Jerome K. Jerome - The Cozy Fire of Affection 汉译

You’ve been in love, of course! If not you’ve got it to come. Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it. Also like the measles, we take it only once. One never need be afraid of catching it a second time. The man who has had it can go into the most dangerous places and play the most foolhardy tricks with perfect safety. He can picnic in shady woods, ramble through leafy aisles, and linger on mossy seats to watch the sunset. He fears a quiet country-house no more than he would his own club. He can join a family party to go down the Rhine. He can, to see the last of a friend, venture into the very jaws of the marriage ceremony itself. He can keep his head through the whirl of a ravishing waltz, and rest afterward in a dark conservatory, catching nothing more lasting than a cold.

No, we never sicken with love twice. Cupid spends no second arrow on the same heart. Love’s handmaids are our life-long friends. Respect, and admiration, and affection, our doors may always be left open for, but their great celestial master, in his royal progress, pays but one visit and departs. Meteor-like, it blazes for a moment and lights with its glory the whole world beneath. Happy those who, hastening down again ere it dies out, can kindle their earthly altars at its flame. Love is too pure a light to burn long among the noisome gases that we breathe, but before it is choked out we may use it as a torch to ignite the cozy fire of affection.

当然，你们都有过恋爱的经验！如果还没有的话，也就必然会要来的。恋爱好像麻疹一样，是每个人都要经历的。也好像麻疹一样，我们一生中只能罹上一次。谁也不用担心会再度罹上它的。凡是已经有过那种经历的人，可以深入最危险的地带，玩弄最鲁莽的勾当，逢场作戏，保证安全。他可以向独身生活告别，而大胆地走进结婚典礼的虎口。他可以满不在乎地从结婚晚会的狂欢圆舞的漩涡中安顿下来，然后进入幽暗的温室里去，从此相安无事，即令有平地波澜，也不过是像纠缠的伤风一样的小小毛病而已。

所以我们是不会再度罹上恋爱病的。爱神不会在同一颗心上射出第二支箭。爱的侍女们成为我们毕生的伴侣。尊敬，赞美，钟情，我们的心扉经常为她们开着，可是她们那伟大的天上的主子，在他的行幸中，只降临一次就离去了。像流星一般，它只燃烧一会儿，用它的荣光，照明下界整个的世界。趁着那光还未消失，再急忙地下降，能用它的火焰把他们地上的祭坛点燃的人们就有福了。爱是一种太纯洁的光，不能在我们呼吸的具有恶臭的气体中燃烧得太久，但是在它窒息之前，我们也许可用它作为火把，以点燃舒适的炉火，钟情的所在。