幸福在哪里？早有人不辞劳苦，走访了世界上幸福指数最高的地方，是什么定义了他们的幸福呢？让我们跟着前人的步脚，也来亲身经历一番吧。
“Taking all things together on a scale of one to 10, how happy would you say you are?”
“如果把一切因素考虑在内，从1到10划为十个等级，你会为自己的幸福程度打几分？”
With that question and global surveys, the folks at the World Database of Happiness have ranked the nations on a happiness scale.
世界国民幸福水平数据库的工作人员用这个问题在全世界范围进行调查，他们将各个国家根据其国民的幸福水平做出了排名。
The Netherlands is one of the world’s rather happy countries, its industrial capital, Rotterdam, is home to the database, housed at Reassume University. Its director, Ruut Veenhoven, has made his life’s work researching which nations are home to the happiest citizens.Veenhoven’s research shows that Scandinavian nations come out on top, making up five of the 13 happiest nations. Denmark tops the list as a whole—its citizens rank their average happiness as 8.2 on a 10-point scale. Switzerland’s citizens closely trail the Danish, each reporting an average happiness level of 8.1, followed by Iceland (7.8).
荷兰就是世界上相当幸福的国家之一，世界国民幸福水平数据库就设在其工业中心鹿特丹的伊拉斯姆斯大学。数据库主管鲁特-范荷文毕生都在研究哪个国家的人生活得最幸福。范荷文的研究显示，北欧国家的人位居幸福前列，在13个最快乐的国家中，北欧就占了5个。丹麦的排名位居榜首——在10分制的评分中，丹麦人平均给自己的幸福水平打了8.2分。瑞士人紧随其后，给自己的幸福水平平均打到8.1分，接下来是冰岛（7.8分）。
Inspired by Veenhoven’s rankings, former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio (and self-p
roclaimed grouch) Eric Weiner embarked on a quest to visit the happiest places on earth. In his book The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Weiner immerses himself in the cultural fabric of the world’s happiest countries to pinpoint exactly why residents of some countries, like Iceland and Switzerland, are so downright satisfied with their lives.
受到范荷文这个排名的启发，前美国国家公共广播电台驻外通讯记者埃里克-韦纳（他自称是个爱发牢骚的人）决定出发去走访世界上那些最快乐的地方。在他的书《天佑之地：一个牢骚鬼寻找世界上最快乐的地方》中，韦纳每到一个最快乐的国家，都会把自己沉浸在当地的文化中，找出究竟为什么像冰岛和瑞士这类国家的居民会对自己的生活如此心满意足。
The Swiss, Weiner discovered, are efficient and punctual, comparatively wealthy and face hardly any unemployment. Their streets, air and tap water are squeaky clean and chocolate is a national obsession. But Weiner saw no joy in their faces
, and reasoned that perhaps it’s better to live in this middle range than to vacillate between gleeful moments of elation and gut-wrenching spates of despair. Swiss happiness, he writes, is “more than mere contentment, but less than full-on joy”.Because the country is dark and cold, Weiner was initially skeptical about Iceland’s ranking as one of the happiest nation in the world. He learned the small nation is quite literally a family; curiously, geneticists have found that all Icelandic citizens are related.
韦纳发现，瑞士人做事很有效率、守时，比其他国家的人富裕，几乎不会遭遇失业。他们的街道、空气和自来水都干净得没话说，而且人人都酷爱巧克力。不过韦纳看不出瑞士人有任何喜形于色的表现，他觉得大概这种中庸平静的生活要比大喜大悲、起落无常要好。在他笔下，瑞士人的幸福是“满足却不满溢”。由于冰岛阴暗寒冷，韦纳先前对这个国家是世界上最快乐的国家之一感到很怀疑。他了解到这个小国家实际上是个大家族；奇怪的是，遗传学家们发现所有的冰岛人全都是亲戚。
Certain phrases in the Icelandic language, Weiner writes, are even more telling . When people greet each other, the phrase they use roughly translates to “come happy”, and when people part, they utter the equivalent of “go happy”. The country is a favorite stamping ground of artists and cultivates a creative spirit; the government supports writers with generous subsidies.
韦纳写道，冰岛语中的一些用语其实更能说明问题。冰岛人互相问候的话可以大致翻译成“高兴地来”，道别的时候他们也用与之相对庆的说法：“高兴地走”。艺术家们偏爱这个国家，也为这里培
养出一种富于创造的精神，就连政府也为这里的作家提供丰厚的津贴。
Then just how does the United States fit into this picture? “Happiness is there for the taking in America,” Weiner writes. “You just need the willpower to find it, and enough cash.” The surprising fact, though, is that America is not as happy—scoring 7.3 and ranking 17th in the database—as it is wealthy. U.S. residents are three times richer than they were in 1950, but the happiness ratings haven’t shifted in the past decade. After Sept. 11, researchers found no significant decrease in measured levels of happiness.
那么美国的情形又是怎样的呢？“在美国，快乐唾手可得，”韦纳写道，“你只要有决心和足够多的钱就行了。”不过，让人惊讶的是，美国人虽然富有，实际上却并不那么快乐——他们给自己的幸福水平只打了7.3分，在数据库的排名中居第17位。美国人现在比1950年富裕了3倍，但在过去的十年中，他们的幸福指数却没有改变。在“9-11”事件以后，研究人员发现美国人的幸福水平也没有明显下降。
“Americans work longer hours and commute greater distances than virtually any other people in the world,” Weiner writes, but “they remain profoundly optimistic.” Two-thirds of Americans say they are hopeful about the future.
“美国人事实上比世界上任何其他国家的人都工作更长时间，花费在上下班途中的时间也更多，”韦纳写道，不过，“他们仍然由衷地感到乐观。”三分之二的美国人说他们对未来充满希望。
It’s comforting, though, that most people in the world report being satisfied with their lives. “Virtually every country in the world scores somewhere between five and eight on a 10-point scale,” Weiner writes. “There are a few exceptions .” So while, admittedly , those Scandinavians have it pretty good, the rest of us aren’t too far behind. And that’s something to be happy about.
而让人欣慰的是，世界上绝大多数的人都表示对自己的生活满意。“在10分制的评分系统中，世界上所有国家的人实际上打分都在5到8分之间，”韦纳写道，“只有很少数的例外。”所以，虽然无可否认的是那些北欧人生活得很好，但我们其他人过得也不错，光是这样就让人挺开心的。