人如何思考

My friend，the Professor，whom I have mentioned to you once or twice，told me yesterday that somebody had been abusing him in some of the journals of his calling.I told him that I didn't doubt he deserved it；that I hoped he did deserve a little abuse occasionally，and would for anumber of years to come；that nobody could do anything to make his neighbors wiser or better without being liable to abuse for it；especially that people hated to have their little mistakes made fun of，and perhaps he had been doing something of the kind.The Professor smiled.

Now，said I，hear what I am going to say.It will not take many years to bring you to the period of life when men，at least the majority of writing and talking men，do nothing but praise.Men，like peaches and pears，grow sweet a little while before they begin to decay.I don't know what it is，—whether a spontaneous change，mental or bodily，or whether it is through experience of the thanklessness of critical honesty，—but it is a fact，that most writers，except sour and unsuccessful ones，get tired of finding fault at about the time when they are beginning to grow old.

As a general thing，I would not give a great deal for the fair words of a critic，if he is himself an author，over fifty years of age.At thirty，we are all trying to cut our names in big letters upon the walls of this tenement of life；twenty years later，we have carved it，or shut up our jackknives.Then we are ready to help others，and care less to hinder any，because nobody's elbows are in our way.So I am glad you have a little life left；you will be saccharine enough in a few years.

Some of the softening effects of advancing age have struck me very much in what I have heard or seen here and elsewhere.I just now spoke of the sweetening process that authors undergo.Do you know that in the gradual passage from maturity to helplessness the harshest characters sometimes have a period in which they are gentle and placid as young children？I have heard it said，but I can not be sponsor for its truth，that the famous chieftain，Lochiel，was rocked in a cradle like a baby，in his old age.An old man，whose studies had been of the severest scholastic kind，used to love to hear little nursery stories read over and over to him.One who saw the Duke of Wellington in his last years describes him as very gentle in his aspect and demeanor.I remember a person of singularly stern and lofty bearing who became remarkably gracious and easy in all his ways in the later period of his life.

And that leads me to say that men often remind me of pears in their way of coming to maturity.Some are ripe at twenty，like human Jargonelles，and must be made the most of，for their day is soon over.Some come into their perfect condition late，like the autumn kinds，and they last better than the summer fruit.And some，that，like the Winter Nelis，have been hard and uninviting until all the rest have had their season，get their glow and perfume long after the frost and snow have done their worst with the orchards.Beware of rash criticisms；the rough and stringent fruit you condemn may be an autumn or a winter pear，and that which you picked up beneath the same bough in August may have been only its worm—eaten windfalls.Milton was a Saint Germain with a graft of the roseate Early Catherine.Rich，juicy，lively，fragrant，russetskinned old Chaucer was an Easter Beurre'；the buds of a new summer were swelling when he ripened.

译文　TRANSLATION

我曾向你们提及过一两次的那位教授朋友昨天告诉我，有人一直在期刊上诋毁他。我告诉他，毋庸置疑，他当得起；而且坦言我希望他过去真的曾偶尔遭遇过一点贬损，而在未来很长一段时间里也能承受酷评；如果一个人不能承受被嘲骂的境遇，他也就无法使自己的邻人更明智、更好；我还特别叮嘱他人们讨厌别人讽刺自己习以为常的小瑕疵。听罢，教授笑了。

喏，这就是我当时所言。且听我接下来的内容。不消几年，你就到了这样一个人生阶段，人们，至少大多数写作、演讲之士，除了溢美再无别事可做。人们像桃子和梨一样，在溃烂前，会变得很甜。我不知道这是什么缘故，是身体、心理方面自然而然的变化，还是因批评的良知所遭遇的徒劳，——然而，这是事实，除了乖戾和籍籍无名之辈，绝大多数作家都厌倦了寻暇抵隙，同时变老了。

作为通则，我不在意批评家的谀辞，如果他本人也是作家且已年过半百。三十岁时，我们都试图在人生逆旅的四壁刻下自己大写的名字；而二十年后，或者我们的名字已经刻在墙上，或者我们的折叠刀已经合上了。那时，我们更愿意助人，而不愿妨碍他人，因为已没有臂肘阻挡我们。所以我很高兴你还有几分冲劲；几年后，你将成为一个好好先生。

在我随处的见闻中，上了年纪这种“柔化效应”给我很大触动。我刚刚提及作家们经历的那种“甜化”过程。你知道吗，在从成熟到无助这一历程中，即使最刚强的人有时也会如孩子般温柔、平静？据说，名闻遐迩的洛基尔酋长暮年时像孩子一样躺在摇篮中让人摇；对此，我曾有耳闻，却不能苟同。从前，一位治学严谨的老人喜欢人们一遍遍地给他读幼儿故事。一个人曾见过晚年的惠灵顿公爵，在他的描述中，公爵相貌慈和，风度儒雅。我还记得一位严峻、高傲的人暮年后却是那么谦和、平易。

这让我想起那些梨子的成熟过程。有些人在二十岁时就已成熟，他们是早熟的梨子，必须充分利用，因为他们鼎盛之时无多。有些人则成熟较晚，就像秋季的梨子，他们比夏日的水果更持久。而还有些人则像冬青果，总是那样粗糙、不起眼，直到其他所有果实都过了季，果园里冰雪肆虐之时，它们才馥郁生辉。切忌轻率的批评，你指责的难看又青涩的果子或许是要到秋季或冬季才成熟的梨子，而八月时分你在同一枝条下捡到的也许只是被风吹落的虫蛀过的果子。弥尔顿兼具了圣杰曼的严峻与早期凯瑟琳王朝的愉悦；而富丽、饱满、生意盎然、芬芳四溢、青黄悦目的老乔叟则宛若复活节奶油，他成熟之际初夏的娇蕾正在绽放。