but in some of our most despairing moods, what  goes wrong is our power of imagination. We are  

但在我們一些最絕望的情緒中，出問題的是我們的想象力。我們是

not merely 'sad'; we cannot imagine any better  life than the agonised one we currently have.  

不僅僅是 "悲哀"，我們無法想象有什麼比我們現在的痛苦生活更好的生活。

What we really mean by imagination is the power  to summon up alternatives. When we are down,  

我們所說的想象力真正的含義是召喚出其他選擇的力量。當我們沮喪的時候

we can't imagine finding another job or  not minding what the gossip says about us.  

我們無法想象找到另一份工作，也無法想象不在乎別人對我們的閒言碎語。

We can't imagine finding another partner  or letting ourselves trust someone again.

我們無法想象找到另一個夥伴，也無法想象讓自己再次信任一個人。

But on the other hand with sufficient imagination,  almost any problem can be worked around. If one  

但另一方面，只要有足夠的想象力，幾乎任何問題都可以解決。如果一個人

door has closed, the imagination should in time  be able to find another. There are other cities we  

門已經關上了，想象力應該能及時找到另一扇門。還有其他城市，我們

can go to, there are completely new sorts of work  we could try. There are places we can travel where  

可以去的地方，我們可以嘗試全新的工作種類。我們可以去一些地方旅行

no one knows who we are. There are lovers who  will have a very different approach to intimacy  

沒有人知道我們是誰。有的戀人對親密關係會有截然不同的態度。

than those we have known to date. The oceans are  so large and beautifully unconcerned with us.

比我們迄今所知的那些。海洋如此之大，美麗的與我們無緣。

We are grown-ups, that is, people with choices.  We are not the small children we once were who  

我們是成年人，也就是有選擇的人。 我們不再是曾經的小孩子了，我們是誰？

had to depend on their parents for everything  and were imprisoned by narrow circumstances.  

不得不依靠父母的一切，被狹窄的環境所禁錮。

We would be able to build ourselves a small hut on  the edge of the desert. We can change our names.  

我們可以在沙漠的邊緣給自己建一個小木屋。我們可以改變我們的名字。

If we're feeling shy and defeated, we don't have  to go out and see anyone ever again. We can live  

如果我們感到害羞和失敗，我們不必再出去見人。我們可以活

by ourselves, mind our own business. We can go mad  for a while and then recover; a lot of people do.

由我們自己，管好自己的事。我們可以瘋一陣子，然後恢復，很多人都是這樣。

We could throw ourselves into learning a  new language or take a university degree in  

我們可以投身於學習一門新的語言，或者在大學裡攻讀一個學位。

Sanskrit by correspondence course. We can find  the love we need; we only require two friends,  

梵文通過函授課程。我們可以找到我們需要的愛情，我們只需要兩個朋友。

or even just one, to get by. Many people might be  cruel, but a few are infinitely compassionate and  

甚至只有一個，才能過日子。很多人可能很殘忍，但也有少數人是無限的同情心和

kind and we can go out and find them and not let  them go.  

種，我們可以去找他們，不讓他們走。

We don't have to stick  

我們不需要堅持

by the script we thought we'd be following all  our lives. We might have wanted to do so – but  

我們以為一輩子都會遵循的劇本。我們也許想這樣做--但

we are profoundly flexible creatures. When  we arrived on the earth, our mental wiring  

我們是深具彈性的生物。當我們來到地球上時，我們的心理線路... ...

was loose enough that we could have developed  into excellent foragers in the Kalahari desert,  

是足夠鬆散的，我們可以發展成為卡拉哈里沙漠中優秀的覓食者。

Latin scholars in a university or accountants in  the logistics industry. Our biology is elastic.

大學裡的拉丁學者或物流行業的會計。我們的生物是有彈性的。

We may have lost a little of that  primordial flexibility and latitude,  

我們可能已經失去了一點原始的靈活性和緯度。

it might no longer be so easy to pick  up new languages or physical moves,  

要學會新的語言或肢體動作，可能不再那麼容易了。

but we remain eminently equipped to acquire new  tricks. Other people – noble and interesting other  

但我們仍然有能力獲得新的技巧。其他人--高尚而有趣的其他人

people – have been here before us. There have  been exiled Russian princes who learnt how to  

人--在我們之前就已經在這裡了。有一些流亡的俄羅斯王子學會了如何... ...

become tennis teachers, émigré South Vietnamese  army generals who started American kindergartens;  

成為網球老師，移民的南越軍將領，開辦美國幼兒園。

divorcees who remarried; shamed  executives who opened corner shops.

離婚者再婚；羞辱開角店的高管。

In order to increase our chances of fulfilment,  we need to feed and massage our imaginations.  

為了增加我們實現的機會，我們需要餵養和按摩我們的想象力。

Whatever way we happen to be living, we should  constantly force ourselves to picture different,  

無論我們恰好以何種方式生活，我們都應該不斷強迫自己去想象不同的。

more arduous but still bearable ways to be. We  could think about how we might survive without  

更艱辛但仍可忍受的方式。我們可以想一想，我們如何在沒有

any friends, without a reputation, without health,  without any love, without much money. As part of  

沒有朋友，沒有名譽，沒有健康，沒有愛情，沒有很多錢。作為一部分

their creative writing classes, adolescents  should be asked to produce narratives titled:  

在創意寫作課上，應要求青少年以下列為題進行敘述：

If I lost everything and had to start up again, I  might… They could be asked to make a list of the  

如果我失去了所有的東西，不得不重新開始，我可能... ...他們可以被要求列出一個清單，其中包括

20 things that currently make life meaningful;  then have to cross them all off and find 10 more.  

20件目前讓生活變得有意義的事情；然後要把它們全部劃掉，再找10件。

Only a few of us will ever need to  write short stories for a living,  

我們中只有少數人需要以寫短篇小說為生。

very many of us will be called upon by  fate to rewrite the stories of our lives.  

我們中的很多人都會被命運召喚去改寫我們的人生故事。

That is the true destiny and  function of the imagination.

這就是想象力的真正命運和功能。

When we are very sad, we should be  provoked by the intellectual puzzle before  

當我們非常難過的時候，我們應該先被知識性的難題所激起，然後再進行

us: How else might we get by, given  how many possibilities have been  

我們。我們還能怎麼過呢？

closed to us? How could we fertilise the  dung heap we are on? Our challenge is  

對我們來說是封閉的?我們怎麼能給自己所在的糞堆施肥呢？我們的挑戰是

to learn to rebuild our futures intelligently  and creatively on the ruins of our old lives.

學會在舊生活的廢墟上，智慧地、創造性地重建我們的未來。