Advice to Youth
致青年朋友的忠告

Advice to Youth is a satirical essay written by Mark Twain in 1882. Twain delivered it as a speech at the Saturday Morning Club on 15 April, 1882 in Boston. He talked about six things, including obeying parents selectively, respecting superiors, early to bed and early to rise, the matter of lying, handling firearms, and reading good books. Today, the essay manages to remain active in modern culture. This essay is a classic example of Juvenalian satire. This satirical mode can be seen in Twain's recurrent employment of sarcasm while addressing the youth with his words of wisdom. Specifically targeted towards any kind of authority, Twain's Advice to Youth may be a response to the recent prohibition of alcohol in Kansas in 1881.
《致青年朋友的忠告》是马克·吐温写于1882年的一篇讽刺散文。1882年4月15日，马克·吐温受邀在波士顿“周六晨间”俱乐部以此篇文章做了演讲。他谈论了六个问题，即选择性遵从父母、尊重长辈、早睡早起、撒谎问题、对待武器以及阅读好书。时至今日，这篇散文依旧在现代文化中保持着旺盛的生命力。这篇散文是经典的尤维纳利斯式讽刺文，马克·吐温多处用讽刺的手法，向青年朋友们传授自己的智慧。文中虽具体说明反对任何一种权威，但有猜测认为这篇文章是马克·吐温对1881年堪萨斯州颁布禁酒令的回应。

Mark Twain thoughtfully constructs Advice to Youth by creating skewed expectations through unpredictability and satiric voice. The essay is structured around a string of traditional instructions. For example, he admonishes his audience to “always obey your parents,” but he quickly follows with “when they are present”, making this longstanding piece of advice seem ridiculous. Through Twain's wit, the absurdity of this essay encourages the audience to think for themselves and suggests that an individual's own advice could be his wisest resource.
在《致青年朋友的忠告》中，马克·吐温别出心裁地用不可预测性和反讽性错置读者的阅读期待，通篇采用一连串的传统劝告为框架。例如，他劝告读者要“一直顺从父母之意”，但很快就接上这么一句“只当他们在场时”。如此，这条千古祖训便显得滑稽可笑。马克·吐温用他的机智赋予这篇随笔荒唐可笑的特征，鼓励听众独立思考，并以此说明每个人给自己的忠告才是最明智的。