英语散文欣赏（中英文对照）

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:07:40

　　The Choice of Companion
　　
　　Anonymous
　　
　　A good companion is better than a fortune, for a fortune cannot purchase those elements of character which make companionship a blessing. The best companion is one who is wiser and better than ourselves, for we are inspired by his wisdom and virtue to nobler deeds. Greater wisdom and goodness than we possess lifts us higher mentally and morally.
　　
　　“A man is known by the companion he keeps.” It is always true. Companionship of a high order is powerful to develop character. Character makes character in the associations of life faster than anything else. Purity begets purity, like begets like; and this fact makes the choice of companion in early life more important even than that of teachers and guardians
　　
　　It is true that we cannot always choose all of our companions, some are thrust upon us by business or the social relations of life, we do not choose them, we do not enjoy them; and yet, we have to associate with them more or less. The experience is not altogether without compensation, if there be principle enough in us to bear the strain. Still, in the main, choice of companions can be made, and must be made. It is not best or necessary for a young person to associate with “Tom, Dick, and Harry” without forethought or purpose. Some fixed rules about the company he or she keeps must be observed. The subject should be uttermost in the thoughts, and canvassed often
　　
　　Companionship is education, good or not; it develops manhood or womanhood, high or low; it lifts soul upward or drags it downward; it minister to virtue or vice. There is no half way work about its influence. If it ennobles, it does grandly, if it demoralizes, it doest it devilishly. It saves or destroys lustily. Nothing in the world is surer than this. Sow virtue, and the harvest will be virtue, Sow vice, and the harvest will be vice. Good companionships help us to sow virtue; evil companionships help us to sow vice.
　　
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　　择友
　　
　　佚名
　　
　　一个好友胜过一笔财富。人性中有一些品质会让友谊变成一种幸福的事，而金钱买不到这些品质。最好的朋友是那些比我们更睿智和更出色的人，他们的智慧和美德会激发我们去做更高尚的事情。他们有着比我们更多的智慧和更高尚的情操，可以在精神上和道德上将我们带入一个新的境界。
　　
　　 “观其友而知其人”，这句话总是对的。高层次的交往会有力地塑造一个人的性情。在交往中，品性对品性的影响胜过其它任何因素。纯洁的品格会培养纯洁的品格，爱好会引发相同的爱好。这些表明，在年少时，选择朋友甚至比选择老师和监护人还要重要。
　　
　　不可否认，有些朋友总是我们不能选择的。有些是工作和社会关系强加于我们的。我们没有选择他们，也不喜欢他们，可是我们不得不或多或少地与他们交往。不过，只要我们心中有足够的原则来承担压力，与他们交往也并非毫无益处。在大多数情况下，我们还是可以选择朋友的，而且，必须选择。一个年轻人毫无前瞻性，也无目的性地随意与张三李四交往，是不好的，也是没必要的。他必须遵守一些确定的交友原则，应当把它们摆在心中最高的位置，并经常加以审视。
　　
　　无论是有益的还是有害的友谊，都是一种教导。它可以培育或是高贵，或是卑微的品格；它可以使灵魂升华，也可以使之堕落；它可以滋生美德，也可以催生邪恶；它的影响没有折中之道：如果它让人高尚，就会用一种无比高贵的方式，如果让人堕落，也会用一种无比邪恶的方式。它可以有力地拯救一个人，也可以轻易地毁掉一个人。播种美德，就会收获美德；播种邪恶，就会收获邪恶，这是非常确定的，而有益的友谊帮我们播种美德，有害的友谊则支使我们撒下邪恶的种子。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:08:09

　　YOUTH
　　
　　by Samuel Ullman
　　
　　Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind;
　　it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees;
　　it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions;
　　it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
　　Youth means a tempera-mental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of 60 more than a boy of 20.
　　 Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
　　Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spring back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living.
　　In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station:
　　 so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
　　When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at 80.
　　
　　青春
　　
　　塞缪尔·厄尔曼
　　
　　青春不是年华，而是心境；
　　青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而是深沉的意志，恢宏的想象，炙热的恋情；
　　青春是生命的深泉在涌流。青春气贯长虹，勇锐盖过怯弱，进取压倒苟安。如此锐气，二十后生而有之，六旬男子则更多见。
　　年岁有加，并非垂老，理想丢弃，方堕暮年。岁月悠悠，衰微只及肌肤；热忱抛却，颓废必致灵魂。忧烦，惶恐，丧失自信，定使心灵扭曲，意气如灰。
　　无论年届花甲，拟或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。
　　一旦天线下降，锐气便被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，即使年方二十，实已垂垂老矣；然则只要树起天线，捕捉乐观信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年轻。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:10:05

　　Ignorance Make One Happy
　　
　　Robert Lynd
　　
　　The average man who uses a telephone could not explain how a telephone works. He takes for granted the telephone, the railway train, the linotype, the airplane, as our grandfathers took for granted the miracles of the gospels. He neither question nor understand them. It is as though each of us investigated and made his own a tiny circle of facts. Knowledge outside the day’s work is regarded by most men as a gewgaw. Still we are constantly in reaction against our ignorance. We rouse ourselves at intervals and speculate. We revel in speculations about anything at all --- about life after death or about such questions as that which is said to have puzzled Aristotle, “Why sneezing from noon to midnight was good, but from night to noon unlucky?” One of the greatest joys known to man is to take such a flight into ignorance in search of the knowledge. The great pleasure of ignorance is, after all, the pleasure of asking questions. The man who has lost this pleasure or exchanged it for the pleasure of dogma, which is the pleasure of answering, is already beginning to stiffen. One envies so inquisitive a man as Jewell, who sat down to the study of physiology in his sixties. Most of us have lost the sense of our ignorance long before that age. We even become vain of our squirrel’s hoard of knowledge and regard increasing age itself as a school of omniscience. We forget that Socrates was famed for wisdom not because he was omniscient but because he realized at the age of seventy that he still knew nothing.
　　
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　　罗伯特.林德（1879-1949）,英国近代散文名家，生于爱尔兰，曾任伦敦《新闻报》文学编辑，工作之余著作颇丰，在散文创作方面有较高成就。
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　　无知常乐
　　
　　罗伯特.林德
　　
　　一般用电话的人都不懂电话是怎样工作的，他们总是把电话、铁路、排字机、飞机等看成是自然而然的东西，就像我们的祖先觉得福音书里的奇事都是很自然的一样。他们不懂，也不问。似乎我们每个人都只钻研、弄懂很小范围内的一些事情。大多数人都认为日常生活之外的知识是花里胡哨的东西。然而，我们也在不停地抗拒着我们的无知。有时，我们会振奋起来，进行思考。我们会信手拈来一个问题，然后沉浸在思考中――如死后的生活，或者其它问题，比如一个据说曾经困扰亚里士多德的问题：“为什么从中午到午夜打喷嚏是好运气，而从午夜到中午打喷嚏代表坏运气？”在寻找知识的过程中陷入无知，是人类的一大乐事。无知的快乐，说到底，是提问题的快乐。一个已经不会提问的人，一个用教条的答案回答问题并以此为乐的人，他的头脑已经开始僵化了。我们很羡慕裘伊，他在六十多岁的时候居然开始做下来学习生理学，而大多数人在远未达到这个年龄就已经不知道什么是无知了。我们甚至会为我们的一点浅薄的知识而沾沾自喜，甚至觉得，流逝的时光本身就会自然地给我们所有的知识。我们忘了，苏格拉底之所以流芳百世，不是因为他什么都懂，而是他发现在他七十岁的时候，仍然什么都不懂。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:10:39

　　Ludwig van Beethoven to His Brothers
　　
　　For my brothers Carl and (Johann) Beethoven,
　　
　　O ye men who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do ye wrong me, you do not know the secret causes of my seeming, from childhood my heart and mind were disposed to the gentle feelings of good will, I was even ever eager to accomplish great deeds, but reflect now that for six years I have been a hopeless case, aggravated by senseless physicians, cheated year after year in the hope of improvement, finally compelled to face the prospect of a lasting malady (whose cure will take years or, perhaps, be impossible), born with an ardent and lively temperament, even susceptible to the diversions of society, I was compelled early to isolate myself, to live in loneliness, when I at times tried to forget all this, O how harshly was I repulsed by the doubly sad experience of my bad hearing, and yet it was impossible for me to say to men speak louder, shout, for I am deaf.
　　
　　Ah how could I possibly admit such an infirmity in the one sense which should have been more perfect in me than in others, a sense which I once possessed in highest perfection, a perfection such as few surely in my profession enjoy or have enjoyed - O I cannot do it, therefore forgive me when you see me draw back when I would gladly mingle with you, my misfortune is doubly painful because it must lead to my being misunderstood, for me there can be no recreations in society of my fellows, refined intercourse, mutual exchange of thought, only just as little as the greatest needs command may I mix with society.
　　
　　I must live like an exile, if I approach near to people a hot terror seizes upon me, a fear that I may be subjected to the danger of letting my condition be observed - thus it has been during the past year which I spent in the country, commanded by my intelligent physician to spare my hearing as much as possible, in this almost meeting my natural disposition, although I sometimes ran counter to it yielding to my inclination for society, but what a humiliation when one stood beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone heard the shepherd singing and again I heard nothing, such incidents brought me to the verge of despair, but little more and I would have put an end to my life - only art it was that withheld me, ah it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce, and so I endured this wretched existence - truly wretched, an excitable body which a sudden change can throw from the best into the worst state - Patience - it is said that I must now choose for my guide, I have done so, I hope my determination will remain firm to endure until it please the inexorable Parcae to bread the thread, perhaps I shall get better, perhaps not, I am prepared.
　　
　　Forced already in my 28th year to become a philosopher, O it is not easy, less easy for the artist than for anyone else - Divine One thou lookest into my inmost soul, thou knowest it, thou knowest that love of man and desire to do good live therein. O men, when some day you read these words, reflect that ye did me wrong and let the unfortunate one comfort himself and find one of his kind who despite all obstacles of nature yet did all that was in his power to be accepted among worthy artists and men.
　　
　　You my brothers Carl and [Johann] as soon as I am dead if Dr. Schmid is still alive ask him in my name to describe my malady and attach this document to the history of my illness so that so far as possible at least the world may become reconciled with me after my death. At the same time I declare you two to be the heirs to my small fortune (if so it can be called), divide it fairly, bear with and help each other, what injury you have done me you know was long ago forgiven.
　　
　　To you brother Carl I give special thanks for the attachment you have displayed towards me of late. It is my wish that your lives be better and freer from care than I have had, recommend virtue to your children, it alone can give happiness, not money, I speak from experience, it was virtue that upheld me in misery, to it next to my art I owe the fact that I did not end my life with suicide.
　　
　　Farewell and love each other - I thank all my friends, particularly Prince Lichnowsky and Professor Schmid - I desire that the instruments from Prince L. be preserved by one of you but let no quarrel result from this, so soon as they can serve you better purpose sell them, how glad will I be if I can still be helpful to you in my grave - with joy I hasten towards death - if it comes before I shall have had an opportunity to show all my artistic capacities it will still come too early for me despite my hard fate and I shall probably wish it had come later - but even then I am satisfied, will it not free me from my state of endless suffering? Come when thou will I shall meet thee bravely.
　　
　　Farewell and do not wholly forget me when I am dead, I deserve this of you in having often in life thought of you how to make you happy, be so ---
　　
　　Heiglnstadt,
　　October 6th, 1802
　　Ludwig van Beethoven
　　
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　　路德维格·范·贝多芬(1770-1827) 德国作曲家，他是从古典音乐向浪漫主义音乐过渡时期最杰出的作曲家，也是人类历史上最伟大的艺术家之一。他有着卓越的音乐天赋、炽热的叛逆气质和巨人般顽强不屈的个性。他一生命运坎坷，1801年开始失去听力，到1819年完全耷了。对视音乐为生命的贝多芬来说，没有什么比这更沉重的打击了，但他依然顽强地同命运斗争。本文是他在海格伦斯塔德对他兄弟们立下的遗嘱，其中向他们诉说了了愈来愈无法掩盖的病情和他耳聋后的绝望和痛苦。作者后来在1824和1827年，也是他去世的那年又分别立了两份遗嘱。
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　　海格伦斯塔德遗嘱
　　
　　路德维格·范·贝多芬
　　
　　我的兄弟卡尔和（约翰）贝多芬，
　　
　　噢，兄弟们，你们说我心存怨恨、固执又愤世嫉俗，你们对我的误解是多么深啊！你们不知道我外表背后隐藏的苦衷。自幼我性情温纯善良，甚至也渴望着想做一番大事业。可是你们不想想，六年了，我都处在绝望中，愚蠢的医生使我的病情更重，年复一年，我盼着身体能好转，可是总是希望落空，最终被迫面对终身残疾的命运（治好这种病需要很多年，或者也可能永远治不好）。我天性热情、活跃，喜欢社交，可是如今年纪轻轻却被迫离群索居，与世隔绝。我耳朵聋了，我也不能因为我是聋子而要求别人大声对我说话，或是对我喊！每当我想忘记我所有的不幸时，这双倍的痛苦体验总是冷酷地把我拒绝。
　　
　　啊！你叫我怎么能让别人知道我的听觉出了问题了呢！我的听觉理应比别人要更灵敏的多啊！而且以前它是完美的，我同行们几乎没人有或者曾经有过那样完美的听觉！啊，我做不到！所以，当你们看到我避开不与你们说话时，请原谅我，其实我很想与你们说话。我的病必然会引起别人对我的误解，这让我倍加痛苦。对我来说，我再也不能享受那种朋友们在一起交流、切磋思想的乐趣了，而且除非实在免不了，我总是避免和外界接触。
　　
　　我不得不活着像个流放的人，要是我接近人群，恐惧就会涌上心头，唯恐别人发现我病情。半年来我就是这样过来的。一位高明的医生让我尽量避免使用听觉，而也差不多正合我愿，所以这半年来我一直呆在乡下。不过，有时我也会违背医嘱，忍不住想与别人交往，但是，当我旁边的人听到远处的笛声而我却什么都听不到，或是别人听到牧羊人的歌声而我又什么都听不到的时候，那是怎样一种屈辱的感觉啊！这些事情让我濒临崩溃，要不是对艺术的渴求制止了我，我差不多就要结束我的生命了。我知道没把我命里所有的作品都创造出来，我是不可能离开这个世界的，所以我忍受这痛苦的生活，真的痛苦啊！我的身体容易激动，突然有一点变化，就会一下子从最好变成最坏。我必须选择忍耐，别人这么说，我也这么做了。希望我有足够坚定的意志来承受苦难，直到无情的死神割断我的生命之线的那天。也许我的病会好转，也许不会，对此我都是有心理准备的。
　　
　　28年了，我不得不看空一切，啊，这并不容易，特别是对一位艺术家来说。神啊，您深知我的心，您知道我对人类抱有热爱，渴望造福于别人，啊，人啊！要是有一天你们读到这些，别忘了你们曾经对我不公平；但愿不幸的人，在看到他的一位同类不顾所有现实的障碍而竭尽全力成功跻身于优秀的艺术家与人才之列时，能得到些许的慰籍。
　　
　　你们，我的兄弟卡尔，约翰，我死后，要是史密脱教授还活着的话, 以我的名义请他详细描述我的病情和患病过程，再加上现在这封信，这样至少让世人在我死后或许能最大程度地重新理解我。同时我宣布你们是我微薄财产（如果它可以称为财产的话）的继承人，请公平分配，请你们患难与共。至于你们给我的伤害，你们知道我很早就释怀了。
　　
　　卡尔，弟弟，特别感谢你近来对我关照，愿你们的生活比我幸福，烦恼比我少。请教会孩子们“道德”的力量，使人幸福的是道德而不是金钱，这是我的亲身体验。在痛苦中支撑我的是道德，我之所以没有走极端，除了艺术，其次我就要归功于道德。
　　
　　别了，愿你们相亲相爱。我感谢我所有的朋友们，特别是李赫诺斯基亲王和史密特教授。我希望你们俩中的一个能替我保管李赫诺斯基亲王的乐器，但切勿因此发生任何争执。当你们需要时请尽管卖掉它，如果我在九泉之下仍然还能对你们有所帮助，我会多么高兴啊! 我将坦然迎接死神，但如果在没有发挥出我全部的艺术才能之前死去，我觉得太早了，尽管命运坎坷，我恐怕还是希望那一天晚一点到来。不过，即使早死，我也会心满意足的，这样不就能把我从无尽的苦难中解脱出来吗？你们想什么时候来就来吧，我会鼓气勇气见你们的。
　　
　　再见了，请不要在我死后把我忘光了，你们不该这样做，因为我在世时是如此常常想念你们，想着如何让你们开心。
　　
　　愿你们幸福。
　　
　　路德维格·范·贝多芬
　　1802年10月6日
　　于海格伦斯塔德

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:11:51

　　The Time Is Short
　　
　　Anonymous
　　
　　You who are letting miserable misunderstandings run on from year to year, meaning to clear them up some day; you who are keeping wretched quarrels alive because you cannot quite make up your mind that now is the day to sacrifice your pride and kill them; you who are passing men sullenly upon the street, not speaking to them out of some silly spite, yet knowing that it would fill you with shame and remorse if you heard that one of those men were dead tomorrow morning; you who are letting your friend’s heart ache for a word of appreciation or sympathy if only you could know and see and feel, all of a sudden, that “the time is short”! How it would break the spell! How you would go instantly and do the things that you might never have another chance to do!
　　
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　　人生苦短
　　
　　佚名
　　
　　你听任一些痛苦的误解年复一年继续，打算以后再去澄清；你放任一些可悲的争吵存在，因为你不能下定决心今天就放下面子解决它们；你在街上遇到一些人，由于一些愚蠢的怨恨，你冷着脸不和他们说话，但是你知道，要是你听说他们当中的有一个明天早晨死了，你的心里会充满羞愧和悔恨；你对朋友们总是吝啬欣赏或赞同的话。不过，只要你突然间能知道、理解、感受到“人生苦短”，你就会幡然醒悟，就会马上去做那些或许你永远也不会再有机会做的事情！
　　

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:12:22

　　Appeal to American
　　
　　Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
　　
　　In my opinion, the Indian struggle for freedom bears its consequence not only upon India and England but upon the whole world. It contains one-fifth of the human race. It represents one of the most ancient civilizations. It has traditions handed down from tens of thousands of years, some of which, to the astonishment of the world, remain intact. No doubt the ravages of time have affected the purity of that civilization as they have that of many other cultures and institutions.
　　
　　If India is to revive the glory of her ancient past, she can only do so when she attains her freedom. The reason for the struggle having drawn the attention of the world I know does not lie in the fact that we Indians are fighting for our liberty, but in the fact the means adopted by us for attaining that liberty are unique and, as far as history shows us, have not been adopted by any other people of whom we have any record.
　　
　　The means adopted are not violence, not bloodshed, not diplomacy as one understands it nowadays, but they are purely and simply truth and non-violence. No wonder that the attention of the world is directed toward this attempt to lead a successful bloodless revolution. Hitherto, nations have fought in the manner of the brute. They have wreaked vengeance upon those whom they have considered to be their enemies.
　　
　　We find in searching national anthems adopted by great nations that they contain imprecations upon the so-called enemy. They have vowed destruction and have not hesitated to take the name of God and seek divine assistance for the destruction of the enemy. We in India have endeavored to reverse the process. We feel that the law that governs brute creation is not the law that should guide the human race. That law is inconsistent with human dignity.
　　
　　I, personally, would wait, if need be, for ages rather than seek to attain the freedom of my country through bloody means. I feel in the innermost of my heart, after a political extending, over an unbroken period of, close upon thirty-five years, that the world is sick unto death of blood spilling. The world is seeking a way out, and I flatter myself with the belief that perhaps it will be the privilege of the ancient land of India to show the way out to the hungering world.
　　
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　　甘地（1869－1948），印度民族运动领袖。毕业于英国伦敦大学。1893年在南非进行反种族歧视斗争，多次被捕。第一次世界大战后返回印度，倡导对英国殖民政府“非暴力不合作运动”，曾两度出任国民大党主席，主张印度教徒和伊斯兰教徒团结，反对歧视妇女和贱民。二战后反对英国对印度和巴基斯坦分治，被一名狂热的印度教徒枪杀。毕生为印度的独立而斗争，获得了人们的广泛尊敬，被尊称为“圣雄”。
　　此篇文章是他1931年受英国BBC电台之邀所发表的演说。
　　―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
　　
　　向美国呼吁
　　
　　[印度] 莫罕达斯.卡拉姆纪德.甘地
　　
　　在我看来，印度为争取自由的斗争不仅影响到印度和英国，而且影响了整个世界。她有着世界五分之一的人口，她代表了最古老的文明之一。她拥有流传了数万年的传统，并让世界感到惊奇的是，其中一些至今依然是完好无损的。当然，和其它文明和传统一样，印度文明的纯净也遭到了时光的侵蚀。
　　
　　如果印度想恢复她古老的荣誉的话，只有当她获得自由了才能做到。我知道，世人的目光被这场印度人争取自由的斗争所吸引，不在于我们争取自由这件事，而在于我们为争取自由所采取的独特方式。从历史来看，并无记载有民族曾经采取过这种方式。
　　
　　我们采取的方式不是暴力，不是流血，不是大家现在所熟知的手段，而是完全的、简单的理智和非暴力，所以并不奇怪世界的目光会被这种旨在一场无流血牺牲的成功革命的尝试所吸引。而迄今为止，人们仍然以野蛮动物的方式进行斗争，对他们所认定的敌人实行报复惩罚。
　　
　　翻开一些大国的国歌，我们都会发现有诅咒所谓敌人的内容。他们发誓要消灭敌人，也毫不迟疑地以上帝的名义，并乞求神灵的帮助来消灭他们的敌人。而我们在印度的人努力使用相反的方法。我们觉得支配野蛮动物界的法则并不应该支配人类，因为那违背了人类的高贵本质。
　　
　　如果需要的话，我自己情愿等待很多年，而不是用流血牺牲的手段来使我的国家获得自由。35年连续不断的政治生涯使我从内心深处由衷感受到，人类已对血肉横飞深恶痛绝，人类需要一种新的方式，我自以为，古老的印度大陆或许拥有为饥渴的人类展现这种新方式的优先权。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:12:47

　　The Road of Life
　　
　　William.S.Maugham
　　
　　The lives of most men are determined by their environment. They accept the circumstances amid which fate has thrown them not only with resignation but even with good will. They are like streetcars running contentedly on their rails and they despise the sprightly flitter that dashes in and out of the traffic and speeds so jauntily across the open country. I respect them; they are good citizens, good husbands, and good fathers, and of course somebody has to pay the taxes; but I do not find them exciting. I am fascinated by the men, few enough in all conscience, who take life in their own hands and seem to mould it to their own liking. It maybe that we have no such thing as free will, but at all events, we have the illusion of it. At a cross-road it does seem to us that we might go either to the right or the left and, the choice once made, it is difficult to see that the whole course of the world’s history obliged us to take the turning we did.
　　
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　　生活之路
　　
　　威廉.S.毛姆
　　
　　大多数人的生活都是由他们所处的环境决定。他们顺从地甚至乐意地接受命运把他们所扔进的环境。他们就像电车一样满足地行驶于他们的轨道上，并且瞧不起那些在敏捷地出没车水马龙中，快乐地奔驰于旷野上的车子。我尊重他们，他们是好公民、好丈夫和好父亲，当然总得要有人来交税。但是，他们并没有令人兴奋的地方。我被另外一些人深深吸引，他们将命运掌握在自己手中，并且似乎把它改造成他们所喜欢的样子，这样的人是很少的。而或许我们并没有所谓的自由意志，但不管怎样我们总有那样的幻觉。在一个十字路口前，似乎我们可以走这条路也可以走那一条路，不过一旦做出选择，我们很难意识到其实是整个世界历史进程迫使我们选择那个方向的。
　　
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　　威廉.S.毛姆（1874－1965），英国著名小说家、剧作家、散文家。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-22 07:13:33

　　Expressing One’s Individuality
　　
　　Arnold Bennett
　　
　　A most curious and useful thing to realize is that one never knows the impression one is creating on other people. One may often guess pretty accurately whether it is good, bad, or indifferent --- some people render it unnecessary for one to guess, they practically inform one --- but that is not what I mean. I mean much more than that. I mean that one has one’s self no mental picture corresponding to the mental picture which one’s personality leaves in the minds of one’s friends. Has it ever struck you that there is a mysterious individual going around, walking the streets, calling at houses for tea, chatting, laughing, grumbling, arguing, and that all your friends know him --- without saying more than a chance, cautious word to you; and that that person is you? Supposing that you came into a drawing-room where you were having tea, do you think you would recognize yourself as an individuality? I think not. You would be apt to say to yourself as guests do when disturbed in drawing-rooms by other guests: “Who’s this chap? Seems rather queer. I hope he won’t be a bore.” And your first telling would be slightly hostile. Why, even when you meet yourself in an unsuspected mirror in the very clothes that you have put on that very day and that you know by heart, you are almost always shocked by the realization that you are you. And now and then, when you have gone to the glass to arrange your hair in the full sobriety of early morning, have you not looked on an absolute stranger, and has not that stranger piqued your curiosity? And if it is thus with precise external details of form, colour, and movement, what may it not be with the vague complex effect of the mental and moral individuality?
　　
　　A man honestly tries to make a good impression. What is the result? The result merely is that his friends, in the privacy of their minds, set him down as a man who tries to make a good impression. If much depends on the result of a single interview, or a couple of interviews, a man may conceivably force another to accept an impression of himself which he would like to convey. But if the receiver of the impression is to have time at his disposal, then the giver of the impression may just as well sit down and put his hands in his pockets, for nothing that he can do will modify or influence in any way the impression that he will ultimately give. The real impress is, in the end, given unconsciously, not consciously; and further, it is received unconsciously, not consciously. It depends partly on both persons. And it is immutably fixed beforehand. There can be no final deception…
　　
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　　自我的展现
　　
　　阿诺德.本涅特
　　
　　一个人永远也不知道他给别人留有什么样的印象，明白这点是有益的，也是让人觉得奇怪的。一个人很容易准确猜出这种印象是好的、坏的，还是不好不坏的，因为有些人让你不用去猜，他们几乎直接就告诉你了。但那不是我要说的，我要说的不止这些。我要说的是，一个人对他在别人脑子里留有的印象毫无所知。你曾想过这样的事吗：有个神秘的人，到处闲逛，走在大街上，去茶馆喝茶，和人聊天，谈笑风生，发牢骚，与人争辩，你所有的朋友都认识他，都与他很熟，而且对他是什么样的人早下了定论，但除了一两次谨慎的只言片语外，他们从未对你提过他，但这个人就是你？假如“你”走进一个休息室，你正在里面喝茶，你会认出那个人是“你”吗？我想不会。你或许会对自己说，正如休息室里被人打扰的客人一样： “这个家伙是谁？挺让人不舒服的，希望他不要讨人嫌。”你的第一反应会是带有点敌意。甚至当你自己在一面突然撞见的镜子里看到自己穿着那件你非常熟悉的衣服，从而你意识到那就是你自己时，你为何总会为这种念头而感到几乎震惊呢？时常，在清晨很清醒的时候，你在镜子前梳头，你是否看到了一个完全陌生的人，而且对他很好奇呢？如果说诸如形象、颜色、动作这些精确的外观细节都会让你感到这样，更不用说像精神、道德这样不易把握的、复杂的个性特征所形成的印象呢？
　　
　　一个人极力试图给别人留下好印象，结果如何呢？结果仅仅是，他的朋友们在内心里会把他看作是一个努力给别人留有好印象的人罢了。如果仅仅是一次或几次会面，一个人也许可以使别人信服地接受他所期望展现出来的印象，可是如果接受者可以随意安排他的时间来认识这个人的话，那么印象制造者最好还是坐下来，什么事情都不做，因为他无论如何都无法改变或影响他所最终给别人的印象。真实的印象，最终不是刻意地而是无意地做出的。此外，它也不是刻意地而是无意地被接收的，它取决于双方。而且是事先就已经确定了的，是没办法欺骗到底的……
　　
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　　阿诺德.本涅特（1867-1931）, 本世纪初期英国著名小说家、散文家。他的文风受法国自然主义风格影响较深，行文冷静客观。

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