The story goes that a certain court jester¹ went too far one day and insulted² his king. The king became so infuriated³that he sentenced the jester to be executed. His court preyed upon the king to have mercy for this man who had served him well for so many years. After a time, the king relented only enough to give the jester his choice as to how he would like to die. True to form, the jester replied, “If it’s all the same to you, my Lord, I’d like to die of old age.” Certainly in this case, a good sense of humor saved the man’s life. It’s true for us as well. We may not be faced with a situation where our wit will save us from an execution, but our sense of humor and the ability to laugh at things has proven health benefits that extend and improve our quality of life.
　　 Norman Cousins, in his book Anatomy of an Illness, wrote about how he cured himself of cancer by laughing a good part of each day. He rented films of comedies and watched them for hours on end in his hospital room. He had nothing to lose since he’d been diagnosed as terminal. His “experiment” turned out to be a classic example of the healing powers of laughter. If it worked for Cousins with a life-threatening illness, it can work for us to enhance and protect our good health. We should laugh often and heartily. It’s good for our digestion and our disposition⁴. Besides, life’s too important to take seriously.
　　


　　有一个故事，说的是一个宫廷小丑，有一天，他做得过火了，冒犯了国王。国王非常生气，宣判小丑死刑。大臣们都恳求国王看在小丑这么多年来尽心尽力地侍候他的份上，对他仁慈一些。过了一会儿，国王的怒气稍稍平息了一些，但他只允许小丑选择死的方法。小丑像往常一样幽默地说：“如果您不介意的话，国王陛下，我愿意选择老死。”当然，在这种情况下，良好的幽默感救了这个人的生命。这对我们也同样适用。我们可能不会面临运用智慧来使自己免于死刑的情况，但我们的幽默感和嘲笑事物的能力已经被证明有益于健康，它能提高和改进我们的生活质量。
　　诺曼·库辛斯在他的《疾病剖析》一书中讲述了有关他自己如何通过每天多笑来治愈癌症的事情。他租来喜剧电影，在他住院的病房里连续数小时地观看。他没有什么可以失去了，因为他已经被诊断为癌症晚期。他的“试验”成为证明笑的治疗能力的一个典型例子。如果笑对身患足以威胁生命的疾病的库辛斯有效的话，那么，它对提高和保护我们的健康也会有效。我们应该经常热忱地笑一笑。它对我们的消化力和性格都有好处。而且，生命太重要了，不应该那么严肃。
　　乔桉 摘译自Wisdom