名篇背诵：The Misfortunes of Human Beings 人类的灾难

The Misfortunes of Human Beings 人类的灾难

B. 罗素(B. Russell)

The misfortunes of human beings may be divided into two classes:first, those inflicted by the non-human environment and, second, those inflicted by other people. As mankind have progressed in knowledge and technique, the second class has become a continually increasing percentage of the total. In old times, famine, for example, was due to natural causes, and although people did their best to combat it, large numbers of them died of starvation. At the present moment large parts of the world are faced with the threat of famine, but although natural causes have contributed to the situation, the principal causes are human. For six years the civilized nations of the world devoted all their best energies to killing each other, and they find it difficult suddenly to switch over to keeping each other alive. Having destroyed harvests, dismantled agricultural machinery, and disorganized shipping, they find it no easy matter to relieve the shortage of crops in one place by means of a superabundance in another, as would easily be done if the economic system were in normal working order. As this illustration shows, it is now man that is man's worst enemy. Nature, it is true, still sees to it that we are mortal, but with the progress in medicine it will become more and more common for people to live until they have had their fill of life. We are supposed to wish to live for ever and to look forward to the unending joys of heaven, of which, by miracle, the monotony will never grow stale. But in fact, if you question any candid person who is no longer young, he is very likely to tell you that, having tasted life in this world, he has no wish to begin again as a “new boy” in another. For the future, therefore, it may be taken that much the most important evils that mankind have to consider are those which they inflict upon each other through stupidity or malevolence or both.

- inflict [ɪnˈflɪkt] v. 使遭受(损伤、苦痛等)

- non-human [nɒnˈhjuːmən] a. 非人类的，不属于人类的

- dismantle [dɪsˈmæntl] v. 拆除……的设备(装备)

- superabundance [ˌsuːpərəˈbʌndəns] n. 过多；多余

- monotony [məˈnɒtnɪ] n. 单调，千篇一律

- malevolence [məˈlevələns] n. 恶意，恶毒

人类的不幸可以分为两种：第一是天灾，第二是人祸。天灾随着人类知识和技术的进步已有所控制，人祸所占的比例则持续增加。比如说，在古代，饥荒是由自然因素造成的，虽然人类尽力抗争，但仍有大批的人死于饥饿。现在，世界上的许多地方都面临着饥荒的威胁，虽然自然因素对这种状况有一定影响，但主要原因还是人类自己。六年了，世界上的文明国家倾力相互残杀，突然发现很难转变过来使双方生存下去。毁坏了庄稼，拆除了农业机械，中止了装船运粮，结果他们发现无法减轻粮食短缺，虽然别的地方粮食富足有余，而在经济体系正常运转的情况下，这本是很容易办到的。如此例所示，人才是人类最凶恶的敌人。的确，大自然仍主宰着我们的生死，但是随着医学的进步，人们尽享天年将会越来越普遍了。我们都会希望自己长生不老，祈盼着天堂的无尽欢乐，奇迹出现，那无尽的欢乐永远新鲜，永远相伴。但事实上，如果你询问任何一个不再年轻的坦诚的人，他很可能会告诉你，尝遍了现世人生的酸甜苦辣，他不希望在另一个世界重新当一个“新男孩”。在未来，可以认为，人类必须考虑的最恶毒的坏事，都是人类自己由于愚蠢和邪恶一手炮制的。