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　　lesson11-13

　　談睡眠

　　Lesson Eleven 　On Getting off to Sleep

　　人真是充滿矛盾啊！ 毫無疑問，幽默是惟一幫助我們擺脫矛盾的辦法，要是沒有它，我們就會死于煩惱。

　　What a bundle of contradictions is a man！ Surety， humour is the saving grace of us， for without it we should die of vexation.

　　在我看來，沒有什么比睡眠更能說明事物間的矛盾。

　　With me， nothing illustrates the contrariness of things better than the matter of sleep.

　　比如，我打算寫一篇文章，面前放好了筆、墨和幾張白紙，準保沒寫幾個字我就會困得要命，無論當時是幾點都會那樣。

　　If， for example， my intention is to write an essay， and 1 have before me ink and pens and several sheets of virgin paper， you may depend upon it that before I have gone very far I feel an overpowering desire for sleep， no matter what time of the day it is.

　　我瞪著那似乎在譴責我的白紙，直到眼前一片模糊，聲音也難以辨清，只有靠意志力才能勉強堅持。

　　I stare at the reproachfully blank paper until sights and sounds become dim and confused， and it is only by an effort of will that I can continue at all.

　　即使這時，我也會迷迷糊糊地像在做夢一樣繼續堅持工作。

　　Even then， I proceed half-heartedly， in a kind of dream.

　　但是當深夜躺在床上，我什么事都能干，只有睡覺無法做到。

　　But let me be between the sheets at a late hour， and I can do any-thing but sleep.

　　隨著時鐘一遍一遍的報時，我可以完成大量的文章。

　　Between chime and chime of the clock I can write essays by the score.

　　極有吸引力的主題和崇高的思想紛紛出現在腦海，隨之而來的還有恰如其分的意象和措辭。

　　Fascinating subjects and noble ideas come pell-mell， each with its appropriate imagery and expression.

　　除了筆、墨和紙，什么也不能阻止我寫出半打不朽的杰作。

　　Nothing stands between me and half-a-dozen imperishable masterpieces but pens， ink， and paper.

　　如果，我們的思想和主觀意象對于來世的人來說真的就像我們的書本和圖片一樣是有形的、摸得著的，那么我在來世會比在今生獲得更高的聲譽。

　　If it be true that our thoughts and mental images are perfectly tangible things， like our books and pictures， to the inhabitants of the next world， then I am making for myself a better reputation there than I am in this place.

　　只要我躺在床上有一兩個小時睡不著覺，我就能令自己滿意地解決人類一切的疑慮。

　　Give me a restless hour or two in bed and I can solve， to my own satisfaction， all the doubts of humanity.

　　如果我有興致的話，我可以譜寫出宏偉的交響樂，描繪出壯麗的畫卷。

　　When I am in the humour I can compose grand symphonies， and paint magnificent pictures.

　　我就是莎士比亞、貝多芬和米開朗基羅。但這一切仍無法令我滿意，因為我還是無法入睡。

　　I am， at once， Shakespeare， Beethoven， and Michael Angelo； yet it gives me no satisfaction； for the one thing I cannot do is to go to sleep.

　　一旦到了上床睡覺時間，五個攝取知識的港口就要關閉的時候，我認識的大多數人似乎都能很容易就忘卻了他們在塵世的作用，很快進入夢鄉，而我卻不能。

　　Once in bed， when it is time to close the five ports of knowledge， most folks I know seem to find no difficulty in plunging their earthly parts into oblivion.

　　對我來說，睡眼就像一個忸怩羞怯的情婦，喜歡反復無常地挑逗男人，讓男人不停地向她求愛——“惟恐讓男人得的太容易而顯得自己身價太低。”

　　It is not so with me， to whom sleep is a coy mistress， much given to a teasing inconsistency and for ever demanding to be wooed —“lest too light winning make the prize light”。

　　我曾詫異地讀過一些大肆吹捧那些好戰的超人、世界和平的巨大威脅者，諸如克倫威爾、拿破侖之類的文章，文章里說他們“鋼鐵般的意志”使他們一躺下就能熟睡，并在某一特定時間醒來，精神抖擻。

　　I used to read， with wonder， those sycophantic stories of the warlike supermen， the great troublers of the world''s peace， Cromwell， Napoleon， and the like， who， thanks to their “iron wills”， could lie down and plunge themselves immediately into deep sleep， to wake up， refreshed， at a given time.

　　這些故事給了我很大的震動，我決心像他們那樣做。于是上床后，我就緊咬牙關，在黑暗中盡可能顯得意志堅定，命令睡眠立刻到來。

　　Taking these fables to heart， I would resolve to do likewise， and， going to bed， would clench my teeth， look as determined as possible in the darkness， and command the immediate presence of sleep.

　　但是，天哪 ！高度集中的精力讓我比任何時候都清醒，我不得不在折磨人的失眠中捱過幾個鐘頭。

　　But alas！ The very act of concentration seemed to make me more wakeful than ever， and I would pass hours in tormenting sleeplessness.

　　我忽略了擁有“鋼鐵般意志”的必要性，我自己的意志力中很少或干脆沒有這種特殊的金屬性質。

　　I had overlooked the necessity of having an “iron will”， my own powers of will having little or none of this peculiar metallic quality.

　　但是同這些具有鋼鐵般意志的人生活在一起會是多么不舒服啊！

　　But how uncomfortable it must have been living with these ironwilled folks！

　　誰愿意勸告他們，與他們爭辯呢？

　　Who would want to remonstrate and argue with them？

　　那還不如用大鐵錘打鐵砧。

　　It would be worse than beating an anvil with a sledge hammer.

　　我承認我一直懷疑那些夸耀自己一上床就能睡著的人——那些“頭一沾枕頭就睡著”的家伙們。

　　I must confess that I always suspect the men who boast that they unvaryingly fall asleep as soon as they get into bed — those “as soon as my head touches the pillow” fellows.

　　我覺得這種習慣中有某種不近人情的、冷酷的、麻木的東西。

　　To me， there is something inhuman， something callous and almost bovine， in the practice.

　　我對這種人對較高級事物的鑒賞力表示懷疑。

　　I suspect their taste in higher matters.

　　拋開鋼鐵般意志不談，那種把他清醒時的感覺及思想隨同衣服拋在一邊，并完全無視那些有時會從十年前隱藏的記憶中跳出來回憶和幻想的人，一定缺乏人類的同情心和造詣深度。

　　Iron wills apart， there must be a lack of human sympathy or depth in a man who can thus throw off， with his clothes， his waking feelings and thoughts， and ignore completely those memories and fancies which

　　……will sometimes leap，

　　From hiding-places ten years deep.

　　與這種人同住一室會使人對人性喪失信心，因為即使是最重要的一天，同這種人也無法溝通交流，也沒有什么午夜的密談，更沒有一同商議一天的痛苦和快樂究竟有多少。

　　To share a bedroom with one of these fellows is to lose one''s faith in human nature， for， even after the most eventful day， there is no comparing notes with them， no midnight confidence， no casting up the balance of the day''s pleasure and pain.

　　他們很快就進入了愚蠢的熟睡中，留下你一人在心里折騰，而且他們還都鼾聲如雷，十分討厭。

　　They sink， at once， into stupid， heavy slumber， leaving you to your own mental devices. And they all snore abominably！

　　人工催眠的方法多不勝舉，惟一的相同之處就是都不管用。

　　The artificial ways of inducing sleep are legion， and are only alike in their ineffectuality

　　在《拉文格羅》（或者是《吉卜賽男人》）一書中有一個無可救藥的人，患有失眠癥，他發現華爾華斯的一卷詩集是惟一有效的催眠劑，但那只不過是伯羅的惡作劇而已。

　　In Lavengro （or is it Romany Rye？） there is an impossible character， a victim of insomnia， who finds that a volume of Wordsworth''s poems is the only sure soporific； but that was Borrow s malice.

　　那個有名的數跳過籬笆墻臺階的山羊的老辦法對我從來都不起作用。

　　The famous old plan of counting sheep jumping over a stile has never served my turn.

　　我在想像中牧羊，一直想到它們不知怎地都變成了白熊和藍豬。我倒想看看哪個有理智的人能在趕著一群天藍色的豬的時候進入夢鄉。

　　I have herded imaginary sheep until they insisted on turning themselves into white bears or blue pigs， and I defy any reasonable man to fall asleep while mustering a herd of cerulean swine.

　　前不久，我和一位老朋友談到這個問題，她給了我一個治失眠的特別好用的方子，就是她想像自己一遍一遍地重復一些瑣碎事，直到她對生活的單調感到厭煩而進入夢鄉。

　　Discussing the question， some times ago， with an old friend， she gave me her never-failing remedy for sleeplessness， which was to imagine herself performing some trivial action over and over again， until， her mind becoming disgusted with the monotony of life， sleep drew the curtain.

　　她最喜歡的方法就是想像墻上的一幅畫沒有掛正，然后著手將它擺正。

　　Her favourite device was to imagine a picture not hanging quite plumb upon the wall， and then to proceed to straighten it.

　　我嘗試了這種方法——盡管把畫掛正并不是我的習慣——但毫無效果。

　　This I tried —though putting pictures straight is no habit of mine—but it was of no avail.

　　我可以毫不困難地想像出墻上有一幅畫，也可以很熟練地移動幾下，但這么一來我想到了一般的畫，然后我又想到了我和朋友T君一塊參加的畫展，他說了什么，我又說了什么，接著我又想到了T君最近過得如何，他的兒子是否還在上學。

　　I imagined the picture on the wall without difficulty， and gave it a few deft touches， but this set me thinking of pictures in general， and then I remembered an art exhibition I had attended with my friend T. and what he said， and what I said， and I wondered how T. was faring these days， and whether his son was still at school.

　　如此繼續下去，直到我發現自己沉浸在奶酪、招魂術和落基山脈的遐想之中——但仍沒有睡意！

　　And so it went on， until I found myself meditating on cheese， or spiritualism， or the Rocky Mountains—but no sleep！

　　然后又想像到在《解放的普羅米修斯》中描述的那個地獄邊緣的某個地方，那個充滿了人類夢想和愉快想像的模糊地帶，有著陰沉可怕的幽靈，一幅畫歪掛在鬼影般的墻上。

　　Somewhere in that limbo which Earth describes in Prometheus Unbound， that vague region filled with Dreams and the light imaginings of men， is the dreary phantom of an unstraightened picture upon a ghostly wall.

　　就讓它呆在那里吧，因為我再也用不著它了。

　　And there it shall stay， for I have no further use for it.

　　但我對能找到某種加速睡眠的方法沒有完全放棄希望，還看到了一線希望。重讀蘭姆的書信集時（這不是第一次，但愿也不是最后一次），在他寫給騷塞的便條中，我看到了下面這段話：“在我辦公室里有一位H先生，他從早到晚不停地寫啊說啊，但總也超不出肉體和物質現實那一套！當我晚上睡不著時，我就想像著和H先生就一假設的題目進行對話，在幻想中一直和他無聊地扯下去，直到我大笑或是睡著為止，我發現這方法很靈驗……”。

　　But I have not yet given up all hope of finding some way of hastening the approach of sleep. Even yet there is a glimmer， for re-reading （not for the first， and， please Heaven！ not the last time） Lamb''s letters， I came upon the following， in a note to Southey； “But there is a man in my office， a Mr. H.， who proses it away from morning lo night， and never gets beyond corporal and material verities！ . . .

　　這方法可能行得通，我們都認識一些H先生式的人，他們的談話毫無想像力，又缺乏智慧，聽了就像服了鴉片一樣。今天晚上我將不再進行諸如數跳籬笆的山羊和擺正掛歪了的畫之類的毫無價值的想像，而去召喚一個極度無聊、乏味的家伙來對話。

　　When I can''t sleep o''nights，I imagine a dialogue with Mr. H，upon a given subject and go prosing on in fancy with him，nil I either laugh or fall asleep. I have literally found it answer. . . “There is promise in this，and we all have our Mr. H. whose talk，bare of anything like fancy and wit，acts upon us like a dose of lau-danum . This very night I will dismiss such trivial phantasies as jumping sheep and crooked pictures，and evoke the phantom of a crushing， stupendous Bore.