有一个好伴侣，筑一个好窝，生儿育女，恤老抚幼，会给人一种踏实的生命感觉。
It is the principal bond that links man with the earth and with the source of life.
无家的人倒是一身轻，只怕这轻有时难以承受，容易使人陷入一种在这世上没有根基的虚无感觉之中。
To have a good partner, build a good nest and raise the young while nurturing the old, can give us a sound feeling of reassurance about life.
Those without a family are carefree, but this freedom can sometimes be too hard to bear, for it can easily trap us in a feeling of rootlessness and emptiness.
人是一种很贪心的动物，他往往想同时得到彼此矛盾的东西。
Man is a greedy animal caught by conflicting desires.
譬如说，他既想要安宁，又想要自由，既想有一个温暖的窝，又想作浪漫的漂流。
For example, while he wants stability, he also craves freedom; while he desires a comfortable home, he also yearns for a romantic escape.
他很容易这山望那山高，不满足于既得的这一面而向往未得的那一面，于是便有了进出“围城”的迷乱和折腾。
He tends to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, and so he often finds himself unsatisfied with what he has and yearning for what he has not.
不过，就大多数人而言，是宁愿为了安宁而约束一下自由的。
Thus he is caught in confusion and in the dilemma of whether to enter or escape the “besieged city”[2].
一度以唾弃家庭为时髦的现代人，现在纷纷回归家庭，珍视和谐的婚姻，也正证明了这一点。
Most people, however, are willing to sacrifice some freedom for the sake of stability.
原因很简单，人终究是一种社会性的动物，而作为社会之细胞的家庭能使人的社会天性得到最经常最切近的满足。
Those modern people who once abandoned their families for the sake of fashion are now returning to them in great numbers and cherishing marital harmony, which thus proves the point.
The reason is simple: man is after all a social animal, and family, as a living cell of society, can allow man to achieve the fullest satisfaction of his social nature.
家不仅仅是一个场所，而更是一个本身即具有生命的活体。
A home is not merely a place.
两个生命因相爱而结合为一个家，在共同生活的过程中，他们的生命随岁月的流逝而流逝，流归何处？
Rather it is more like a living thing, formed when two lives are united because of love.
我敢说，很大一部分流入这个家，转化为这个家的生命了。
In the course of their life together, their lives flow past with the years and months, but to where?
共同生活的时间愈长，这个家就愈成为一个有生命的东西，其中交织着两人共同的生活经历和命运，无数细小而宝贵的共同记忆，在多数情况下还有共同抚育小生命的辛劳和欢乐。
I dare say that most of their lives flow into this home and are transformed into its life.
正因为如此，即使在爱情已经消失的情况下，离异仍然会使当事人感觉到一种撕裂的痛楚。
The longer they live together, the more this home becomes a living thing in which life experiences and fates are interwoven, with many small but precious shared memories, and also, in most cases, the hard work and pleasure of raising children.
此时不是别的东西，而正是家这个活体，这个由双方生命岁月交织成的生命体在感到疼痛。
Precisely for this reason, divorce can still cause an acute pain of being torn apart even after their love has vanished.
如果我们时时记住家是一个有生命的东西，它也知道疼，它也畏惧死，我们就会心疼它，更加细心地爱护它了。
What feels the pain is none other than this living thing born of the union of the two lives.
那么，我们也许就可以避免一些原可避免的家庭破裂的悲剧了。
If we always remember that our home is a living thing capable of feeling pain and fearing death, then we will love it and take care of it all the more.
And we will perhaps be able to guard against some of the avoidable tragedies of family break-ups.
心疼这个家吧，如同心疼一个默默护佑着也铭记着我们的生命岁月的善良的亲人。
So let us cherish this home as we do a kind family member who spares no pains to protect us and our memories with her or his silent blessing.