题记：当代杰出的新闻工作者、政论家、诗人、杂文家邓拓（马南邨）劝导我们：“夜晚的时间是多么的宝贵，每一个人要重视自己的生命的三分之一，我们切不可白白地浪费自己的生命”。仔细计算一下，每天晚饭后约7点30分至睡觉时约11点30分还有近4个小时，我们何不珍惜起来用于自己感兴趣的事情，而不去闲逛喧闹夜市或浏览某些八卦电视或与街坊邻居胡侃来消磨时间，相信把生命的三分之一好好利用起来会成就一番事业的。笔者很喜欢邓拓的杂文《生命的三分之一》（后面附有英文翻译），特摘录下来以资鼓励：严肃地对待自己的生命，不要虚度年华，要刻苦学习，努力工作。

                        生命的三分之一

    一个人的生命究竟有多大意义，这有什么标准可以衡量吗？提出一个绝对的标当然很困难；但是，大体上看一个人对待生命的态度是否严肃认真，看他对待劳动、工作等等的态度如何，也就不难对这个人的存在意义做出适当的估计了。 
    古来一切有成就的人，都很严肃地对待自己的生命，当他活着一天，总要尽量多劳动、多工作、多学习，不肯虚度年华，不让时间白白地浪费掉。我国历代的劳动人民及大政治家、大思想家等等都莫不如此。 
    班固写的《汉书·食货志》上有下面的记载：“冬，民既入；妇人同巷，相从夜绩，女工一月得四十五日。” 
    这几句读起来很奇怪，怎么一月能有四十五天呢？再看原文底下颜师古做的注释，他说：“一月之中，又得夜半为十五日，共四十五日。” 
    这就很清楚了。原来我国的古人不但比西方各国的人更早地懂得科学地、合理地计算劳动日；而且我们的古人老早就知道对日班和夜班的计算方法。 
    一个月本来只有三十天，古人把每个夜晚的时间算做半日，就多了十五天。从这个意义上来说，夜晚的时间实际上不就等于生命的三分之一吗？ 
    对于这三分之一的生命，不但历代的劳动人民如此重视，而且有许多大政治家也十分重视。班固在《汉书·刑法志》里还写道： 
     “秦始皇躬操文墨，昼断狱，夜理书。” 
    有的人一听说秦始皇就不喜欢他，其实秦始皇毕竟是中国历史上的一个伟大人物，班固对他也还有一些公平的评价。这里写的是秦始皇在夜间看书学习的情形。 
    据刘向的《说苑》所载，春秋战国时有许多国君都很注意学习。如： 
    “晋平公问于师旷曰：吾年七十，欲学恐已暮矣。师旷曰：何不炳烛乎？” 
     在这里，师旷劝七十岁的晋平公点灯夜读，拼命抢时间，争取这三分之一的生命不至于继续浪费，这种精神多么可贵啊！ 
     “虽务兼军国，而手不释卷。昼理政事，夜即读书，令苍头执烛，烛烬夜有数升。” 
    光是烛灰一夜就有几升之多，可见他夜读何等勤奋了。像这样的例子还有很多。 
    为什么古人对于夜晚的时间都这样重视，不肯轻轻放过呢？我认为这就是他们对待自己生命的三分之一的严肃认真态度，这正是我们所应该学习的。 
    我之所以想利用夜晚的时间，向读者同志们做这样的谈话，目的也不过是要引起大家注意珍惜这三分之一的生命，使大家在整天的劳动、工作以后，以轻松的心情，领略一些古今有用的知识而已。

                        One third of our lifetime

     What is the significance of the life? Is there a standard by which we can measure it? It is difficult, of course, to advance a well-defined standard. However, the significance of one's existence can more or less be evaluated by examining his attitude toward life and work. 
    Since ancient times all people of accomplishment are serious about their lives. So long as they are alive, they try to work as hard as they can and learn as much as possible, never letting a day slip by doing nothing. This is true of the working people, and the great statesmen and thinkers in our history. 
    The great historian Ban Gu, in his “Foods and Goods” of The Chronicles of the Han Dynasty, says: “In winter people stay indoors. Women get together to spin hemp threads at night. They work forty-five days a month.” 
    It sounds strange. How come there are forty-five days in a month? Let us see how it is annotated by Yang Shigu: “Every night they work an extra of half a day's time and, therefore, they have forty-five days in a month.”
    Now it's clear. Our ancestors had learned, earlier than the westerners, how to calculate workdays accurately and sensibly. They had also learned how to distinguish between day shift and night shift. 
    Our forefathers, counting the time of one night for half day, managed to extend the thirty-day-month to fifteen days. In this sense the night time gained makes up one third of our lives, doesn't it? 
     This one third of our lifetime is not only measured by the working people but also by the great statesmen in our history. Ban Gu also says in “Criminal Law” of The Chronicles of the Han Dynasty: 
     “The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty set a good example of industry, disposing of lawsuits during the day and reading at night.”
    This is about how he tried to find time to read at night. To some people the First Emperor of Qin isn't a pleasant name to hear but there is no denying that he was a great figure in the history of China. Even Ban Gu has an impartial comment to make on him. 
    Liu Xiang, the great scholar of the Han Dynasty, cites in his Historical Anecdotes many princes of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period who set great store by learning. For example: 
    “Duke Ping of the State of Jin asked Shikuang: ‘I am seventy yeas old. Isn't it too late for me to learn?’ Shikuang suggested: ‘why not make use of your night time?” 
     Here Shikuang encouraged the seventy-year-old Duke Ping to read at night, making up for the one third of the lifetime. What a great spirit!
     “The biography of Lu Sili” in The History of the Four Northern Dynasties, in sating what a diligent learner this great statesman was, says: 
     “Through he took resposibilties for both administrative and military affairs, he was never seen without a book in his hands. He tended state affairs during the day and read at night with a servant holding a wood torch for him. At the end of each reading you would find so much ash in

his study as to fill several sheng.”
    We can imagine how avidly he read at night. There are some examples of this kind in the book. Why did the people in the past make such effective use of night time? I think this is positive proof of their attitude toward the one third of their lives. This is exactly where we should learn from them. 
    My idea of writing this little essay tonight is also to call reader's attention to the one third of his lifetime so that, after the day's work, he can sit relaxed at home, browsing through and appreciating the useful knowledge of the past and of the present.