标题: 谁是世界上最幸福的人 [打印本页] 作者: celiahe 时间: 2008-5-4 17:26 标题: 谁是世界上最幸福的人 Who Are the Happiest People?
谁是世界上最幸福的人
只有傻瓜才不考虑别人的利益。
抛弃自己国家的传统来创造更好的社会是一种错误的方式。
一个民族失去了自己的神话，就失去了自我。
[1]They live on a windswept island surrounded by glaciers 『冰川；冰河』and volcanoes『火山』. What makes them so content『满足的；甘心的』
[1]他们生活在海风吹拂的小岛上，被冰川和火山所环绕着。是什么使他们如此满足？
[2]In a poll『民意调查』of 18 nations, The Gallup Organization discovered that Icelanders are the happiest people alive. All 267,809 of them. Eighty-two percent are satisfied with their personal lives. The United States ranked『位居；名列』fifth at 72 percent; Japan came in seventh with 42 percent.
[3]Some people would say that happy Iceland is a statistical fluke『侥幸』. This is a country so small, an ordinary citizen can make an appointment to see the president.
[3]有人会说：快乐的冰岛仅仅是统计上的巧合。这个国家如此之小，普通的公民也能受到总统的接见。
[4]True, Iceland is no utopia. Icelanders are big boozers 『酒徒』, with a fishing tradition of binge『狂欢作乐』drinking. Almost a third of the births are out of wedlock『私生的』. But that’s what makes the Gallup study so interesting. Icelanders have problems like the rest of us, yet they are happy with their lot『命运；运气』. So what gives?
[5]Consider Thorir Hlynur Thorisson, 28. For his vacation, he spent a month working 16-hour days, seven days a week, as a fishing guide. It was “heaven on earth,” he says. Then after a single night off, he was back at his regular job—on a fishing boat, working six hours on, six hours off, around the clock.
[6]We would call Hlynur a workaholic『工作狂』, but so are most of his compatriots『同胞』. It pays off. With a per-capita gross domestic product of $19,905 (the U.S. figure is $27,541), Icelanders are among the wealthiest people on earth. Their tax dollars buy them excellent education and medical care. Iceland has the lowest infant mortality rate『婴儿死亡率』in the world, and almost the highest longevity『长寿；长命』.
[7]The dour『抑郁的；闷闷不乐的』Swiss have a well-run state and all their material needs met, too, yet no one could accuse them of a cheerful outlook.
[7]瑞士是一个秩序井然的国家，人民丰衣足食，生活富裕。可是，瑞士人却郁郁寡欢，闷闷不乐。
[8]Sociologist Thorolfur Thorlindsson of the University of Iceland believes the secret lies not in his country’s comforts, but in its age-old 『长期的；古老的』discomforts. They have taught Icelanders to enjoy what they have.
[9]Isolated『与外界隔绝的；孤立的』in the cold North Atlantic, buffeted『冲击；打击』by a hostile『敌对的；有敌意的』sea, condemned『责备；责怪』to 20 hours of darkness each day in winter, the people have for centuries lived on the vagaries『难以预测的情况』of the fish catch. “Our culture is colored『影响』by the harshness『严酷；艰苦』of nature,” says Thorlindsson. “That’s why Icelanders have a tolerant『宽容；容忍』attitude to the problems of life. They don’t expect the same sort of stability『安定；稳定』often expected in other nations.”
[10]And so it seems. Americans are considerably better off『更为富有/富裕』by material standards than ever before. Yet we seem less happy, less contented with our lot.
[10]与此相比，我们美国人今天的物质生活条件比以往任何时候都好，但是却没有以往的快乐和满足。
[11]Like Icelanders, Americans are individualists『个人主义者』. Where we seem to differ is in our sense of community『群体；团体』. Iceland, known as the land of “fire and ice,” is about living with opposing forces. It is one of the most active volcanic countries on earth, but has 4536 square miles of glacier—heat and cold, co-existing. No surprise them that its society can reconcile『使调和；使并存』another set of opposing forces: individualism and the needs of the community.
[12]Anyone who thinks Americans invented rugged『粗鲁的；粗俗的』individualism has only to visit Iceland. This nation has an ancient『古代的；远古的』 respect for independence. Way back in the tenth century, Iceland was a commonwealth『共和国；联邦』; today Icelanders still place high value on their freedom.
[13]But here’s the paradox『矛盾；似是而非』: this individualism exists with a sense of community. For years I have known an Icelandic family that embraces『包括；接受』a family drunk and an illegitimate『私生的；非法的』child. This family never let them drift, like human flotsam『流浪者；流离失所者』, to be beached『庇护；安顿』at some government institution. “Icelanders have strong systems of support,” says Thorlindsson.
[14]Tolerance is not hollow 『表面的；虚伪的』 phrase in Iceland. The word for “stupid”is heimskur, which roughly means “comes from home” — or as we would say, provincial『乡下气的；偏狭的』or narrow-minded. Icelanders believe only a dolt『笨蛋；傻瓜』is unable to see the other fellow’s position. In this sense, they might find some of what passes for political debate『讨论；辩论』in the United States absolutely heimskur.
[15]Most Icelanders travel out into the world as young adults. They learn that theirs is not the only way of doing things. Yet this doesn’t translate into contempt『蔑视；轻视』for their own land and its history.
[16]The 12th-century Icelandic sagas『英雄传说』, studied at universities the world over, are revered『尊重；崇拜』at home. Turn on the radio and at the top of the charts『节目播出单；节目安排表』is Bubbi Morthens, a troubadour『吟游诗人』.
[17]Last summer in the lava 『火山熔岩』fields of Iceland’s interior 『内地；内陆』, accountant Sigmar Bjornsson pointed out to me a cave where thieves had hidden. He showed me where they stored their weapons, where the villagers attacked, told me how one of the thieves, who had only one leg, walked on his hands to the glacier on the horizon『地平线；水平线』.
[19] “About 900 years ago” was the answer. Nearly a millennium『1000年』, and the myth is still alive『存在；保留』.
[19]“大约900年前。”将近1000年过去了，可这个故事却依然在传诵。
[20]How many Americans have that kind of familiarity with their nation’s past, its myths『神话；传说』, its history? How many even care?
[20]有多少美国人对于自己祖国的过去，传说和历史也那般地熟悉？又有多少人留意过？
[21]I wish America’s multiculturalisms and historical revisionists would grasp『理解；领会』what Icelanders understand: trashing『抛弃；扔掉』your nation’s myths is the wrong way to create a better society. “A nation has to be tolerant of newcomers『新事物』,” say psychiatrist『精神病学家』Niel Micklem. “But if it loses its myths, it loses its center.”