于把将来的日子过得跟往日一样滋润。我发觉自己在前进的同时头脑中交织着一些古怪的想法,既抵抗又接受自己在变老,希望哲学家说的是对的:“从现在起的十五年后才算老。”
注:不是Thebestisyettome.而是Thebestisyettobe.
其中thehillhasbeenmoved/inspiresasecondopinion/Iammovedto…不是很理解,所以可能不是很准确,你还要斟酌修改一下。