A NEW ENGLISH COURSE 7 课文译文

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新编英语教程7 (Unit 1-14 Text I 译文) ants05

Unit One English and American Concepts of Space Edward T. Hall

英国人和美国人的空间概念

人们说英国人和美国人是被同一种语言分离开的两个伟大的民族。英美民族之间的差异使得英语本身受到很多指责,然而,这些差异也许不应该过分归咎于语言,而应该更多的归因于其他层面上的交流 :从使很多美国人感到做作的英式语音语调到以自我为中心的处理时间、空间和物品的不同方法。如果说这世上有两种文化间的空间关系学的具体内容迥然不同,那就是在有教养(私立学校)的英国人和中产阶级的美国人之间了。造成这种巨大差异的一个基本原因是在美国人们借助空间大小来对人或事加以分类,而在英国决定你身分的却是社会等级制度。在美国,你的住址可以很好的暗示你的身分(这不仅适用于你的家庭住址,也适用于你的商业地址)。住在纽波特和棕榈滩的人要比布鲁克林和迈阿密的人高贵时髦得多。格林尼治和科德角与纽华克和迈阿密简直毫无类似之处。座落在麦迪逊大道和花园大道的公司要比那些座落在第七大道和第八大道的公司更有情调。街角办公室要比电梯旁或者长廊尽头的办公室更受尊敬。而英国人是在社会等级制度下出生和成长的。无论你在哪里看到他,他仍然是贵族,即便是在鱼贩摊位的柜台后面。除了阶级差异,英国人和我们美国人在如何分配空间上也存在差异。

在美国长大的中产阶级美国人觉得自己有权拥有自己的房间,或者至少房间的一部分。当我让我的美国研究对象画出自己理想的房间或办公室时,他们毫无例外的只画了自己的空间,而没有画其他人的地方。当我要求他们画出他们现有的房间或办公室时,他们只画出他们共享房间里自己的那部分,然后在中间画一条分隔线。无论是男性还是女性研究对象,都把厨房和主卧划归母亲或妻子的名下,而父亲的领地则是书房或休息室,如果有的话;要不然就是工场,地下室,或者有时仅仅是一张工作台或者是车库。美国女性如果想独处,可以走进卧室、关上门。关闭的门是“不要打扰”或“我很生气”的标志。如果一个美国人家里或办公室的房门是开着的,则说明他现在有空。在这样的暗示下,人们不会认为他想把自己关闭起来,而会认为他正处于一种随时响应他人的准备就绪的状态中。关闭的门是用于会议、私人会谈、生意往来、需要集中精力的工作、学习、休息、睡觉、穿衣服和性的。

相比之下,中产阶级和上流阶级的英国人从小是在和兄弟姐妹共享的儿童室里长大的。最大的孩子一般独占一个房间,直到他9岁10岁左右去上寄宿学校时再空出来。拥有自己的房间和很早就习惯于共享房间之间的差异似乎并无重大意义,但这却对英国人对待自己空间的态度有着重大的影响。一个英国人可能从来都不曾有过永久的属于自己的房间,他也很少会去企盼或者认为自己应该有权拥有这样的房间。即使是下议院的议员也没有自己的办公室,他们通常在俯瞰泰晤士河的阳台上处理事务。所以英国人会对美国人需要一个安稳的地方去工作(即办公室)这样的需求感到困惑不解。在英国工作的美国人如果没得到他们认为适当的封闭的工作空间,也许会非常生气。就出于保护自我的目的而将墙壁作为屏蔽物的需求而言,美国人应位列德国人和英国人之间。

英国人和美国人的行为特点之间的显著差别有着极其重要的意义,尤其是在我们假设人和其他动物一样,有时也有一种内在的封闭自己的需求的情况下。我的研讨班的一个学生生动的刻画了当这种看不见的行为特点之间产生冲突时可能发生的情状。很显然他在和美国人交往中承受了很大的压力。仿佛没有什么是正常的,而且从他的评论里可以清楚地了解到他认为我们美国人不知道如何举止得体。通过分析他的抱怨,我们发现他烦闷的一个根源是似乎没有哪个美国人能够辨别出这样的细微的暗示:即有时他不想让别人扰乱他的思绪。正如他自己所说的:“我在公寓里漫步,好像每次当我想独处的时候我的室友就会和我搭话。很快他就在问‘你怎么了?‘而且想知道我是否生气了。这时我真的生气了,然后就会冲他说些什么。”

尽管需要花费一些时间,但最终我们还是能够分辨出在这个事例的冲突中,美国人和英国人各自所遇到的不同的麻烦,以及这些特征之间的明显差别。当美国人想独处时,他会进到自己的房间里并且关上门——他借助于建筑物来屏蔽他人。对美国人来说,拒绝同在场的人谈话,对其采取“冷处理”,是最极端的拒绝形式,同时也是非常不高兴的明显的表示。而另一方面,英国人由于从小就没有自己的房间,从来没有利用空间作为躲避他人的避难所的习惯。他们实际上在潜意识里设立了一系列的屏障,他们认为这些屏障其他人应该能够理解或辨别。因此,当英国人和美国人在一起时,他越不想和这个美国人说话,这个美国人就越可能找他说话,因为他想确保一切正常。这种冲突会一直持续下去,直到这两个人开始互相了解彼此。重要的是双方对空间和建筑的需求并不一样。

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新编英语教程7 (Unit 1-14 Text I 译文) ants05

Unit Two Tourists Nancy Mitford

游客

我所做过的关于游客的最透彻的研究是在Torcello完成的,在那里你根本没法避开他们。Torcello是威尼斯泻湖上一个很小的岛屿:这里的葡萄园和野花间散布了大概三十间村舍,环绕着建立于征服者威廉到达英国时期的一座大教堂。一座运河和一条小道将泻湖和村庄连结起来;运河蜿蜒而过将葡萄园隔开;红色和黄色的船帆缓慢地穿梭于葡萄藤之间。钟楼每天三次鸣响谴责曲,届时周围岛屿的钟声也会响起,组成一曲大合唱。我曾花费一年夏天的时间住在一间小旅馆写作,同时观察形形色色的游客。曾经孤独如一片浮云的Torcello最近成为从威尼斯出发的短途旅游热点。游客之多远远超出了Torcello的正常接待能力:他们跳下定期汽轮、跳下租借的摩托艇、跳下豪华游艇,蜂拥而至;他们整天都在运河边的小路上漫步,到底在寻找什么?大教堂由早期的马赛克装饰,很好的重现了地狱般风格,其间还有一尊巨大的神情悲伤而严峻的圣母像;拜占庭艺术品味需要后天培养,而真正能够欣赏的游客可能还不到十分之一。他们步入教堂,漫无目的地四处张望。他们走进村庄的绿地中,坐在据说是匈奴王阿提拉坐过的一张石椅上互相拍照。他们无情地将野玫瑰摘走,很多人曾经见过这些玫瑰含苞时的样子,并且渴望着看到它们盛开时的景象,而且它们曾经在一天内就让整个小岛遍布花香。一经摘取,这些玫瑰很快凋零,随后就被丢弃至运河内。美国人到餐馆里吃喝。英国人声称他们负担不起这样的花费,他们将自带的食物拿到葡萄园里,我很遗憾地说他们留下一片狼藉。每周四德国人沿运河边的小路上来,跟着导游,就像奔赴战场一样。在餐馆里他们总会要50桌正餐;在他们吃饭时,他们的导游通过扩音器向他们演讲。午餐后他们长驱直入到教堂内,再听取导游的另一次讲座。至少他们知道他们在看什么。随后他们整齐划一地退回到他们的船上。他们很整洁;不留任何垃圾。

然而岛上居民的行为比游客更有趣。由于他们被迫整个夏天都生活在公众视野之下,无论他们喜爱与否,他们很自然的想从这样的状况中极力获取一些经济利益。意大利人是天生的演员;上午11点从威尼斯开来第一班船,下午6点普通的游客会乘最后一班船离开,在此期间,整个小岛变成一个所有本地人都参与进来的一个大舞台。隔壁的布拉诺岛年轻人装扮成刚朵拉船(Gondola)的船夫,用桑德拉船(Sandolo)将游客从汽轮摆渡到岛上的村子来。其中一人带着他名叫艾瑞克的令很多人很讨厌的弟弟,他纠缠所有人让他们买漆成金黄色的海马的死尸。他嘴里不断重复着意大利语的“祝您好运”。我很喜欢艾瑞克。面色和蔼的上了年纪的女人们坐在村舍的门口卖明信片和小装饰品,而且很显然她们也在做针绣缎带。而实际上,她们是通过关系从布拉诺岛批发或回收过来的,那里的年轻姑娘们制作了这些缎带。上了年纪的女人是无法用她们饱经风霜的手做出如此精细的活计的。一般认为游客看到这些缎带是现做的话会更愿意购买,但实际上似乎很少有人欣赏缎带的不同凡响的质地。极小的小孩子们步伐蹒跚的四处走动,将有四片叶子的三叶草递到人们面前,希望能够得到一些小费。这时会有更多的意大利语的“祝您好运”四下响起。在汽轮到来的同时,神父开始组织神圣的宗教游行。这出戏就这样继续下来。游客们几乎都吝啬的让人难以置信,除了空的烟盒和窸窣作响的《每日邮报》,他们几乎什么都不留下。缎带很昂贵,但是他们也许会买一些明信片或贝壳项链,给小孩子几分钱;他们的心似乎是石头做的。

这出戏的大幕随着最后一班船的离去降了下来。那些“刚朵拉船夫”脱下他们的白色亚麻外套和傻气的草帽回到布拉诺去了,他们带着艾瑞克一起,艾瑞克对他的收入极为不满,他说如果继续这样的话他将会饿死。那些面色和蔼的老太太们收起她们的笑容,把她们假装用来绣东西的枕头放到一旁,回复到诸如淹死小猫之类的正常的乡村生活。那些三叶草小孩们的父亲跪在地上到处搜寻有四片叶子的三叶草,以备第二天使用。晚钟鸣响,月影乍现,飞舞的《每日邮报》落入湖面。Torcello又回复了本来面目。

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新编英语教程7 (Unit 1-14 Text I 译文) ants05

Unit Three The Subway Tom Wolfe

地铁

在某种程度上,地铁无疑是纽约所有缺乏身分的因素的生动象征。几乎每一站都有疯狂和令人迷失方向的气息。地铁站的天花板很低,远景很长,没有什么标志性建筑,荧光灯管、电灯泡和霓虹广告的光线融合成光怪陆离的混合体。整个站台对人的感观是极大的伤害。列车停止和转弯时发出的噪音之尖锐刺耳实在让人无法描述。人们在感到拥挤时毫无顾忌地乱推乱搡。你的触觉会感受到前所未有的煎熬。当天气暖和时,气味会让人无法忍受。在站台之间,唱片行会播放45转/分的重金属唱片,供应午餐的柜台会提供热狗,如果你咬下去一口,你会先感受到有如橡皮般有弹性的外壳,然后会吃到柔软多油的棉籽饭般的中心部分。顾客们坐在那里,嘴边糊满了热狗皮和面包屑之类的东西,他们会不时打个饱嗝,而他们的腮帮子也会随之不时鼓起。

地下的空间似乎能够吸引每一种怪异的激情。一个身材矮小、穿着古旧的人总会拿本圣经、带着一面美国国旗和一个扩音器出入于曼哈顿的地铁。他会翻开圣经,用沧桑而又单调的声音引述上面的经文。因为周围的噪音太大以至于他的正常嗓音不能被人很好的听见,他在每一站都使用扩音器,并且总是号召人们进行救赎。

还有乞丐。在这令人无比厌恶的地铁上,在乞丐之间,纽约的身份竞争得到了光大和发扬。这种竞争在第七大道的城际快车上达到了癫狂的程度。在一些夜晚,一些乞丐互相撕斗,相互咒骂并且互相警告对方滚回到自己的车厢去。一个拿着拐杖和杯子的普通盲人只能算是平庸的乞讨者。人们需要的是娱乐表演。有两个男孩,其中一个拿着一只小手鼓,上了车。大点的男孩在列车起步时开始击打手鼓,小点的男孩就开始跳通常认为是土著舞的舞蹈。然后,如果车厢内有空间的话,他会开始进行空翻表演。他从车厢的一头跑到另一头,先顺着车行驶的方向在空中来一个完整的空翻,双脚着地。然后他会逆着车行驶的方向奔跑,再来一个空翻。他会来回做上好几次这样的空翻,其间穿插一些土著舞表演。这样的表演一般需要较长的时间才能很好的完成,例如列车从第42街行驶到第72街期间。表演完毕后,两个男孩会拿着装饮料用的纸杯沿着车厢索要小费。

装饮料用的纸杯是传统的容器。在第七大道的线路上有一个年轻的黑人,他通常在第42街上车,然后开始唱“我希望我已经结婚了”这首歌。他很年轻,看起来身体非常健康。但他会上来唱这首“我希望我已经结婚了”,并且在唱到最高音的时候从他经久不变的防风外衣里掏出一个装饮料用的纸杯,然后沿着车厢来回走动,希望能得到一些小费。我从未见到他得到一分钱。然而最近由于他开始了解身份竞争,他的生活开始有了改观。现在他上车后只会在他解开防风大衣时唱“我希望我已经结婚了”这首歌,他不但会拿出他的纸杯,还会露出一块纸板,上面写着“我母亲患了硬化症,我的一只眼是瞎的”。他最出彩的地方是“硬化症”这个词,他故意拼错这个词,在中间加上很多多余的辅音字母,很好的营造出一种骇人的德国生理学课本般稳固的感觉。所以现在他干得好多了。他似乎可以以此谋生。他不再是懒惰者、消磨时间者或者是游荡者。他可以带着超然的态度看待他人的没落。

在东部的城际快车线路上,比如说第86街,列车停下后人们互相拥挤,成群地挤出车厢,而在灰绿色阴影中的一条长凳上,在那些大梁和1905年铺设的瓷砖下面,有一位懒散地斜靠着椅背的老人似乎在酣睡,他穿着一件棉风衣,衣服的袖子已经被扯掉了。他就穿了这么多东西。他的肤色死灰,间杂着苍白的斑点。他双腿以一种绅士般的方式交叉,他酒鬼特有的脸耷拉在长凳的后面。显然那些同时又身为臭名昭著的小偷的其他酒鬼曾经扒光了他的所有衣服,只剩下这件风衣,他们也曾试图把这件风衣扒走,(但最终没有成功),只能够将袖子拽掉,然后任由这位老人裸坐在长凳上人事不省,但他们还是给他保留了一个绅士般的姿态。经过的路人都会短暂地凝视一番,看看他灰白斑驳的躯体,但没有人停下脚步;没人知道到底要经过多久才会有警察过来屏住呼吸将他从阴暗中转移出来,并将他安置在法律的温暖怀抱中去。那样的话,他至少会穿上一件普通的绿色工作服,重新拥有在夜晚的地铁长凳上值得尊敬的一席位置。

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新编英语教程7 (Unit 1-14 Text I 译文) ants05

Unit Four Style and Purpose Randolph Quirk

文体与目的

使用语言的协调过程错综复杂,正如我们在前一章节看到的,部分原因是口头语和书面语中的种种限制。但是,正如我们所熟知的,这些限制并不能很好的被划分到“说”和“写”这两类范畴中去。英语的文体范围非常宽泛,其分层也可以无穷无尽。当我们在谴词造句时,我们必须确保它们和我们对其在这种层次上的特定部分的期待一致,而且它们应该符合搭配和语法的传统习俗――我们考虑的应分层上的同一点。

如此强调在使用英语时符合传统习俗似乎很荒谬,因为我们很可能会觉得那些使用英语时有创造性和非传统的人往往获得那些大奖。我们决不能确切地说那些大奖都是这样颁发的,但是无论我们的观点如何,大家似乎对以下事实没有什么异议:在我们还没有正确地掌握传统搭配之前,诸如“看,妈妈:没有手!”这样的表达方式对我们不会有丝毫的印象深刻的感觉。在我们试图像格特鲁德·斯坦(Gertrude Stein)那样写作之前,我们须学会按最严格的传统习俗学习和使用英语――而且就这一点我们可从上一章引用的罗伯特·格雷夫斯(Robert Graves)先生的话语里得到支持。

如果没有规范,要辨别和实践创造性将变得极为困难。也许你曾经品尝过多种含有姜糖的冰淇淋,也许你曾经碰巧见到它们被冠以非常吸引人的名头:“冰冻热冰淇淋”。这是一个因偏离传统搭配而非常有效的例子。诺埃尔·科沃德(Noel Coward)的戏剧的名称“苦涩的甜蜜”是一个更著名的例子,而我们大部分人有时也曾被类似“The hand that rocked the cradle has kicked the bucket”(注:直译为“晃动摇篮的人蹬腿了”,即“母亲死了”)这样古老的俏皮话逗乐。在以上这些例子中,我们都偏离了传统的搭配方式――但是我们并没有忽视它们。正是由于我们了解“苦涩”和“甜蜜”相互排斥而且通常不在一起使用,这样的组合才会有效。“冰冻热冰淇淋”的有效性取决于这种组合和对“冰冻的”和“热的”的常规搭配(比如说“冰冷的”和“滚烫的”)之间的对立。

因此,我们的策略应该是首先学习常规搭配以及这些搭配所属的文体范畴:这里有必要再次强调和实际用法保持一致的重要性。我们会发现如果我们尊敬的人以“亲爱的琼斯先生”开始一封信的话,他们会用“您的真诚的”来结尾,而如果他们用“亲爱的先生”开始的话,他们在结尾会使用“您的忠诚的”这样的语句。有经验和有教养的人不会混淆这些公式――而且他们会看低那些确实混淆这些惯用套路的人。当然,不光是开头和结尾不能混淆:语法结构的类型以及词句的选择――整个文体――在这两类信件中都趋向于(而且始终如一的)截然不同。

的确有一些有远见的公司已经摒弃了那种曾经使得商业信函越来越糟糕的更傻气的、更僵化的俗套(类似“Further to yours of the 23rd ult.”这样的表达方式):但是一种明显的形式感还是保留了下来。现在寄往或来自公司或政府部门的信函会使用(在“亲爱的先生”后)类似于“鉴于您6月23日的来信??”之类的语句。它不会以诸如“谢谢您最近的来信”这样非正式的不准确的语句开头,这样的开头更适用于以“亲爱的琼斯”开头的书信。更不用说其他适合别的类型的书信的表达方式了,从极端僵硬正式型(尤其是和一些机构往来的书信,这里书信人的个性特征并不重要 )到非常熟悉亲密型(这里书信人的个性特征无比重要):“亲爱的弗兰克,收到你那天的便函真是太棒了。”在每个例子里,有经验的书信人都采用了适合自己信件所要求严肃程度的文体并且自始至终保持这种文体。他不会在一封以“亲爱的先生”开头的信里说“替我问候你的妻子”,也不会在一封以“亲爱的琼斯先生”开头的信里以“先写这么多/就此搁笔”作为结尾。

这里我们有必要回顾一下前面章节里提到过的关于期待搭配的问题。在使用于需要相对精确和相对不太罗嗦的场合时,通常情况下经常反复使用的期待搭配(如“冰冷”)最有可能给与我们陈词滥调的印象。正如在使用语言时经常发生的情况一样,一个没有语境的具体表达方式到底算不算陈词滥调通常不是问题所在。例如我们在剧院的幕间休息时散步,我们的同伴说“我仰慕品特(Pinter)在这出戏里表现出的非凡的洞察力”,我们不会有任何构成我们通常对陈词滥调的自然反应的那种厌恶感。实际上,我们可以想象出很多非正式的场合,在那里“非凡的洞察力”不但不是陈词滥调,还很可能听起来很高调和专业:凡事都取决于我们在文体范畴的特定部分到底期待什么。但如果“非凡的洞察力”适用于非正式场合的口头评论,这并不意味着这些词句同样适用于正式的评论文。

大多数时候我们常常随意选取那些最经常听到的评论搭配,然后不加选择的加以使用,而没有意识到在一个需要精确的场合这样的词句有多么空洞。在最近我的本科班学生的作文里,以下这些是在严肃的文学评论里必须被称为陈词滥调的一些最常见的搭配:崇高的想象力;无法效仿的叙事技巧;有机整体;精湛的技艺;完美的艺术;威严的高度;悲剧的高度;内在氛围;本质氛围;内在吸引力;本质吸引力;本质特征。

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这里还忽略了那些从陈腐的到诸如“基本基础”的累赘的搭配。我们必须发展我们的批判意识来辨别出这样的表达方式,它们也许会唬住没有经验的人,但实际上却非常机械,在我们写作时既不反映任何精确的判断,也没有向读者传递任何准确的信息。事实上读者可能会得出这样的结论:作者没有能力给出判断,想通过一些赘述糊弄过去:这样的结论在很多情况下是完全正确的。在写作时运用陈词滥调通常伴随有含糊不清的表述,这会加深读者的这种印象,即作者没有进行认真的思考:“他的诗充满了特别的意思”;“他的诗拥有自己独特的风格”,“他画出了英国工业生活的身体和灵魂”,“他的修饰性的想象力总是追随一条结构化的主线”。这些到底反映了懒惰还是有意糊弄?

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可以任意顺序不限次数地应用。从理论主题中选出一些重要的实际应用,而后以系统的理论阐述研究它们。理论阐述要保持简短,但要保证阐述的严格与规范。阐述也不应太长,太长则不利于他人深刻准确地理解。吞下太多理论知识却不消化完只会是徒劳无获。而且理论也不应该与实践相混淆。孩子应当明白什么时候是在证明思想,什么时候是在应用思想。我的观点是所证明的应被应用,而只要条件允许,所应用的也应被证明。总而言之,证明和应用是一个事物的两面。

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Unit 8 Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter From Harlem James Baldwin

第五大道住宅区:一封来自黑人的来信。

1 The projects in Harlem are hated. They are hated almost as much as policemen, and this is saying a great deal. And they are hated for the same reason: both reveal, unbearably, the real attitude of the white world, no matter how many liberal speeches are made, no matter how many lofty editorials are written, no matter how many civil rights commissions are set up. 哈莱姆的居民憎恨住房的建设计划和警察的巡逻,其原因在于两者都令人难以忍受地揭示了白人世界对黑人的真正态度

2 The projects are hideous, of course, there being a law, apparently respected throughout the world, that popular housing shall be as cheerless as a prison. 诚然,这些工程(建筑)丑陋不堪,从表面上看也符合一个世界公认的法则:普及型住房应该和监狱一样令人郁闷。(民众的住房应当像监狱那样单调阴郁)They are lumped all over Harlem, colorless, bleak, high, and revolting. The wide windows look out on Harlem’s invincible and indescribable squalor: the Park Avenue railroad tracks, around which, about forty years ago, the present dark community began; the unrehabilitated houses, bowed down, it would seem, under the great weight of frustration and bitterness they contain; the dark, the ominous schoolhouses, from which the child may emerge maimed, blinded, hooked, or enraged for life; and the churches, churches, block upon block of churches, niched in the walls like cannon in the walls of a fortress. 宽大的窗户俯瞰着哈莱姆的破败,它一成不变,难以描述:那里有帕克大街的车轨,在此周围,大约40年前,现今黑暗的社区就开始形成了;那里有无法修复的房子,耷拉着,似乎在承载着其中失败与痛苦的巨大压力;那里有黑暗的、带来坏运气的学校教室,因为从这些校舍里出来的孩子可能是伤残的、瞎眼的、吸毒的或一生愤怒的人;那里还有很多教堂,街区连着街区,教堂的墙壁都装饰着神像,就像加农炮加在堡垒的堞垛上。Even if the administration of the projects were not so insanely humiliating (for example: one must report raises in salary to the management, which will then eat up the profit by raising one’s rent; the management has the right to know who is staying in your apartment; the management can ask you to leave, at their discretion), the projects would still be hated because they are an insult to the meanest intelligence. 对于智力最低的人都是一种侮辱。

3 Harlem got its first private project, Riverton -- which is now, naturally, a slum -- about twelve years ago because at that time Negroes were not allowed to live in Stuyvesant Town. Harlem watched Riverton go up, therefore, in the most violent bitterness of spirit, and hated it long before the builders arrived. They began hating it at about the time people began moving out of their condemned houses to make room for this additional proof of how thoroughly the white world despised them. And they had scarcely moved in, naturally, before they began smashing windows, defacing walls, urinating in the elevators, and fornicating in the playgrounds. Liberals, both white and black, were appalled at the spectacle. I was appalled by the liberal innocence -- or cynicism, which comes out in practice as much the same thing. 1 Other people were delighted to be able to point to proof positive that nothing could be done to better the lot of the colored people. They were, and are, right in one respect: that nothing can be done as long as they are treated like colored people. The people in Harlem know they are living there because white people do not think they are good enough to live anywhere else. No amount of “improvement” can sweeten this fact. Whatever money is now being earmarked to improve this, or any other ghetto, might as well be burnt. 2A ghetto can be improved in one way only: out of existence.

4 Similarly, the only way to police a ghetto is to be oppressive. None of commissioner Kennedy’s policemen, even with the best will in the world, have any way of understanding the lives led by the people they swagger about in two’s and three’s controlling. Their very presence is an insult, and it would be, even if they spent their entire day feeding gumdrops to children. 3They represent the force of the white world, and that world’s real intentions are, simply, for that world’s criminal profit and ease, to keep the black man corralled up here, in his place. The badge, the gun in the holster, and the swinging club make vivid what will happen should his rebellion become overt. Rare, indeed, is the Harlem citizen, from the most circumspect church member to the most shiftless adolescent, who does not have a long tale to tell of police incompetence, injustice, or brutality.的确,哈莱姆区的居民,从最谨慎的神职人

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员到最懒散的青年,无一不对警察的无能、不公和粗暴抱怨连连。I myself have witnessed and endured it more than once. The businessman and racketeers also have a story. And so do the prostitutes. (And this is not, perhaps, the place to discuss Harlem’s very complex attitude towards black policemen, nor the reasons, according to Harlem, that they are nearly all downtown.)

5 It is hard, on the other hand, to blame the policeman, blank, good-natured, thoughtless, and insuperably innocent, for being such a perfect representative of the people he serves. He, too, believes in good intentions and is astounded and offended when they are not taken for the deed. He has never, himself, done anything for which to be hated -- which of us has? -- and yet he is facing, daily and nightly, people who would gladly see him dead, and he knows it.而他知道这一点。There is no way for him not to know it: there are few other things under heaven more unnerving than the silent, accumulating contempt and hatred of a people.天底下没有几样东西比一个民族的沉默和日渐增长的轻蔑和仇恨更加令人胆寒的了。4He moves through Harlem, therefore, like an occupying soldier in a bitterly hostile country; which is precisely what, and where, he is, and is the reason he walks in twos and threes. And he is not the only one who knows why he is always in company: the people who are watching him know why, too. Any street meeting, sacred or secular, which he and his colleagues uneasily cover has as its explicit or implicit burden the cruelty and injustice of the white domination. And these days, of course, in terms increasingly vivid and jubilant, it speaks of the end of that domination. The white policeman, standing on a Harlem street corner, finds himself at the very center of the revolution now occurring in the world. He is not prepared for it -- naturally, nobody is -- and, what is possibly much more to the point, he is exposed, as few white people are, to the anguish of the black people around him. 5Even if he is gifted with the merest mustard grain of imagination, something must seep in. He cannot avoid observing that some of the children, in spite of their color, remind him of children he has known and loved, perhaps even of his own children. He knows that he certainly does not want his children living this way. He can retreat from his uneasiness in only one direction: into a callousness which very shortly becomes second nature.他只能够朝一个方向逃避他内心的不安,那就是变得冷漠无情,而这很快就成为他的第二本能。He becomes more callous, the population becomes more hostile, the situation grows more tense, and the police force is increased. One day, to everyone’s astonishment, someone drops a match in the powder keg and everything blows up. Before the dust has settled or the blood congealed, editorials, speeches, and civil-rights commissions are loud in the land, demanding to know what happened. What happened is that Negroes want to be treated like men.

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Unit Nine Roots of Freedom Edith Hamilton

自由的根基

在原子时代,向自由发起挑战是发人深省的。今日,摆在我们面前的是一个奇异的新世界,我们都在思考到底该如何生存在这样一个世界里。我们该如何对待我们最宝贵的财富——自由?我们所知道的世界,即西方世界,在不断开拓新的空间的过程中逐渐形成。

大约2500年前,希腊人始获自由。在那之前,这世上还没有自由。绚烂的文明和伟大的帝国散布在地球上,自由这东西却不见踪影。埃及、巴比伦、尼尼微这些国家推行专政,一人独掌大权统治无力的大众。希腊雅典这个小国家里的小城市,却没有无力的大众。那里的人们由一位无意独揽大权的人领导。帝国的统治者们坚决主张大众应对其绝对地服从。雅典人却不这么认为,他们认为只有在战争中才应如此,而且,倘若统治者的决策是维护大众利益的,他们自会心甘情愿的服从。古希腊伟大的政治家伯利克里曾说过:―我们的政府是自由的政府,但我们仍遵守法律,尤其是那些维护被压迫者权益的法律,以及那些一旦违背便使人蒙羞的未成文的?法律‘。‖

雅典人自愿遵守的,不仅是他们通过的那些成文的法律,还包括不成文的、自由的人们生活在一起所必须遵守的法律。他们善待彼此,互生怜悯,若无这些品质,生活将变得只有荒漠里的隐士才能忍受。雅典人从不认为,一个人能随心所欲,他就算是自由的。他若能自我约束,他便自由。服从于自己所认同的行为规范即是自由。雅典人幸而未把生活看成是自己的私事。各人为雅典人的共同利益都各有其责任,这种责任不是外界向其强加的,而是缘于这座城市是他的骄傲,是他的安身之处。世界上第一个政府的信条就是,那些能自我约束和为国家承担责任的人将享有自由。正是这个理念,为日后希腊人的丰硕建树奠定了基础。

但自由的获得并不如原子弹的发明一样。一朝获得自由并不代表永远享有自由。人们若不珍视自由并为之奋斗,自由就会消亡。自由的维持,须以长久的警惕为代价。雅典带来了这种思想上的转变。这种转变虽悄然发生,但至关重要,贯穿全国。雅典人乐于、自豪于为他们的城市做贡献,从来没想过要从中获得什么物质利益。后来,雅典人的思想态度发生巨大的转变,他们把城市看成是为他们的工作支付薪酬的雇主。他们看重的,不再是人民给予国家什么,而是国家给予人民什么。人们需要的是一个能给他们提供舒适生活的国家,当这成为最重要的目标时,自由、自立和责任的观念就会模糊甚至消失。雅典越来越像是一个拥有巨大财富的合营公司,所有雅典人共同拥有这份财富。

雅典人开始认为他们需要的自由就是免于责任的自由。到了这时候,结局只有一种。人们如果坚持摆脱自立和为大众利益负责的担子,就不再自由。承担责任是每个人为自由所必须付出的代价。这没有什么条件可言。古希腊的雅典人拒绝承担责任的时候,他们便不再享有自由。

亚里士多德曾说过:―好的东西千古流传。‖ 雅典人失去了自由,但这个世界并没有失去自由。美国著名政治家詹姆斯?麦迪逊(James Madison)在1776年左右提到过―人类自我统治的能力‖。可以肯定,他不知道自己说的就是希腊。也许他想不起雅典这个例子,但人类一旦产生某个念头,便挥之不去。在原子时代也是如此。这个念头存在于这个或者那个人的思想里,尽管未被付诸行动。我们无法确定它是否即将成为行动,唯一能确定的,就是总有一天会这样。

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Unit Ten Fear of Death Carll Tucker

资源匮乏的恐慌

我讨厌跑步。每天一清早,当绕着纽约中央公园的人工湖沉重的慢跑时,我总能清醒的意识到自己有多么厌恶它。这太无聊了。有人觉得慢跑有益于思考,还有人觉得途中景色让人乐在其中。对于我而言,这根本无助于思考也并无美景可享。跑步时,我满脑子不是又有跑步就是一片空白。可惜我没法子穿过这人工湖径直到家,只能绕着跑,说来它还帮了大忙。

从许多慢跑者倦怠的神色中不难断定,讨厌跑步的人原来不只我一个,他们同样感到痛苦无奈,这没比付账单开心多少吧。即便如此,我们仍一如既往的跑,甚至死心塌地的选择跑。普天之下有这么多选择,我们却宁愿去做一件不喜欢并且巴不得赶快结束的事,这究竟是为什么?

不管什么潮流,有多少人追逐,就有多少种理由。他指望靠此降低一再飙升的血压;他希望借此逃避旁人的电话干扰,火冒三丈的配偶或是乌七八糟的家锁;他以此回避生活的艰难抉择或是人生的碌碌无为。人人都有其烦恼和动力。我的苦衷便是体能的每况愈下,使我在网球比赛中输给两年前的手下败将。而我的动力就是挽回颜面打败他。

然而除了这些大大小小的理由外,还有一个更深层的原因。人们突然间如此痴迷于改善自身健康绝非偶然。不错,现代人都渴望健康,但仅靠此举很难使其区别于前人。

由于目光短浅,经济学家总是一厢情愿的认为所有问题皆由经济因素而起。庆幸的是慢跑和经济根本扯不上任何关系,也毫无理由可寻。的确,慢跑是很便宜,但不跑更省钱。慢跑带动的寥寥无几的装备需求恐怕是商人最看不上眼的买卖。

一些哲学家争论道:慢跑以及其他体能锻炼是人们给自己制定的一项任务。生活中的个人义务越来越少。工作时间减少,做礼拜也可有可无。科技为我们腾出更多的时间。但如何填补这些时间则需要去想象去努力。自由时间是一条又宽又险的河,足以使那些不会游泳的人沉没。一个人承担的义务越多,耗费时间就越多,相对危险的自由时间就越少。于是慢跑就成了一项的任务。跑步的过程中,他将不属于自己,而完全服从于他所能接受的自己。

一些神学家也许对此有更进一步的争议。他们认为正是由于现代社会人们的无神论和缺乏自信使得我们焦虑不安的想尽可能活得长久。据他们所说,我们跑步,是为了生存,相信这才是我们所要享受的人生。

所有的这些说法或多或少都有些道理。迷信的滋生以及对战争的热情复苏无不暗示着,我们渴望得到承诺。况且看到如此多的中老年人在健身的名以下深受折磨,谁还会怀疑我们对死亡的恐惧,远远超出了以往任何一代呢?

但依我之见,这种现象背后还有鲜为人知的原因。它背后的驱使力更甚于对死亡的恐惧,那就是资源的匮乏。我们看到土地的流失,河流失去了孕育生命的能力,空气,即使在平流层也存有致命的垃圾。我们看到无法挽回的浪费,感受到意识中那深深的恐惧 ―― 我们正在毁坏赖以生存的地球。同时我们也或多或少的感到无助,并想方设法保护环境。我们重复利用汽水瓶,修复老房子和保护离自己最近的自然资源 --我们的身体健康,希望这种小的举动可以拯救正被破坏的地球。跑步变成了一种为我们贪婪和浪费的一种赎罪。

这就是我为什么要跑步 ―― 为了赢一场网球赛。

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Unit Eleven Beyond Invalidism, Part One Norman Cousins

1 The sense of being locked into a body that is inadequate for its needs, the sense of living under a lowering ceiling, the sense of having to separate oneself from vital prospects, the sense of coming to terms with bleakness — all these are the stuff of invalidism. The person who is put on notice by the physician that he or she has a ―bad heart‖ tends to live a life of reduced expectations, to take slower and fewer steps, and to move tentatively in the outside world.

2. How does one avoid the feeling of being an invalid when underlying corditions create and indeed seem to dictate it? When a physician tells you that your heart is weak and must be spared the strains that other people routinely and joyously bear, how do you go through life without flinching when you approach stairs or hilly streets or children reaching out to be lifted?

3 Perhaps the best way to answer these questions is to begin by reflecting on the way the human body works. A weak body becomes weaker in a mood of total surrender.思想上先缴了械,身体便会更加孱弱。The mechanisms of repair and rehabilitation that are built into the human system have a natural drive to assert themselves under conditions of illness, but that natural tendency is deferred or deflected by an erosion of the will to live, or by the absence of confidence in one‘s physician or in one‘s own ability to play a vital part in the attack on disease.

4 Obviously, it is absurd to suppose that there is no illness or somber circumstance that can‘t be reversed. But it is also true that under conditions of extreme illness we need all the help we can get. For the same reason it is necessary to put all our own powers to work in our own behalf. We want to get the most out of whatever is possible. An integral part of this process is respect for the human body — an organism of astounding tenacity, resiliency, and recuperative capability. And, since the human body tends to move in the direction of its expectations — plus or minus — it is important to know that attitudes of confidence and determination are no less a part of the treatment program than medical science and technology.

5 The day after I came home from the hospital, I arranged with a building contractor to construct a new study and storage facility for all the Saturday Review files and other books and records that had been moved out from the East. The only place available for the new construction was above a steep hill in back of the house. This meant I would have to climb the equivalent of four flights of stairs every time I wanted to go to the study.

6 The building was completed in about three months. I have never felt the slightest hesitation in making the ascent, which I have done at least twice daily. The sense of pleasurable anticipations is enough to allow me to endure any strain.

7 I do know this, however: if I had any distasteful expectations or reactions my body would supply all the signs of chest pressure to accommodate that distaste. More and more, I am inclined to accept the notion that the body produces its own poisons under circumstances of apprehension or emotional strain and that this factor is intimately involved in serious illness, whether it takes the form of cardiac disease, joint disabilities, or even cancer. The title of Kenneth Pelletier‘s book Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer may say it all.

8 Nothing is more amazing or heartening to me than to see the way in which many persons with severe afflictions or handicaps nonetheless manage to affirm life. Just in the act of mobilizing their emotional resources they help to potentiate themselves physically. I am not saying here that no one ever need feel disadvantaged; all I am doing is making a distinction between being an invalid and thinking and acting like one.

9 I know that I am still at risk. I know that, without warning, my heart could suddenly fail. If that should happen, I will have no complaints. As I told Dr. Shine, I have nothing but gratitude for a heart that has seen me through an eventful life and several medical ordeals, beginning in childhood.

10 Death is not the enemy; living in constant fear of it is. I have no intention of swathing myself in cotton to soften a possibly fatal episode. I will continue to live and think as actively and creatively as it is physically possible for me to do, knowing that longevity by self can be sterile but that vital feelings and thoughts give meaning and depth to life and provide a true sense of possibilities of human existence.

11 I have already lived more than an average lifetime, but I want to continue to live long enough to see the establishment of a world under law and a planet made safe and fit for human habitation. I hope, too, to live long enough to

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see the conquest of human squalor. What stands in the way is not insufficiency o natural resources but the way people choose to think about their problems and opportunities. In any event, I am grateful that I am able to continue working for those causes that seek to free our age from gross indignities and the fear of nuclear devastation.

12 What seems especially important to me in retrospect is that I am the beneficiary of the best that modern medical science has to offer. For many years, deaths from heart attacks have outnumbered fatalities from all other diseases. That number is now on the decline and will, I believe, decline further still with the full recognition, not just by the profession but by the general public, that a comprehensive program of treatment involves both the full utilization of medical science and full development of the human healing system. The fact that the belief

13 I look up at the calendar as I put down these final notes and see that it is two years and five months since the heart attack of December 22, 1980 Dr. Shine has gone out of his way to congratulate me, using the word ―magnificent‖ to describe my process, even though he feels I may still be at substantial risk. The portion of the heart muscle has been strengthened and has adapted itself to my needs. Dr. Cannon says it is difficult to believe that bypass surgery could have achieved a better functional result than has been achieved without it. The original treadmill results that produced the finding of severe coronary insufficiency have been reversed.最初检测出了严重冠状动脉功能不全的踏车试验结果已经被逆转了。

14 I manage to set aside time each week for the sports I enjoy — doubles or singles in tennis, and golf with old friends. Golf does not really qualify as exercise, but it is a game that offers tangible and tantalizing possibilities for measurable improvement of one‘s skill. Besides, it provides an arena for banter and the rewards of companionship in an outdoor setting. I maintain a full working schedule, and I pay visits to the hospital at the request of physicians to see ill persons in need of a morale boost. The different between what I did before the heart attack and what I am doing now is that I now maintain some semblance of control I try to run my schedule instead of letting the schedule run me.我努力驾驭时间表,而不是被时间表所束缚。

From: C. Shrodes, pp. 732-734.

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Unit Twelve Charles Darwin Thomas Henry Huxley

1 Very few, even among those who have taken the keenest interest in the progress of the revolution in natural knowledge set afoot by the publication of \rapid and complete change which has been effected both inside and outside the boundaries of the scientific world in the attitude of men's minds towards the doctrines which are expounded in that great work, can have been prepared for the extraordinary manifestation of affectionate regard for the man, and of profound reverence for the philosopher, which followed the announcement, on Thursday last, of the death of Mr. Darwin.

很少有人,即使是那些对由于《物种起源》一书的发表而推动的自然知识的变革进程极度感兴趣的人,以及那些满怀讶异关注着导致科学界内外人士对待这一巨著中阐明的观点的态度发生迅速而彻底变化的人,能够预料到上周四宣布达尔文死亡之后人们对于达尔文这一思想家的异乎寻常的挚爱和崇敬之情。

2 Not only in these islands, where so many have felt the fascination of personal contact with an intellect which had no superior, and with a character which was even nobler than the intellect; but, in all parts of the civilised world, it would seem that those whose business it is to feel the pulse of nations and to know what interests the masses of mankind, were well aware that thousands of their readers would think the world the poorer for Darwin's death, and would dwell with eager interest upon every incident of his history. In France, in Germany, in Austro-Hungary, in Italy, in the United States, writers of all shades of opinion, for once unanimous, have paid a willing tribute to the worth of our great countryman, ignored in life by the official representatives of the kingdom, but laid in death among his peers in Westminster Abbey by the will of the intelligence of the nation.

不止是在英伦三岛,那里有如此多的人深切感受到一个无与伦比的灵魂的魅力,感受到一个比这一灵魂更加高贵的品质;在文明世界所有疆域里,似乎那些密切关注世界进程以及关心人民利益的人都能意识到他们数以千计的读者将会认为达尔文的死是我们这个世界的一大损失,并将急迫地研读他一生中的每一事件来缅怀他。在法国,在德国,在奥匈帝国,在意大利,在美国,所有持不同观点的作家在这一刻一致同意为我们这一伟大同胞的价值表示致敬,尽管他一生都不被英国当局认同和尊敬,他死后还是遵由这一国家中智者的意愿被安葬在西敏寺的其他伟人之间。

3 It is not for us to allude to the sacred sorrows of the bereaved home at Down; but it is no secret that, outside that domestic group, there are many to whom Mr. Darwin's death is a wholly irreparable loss. And this not merely because of his wonderfully genial, simple, and generous nature; his cheerful and animated conversation, and the infinite variety and accuracy of his information; but because the more one knew of him, the more he seemed the incorporated ideal of a man of science. Acute as were his reasoning powers, vast as was his knowledge, marvellous as was his tenacious industry, under physical difficulties which would have converted nine men out of ten into aimless invalids; it was not these qualities, great as they were, which impressed those who were admitted to his intimacy with involuntary veneration, but a certain intense and almost passionate honesty by which all his thoughts and actions were irradiated, as by a central fire.

我们不应提及在唐宁镇那失去亲人的家庭的沉重的悲伤;但有一点已不是秘密,那就是除了达尔文的亲友,还有很多人认为他的死是无法挽回的损失。这不仅是由于他亲切、率真和慷慨的本性;也不仅是由于他愉快生动的谈吐,以及他庞杂而准确的信息量;而且由于人们对他了解的愈多,就愈感到他是科学工作者的典范。他的推理能力极为敏锐,他的知识面极为宽广,他的坚毅勤奋令人叹为观止,他身体的困难十有八九会让普通人沦落成没有生活目标的病弱之人;使那些不知不觉中感受到达尔文的亲切并因此而尊敬他的人们印象深刻不是他这些伟大的品质,而是如火焰一样照亮他思想和行为的那种独特的强烈而近乎热烈的诚实。

4 It was this rarest and greatest of endowments which kept his vivid imagination and great speculative powers within due bounds; which compelled him to undertake the prodigious labours of original investigation and of reading, upon which his published works are based; which made him accept criticisms and suggestions from anybody and everybody, not only without impatience, but with expressions of gratitude sometimes almost comically in excess of their value; which led him to allow neither himself nor others to be deceived by phrases, and to spare neither time nor pains in order to obtain clear and distinct ideas upon every topic with which he occupied himself.

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正是这种极其稀有的伟大的天赋使得他的生动的想象和伟大的推测能力处于合理的范畴内。这种态度使得他能够不被只言片语迷惑,并且能够不辞辛苦地尽力对他所从事的每一个议题取得清楚明确的看法。不同的是,面对大自然这一几乎没有任何破解希望的难题,我们的现代哲学家没有退缩不前,以赫拉克利特和德谟克利特的理论为基础,他把全部的生命奉献到了攻克这一难题的事业里,得到的结果和他们早先提出的理论相似甚至完全一致。

5 One could not converse with Darwin without being reminded of Socrates. There was the same desire to find some one wiser than himself; the same belief in the sovereignty of reason; the same ready humour; the same sympathetic interest in all the ways and works of men. But instead of turning away from the problems of Nature as hopelessly insoluble, our modern philosopher devoted his whole life to attacking them in the spirit of Heraclitus and of Democritus, with results which are the substance of which their speculations were anticipatory shadows.

对达尔文所取得成绩的正确评价,甚至正确的定位在当前来说是不现实甚至不应该期望的。凡事都需要时间――为我们对自然不断扩展的征服感到欣喜需要时间,哀悼带领我们取得胜利的英雄同样需要时间。

6 The due appreciation, or even enumeration, of these results is neither practicable nor desirable at this moment. There is a time for all things–a time for glorying in our ever-extending conquests over the realm of Nature, and a time for mourning over the heroes who have led us to victory.

7 None have fought better, and none have been more fortunate, than Charles Darwin. He found a great truth trodden underfoot, reviled by bigots, and ridiculed by all the world; he lived long enough to see it, chiefly by his own efforts, irrefragably established in science, inseparably incorporated with the common thoughts of men, and only hated and feared by those who would revile, but dare not. What shall a man desire more than this? Once more the image of Socrates rises unbidden, and the noble peroration of the \

8 \hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways–I to die and you to live. Which is the better, God only knows.\

他发现了深藏在我们脚下的、被偏邪之人攻击、被全世界嘲笑的真理;他活着的时候看到了这一真理,主要通过他自己的努力,无可争议地在科学中占有了一席之地,并成为普通人思想中不可分割的一部分,只被那些想攻击却又不敢攻击的人憎恶和恐惧。

From: S. F. Tropp, pp. 230-232.

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Unit Fourteen Reading the River Mark Twain

品读密西西比

河的脸,迟早幻化成一本神奇的书——这书于未经训练的旅人是死的语言,却毫无保留地告诉我它的思想,如同有声述说般将其最珍藏的秘密公布。这不是一本读过一遍就弃置一旁的书,因为每一天它都有新故事要颂。绵延一千二百英里,每一页均不无趣味。。。读不懂它的旅人总为水面上一种独特隐约的酒窝所着迷(那也是在少数几个偶然间,他没有完全忽视酒窝的时候,才有的事)对于水手而言,那却是一段印成斜体的文字;事实上那不仅仅是酒窝,而是最大号字体的图例,且还要在末尾附加一连串呼号的感叹符,因为它意味着那里埋藏着一艘沉船或一块暗礁,随时都有可能将漂流而过的最坚固的船舶摧毁。这是河水所能作出的最模糊,最简单的表达,在被水手视作最可怕的信号。事实上,不能读懂此书的旅人,只能从中看到形形色色的美丽图画,阳光为画笔,云朵绘阴影,而对于受过训练的眼睛,这些丝毫不是图画,而是最无情,最严肃的读物。

而今我已掌握此河的语言,开始了解构成大河的每一个琐碎特征,我认识它们,如同认识字母表的每一个字母,我获得了一份宝贵的财富。但我同时遗失了某件东西,我遗失了某件在我有生之年都无法再恢复的东西。所有的优雅,美丽,诗情,均不复存在于此壮丽的大河!犹记得我初当汽船水手时所目睹的一次奇妙的日落。河中很宽一部分区域被夕阳染成血红。远处和中央的红光耀成金黄,一根独木穿越金光漂浮而来,乌黑且显眼,有一处水面上闪现一道斜长的记号;另一处水面则为沸腾翻滚的漪所击碎,那多彩的涟漪仿佛一块蛋白石;在微红的赤晕最淡的地方,有一处光滑的地方覆有优雅的圈纹并放射状的线条,精美勾勒,无与伦比;左岸是茂密的灌木丛,这林里投下的昏暗的荫在一处被一条长且参差的痕迹阻断,那道痕迹像银子般闪耀着;在林墙上方的高处,一棵秃杆儿的死树摇曳着唯一一根带叶的枝条,在夕阳无阻倾泻的流动光辉中如火焰般闪耀着。优雅的曲线,倒映的影像,葱笼的高地,和缓的远处;在整个背景之上,远近处处,持续地浮动着光芒,那光渐渐消融在夜色中,每一刻都为河流缀以新的色彩奇迹。

我如同着了魔般久久伫立,在一种无言的狂喜中沉醉其间。世界于我是崭新的,在家我从未见过此等景象。但正如我所说的,从某天开始,我不再留意月亮太阳和暮光在河的脸上的杰作,不再留意那种灿烂和魔力;又有一天,我停止注意这所有。从那天起,即使日落的奇景再重复,我也将不带任何狂喜之情地看过,还会暗自这样评价:―这个太阳预示明天要起风;那段浮木显示河水在上涨,情况不妙;水面上倾斜的记号恰是一个陡峭的沙洲,若是这沙洲像那样继续延伸,这几天夜里必会有汽船要遭殃;那片翻滚的?沸水‘显示那里有一片消融的沙洲或是一段变道的河床;远处平滑水域里的线条和圈纹警示着那片棘手的区域正十分危险地慢慢变浅;树林的阴影里银色的条纹,是一条新增残桩的突出物,这截树桩占据了所能找到的最有利于他给汽船造成麻烦的地形;那棵仅有一条带叶树枝的死树,已经支撑不了多久了,不知道没有这位指路的老朋友,一个人还如何在夜间穿越他的盲区?‖

不,所有的浪漫和美丽都离这河远去了。它的任何特征于我的价值不外乎那些对于安全掌舵汽船有益的可用之处。自那些天起,我从心底里同情医生。美人双颊的可爱红晕对一位医生而言除了伏于某致命疾患之上的征兆外还能意味着什么呢?她那耀目的魅力于他而言不正充满一种隐匿萎败的标志与象征吗?究竟他有否瞧见她的美,还是他看她仅是以一种职业的眼光,且兀自只对他不健康的状态予以评价?他可曾犹疑自己在掌握了技能之后是得到更多还是遗失得更多呢?

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