No young man believes he will ever die. It was a saying of my brother's, and a fine one.

There is a feeling of Eternity in youth, which makes us amend for everything. To be young is to be as one of the Immortal Gods. One half of time indeed is flown ― the other half remains in store for us with all its countless treasures, for there is no line drawn, and we see no limit to our hopes and wishes. We make the coming age our own ―

The vast, the unbounded prospect lies before us.

Death, old age, are words without a meaning that pass by us like the idea air which we regard not. Others may have undergone, or may still be liable to them ― we “bear a charmed life”, which laughs to scorn all such sickly fancies. As in setting out on delightful journey, we strain our eager gaze forward ―

Bidding the lovely scenes at distance hail!

And see no end to the landscape, new objects presenting themselves as we advance. So, in the commencement of life, we set no bounds to our inclinations, nor to the unrestricted opportunities of gratifying them. We have as yet found no obstacle, no disposition to flag; and it seems that we can go on so forever. We look round in a new world, full of life, and motion, and ceaseless progress; and feel in ourselves all the vigor and spirit to keep pace with it, and do not foresee from any present symptoms how we shall be left behind in the natural course of things, decline into old age, and drop into the grave. It is the simplicity, and as it were abstractedness of our feelings in youth, that (so to speak) identifies us with nature, and (our experience being slight and our passions strong) deludes us into a belief of being immortal like it. Our short-lives connexion with existence we fondly flatter ourselves is an indissoluble and lasting union ― a honeymoon that knows neither coldness, jar, nor separation. As infants smile and sleep, we are rocked in the cradle of our wayward fancies, and lulled into security by the roar of the universe around us ― we quaff the cup of life with eager haste without draining it, instead of which it only overflows the more ― objects press around us, filling the mind with their magnitude and with the strong of desires that wait upon them, so that we have no room for the thoughts of death.

年輕人不相信自己會(huì)死。這是我哥哥的話(huà)，可算得一句妙語(yǔ)。青春有一種永生之感――它能彌補(bǔ)一切。人在青年時(shí)代好像一尊永生的神明。誠(chéng)然，生命的一半已經(jīng)消逝，但蘊(yùn)藏著不盡財(cái)富的另一半還有所保留，我們對(duì)它也抱著無(wú)窮的希望和幻想。未來(lái)的時(shí)代完全屬于我們――

無(wú)限遼闊的遠(yuǎn)景在我們面前展現(xiàn)。

死亡，老年，不過(guò)是空話(huà)，毫無(wú)意義;我們聽(tīng)了，只當(dāng)耳邊風(fēng)，全不放在心上。這些事，別人也許經(jīng)歷過(guò)，或者可能要承受――但我們自己“冥冥中有神保佑”，對(duì)于諸如此類(lèi)脆弱的念頭，統(tǒng)統(tǒng)付之輕蔑的一笑。像是剛剛走上愉快的旅程，極目遠(yuǎn)眺――

向遠(yuǎn)方的美景歡呼!

――此時(shí)，但覺(jué)好風(fēng)光應(yīng)接不暇，而且，前程更有美不勝收的新鮮景致。在這生活的開(kāi)端，我們聽(tīng)任自己的志趣馳騁，放手給它們一切滿(mǎn)足的機(jī)會(huì)。到此為止，我們還沒(méi)有碰上過(guò)什么障礙，也沒(méi)有感覺(jué)到什么疲憊，因此覺(jué)得還可以一直這樣向前走去，直到永遠(yuǎn)。我們看到四周一派新天地――生機(jī)盎然，變動(dòng)不居，日新月異;我們覺(jué)得自己活力充盈，精神飽滿(mǎn)，可與宇宙并駕齊驅(qū)。而且，眼前也無(wú)任何跡象可以證明，在大自然的發(fā)展過(guò)程中，我們自己也會(huì)落伍，衰老，進(jìn)入墳?zāi)埂Ｓ捎谀贻p人天真單純，可以說(shuō)是茫然無(wú)知，因而將自己跟大自然劃上等號(hào);并且，由于經(jīng)驗(yàn)少而感情盛，誤以為自己也能和大自然一樣永世長(zhǎng)存。我們一廂情愿，癡心妄想，竟把自己在世上的暫時(shí)棲身，當(dāng)作千古不變、萬(wàn)事長(zhǎng)存的結(jié)合，好像沒(méi)有冷淡、爭(zhēng)執(zhí)、離別的蜜月。像嬰兒帶著微笑入睡，我們躺在用自己編織成的搖籃里，讓大千世界的萬(wàn)籟之聲催哄我們安然入夢(mèng);我們急切切、興沖沖地暢飲生命之杯，怎么也不會(huì)飲干，反而好像永遠(yuǎn)是滿(mǎn)滿(mǎn)欲溢;森羅萬(wàn)象紛至沓來(lái)，各種欲望隨之而生，使我們騰不出工夫想死亡。