When later I came to think it over， it occurred to me that the greatest compensation of old age is its freedom of spirit.
Middle Age， Old Age
William Mangham
I think I have been more than most men conscious conscious adj.有意识的，有知觉的，故意的 of my age. My youth slipped slip vi.滑动， 滑倒， 失足， 减退 past me unnoticed and I was always burdened with the sense that I was growing old.
当我后来再把这件事情考虑一遍以后，我想到老年最大的补偿就是精神层面的自由。
中年与老年
威廉·毛姆
我认为自己我一向是比大多数人都更能察觉到自己年纪的。我的青春已经不知不觉地从我身边溜走，而过去常常压在我心头的却是我日渐变老的感觉。
Because for my years I had seen much of the world and traveled a good deal， because I somewhat widely read and my mind was occupied with matters beyond my years， I seemed always older than my contemporaries contemporary adj.当代的， 同时代的 . But it was not till the outbreak of the war in 1914 that I had an inkling inkling n.暗示， 略微的提示， 略知， 模糊概念 that I was no longer a young man.
I found then to my consternation consternation n.惊愕， 恐怖， 惊惶失措 that a man of forty was old. I consoled console vt.安慰， 藉慰 myself by reflecting that this was only for military purposes， but not so very long afterwards I had an experience which put the matter beyond doubt， I had been lunching with a woman whom I had known a long time and her niece， a girl of seventeen. After luncheon luncheon n.午宴， 正式的午餐 we took a taxi to go somewhere or other. The woman got in and then her niece.
就我的年纪而言，我已经有了不少阅历，也去过很多地方，又因我曾广泛地阅读过许多书籍，我脑中常常思考一些超出我年龄的事情，我好像总比同龄人更老一些，但是我真的感觉到自己已不再是一个年轻人，那还是1914年战争爆发后的事。
当时我非常惊讶地发现，一个四十岁的人就已变老了。可我还自我安慰说，这只是对一个军人而说的。但不久后，我又经历了一件事，使我对这个问题不再怀疑了。我一直在与一位我相识多年的妇女和她的十七岁侄女一起共进午餐。吃完以后，我们雇了一辆出租车到某个地方去。那位妇女先上了车，她的侄女跟着上了车。
But the niece sat down on the strapontin strapontin n.(汽车或剧院等中可翻起的)折叠式加座 leaving the empty seat at the back beside her aunt for me to sit on. It was the civility of youth (as opposed to the rights of sex) to a gentleman no longer young. I realized that she looked upon me with the respect due to age.
It is not a very pleasant thing to recognize that for the young you are no longer an equal. You belong to a different generation.
For them your race is run. They can look up to look up to 尊敬，仰望 you； they can admireadmire v.赞美， 钦佩， 羡慕 you， but you are apart from them， and in the long run they will always find the companionship companionship n.交谊， 友谊 of persons of their own age more grateful grateful adj.感激的， 感谢的 than yours.
可是这位侄女却坐到了一张折叠椅上，把后面她阿姨旁边的空座位让给我坐。这是青年人对于一个不再年轻的绅士的礼貌（这是与妇女的优先权利相对立的）。我意识到了她是把我当成一位上了年纪的人而加以尊敬的。
当你意识到对青年人来说已经不是他们的同辈中人，这不是件愉快的事。你已经属于另一代人了。
在他们眼中，你的比赛已经告终，他们可以尊重你，敬佩你，但你已和他们区分开来；最终他们会觉得与同龄人在一起，比与你在一起会更加快乐，更有趣味。
But middle age has its compensations. Youth is bond hand and foot with the shackles shackle n.手铐， 脚镣， 桎梏， 束缚物 of public opinion. Middle age enjoys freedom. I remember that when I left school I said to myself： “Hence forward I can get up when I like and go to bed when I like.” That of course was an exaggeration exaggeration n.夸张， 夸大之词 ， and I soon found that the trammeled trammel vt.拘束， 阻碍， 束缚 life of the civilized man only permits of a modified independence.
Whenever you have an aim you must sacrifice something of freedom to achieve it. But by the time you have reached middle age you have discovered how much freedom it is worth while to sacrifice in order to achieve any aim that you have in view. When I was a boy I was tortured torture vt.拷问， 曲解， 折磨， 使弯曲 by shyness， and middle age has to great extent brought me a relief from this.
但中年也有它的补偿。青年的手脚都被大众舆论所束缚桎梏着。中年却可以享受到自由。我记得我在离开中学时曾告诉自己：“从今往后，我起床和上床都可以随心所欲了。”这显然有些言过其辞，很快我就发现，在文明人的约束生活当中，只允许拥有有限的独立自由。
当你有了一个固定目标，你就必须为了实现这个目标而牺牲掉一些自由。但当你人到中年，你就会思考，为了实现你心目中的目标，究竟有多少自由值得牺牲。当我还是青少年时，我深为自己的羞怯感到苦恼，但中年时在很大程度上使我在这方面得到了解救。
I was never of great physical strength and long walks used to tire me， but I went through them because I was ashamed to confess confess v.承认， 坦白， 忏悔 my weakness.I have now no such feeling and I save myself much discomfort.
I always hated cold water， but for many years I took cold baths and bathed in cold seas because I wanted to be like everybody else. I used to dive from heights that made me nervous. I was mortified mortify vt.克服， 苦修， 使苦恼 because I played games worse than other people. When I did not know a thing I was ashamed to confess my ignorance ignorance n.无知， 不知 . It was not till quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say： “I dont know.”
I find with middle age that no one expects me to walk twentyfive miles， or to play a scratch game of golf， or to dive dive vi.潜水， 跳水， 下潜， 俯冲 from a height of thirty feet.
我在体质上从来都不很强壮，走路太多会使我觉得倦乏，但我还是走了过来，就因为我羞于承认我的缺陷。我现在不再有这样的感觉了，也消除了很多的不愉快。
我一向不太喜欢冷水，但多年来我都在洗冷水澡，浸在冰冷的海水里洗浴，只因我要像别人一样。以前我还常常从使我神经紧张的高台上跳水，就因为我打牌、下棋、玩球不如别人而感到十分难受。当我对事情一无所知时，我也害怕承认。直到我的年纪足够大了，我才发现，说一个“我不知道”原来是如此地容易。
我觉得到了中年，不会有人再期望我能步行二十五英里，或是打一局仓促上战的高尔夫球，或是从三十英尺的高台上跳水。
This is all to the good and makes life pleasant； but I should no longer care if they did. That is what makes youth unhappy， the vehement vehement adj.激烈的， 猛烈的， (情感)热烈的 anxiety to be like other people， and that is what makes middle age tolerable， the reconciliation reconciliation n.和解， 调和， 顺从 with oneself.
Yesterday I was seventy years old. As one enters upon each succeeding decade it is natural， though perhaps irrational irrational adj.无理性的， 失去理性的 ， to look upon it as a significant event.
When I was thirty my brother said to me： “Now you are a boy no longer， you are a man and you must be a man.” When I was forty I said to mys为elf： “Its no good fooling myself， this is middle age and I may just as well accept it.”
一切都会变好，这使得生活愉悦。但我已经对这些不在乎了。而正是这些使得青年们不快乐，他们急切地要去与别人一样。这也使得中年还能够忍受，它已经跟自己达成和解了。
昨天我七十岁了。每当一个人进入下一个十年周期时，很自然他要将它当成一件很重要的事来对待，尽管这也许不太合理。
我三十岁时，我哥哥告诉我：“现在你已经不再是一个孩子了，你是一个成年人了，你也得像一个成年人。”我四十岁时，我对自己说：“这是青年时代的结束。”在我五十岁生日那天我又说：“欺骗自己没有任何好处，中年已经到来，最好我还是承认这个事实。”
And then at sixty I said： “Now its time to put my affairs in order， for this is the threshold threshold n.开始， 开端， 极限 of old age and I must settle my accounts.”
I decided to withdraw from withdraw from v.退出， 离开 the theatre and I wrote The Summing Up， in which I tried to review for my own comfort what I had learnt of life and literature， what I had done and what satisfaction it had brought me. But of all anniversaries anniversary n.周年纪念 I think the seventieth is the most momentous momentous adj.重大的， 重要的 .
