On Idleness
Many moralists have remarked, that Pride has of all human vices the widest dominion, appears in the greatest multiplicity of forms, and lies hid under the greatest variety of disguises; of disguises, which, like the moon's veil of brightness, are both its lustre and its shade, and betray it to others, though they hide it from ourselves.
It is not my intention to degrade Pride from this pre-eminence of mischief, yet I know not whether Idleness may not maintain a very doubtful and obstinate顽固的 competition.
There are some that profess Idleness in its full dignity, who call themselves the Idle, who boast that they do nothing, and thank their stars that they have nothing to do;
有些人声称懒散高雅之至，自命“懒散之士”，他们以无所事事而自豪，感谢命运之星让他们无事可做；
who sleep every night till they can sleep no longer, and rise only so that exercise may enable them to sleep again;
每晚，他们昏睡到无法再睡为止，起床也只是为了再次入眠；
who prolong the reign of darkness by double curtains, and never see the sun but to tell him how they hate his beams;
他们挂上双重幕帘以延伸黑暗的主宰；每次见到太阳都会告诫他们对阳光深恶痛绝；
Whose whole labor is to vary the postures of indulgence, and whose day differs from their night but as a couch or chair differs from a bed.
他们所做的一切就是变换一下沉昏的姿态；对于他们来说，白天与黑夜的区别只不过相当从沙发或椅子上挪到床上。
These are the true and open votaries崇拜者 of Idleness, for whom she weaves the garlands of poppies, and into whose cup she pours the waters of oblivion遗忘;
这些人是懒散女神真正公开的崇拜者，女神为他们佩戴花环，在他们的杯子里倾倒忘却之水；
who exist in a state of unruffled stupidity, forgetting and forgotten;
他们浑浑噩噩地活着，度日如年，忘却了他人也被他人所遗忘；
Who have long ceased to live, and at whole death the survivors can only say, that they have ceased to breathe.
degrade
他们早就停止了生活，他们死去时，活着的人也只会说他们不再呼吸。
But Idleness predominates in many lives where it is not suspected;
然而，懒散主宰了许多人的生活，而不为人所知；
for being a vice which terminates in itself, it may be enjoyed without injury to others;
这种恶习仅作用于有这种习惯的人自己，而不会伤害他人，
and is therefore not watched like fraud, which endangers property, or like Pride, which naturally seeks it gratifications满足 in another's inferiority.
因而人们对懒散不像对危及他人财产的和自然而然地在从他人的自卑中寻求满足的骄傲那样保持警惕。
Idleness is a silent and peaceful quality that neither raises envy by ostentation炫耀, nor hatred by opposition; and therefore nobody is busy to censure非难 or detest憎恶 it.
懒散不显山不露水，既不会由于炫耀而招致嫉妒，也不会因为对抗而遭人憎恨。正因为如此，没有人指责它，憎恶它。
There are others to whom Idleness dictates another expedient, by which life may be passed unprofitably away without the tediousness of many vacant hours.
对于其他一些人来说，懒散还有另一种表现形式，时光纵然白白流逝，而他们并没有因为许多小时没有做什么而感到无聊乏味。
The art is, to fill the day with petty business, to have always something in hand which may raise curiosity, but not solicitude, and keep the mind in a state of action, but not of labor.
其办法就是一天到晚忙于琐事，手边总有事或许会激发起好奇心，却不会让他们牵肠挂肚；大脑总是动个不停，却不会让他们劳神伤思。
No man is so much open to conviction as the idler, but there is none on whom it operates so little.
没有人像懒散的人那样容易服理认错，但也没有人像懒散的人那样知错不改。
What will be the effect of this paper I know not: perhaps he will read it and laugh, and light the fire in his furnace; but my hope is that he will quit his trifles, and commit himself to rational and useful diligence.
这篇短文能起到什么作用，我不知道：也许他读后会一笑置之，又去生他的炉子。不过我希望他不要再忙于琐事，而应理智地、勤勉地做些有用的事。

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