摘要：當(dāng)人們?nèi)ミh(yuǎn)方度假時(shí)，往往會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)間過(guò)得與平時(shí)很不一樣。熱帶地區(qū)悠閑的節(jié)奏讓我們習(xí)慣于“島上的時(shí)間”，過(guò)得更加放松。去大城市令人興奮，卻也被充滿活力的快節(jié)奏生活弄得筋疲力盡。

　　While on vacation in distant locales, people often find that time moves quite differently than inthe places they’re used to. In the tropics, we settle into the grooves of “island time” and relaxthanks to a more leisurely rhythm. A trip to a big city can leave us exhilarated but alsodrained by the energetic whir of life there.

　　The different paces of different communities also seem to be connected to other culturalcharacteristics. Robert Levine and his colleagues have studied the speed of life in cities aroundthe world and across the U.S. In a series of experiments they measured how fast solitarypedestrians in a downtown core covered a distance of 60 feet (being careful to exclude thosewho are obviously window shopping), timed how long it took to complete a simple commercialtransaction, and recorded the accuracy of randomly selected clocks in the downtownbusiness area. They found that places with a faster pace of life also had more robust economies(as measured by GDP per capita, average purchasing power, and average caloric intake), andthat people in larger cities tended to move faster than those in less populated areas. They alsofound truth to the stereotype that people move slower in hotter places.

金錢買不到幸福 或許時(shí)間可以

　　據(jù)科技雜志Nautilus報(bào)道，當(dāng)人們?nèi)ミh(yuǎn)方度假時(shí)，往往會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)時(shí)間過(guò)得與平時(shí)很不一樣。熱帶地區(qū)悠閑的節(jié)奏讓我們習(xí)慣于“島上的時(shí)間”，過(guò)得更加放松。去大城市令人興奮，卻也被充滿活力的快節(jié)奏生活弄得筋疲力盡。

　　群體間不同的生活節(jié)奏是與他們的文化有關(guān)的。羅伯特?萊文和他的同事們對(duì)全球各個(gè)城市和美國(guó)各地的生活節(jié)奏做了一個(gè)調(diào)查。通過(guò)一系列的實(shí)驗(yàn)，他們計(jì)算出了每個(gè)城市里的人走過(guò)60英尺需要的時(shí)間(他們仔細(xì)地將其中明顯是在逛街的人排除在外)，計(jì)算了一樁買賣成交需要的時(shí)間，并且記錄了在中心商業(yè)區(qū)隨機(jī)挑選的時(shí)鐘的準(zhǔn)確性。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)節(jié)奏快的地方往往是那些經(jīng)濟(jì)更加發(fā)達(dá)的地方(通過(guò)對(duì)比人均GDP、平均購(gòu)買力還有平均熱量攝入)，并且人們?cè)诖蟪鞘欣锉仍谌丝谏俚牡胤阶叩酶臁Ｋ麄円舶l(fā)現(xiàn)了人們?cè)跓岬牡胤阶叩酶@一慣例。

　　So as you might expect, fast-moving people are associated with fast-moving economies. Butdoes that faster life translate into greater happiness? In faster places (specifically, economicallydeveloped areas of North America, Western Europe, and Asia), people were more likely tosmoke, less likely to take the time to help strangers in need, and more likely to die fromcoronary heart disease. Yet Levine and his colleagues found that residents in faster placestended to report feeling somewhat happier with their lives than those who lived in slower places.A city’s pace of life was indeed “significantly related” to the physical, social, and psychologicalwell-being of its inhabitants.

　　正如你所想象的那樣，快節(jié)奏的人們和高速增長(zhǎng)的經(jīng)濟(jì)相關(guān)。但是快節(jié)奏的生活就意味著幸福么?在快節(jié)奏的地方(尤其是經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)達(dá)地區(qū)，如北美、西歐和亞洲)，更多的人抽煙，更少的人會(huì)去幫助那些需要幫助的人，并且更容易死于冠心病。但是萊文和他的同事們發(fā)現(xiàn)，在快節(jié)奏城市生活的人覺(jué)得自己比那些生活在慢節(jié)奏城市的人更加幸福。一個(gè)城市的生活節(jié)奏明顯與居民的身體健康、社會(huì)意識(shí)和心理狀態(tài)息息相關(guān)。

　　Perhaps the higher reported rates of happiness simply reflect the fact that faster places havemore robust economies. But the relationship between income and reported happiness is farfrom obvious. According to the “Easterlin paradox” (named after economist Richard Easterlin),once people have enough money to meet their basic needs, having more money is notnecessarily correlated with higher self-reported happiness. Easterlin’s claims are controversialand not universally accepted; even if his theory is correct, wealthier nations might be happieroverall if they address the basic needs to more of their people. In any case, the ongoingdebate indicates that we need to tread carefully when making connections between happinessand overall economic factors.

　　也許更高的幸福指數(shù)反應(yīng)出了這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)：快節(jié)奏的城市擁有更好的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展。但是收入與幸福指數(shù)間的關(guān)系并不明顯。根據(jù)伊斯特林悖論(以經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家理查德?伊斯特林的名字命名)，一旦人們擁有足夠的錢滿足基本的生活需求，收入與幸福指數(shù)關(guān)聯(lián)得并不緊密。伊斯特林悖論存在著爭(zhēng)議也沒(méi)有被普遍接受，盡管他的理論是對(duì)的，在滿足了更多人們的基本生活需求時(shí)，總的來(lái)說(shuō)更富有的國(guó)家幸福指數(shù)會(huì)高些。無(wú)論如何，依舊持續(xù)著的爭(zhēng)議告訴我們將幸福指數(shù)和整體經(jīng)濟(jì)因素進(jìn)行關(guān)聯(lián)時(shí)需要多加小心。

　　Among individuals in a society, busyness—or the feeling of busyness—seems to be animportant factor in well-being. That feeling of busyness—of having a lot to do and too littletime in which to do itis often associated with stress and anxiety. However in many contextsbeing “busy” is badge of honor: Busy parents are seen as devoted to their children’s well-being, the busy real estate agent must be closing lots of sales, and the busy lawyer can chargea premium hourly rate. In US studies, the happiest people reported that they were busy, in thesense that they had little excess time, yet did not feel rushed. Like big-city dwellers, theyseemed to thrive at a faster pace.

　　對(duì)社會(huì)中的個(gè)體來(lái)說(shuō)，忙碌——或者感覺(jué)忙碌——似乎是影響狀態(tài)的重要因素。忙碌的感覺(jué)——有很多的事情要做，卻沒(méi)有多少時(shí)間的感覺(jué)經(jīng)常帶來(lái)壓力與焦慮。但在很多的情況下，忙碌是一個(gè)光榮的標(biāo)志：忙碌的父母被認(rèn)為是為了讓孩子過(guò)得好;忙碌的房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人則與客戶更加親密;忙碌的律師的時(shí)薪也更高。在美國(guó)的調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，幸福指數(shù)最高的人都很忙，也就意味著他們沒(méi)有多余的時(shí)間，也不覺(jué)得匆忙。就好像大城市的居民們，他們似乎喜歡更快的生活節(jié)奏。

　　Levine’s work raises the intriguing possibility that an individual’s feelings about their use oftime contribute as much or more to their happiness as does economics. Now the bigchallenge is to find out which way the causal chain works: Does the feeling of being active, yetnot rushed, contribute to happiness? Or does happiness allow people to perceive their use oftime in positive ways?

　　萊文的研究顯示了對(duì)時(shí)間利用的個(gè)人感覺(jué)可能比經(jīng)濟(jì)更加影響幸福指數(shù)?，F(xiàn)在的問(wèn)題時(shí)需要找出這樣的影響是怎樣發(fā)生的：是因?yàn)槌鋵?shí)并不匆忙的感覺(jué)令人幸福?還是幸福讓人們更加積極地利用他們的時(shí)間?

　　你是我的幸福

　　She was dancing. My crippled grandmother wasdancing. I stood in the living room doorwayabsolutely stunned. I glanced at the kitchen tableand sure enough-right under a small, framed drawingon the wall-was a freshly baked peach pie.

　　她在跳舞。我那身有殘疾的祖母居然在跳舞。我站在客廳的門口,被徹底驚呆了。我掃了一眼廚房的餐桌,果不其然,在餐桌上——墻上那幅小小的鑲框畫像的正下方——有一塊新鮮出爐的烤蜜桃派。

　　I heard her sing when I opened the door but did notwant to interrupt the beautiful song by yelling I hadarrived, so I just tiptoed to the living room. I looked at how her still-lean body bent beautifully,her arms greeting the sunlight that was pouring through the window. And her legs… Those legsthat had stiffly walked, aided with a cane, insensible shoes as long as I could remember. Nowshe was wearing beautiful dancing shoes and her legs obeyed her perfectly. No limping. Nostiffness. Just beautiful, fluid motion. She was the pet of the dancing world. And then she’d hadher accident and it was all over. I had read that in an old newspaper clipping.

　　當(dāng)我推門進(jìn)屋的時(shí)候,我聽(tīng)到了她在唱歌,但我不想大喊自己回來(lái)了,不想打斷那美妙的歌聲,于是我踮著腳尖走到客廳。我看著她那依然消瘦的身體優(yōu)雅地彎下,她的手臂迎向從窗口傾瀉而入的陽(yáng)光。而她的腿……自我能記事以來(lái),她總是拄著拐杖,穿著便鞋,走起路來(lái)腿腳僵硬?？涩F(xiàn)在,她正穿著美麗的舞鞋,而她的雙腿完全聽(tīng)從著她的支配。不再蹣跚,不再僵硬。只有優(yōu)美、流暢的動(dòng)作。她曾是舞蹈界的寵兒?？墒呛髞?lái)她遭遇了一場(chǎng)意外,舞蹈生涯因此而結(jié)束。我是從一張老舊的剪報(bào)中讀到這個(gè)的。

　　She turned around in a slow pirouette and saw me standing in the doorway. Her song ended,and her beautiful movements with it, so abruptly that it felt like being shaken awake from abeautiful dream. The sudden silence rang in my ears. Grandma looked so much like a kidcaught with her hand in a cookie jar that I couldn’t help myself, and a slightly nervous laughterescaped. Grandma sighed and turned towards the kitchen. I followed her, not believing myeyes. She was walking with no difficulties in her beautiful shoes. We sat down by the table andcut ourselves big pieces of her delicious peach pie.

　　她緩緩地轉(zhuǎn)身做了一個(gè)足尖旋轉(zhuǎn),見(jiàn)到我站在門口。她的歌聲嘎然而止,還有她那優(yōu)美的動(dòng)作,一切停止得如此突然,感覺(jué)像是從一場(chǎng)美夢(mèng)中被人搖醒了。突如其來(lái)的寂靜沖擊著我的耳朵。祖母看起來(lái)很像是一個(gè)伸手從餅干罐里偷吃卻被抓了個(gè)正著的小孩,我不禁發(fā)出了一陣略帶一絲緊張的大笑。祖母嘆了口氣,轉(zhuǎn)身走向廚房。我跟在她身后,還是不敢相信自己的眼睛。她穿著那雙美麗的舞鞋,行走自如。我們坐在了桌邊,從她那美味的蜜桃派中切出了大大的幾塊,倆人一起吃。

　　“So…” I blurted, “How did your leg heal?”

　　“那么……”我脫口而出道,“你的腿是怎么好了的?”

　　“To tell you the truth—my legs have been well all my life,” she said.

　　“跟你說(shuō)實(shí)話吧——我的腿一直都挺好的,”她說(shuō)。

　　“But I don’t understand!” I said, “Your dancing career… I mean… You pretended all theseyears?

　　“可是我不明白!”我說(shuō),“你的舞蹈事業(yè)……我是說(shuō)……難道這些年來(lái)你一直在假裝?”

　　“Very much so,” Grandmother closed her eyes and savored the peach pie, “And for a very goodreason.”

　　“的確如此,”祖母閉上眼睛,品嘗著蜜桃派,“而且是因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)非常好的理由。”

　　“What reason?”

　　“什么理由?”

　　“Your grandfather.”

　　“你的祖父。”

　　“You mean he told you not to dance?”

　　“你是說(shuō),他讓你不要再跳舞了?”

　　“No, this was my choice. I am sure I would have lost him if I had continued dancing. I weighedfame and love against each other and love won.”

　　“不,這是我自己的選擇。我確信如果我再繼續(xù)跳舞的話,我就會(huì)失去他了。我權(quán)衡名利和愛(ài)情孰輕孰重之后,選擇了愛(ài)情。”

　　She thought for a while and then continued. “We were talking about engagement when yourgrandfather had to go to war. It was the most horrible day of my life when he left. I was soafraid of losing him, the only way I could stay sane was to dance. I put all my energy and timeinto practicing—and I became very good. Critics praised me, the public loved me, but all I couldfeel was the ache in my heart, not knowing whether the love of my life would ever return. Then Iwent home and read and re-read his letters until I fell asleep. He always ended his letters with‘You are my Joy. I love you with my life’ and after that he wrote his name. And then one day aletter came. There were only three sentences: ‘I have lost my leg. I am no longer a whole manand now give you back your freedom. It is best you forget about me.’”

　　她想了一下,然后接著說(shuō)道:“當(dāng)你祖父不得不去從軍參戰(zhàn)的時(shí)候,我們已經(jīng)到了談婚論嫁的階段了。他離開(kāi)的那段日子是我一生中度過(guò)的最可怕的時(shí)期。我很害怕會(huì)失去他,能讓我不至于瘋掉的唯一方法就是跳舞。我把我所有的精力和時(shí)間都投入到了練習(xí)之中,于是我成為了很棒的舞者。評(píng)論家對(duì)我好評(píng)連連,公眾對(duì)我鐘情有嘉,可我唯一能感覺(jué)到的卻是我心中的痛,因?yàn)椴恢牢乙簧膿磹?ài)是否能平安歸來(lái)。然后我回到家里,一遍又一遍地讀著他的來(lái)信,直到睡去。他總是在信的結(jié)尾寫著:‘你是我的幸福。愛(ài)你一生。’然后才是他的簽名。但有一天我又收到了他的來(lái)信。信中只有三句話:‘我失去了一條腿。我不再是一個(gè)完整的人了,所以現(xiàn)在我將自由歸還給你。你最好還是把我忘掉吧。’”

　　“I made my decision there and then. I took my leave, and traveled away from the city. When Ireturned I had bought myself a cane and wrapped my leg tightly with bandages. I told everyoneI had been in a car crash and that my leg would never completely heal again. My dancing dayswere over. No one suspected the story—I had learned to limp convincingly before I returnedhome. And I made sure the first person to hear of my accident was a reporter I knew well. ThenI traveled to the hospital. They had pushed your grandfather outside in his wheelchair. Therewas a cane on the ground by his wheelchair. I took a deep breath, leaned on my cane andlimped to him. ”

　　“于是我立刻做出了決定。我向眾人告別,離開(kāi)了這個(gè)城市。當(dāng)我再度歸來(lái)的時(shí)候,我為自己買了一副拐杖,并用繃帶把我的腿包得緊緊的。我告訴每一個(gè)人,說(shuō)我遭遇了一場(chǎng)車禍,我的腿再也不可能完全復(fù)原了。我的舞蹈生涯就此結(jié)束了。沒(méi)有人懷疑這個(gè)故事——我在回家之前已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)如何惟妙惟肖地跛行。我確保第一個(gè)聽(tīng)說(shuō)我出車禍的是一位我熟知的記者。接著我來(lái)到了你祖父所在的醫(yī)院。他們用輪椅把他推了出來(lái)。在他輪椅旁邊的地上有一副拐杖。我深深吸了一口氣,靠在我的拐杖上,一瘸一拐地向他走去。”

　　By now I had forgotten about the pie and listened to grandma, mesmerized. “What happenedthen?” I hurried her when she took her time eating some pie.

　　此刻,我已經(jīng)忘記了那塊蜜桃派,入迷地聽(tīng)著祖母說(shuō)話。“然后發(fā)生了什么事情呢?”當(dāng)她停下來(lái)吃了幾口派時(shí),我追問(wèn)道。

　　“I told him he was not the only one who had lost a leg, even if mine was still attached to me. Ishowed him newspaper clippings of my accident. ‘So if you think I’m going to let you feel sorryfor yourself for the rest of your life, think again. There is a whole life waiting for us out there! Idon’t intend to be sorry for myself. But I have enough on my plate as it is, so you’d bettersnap out of it too. And I am not going to carry you-you are going to walk yourself.’” Grandmagiggled, a surprisingly girlish sound coming from an old lady with white hair.

　　“我告訴他,他并不是唯一失去了一條腿的人,盡管我的腿沒(méi)給截掉。我給他看了關(guān)于我發(fā)生車禍的剪報(bào)。‘所以,如果你覺(jué)得我會(huì)讓你在余生自怨自艾,想都別想。在外面還有全新的生活在等待著我們!我不打算為此而顧影自憐。而眼下我要做的事情已經(jīng)夠多的了,所以你最好也趕緊給我振作起來(lái)。而且你可別想我會(huì)背你——你要自己向前走。’”祖母咯咯地笑著,這位滿頭銀發(fā)的老婦人令人吃驚地發(fā)出了少女般的笑聲。

　　“I limped a few steps toward him and showed him what I’d taken out of my pocket. ‘Now showme you are still a man,’ I said, ‘I won’t ask again.’ He bent to take his cane from the groundand struggled out of that wheelchair. I could see he had not done it before, because he almostfell on his face, having only one leg. But I was not going to help. And so he managed it on hisown and walked to me and never sat in a wheelchair again in his life.”

　　“我一瘸一拐地走開(kāi)了幾步,然后讓他看我從口袋里掏出的一樣?xùn)|西。‘現(xiàn)在讓我看看,你還是個(gè)男子漢。我可不會(huì)說(shuō)第二次。’他彎下腰從地上拿起他的拐杖,掙扎著從那副輪椅中站出來(lái)?？梢钥吹贸鏊皬奈催@樣做過(guò),現(xiàn)在只有一條腿的他差點(diǎn)撲倒在地。但我沒(méi)打算幫他。接著他設(shè)法自己站穩(wěn)了,向我走來(lái),而且在他的后半生里再也沒(méi)有坐回到輪椅上。”

　　“What did you show him?” I had to know. Grandma looked at me and grinned. “Twoengagement rings, of course. I had bought them the day after he left for the war and I wasnot going to waste them on any other man.”

　　“你給他看了什么東西呢?”我一定要知道。祖母看著我咧嘴而笑,說(shuō)道:“當(dāng)然是一對(duì)訂婚戒指了。在他從軍參戰(zhàn)的第二天我就買了這對(duì)戒指,我可不想把戒指浪費(fèi)在任

　　何其他男人身上。”

　　I looked at the drawing on the kitchen wall, sketched by my grandfather’s hand so many yearsbefore. The picture became distorted as tears filled my eyes. “You are my Joy. I love you withmy life.” I murmured quietly. The young woman in the drawing sat on her park bench and withtwinkling eyes smiled broadly at me, an engagement ring carefully drawn on her finger.

　　我看著廚房墻壁上的那幅畫像,那是多年前我祖父親手繪就的。我眼中滿含淚水,眼前的畫像變得模糊起來(lái)。“你是我的幸福。愛(ài)你一生。”我輕聲低語(yǔ)道。畫像中的年輕女人坐在公園長(zhǎng)椅上,眼神清亮,笑容可掬地看著我,她的手指上被精心地畫有一枚訂婚戒指。