Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite(炸药), did not die in 1888. But his brother, Ludvig, an engineer, did. In a mix-up, a French newspaper published an obituary of the wrong Nobel, calling Alfred a “merchant of death(死亡商人)”. Chastened and fearing for his reputation, he endowed(捐赠，赋予) the prizes awarded in his name.
炸药发明者阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔并没有在1888年去世，但他的兄弟、工程师路德维希去世了。由于混淆，一家法国报纸刊登了错误的诺贝尔讣告，称阿尔弗雷德为“死亡商人”。他深感羞愧，担心自己的声誉，于是设立了以他名字命名的奖项。
This is one of many droll(滑稽的，古怪的) anecdotes(轶事，趣闻) in “Are They Dead Yet?”, a memoir and meditation on obituaries by Sam Roberts, a veteran writer of them at the New York Times. Nobel’s tale quirkily captures the deep purpose of reading about the deceased. At bottom, obituaries are less records of the end of another person’s life than lessons in how to live your own.(归根结底，讣告与其说是记录他人生命的终结，不如说是如何过好自己生活的教训。)
这是山姆·罗伯茨所著《他们死了吗？》中众多滑稽轶事之一。该书是回忆录，也是对讣告的沉思。罗伯茨是《纽约时报》的资深讣告作家。诺贝尔的故事巧妙地揭示了阅读逝者故事的深层目的。归根结底，讣告与其说是记录他人生命的终结，不如说是如何过好自己生活的教训。
The illustrious(杰出的，著名的) dead are intimidating. As Mr Roberts says, it is dispiriting(令人沮丧的) to compare their exploits with your own piffling(微不足道的) achievements. Especially if you are over 37: that is the average age at which, one analysis shows, people manage the feat that earns their obituary.(尤其是如果你超过37岁：一项分析显示，37岁是人们完成足以赢得讣告的壮举的平均年龄。) Why them, you wonder, and not you? Then again, the dead might ask the same question of the living if they could. Mr Roberts quotes David Hirshey(美国作家和编辑), an American writer: “No matter how accomplished you were, if I’m reading your obit, I’m doing better than you are.”(“无论你多么有成就，如果我正在读你的讣告，那我就比你过得好。”)
杰出的逝者令人望而生畏。正如罗伯茨先生所说，将他们的功绩与你微不足道的成就相比，令人沮丧。尤其是如果你超过37岁：一项分析显示，37岁是人们完成足以赢得讣告的壮举的平均年龄。你会想，为什么是他们，而不是你？但话说回来，如果逝者能够，他们也许会对活着的人提出同样的问题。罗伯茨先生引用了美国作家大卫·赫希的话：“无论你多么有成就，如果我正在读你的讣告，那我就比你过得好。”