The history of philosophy has an interesting take on the choice.

哲學史有獨特的見解。

Two of the greatest thinkers of ancient Greece were Democritus and Heraclitus.

古希臘最偉大的兩位哲人—— 德謨克利特和赫拉克利特。

Both men, who lived to a very old age, had a deep knowledge of people and the world but responded to what they knew in strikingly different ways.

他們相當長壽，認識數不清的人，看過世界上各式各樣的奇聞軼事，但是這兩個人卻用截然不同的態度來看待世上的一切。

Heraclitus couldn't stop weeping.

赫拉克利特哭不停。

Democritus couldn't stop laughing.

德謨克利特則笑不停。

It's obvious why Heraclitus cried.

赫拉克利特哭的原因很好猜。

Once we open our eyes fully to the reality of existence, it's astonishing we can ever carry on.

我們看到很多活生生血淋淋的現實，很令人驚訝的是，我們卻可以承受所有的一切。

There is simply so much to be sad about.

世上太多傷心事了。

The human animal is a benighted, deluded, uncontrolled monster, perfectly suited to the error, meanness and suffering.

人類是愚昧、易被迷惑、無法自我掌控的動物，超適合被冠上吝嗇或多災多難等字眼。

The greater question is how and why one would ever laugh.

好問題來了，為什麼另一個人可以笑不停？

There is of course always the option of idiotic laugh, the plastic laugh, the sentimental callous fool.

當然可以有很多笑法，傻笑、假笑、毫無情感的笑。

But this wasn't the philosopher Democritus' way.

但德謨克利特不是這樣笑的，

He laughed richly and generously not because some privileged position led him to naively misunderstand how bad things could be.

他是發自內心開懷的笑，不是因為特權讓他天真地誤以為世界其實沒這麼糟。

His good humor wasn't delusional nor was it simply a random quirk of temperament.

他的幽默感不是營造出的幻覺，更不是他性格中隨便的一項怪癖。

Democritus laughed in a very particular and highly admirable style because of the way he thought about the world.

德謨克利特用一種很特別又令人敬畏的方式大笑，真實而不矯柔造作地來回應世界。

He was a profound realist.

他是一個學問淵博的現實主義者。

He knew everything there is to know, about the human tendency to greed, murder and lust and of our constant exposure to random accident and misfortune.

他知道人類的各種癖好，貪婪、好鬥又貪慾，隨之而來的意外和不幸也相繼發生。

And ultimately, Democritus was so convinced of the darkness; he knew so much about suffering and risk,

最後德謨克利特掌握了黑暗面，包含痛苦和危險，

He no longer felt he had to register this constantly at the front of his mind in order to do them justice.

他不再覺得自己應該一直把這些負面情緒往心裡放才是正當的處理方式。

They seem to him an entirely obvious baseline fact about existence.

它們是人類生存必定會遇到的東西。

He could be cheerful, because anything nice, sweet or charming that came his way, was immediately experienced as a bonus, a gratifying addition to an originally bleak starting point.

他選擇笑笑看待一切，因為任何好的、甜蜜的、迷人的事物都是上天給的禮物，附帶在原始的黑暗面上。

By keeping the dark backdrop of life always in mind, Democritus sharpened his appreciation of whatever stood out against it.

德謨克利特謹記著黑暗面對人生造成的影響，對週遭事物益加敏銳，無論任何事物阻擋去路。

A pleasant thing that happened to him wasn't taken to be a feeble compensation for his larger dashed hopes.

那些降臨在身上的美好事物那些降臨在身上的美好事物。

It was a delightful, slightly improbable, but very noteworthy backing of an always expected tragic trend.

而是令人開心又不可思議的，值得注意的一點是幸福是預料中的黑暗面中附帶的正面效益。

Democritus who's learned to be enjoying parties wine and drinking.

德謨克利特學會享受派對，飲酒作樂。

"A life without festivity is a long road without an inn" he wrote.

他寫下：「沒有派對的人生就像沒有小酒館的長途旅行」。

He didn't believe that he had to feel constantly sad to prove that he recognized life to be sad.

他覺得過日子不用哭哭啼啼，雖然人生不如意事十之八九，也不需表現出傷心。

He danced and drank because of a rightful confidence that he had already done justice and would in the future again have to fully do justice to the sadness of things.

他飲酒狂舞、自信滿滿，覺得自己很公平的對待所有的情緒，未來也照樣能做到，公平對待所有黑暗面的情緒。

Democritus was aiming at an intelligent kind of cheerfulness,

德謨克利特的目標是一種聰明的快樂，

one that admits from the outset that life is fundamentally grim but that uses this despair as a catalyst for a more vivid engagement with the beautiful or kind moments that do come one's way.

它從一開始就承認生活從根本上來說是嚴峻的，但它利用這種絕望作為催化劑，更生動地參與一個人所遇到的美麗或善良的時刻。

Like an English person who is especially adept to drawing value from the last day of summer or a condemned man who perfectly savors the last meal before being led to the firing squad.

像是一個英國人擅長描繪夏末的意境，被判刑的犯人在死前嘗到最後也是最美好的一餐。

Democritus was a master practitioner of that highly admirable state of mind: Cheerful despair.

德謨克利特是高超的實踐者，他懷抱著這樣的心態：開心的悲傷

Once we've acquired the skill of cheerful despair life acquires a distinctive new kind of sweetness in all its pleasant structures.

一旦我們學會開心的悲傷，人生也將獲得甜入心頭的絕妙滋味，前提是要保持開心。

Every pain-free day is a blessing.

每天的痛苦都是一種包裝過後的祝福。

We're amazed and touched when once in a while someone seems to understand a few things we say or does something unexpectedly kind.

當偶爾有人似乎理解我們所說的一些事情或做出一些出乎意料的善意的事情時，我們會感到驚訝和感動。

We enjoy the distinctive cheerfulness of those who've done all the crying they can and are determined, for a while at least, to hold on to the light.

我們欣賞那些竭盡全力哭泣並決心至少在一段時間內抓住光明的人所特有的快樂。