-
高级英语上册课文逐句翻译
Lesson
One Rock Superstars
关于我们和我们的社会，他们告诉了我们些什么？
What Do They Tell Us About
Ourselves and Our Society?
摇滚乐是青少年叛逆的音乐。
——
摇滚乐评论家约相
?
< br>罗克韦尔
Rock is
the music of teenage rebellion.
--- John Rockwell, rock music critic
知其崇拜何人便可知其人。
——
小说家罗伯特
< br>?
佩恩
?
沃伦
< br>
By a man‘s heroes ye
shall know him.
--- Robert
Penn Warren, novelist
1972<
/p>
年
6
月的一天，芝加哥圆形剧场挤满了大
汗淋漓、疯狂摇摆的人们。
It
was mid-June, 1972, the Chicago Amphitheater was
packed, sweltering, rocking.
滚石摇滚乐队的迈克
?
贾格尔正在台上演唱
―
午夜漫步人
‖
。
Mick Jagger of the
Rolling Stones was singing ―Midnight Rambler.‖
演唱结束时评论家唐
?
赫克曼在现场。
Critic Don Heckman was there when the
song ended.
他描述道：
―
贾格尔抓起一个半加仑的水罐沿舞台前沿边跑边把里面的水洒向前几排汗流浃
背的听众。听众们蜂拥般跟随着他跑，急切地希望能沾上几滴洗礼的圣水。
―Jagger,‖ he said,
―grabs a half
-gallon jug of water and
runs along the front platform, sprinkling
its contents over the first few rows of
sweltering listeners. They surge to follow him,
eager to be
touched by a few baptismal
drops‖.
1973
年
12
月下旬的一天，约
1.4
万名歌迷在华盛顿市外的首都中心剧场尖叫着，乱哄哄地
拥向台前。
It was late
December, 1973, Some 14,000 screaming fans were
crunching up to the front of the
stage
at Capital Center, outside Washington, D.C.
美国的恐怖歌星艾利丝
?
库珀的表演正接近尾声。
Alice Cooper, America‘s singing ghoul,
was ending his act.
他表演的最后一幕是假装在断头台上结束自己的生命。
He ends it by pretending to
end his life
–
with a
guillotine.
他的
―<
/p>
头
‖
落入一个草篮中。
< br>
His ―head‖ drops into a
straw basket.
―
哎
呀！
‖
一个黑衣女孩子惊呼道：
―
啊
!
真是了不起，不是吗？
‖
。
―Ooh,‖ gasped a girl dressed in black.
―Oh, isn‘t that marvelous?‖
当时，
14
岁的迈克珀力也在场，但他的父母不在那里。
Fourteen-year-old
Mick Perli
e was there too, but his
parents weren‘t.
―
他们觉得他恶心，恶心，恶心，
‖
迈克说，
―
他们对我说，你怎么受得了那些？
‖
―They think he‘s sick,
sick, sick,‖ Mike said. ―They say to me, ?How can
you stand that stuff?‘‖
197
4
年
1
月下旬的一天，在纽约州尤宁谷
城拿骚体育场内，鲍勃
?
狄伦和
―
乐队
‖
乐队正在为
音乐会上要用的乐器调音。
It
was late January, 1974. Inside the Nassau Coliseum
in Uniondale, New York, Bob Dylan and
The Band were tuning for a concert.
馆外，摇滚歌迷克利斯
?
辛格在大雨中等待着入场。
Outside, in the pouring rain, fan Chris
Singer was waiting to get in.
< br>―
这是朝圣，
‖
克利斯说，
―
我应该跪着爬进去。
‖
― This is pilgrimage,‖
Chris said, ―I ought to be crawling on my knees.‖
对于这一切好评及个人崇拜，你怎么看？
How do you feel about all
this adulation and hero worship?
当米克
?
贾格尔的崇拜者们把他视为上帝的最高代
表或是一个神时，你是赞成还是反对？
When Mick Jagger‘s fans look at him as
a high priest or a god, are you with them or
ag
ainst them?
你也
和克利斯
?
辛格一样对鲍勃
?
狄伦怀有几乎是宗教般的崇敬吗？
Do you share Chris Singer‘s almost
religious reverence for Bob Dylan?
你认为他或狄伦是步入歧途吗？
Do you think he
–
or Dylan
–
is misguided?
你也认为艾利丝
?
< br>库珀令人恶心而拒不接受吗？
Do you reject Alice Cooper as sick?
难道你会莫名其妙地被这个奇怪的小丑吸引，原因就在于他表
达出你最狂热的幻想？
Or
are
you
drawn
somehow
to
this
strange
clown,
perhaps
because
he
acts
out
your
wildest
fantasies?
这些并不是闲谈。
These aren‘t idle questions.
有些社会学家认为对这些问题的回答可以充分说明你在想些什
么以及社会在想些什么
——
也就是说，有关你和社会的态度。<
/p>
Some
sociologists say that your answers
to
them could explain a lot about what you are
thinking
and about what your society is
thinking
–
in other words,
about where you and your society are.
社会学家欧文
?
霍洛威茨说：
―
音乐表现其时代。
‖
―Music expressed its
times,‖ says sociologist Irving Horowitz.
霍洛威茨把摇滚乐的舞台视为某种辩论的论坛，一个各种思想
交锋的场所。
Horowitz
sees the rock
music
arena
as
a
sort
of
debating
forum,
a
place
where
ideas clash
and
crash.
他把它看作是一个美
国社会努力为自己的感情及信仰不断重新进行解释的地方。
He
sees
it
as
a
place
where
American
society
struggles
to
define
and
redefine
its
feelings
and
beliefs.
他说：
―
重新解释是一项只有青年人才能执行的任务。只有他们才把创造与夸张
、理性与运
动、言语与声音、音乐与政治融为一体。
‖
―The
redefinition,‖
Horowitz
says,
―is
a
task
uniquely
performed
by
the
young.
It
is
they
alone
who
combine
invention
and
exaggeration,
reason
and
motion,
word
and
sound,
music
and
polit
ics.‖
作曲兼演唱家托德
?
伦德格伦对这个观点表示赞同
。
Todd Rundgren,
the composer and singer, agrees.
他说：
―
摇滚乐与其说是一种音乐力量不如说是一
种社会心理的表现。
就连埃尔维斯
?
普
雷斯
利也并非是一种伟大的音乐力量，他只不过是体现了
50<
/p>
年代青少年那种心灰意冷的精神状
态。
‖
―Rock music,‖ he says, ―is
really a sociological expression rather than a
musical force.
Even Elvis
Presley wasn‘t really a great musical
force. It‘s just that Elvis managed to embody the
frustrated
teenage spirit of the
1950s.‖
毫无疑问，普雷斯利震惊了美国的成人世界。
Of course Presley horrified
adult America.
报纸写社论攻击他，
电视网也禁止播他，
但也许埃尔维斯证实了霍洛威茨和伦德格伦的看法
。
Newspapers
editorialized against him, and TV networks banned
him. But Elvis may have proved
what
Horowitz and Rundgren believe.
当他通过电视上埃德
?
沙利文的星期日晚间的综艺节目
出现在千百万人面前时，就引起了某
种辩论。
When he appeared on the an
Sunday night variety show in front of millions, a
kind of
―debate‖ took place.
多数年纪大的观众眉头紧皱，而大多数年轻观众则报以掌声欢
迎。
Most of the
older viewers frowned, while most of the younger
viewers applauded.
摇滚乐评论家们说
，从埃尔维斯到艾利丝，许多歌星帮助我们的社会解说其信仰与态度。
Between Elvis and Alice,
rock critics say, a number of rock stars have
helped our society define
its beliefs
and attitudes.
鲍勃
?
狄伦触动了对现状不满的神经，他唱到民权、核散落物以及孤独。
< br>
Bob
Dylan
touched
a
nerve
of
disaffection.
He
spoke
of
civil
rights,
nuclear
fallout,
and
loneliness.
他唱到变革和老一代人的迷茫，他在歌声中唱道：
―
这儿正发生着什么事，你不知道是什么
事，对吗，琼斯先生？
‖
He
spoke
of
cha
nge
and
of
the
bewilderment
of
an
older
generation.
―Something‘s
happening
here,‖ he sang.
―You don‘t know what it is, do you, ?‖
其他人也加入了这场辩论。
Others entered the debate.
霍洛威茨说，
甲壳虫乐队以幽默的方式，
或许还借助麻醉品的力量来倡导和平与虔诚。
傲慢
无理、打架
斗殴的滚石乐队成员要求革命。杰斐逊飞机乐队的歌曲
―
我们能
够联合
‖
和
―
志愿
者
‖
（有一场革命）则是激进青年
的更进一步的两项声明。
The
Beatles, Horowitz said, urged peace and piety,
with humor and maybe a little help from drugs.
The Rolling Stones, arrogant
street-
fighting men, demanded
revolution. The Jefferson Airplane‘s
―We Can Be Together‖ and Volunteers
(Got a Revolution)‖ were two further statements of
radical
youth.
但
政治并不是
60
年代强硬派摇滚乐所辩论的惟一主题，始终作为
任何音乐永恒组成部分的
情感也是一个重要题目。
But politics wasn‘t the
only subject debated in the hard rock of the
sixties. Feelings, always a part
of any
musical statement, were a major subject.
詹妮丝
?
乔
普林用歌声表达自己的悲哀。
Janis Jophin sang of her sadness.
甲壳虫乐队揭示出爱与恨之间的一系列的感情。
The Beatles showed there
were a range of emotions between love and hate.
以后又出现了
―
乐队
‖
乐队把乡村音乐和西部音乐所表达的较为传统的观念
与强硬派摇滚乐
较为激进的
―
都市
‖
观念结合在一起。
Then came The
Band,
mixing
the
more
traditional
ideas
of country
and
western
music
into
the
more
radical ‖city‖ ideas of the hard rock.
霍洛威茨认为这一成分的乡村音乐帮助听众表达了一种
―
摆脱这一切
‖
，
―<
/p>
重返过去时光
‖
的强
烈愿望。
This
country
element,
Horowitz
feels,
helped
its
audience
express
an
urge
to
―get
away
from
i
t
all,‖ to ―go
back to the old day.
当前最能说明
霍洛威茨看法的例子之一就是约翰
?
丹佛，
他最著名的歌曲
《阳光照在我肩上》
、
《高高的落基山》
和
《乡间小路》
把民间摇滚乐的音乐灵魂与力量结合了起来，
而歌词则赞
美了<
/p>
―
往日美好时光
‖
的朴素的欢乐。
.‖ One
of the best current examples of what Horotwitz is
talking about is John Denver. His most
notable
songs
–
―Sunshine
on
My
Shoulders‖,
―Rocky
Mountain
High‖,
and
―Country
Road‖
–
combine the
musical drive and power of folk rock, while the
lyrics celebrate the simple
joys of
―the good old days.‖
这样的例子不胜枚举。
The list could go on and
on.
这些摇滚乐音乐家们和所有的艺术家一样反映出我们
借以认识并形成属于自己的感情与信
念。
Like all artists, these
rock musicians mirror feelings and beliefs that
help us see and form our own.
我们以什么来回报他们呢？当然是掌声和赞美。
What do we give them in
return? Applause and praise, of course.
在
1972
年的一次全国民意测验中，
10
％的男高中生和
30
％以上的女高中生都说他们最崇拜
的人是超级摇滚
歌星。
In one 1972,
national opinion poll, more than 10 percent of the
high school boys and 20 percent of
the
girls said their hero was a rock superstar.
此外我们给他们金钱，
商业杂志
《福布斯》
认为，
―
当今成为百万富翁的捷径是当摇滚歌星。
‖
We also give them money.
―The fastest way to become a millionaire these
days,‖ says Forbes, a
business
magazine, ―is to become a rock ?n‘ roll star.‖
今天的英雄们
——
< br>至少其中一部分人
——
告诉我们，他们很喜欢所得到的报
偿。
Today‘s
heroes –
some of them, anyway
–
tell us they enjoy their
rewards.
―
我暗自嘲笑这
些先生们和女士们
,
他们从没想到过我们会成为金娃娃。
‖
演唱这支歌曲的是
―
文化英雄
‖
艾利丝
?
库珀。
―And
I
laughed
to
myself
at
the
men
and
the
ladies.
Who
never
conceived
of
us
billion
-dollar
babies.‖ The particular ―culture hero‖
who sings that is Alice cooper.
可是，仍然存在着一个大问题：为什么他是文化英雄？
The big question remains:
Why is he a culture hero?
他
，或者当今任何其他走红的摇滚歌星能告诉我们些什么有关他们的歌迷的事情？
What does he
–
or any other current rock
success
–
tell us about his
fans?
对于我们自己和我们的社会有些什么了解？现在
怎样，过去如何，将来又将向何处去？
About ourselves and our society? Where
it is, where it was, where it‘s heading
Lesson 2: Four Choices for Young People
在毕业前不久，
斯坦福大学四年级主席吉姆
?
宾司给我写了一封信，
信中谈及他的一些不安。
Shortly
before
his
graduation,
Jim
Binns,
president
of
the
senior
class
at
Stanford
University,
wrote me about
some of his misgivings.
他写道
：
―
与其他任何一代人相比，我们这一代人在看待成人世界时抱
有更大的疑虑
……
同
时越来越倾向于全
盘否定成人世界。
‖
―More
than
any
other
generation,‖
he
said,
―our
generation
views
the
adult
world
with
great
skepticism… there is also an increased
tendency to reject completely that world.‖
很明显，他的话代表了许多同龄人的看法。
Apparently he speaks for a
lot of his contemporaries.
在过去的几年里，
我倾听过许多年轻人的谈话，
他们有的还在大
学读书，
有的已经毕业，
他
们对于成人
的世界同样感到不安。
During the last few years, I have
listened to scores of young people, in college and
out, who were
just as nervous about the
grown world.
大致来说，他们的态度可归纳如
下：
―
这个世界乱糟糟的，到处充满了不平等、贫困和战争。<
/p>
对此该负责的大概应是那些管理这个世界的成年人吧。
如果他们不
能做得比这些更好，
他们
又能拿什么来教育我们呢？这样的教导
，我们根本不需要。
‖
Roughly,
their
attitude
might
be
summed
up
about
like
this:
―The
world
is
in
pretty much
of
a
mess, full of injustice, poverty, and
war. The people responsible are, presumably, the
adults who
have
been
running
thing.
I
f
they
can‘t
do
better
than
that,
what
have
they
got
to
teach
our
generation? That kind of lesson we can
do without.‖
我觉得这些结论合情合理，至少从他们的角度来看是这样的。
There conclusions strike me
as reasonable, at least from their point of view.
对成长中的一代人来说，
相关的问题
不是我们的社会是否完美
（我们可以想当然地认为是这
样），而
是应该如何去应付它。
The
relevant question for the arriving generation is
not whether our society is imperfect (we can
take that for granted), but how to deal
with it.
尽管这个社会严酷而不合情理，但它毕竟
是我们惟一拥有的世界。
For
all its harshness and irrationality, it is the
only world we‘ve got.
因此，
选择一个办法去应付这个社会是刚刚步入成年的年轻人必须作出的第
一个决定，
这通
常是他们一生中最重要的决定。
Choosing
a
strategy
to cope with
it,
then,
is
the first
decision
young
adults
have
to
make,
and
usually the most important decision of
their lifetime.
根据我的发现，他们的基本选择只有四种：
So far as I have been able
to discover, there are only four basic
alternatives:
1
）脱离传统社会
1
）
Drop Out
这是最古老的方法之一，
任何年龄的
人无论在任何地方，
也无论是否使用迷幻剂都可以采用。
This
is
one
of
the
oldest
expedients,
and
it can
be
practiced
anywhere,
at
any
age,
and with
or
without the use of hallucinogens.
那些认为这个世界残酷、复杂得令人难以忍受的人通常会选择
这个办法。
It always
has been the strategy of choice for people who
find the world too brutal or too complex
to be endured.
实
质上，
这是一种寄生式的生活方式，
采取此策略的人通过这样或
那样的方式寄生于这个他
们蔑视的社会，并且拒绝对这个社会承担责任
< br>
By definition, this way
of life
is parasitic. In one way or
another, its practitioners batten on the
society which they scorn and in which
they refuse to take any responsibility.
我们中的一些人对此很厌恶
——
认为这种生活方式很不光彩。
Some of us find this distasteful
–
an undignified kind of
life.
但对于那些卑微、懒惰又缺乏自尊的人来说，这
也许是可行的最可以忍受的选择了。
But for the poor in spirit, with low
levels of both energy and pride, it may be the
least intolerable
choice available.
2
）逃避现实社会
2) Flee
这个策略早在远古就有先例。
This strategy also has ancient
antecedents.
自文明诞生以来，
就有人企图逃避文明社会，
希望寻求一种更为朴素、
更富田园风情、
更为
宁静的生活。
Ever since civilization
began, certain individuals have tried to run away
from it in hopes of finding
a simpler,
more pastoral, and more peaceful life.
与那些脱离传统社会的人不同，
这些人不是寄生者。
他们愿意自食其力，
愿意为社会作出贡
献，
可是他们就是不喜欢这个文明世界的环境。
确地说，
< br>不喜欢这充满丑恶和紧张的大都市。
Unlike
the
dropouts,
they
are
not
parasites.
They
are
willing
to
support
themselves
and
to
contribute
something
to
the
general
community,
but
they simply
don‘t
like
the
environment
of
civilization; that is, the city, with
all its ugliness and tension.
这种方法的问题在于无法大规模地进行实践。
The trouble with this
solution is that it no longer is practical on a
large scale.
不幸的是，
在我们的地球上，
高尚的野蛮人和未被破坏的自然景色已越来越少；
除了两极地
区以外已经没有未开发的土地了。
Our planet, unfortunately,
is running out of noble savages and unsullied
landscaped; except for the
polar
regions, the frontiers are gone.
少数富有的乡绅还可以逃避现实去过田园生活
——
但总的说来，
迁移的潮流是向相反的方向
流动。
A few gentleman
farmers with plenty of money can still escape to
the bucolic life
–
but in
general
the stream of migration is
flowing the other way.
3
）策划革命
Plot a Revolution
在对民主进程单调乏味的运作方式毫无耐心或相信只有武力才
能改变基本社会制度的那些
人中，这一策略颇受欢迎。
This strategy is always
popular among those who have no patience with the
tedious working of the
democratic
process or who believe that basic institutions can
only be changed by force.
它吸引了每一代年轻人中那些更为活跃和更具理想主义的人。
It attracts some of the
more active and idealistic young people of every
generation.
对他们来说，
这种策略具有浪漫的吸引力，
通常以某位魅力非凡且令人振奋的人物为其象征。
To them it offers
a romantic appeal, usually symbolized by some
dashing and charismatic figure.
这一策略简单明了并具有更大的吸引力：
―
既然这个
社会已经无可救药，
那就让我们砸碎它，
在它的废墟上面建一个
更好的社会。
‖
It has
the even greater appeal of simplic
ity:
―Since this society is hopelessly bad, let‘s smash
it and
build something better on the
ruins.‖
我最好的朋友中有些是革命者，他们中的一些人过得相当满足。
Some
of
my
best
friends
have
been
revolutionists,
and
a
few
of
them
have
led
reasonably
satisfying lives.
这部分人其实是那些革命并未成功的人，
他们可以继续兴高采烈地策划大屠杀，
直至老态龙
钟。
These are the
ones whose revolutions did not come off; they have
been able to keep on cheerfully
plotting their holocausts right into
their senescence.
另外一些人年纪轻轻就死了，死在监狱里或街垒旁。
Others died young, in
prison or on the barricades.
但最不幸的是那些革命成功的人。
But the most unfortunate are those
whose revolutions have succeeded.
他们极度失望，
看到他们推翻的权力机构又被新机构所替代，
而新机构依旧是那样冷酷，
那
样毫无生机。
They lived in
bitter disillusionment, to see the establishment
they had overthrown replaced by a
new
one, just as hard-faced and stuffy.
当然，我并不是说革命一无所成。
I am not, of course, suggesting that
revolutions accomplish nothing.
一些革命（美国革命，法国革命）确实将事情变得越来越好。
Some (The American
Revolution, the French Revolution) clearly do
change things for the better.
< br>我只是想说革命无论成败，那些策划革命的革命者们都注定要失望。
My
point
is
merely
that
the
idealists who
make
the revolution
are
bound
to
be
disappointed
in
either case.
因为胜利的曙光无论如何也不会照耀在他们梦想中的那个摆脱了人类一切卑劣的灿烂的新
世界上。
For at best their victory never dawns
on the shining new world they had dreamed of,
cleansed of
all human meanness.
相反，它照在了一个熟悉的平庸的地方，这个地方仍旧需要食
品杂货和污水排放。
Instead it dawns on a familiar,
workaday place, still in need of groceries and
sewage disposal.
无论贴着什么样的政治
标签，
革命后的国家都不是由激进的浪漫主义者来治理，
而是由
市场
营销、卫生工程和管理官僚机构的专家来治理。
The revolutionary state,
under whatever political label, has to be run-not
by violent romantics-but
by experts in
marketing, sanitary engineering, and the
management of bureaucracies.
对一些决心改造社会，但同时又希望能找到一种比武装革命更可行的方法的理想主义者来
说，还有另外一种选择。
For
the
idealists
who
are
determined
to
remake
society,
but who seek
a
more
practical
method
than armed
revolution, there remains one more alternative.
4
）循序渐进，逐步改变社会
Try to Change the World
Gradually, One Clod at a Time
乍一看，这一途径毫无吸引力。
At first glance, this course is far
from inviting.
它缺乏魅力，并且见效很慢。
It lacks glamour. It promises no quick
results.
它依靠劝说和民主决策这些令人恼火且不可靠的方法来实现。
It depends on the
exasperating and uncertain instruments of
persuasion and democratic decision
making.
它需要耐心，可我们却总是缺乏耐心。
It demands patience, always
in short supply.
它惟一的好处是有时这
方法行得通
——
在这个特定的时间和地点，
它比其他的任何策略都更
有可能制止世界上的某些恶行。
About all that can be said
for it is that it sometimes works
–
that in this particular
time and place it
offers
a
better
c
hance
for
remedying
some
of
the
world‘s
outrages
than
any
other
available
strategy.
至少历史事实似乎证明了这一点。
So at least the historical
evidence seems to suggest.
我大学毕业的时候，我们这一代人也发现世界乱得一团糟。
When I was graduating from
college, my generation also found the world in a
mess.
几乎所有地方的经济机构都已崩溃，在美国几乎
四分之一的人口失业。
The
economic machinery had broken down almost
everywhere: In this country nearly a quarter of
the population was out of work.
一场大战似乎在所难免。
A major was seemed all too
likely.
当时作为校报编辑，对这些我曾经猛烈地抗
议过，像今天的学生积极分子一样。
As a college newspaper editor at that
time, I protested against this just as vehemently
as student
activists are protesting
today.
与此同时，
我们这一
代人渐渐发现改造世界有点像在亚平宁山区打仗一样。
你刚刚占领一条
< br>山脉，另一条山脉又在前方隐现。
At the same time, my generation was
discovering that reforming the world is a little
like fighting a
military
campaign
in
the
Apennines,
as soon
as
you capture
one
mountain
range,
another
one
looms just ahead.
当
20
世纪
30
年代的大问题刚刚勉强得到控制，
新的问题又出现了
——
富足社会中出现的崭
新问题，如种族平等，保证城市环境适于居住，应付各种陌生伪装下的战争等等。
As the big problems of the
thirties were brought under some kind of rough
control, new problems
took their place
–
the unprecedented problems
of an, affluent society, of racial justice, of
keeping
our cities from becoming
uninhabitable, of coping with war in unfamiliar
guises.
最令人不安的是我们发现了人口爆炸这一问题。
Most disturbing of all was
our discovery of the population explosion.
我们突然意识到我们这艘载人小飞船上的乘客数目大约每
40
年翻一倍。
It dawned on us rather suddenly that
the number of passengers on the small spaceship we
inhabit
is doubling about every forty
years.
只要地球上的人口持续地按这个可怕的速度增
长，其他所有问题都将无法解决。
So long as the earth‘s population keeps
growing at this cancerous rate, all of the other
problems
appear virtually insoluble.
我们的城市会变得越来越拥挤，景色会变得更加杂乱，空气和
水也会变得愈发肮脏。
Our
cities
will
continue
to
become
more
crowded
and
noisome.
The
landscape
will
get
more
cluttered, the air and water even
dirtier.
所有人的生活质量都会不断恶化。
The quality of life is likely to become
steadily worse for everybody.
< br>如果过多的人必须为了争夺日益减少的食物份额和生存空间而争斗的话，
战争的升
级看来是
无法避免的。
And
warfare
on
a
rising
scale
seems
inevitable
if
too
many
bodies
have
to
struggle
for
ever-dwindling shares of food and
living space.
因此吉姆
?
宾司这代人要承担一项艰巨的任务。
So Jim Binns‘ generation
has a formidable job on its hands.
但我认为这并不是无法克服的困难。
But not, I think, an insuperable one.
过去的事实证明，
处理这项艰巨任务
完全可采用以前解决困难问外时使用的方法
——
从实际
效果出发，一点一滴，通过大家不懈的努力来完成。
On
the
evidence
of
the
past,
it can
be
handled
in
the
same way
that
hard
problems
have
been
coped
with before-piecemeal, pragmatically, by the
dogged efforts of many pe
Lesson Three The Use of Force
他们是我的新病人，我所知道的只有名字，奥尔逊。
They were new patients to
me, all I had was the name, Olson.
请您尽快赶来，我女儿病得很重。
―Please come down as soon as you can,
my daughter is very sick.‖
当我到达时，
孩子的母亲迎接了我，
这是一位看上去惊恐不安的
妇人，
衣着整洁却一脸忧伤
的神色她只是说，这位就是医生吗？
When I arrived
I was met by the mother,
a big startled
looking woman, very clean and apologetic
who merely said, Is this the doctor?
然后带我进了屋。
And let me in.
在后面，她又说到，请你一定要原谅我们，医生，我们让她呆在厨房里，那儿暖和，这里
有
时很潮湿。
In the back, she added. You must excuse
us, doctor, we have her in the kitchen where it is
warm.
It is very damp here sometimes.
在厨房的桌子旁边，这个孩子穿得严严实实的，坐在她父亲的
腿上。
The child
was fully dressed and sitting on here father‘s lap
near the kitchen table.
他父亲
试图站起来，但我向他示意不用麻烦，然后我脱下外套开始检查。
He tried to get up, but I
motioned for him not to bother, took
off my overcoat and started to look
things over.
我能够觉察出他们都很紧张，而且用怀疑的眼光上下打量着我。
I could see that they were
all very nervous, eyeing me up and down
distrustfully.
在这种情形下，
他们通常不会提供太多的情况，
而是等着我告诉他们病情，
这就是为什么他
们会在我身上花
3
美元。
As often,
in such cases, they weren‘t te
lling me
more than they had to, it was up to me to tell
them;
that‘s why they were spending
three dollars on me.
这个孩子用她
那冷漠而镇定的目光目不转睛地盯着我，脸上没有任何表情。
The
child
was
fairly
eating
me
up
with
her
cold,
steady
eyes,
and
no
expression
on
her
face
whatever.
<
/p>
她纹丝不动，
内心似乎很平静。
这是一个
非常惹人喜爱的小东西，
外表长得象小牛一样结实。
She did not move and
seemed, inwardly, quiet; an unusually attractive
little thing, and as strong as
a heifer
in appearance.
但是她的脸发红，而且呼吸急促，我知道她在发着高烧。
But her face was flushed,
she was breathing rapidly, and I realized that she
had a high fever.
她长着一头漂亮浓密
的金发，就像刊登在广告插页上和周日报纸图片版上的那些孩子一样。
She had magnificent blonde
hair, in profusion. One of those picture children
often reproduced in
advertising
leaflets and the photogravure sections of the
Sunday papers.
她发烧已经
3
天了，她父亲开口说，我们不知道是什么原因。
She‘s had a fever for three
days, began the father and we don‘t know what it
comes from.
我太太给她吃了一些药，你知道，
大家都是这样做的，可这些药根本不管用，而且，附近有
很多人都生了病，所以我们想请
您最好给她检查一下，然后告诉我们是怎么一回事。
My wife has given her things, you know,
like people do, but it don‘t do no good. And
there‘s been
a lot of sickness around.
So we tho‘t you‘d better look her over and tell us
what is the matter.
像医生们经常做
的那样，我问了个问题，想以此来猜测一下病症所在。
As doctors often do I took a trial shot
at it as a point of departure. Has she had a sore
throat?
父母两人一起回答说，没有
……
没有，她说她的嗓子不疼。
Both parents answered me
together, No…No, she says her throat don‘t hurt
her.
你嗓子疼吗？母亲又问了一下孩子。
Does your throat hurt you? Added the
mother to the child.
女孩的表情没
有任何变化，而她的目光却一直没有从我的脸上移开。
But the little girl‘s expression didn‘t
change nor did she move her eyes from my face.
你看过她的嗓子了吗？
Have you looked?
我想看，孩子的母亲说，但看不见。
I tried to, said the mother
but II couldn‘t see.
这个月碰巧她
上学的那个学校已经有好几例白喉病。
虽然到目前为止没有人说出这件事，
但
很显然，我们心里都想到了。
As it happens we had been
having a number of cases of diphtheria in the
school to which this child
went during
that month and we were all, quite apparently,
thinking of that, though no one had as
yet spoken of the thing.
好了，我说，我们先看看嗓子吧。
Well, I said, suppose we take a look at
the throat first.
我以医生特有的职业
方式微笑着，叫着孩子的名字。我说，来吧，玛蒂尔达，张开嘴，让我
看一下你的嗓子。
I smiled
in
my
best
professional
manner
and
asking
for
the child‘s
first
name
I
said, come
on,
Mathilda, open your
mouth and let‘s take a look at your throat.
没有任何反应。
Nothing doing.
哦，
来吧，
我劝道，
< br>张大你的嘴，
让我看看。
看，
我
说着把两只手伸开，
我的手里没有东西，
张大嘴，让我看看。<
/p>
Aw, come on, I
coaxed, just open your mouth wide and let me take
a look. Look, I said opening
both hands
wide, I haven‘t anything in my hands. Just open up
and let me see.
他是一个多好的人呀，她
的母亲插话道。你看他对你多好呀，来，听话。他不会伤害你的。
Such a nice man, put in the
mother. Look how kind he is to you. Come on, do
what he tells you to.
He won‘t hurt
you.
听到这里我狠狠地咬了咬牙，
要是他们没用
―
伤害
‖
这个词，
我也许能做点什么，
但是我没有
着急或恼怒，而是慢声细语地说着话，一边再次靠近这个孩子。
As that I ground my teeth
in disgust. If only they wouldn‘t use the word
―hurt‖ I might
be able to
get
somewhere.
But
I
did
not
allow
myself
to
be
hurried
or
disturbed
but speaking
quietly
and
slowly I approached the child again.
我刚将椅子拉近一点，突然，她像猫一样双手本能地朝我的两
眼抓去，我差一点被她抓到。
As
I moved my chair a little nearer suddenly with one
catlike movement both her hands clawed
instinctively for my eyes and she
almost reached them too.
好在
她只是打掉了我的眼镜，虽然眼镜没有碎，但已落到了离我几英尺远的厨房地板上。
In fact she knocked my
glasses flying and they fell, though unbroken,
several feet away from me
on the
kitchen floor.
父母两人都非常尴尬，充满
歉意，你这个坏孩子，母亲一边说，一边抓着她，并摇晃着她的
一只手，你看看你做的事
。这么一个好人。
Both
the
mother
and
father
almost
turned
themselves
inside
out
in
embarrassment
and
apology.
You bad girl, said
the mother, taking her and shaking here by one
arm. Look what you‘ve done.
The nice
man…
看在上帝的份上，我打断了她的话，请不要再在她
面前说我是一个好人。
For
heaven‘s sake, I broke in. Don‘t call me a nice
man to her.
我来是看看她的嗓子，也许她患了
白喉，而且很可能会死于这种病。
I‘m here to look at her throat on the
chance that she might have diphtheria and possibly
die of it.
但这一切她都不在乎，看这儿，我对
女孩说，我们想看看你的嗓子，你不小了，应该明白我
说的话，你是自己张开嘴呢，还是
我们帮你张开？
But
that‘s nothing to her. Look here, I said to the
child, we‘re going to look at your throat. You‘re
old enough to understand what I‘m
saying. Will you open it now by yourself or shall
we have to
open it for you?
她仍然一动不动，甚至连表情都没有任何变化。
Not a move. Even her
expression hadn‘t changed.
但是她的呼吸却越来越急促。
Her breaths, however, were coming
faster and faster.
接着一场战役开始了，我不得不这样做。
Then the battle began. I
had to do it.
由于她的自我保护，我必须检查一下她的嗓子。
I had to have a throat
culture for her own protection.
可是我首先告诉家长这完全取决于他们。
But first I told the
parents that it was entirely up to them.
我说明了其危险性，但同时提出只要他们承担责任我就不会坚
持做这次喉咙检查。
I
explained
the
danger
but said
that
I would
not
insist
on
a
throat
examination
so
long
as
they
would take the
responsibility.
如果你不按大夫说的去做
，你就要去医院了，母亲严厉地警告她。
If you don‘t do what the doctor says
you‘ll have to go to the hospital, the mother
admonished her
severely.
是吗？我只好暗自笑了笑。毕竟我已经喜欢上了这个野蛮的小东西，但却看不起这对父母。<
/p>
Oh yeah? I had
to smile to myself. After all, I had already
fallen in
love with the savage brat,
the
parents were contemptible to me.
在接下来的
―
战斗
‖
中他们越来越难堪，被摧垮了，直至精疲力竭。而这个
女孩由于恐惧，她
对我的抗拒达到了惊人的地步。
In the ensuing struggle
they grew more and more abject, crushed, exhausted
while she surely rose
to magnificent
heights of insane fury of effort bred of her
terror of me.
父亲尽了最大的努力，
他块头很大，
然而事实上他面对着的是他的女儿，
由于对她的所作所
为感到愧疚和担心伤到她，
他每次在我几
乎就要成功了的关键时刻放开了她，
我真恨不得杀
了他。
The father tried
his best, and he was a big man but the fact that
she was his daughter, his shame at
her
behavior and his dread of hurting her made him
release her just at the critical times when I had
almost achieved success, till I wanted
to kill him.
可是，因为又担心她真会患上白
喉，尽管他自己就快昏到了，他又告诉我继续，继续，而她
的母亲在我们的身后走来走去
，忧愁万分地抖着双手。
But
his
dread
also
that
she
might
have
diphtheria
made
him
tell
me
to
go
on,
go
on
though
he
himself
was
almost
fainting,
while
the
mother
moved
back
and
forth
behind
us
raising
and
lowering her hands in an
agony of apprehension.
把她放在你的大腿上，我命令道，抓住她的两个手腕。
Put her in front of you on
your lap, I ordered, and hold both her wrists.
然而他刚一动手，女孩就尖叫了一声。
But as soon as he did the
child let out a scream.
别这样，你会弄疼我的．
Don‘t, you‘re hurting me.
放开我的手，放手，我告诉你。
Let go of my hands. Let them go I tell
you.
接着她发出可怕的歇斯底里的尖叫，住手！住手！
你会弄死我的！
Then she
shrieked terrifyingly, hysteric
ally.
Stop it! Stop it! You‘re killing me!
你觉得她受得了吗？医生！她母亲说。
Do you think she can stand
it, doctor! Said the mother.
你出去，丈夫对他的妻子说，你想让她死于白喉吗？
You get out, said the
husband to his wife. Do you want her to die of
diphtheria?
来吧，抓住她，我说道。
Come on now, hold her, I said.
接着我用左手掰住女孩的头，并试图将木制的压舌板伸进她的
嘴里。
Then I
grasped the child‘s head with my left hand and
tried to get the wooden tongue depressor
between her teeth.
她紧咬着牙绝望地反抗着！
She fought, with clenched teeth,
desperately!
而此时我也变得狂怒了
——
对一个孩子。
But now I also had grown furious-at a
child.
我试图让自己不要发脾气，但却做不到，我知
道怎样去检查她的嗓子。
I
tried to hold myself down but I couldn‘t. I know
how to expose a throat for inspection.
我尽了最大的努力。
当我终于把木制的压舌板伸到最后一排牙齿
的后面时，
她张开了嘴，
然
而只是一瞬
间，
我还来不及看她又把嘴闭上了，
没等我把它取出来，
她的臼齿已经紧紧咬住
了压舌板，并把压舌板咬成了碎片。
And I did my best.
When finally I got the wooden spatula behind the
last teeth and just the point
of it
into the mouth cavity, she opened up for an
instant but before I could see anything she came
down again and gripped the wooden blade
between her molars. She reduces it to splinters
before I
could get it out again.
你不害臊吗？妈妈朝她大声训斥道。你在大夫面前这样不觉得
害臊吗？
Aren‘t you
ashamed, the mother yelled at her. Aren‘t you
ashamed to act like that in front of the
doctor?
给我拿一把平柄的勺子什么的，我对母亲说。
Get me a smooth-handled
spoon of some sort, I told the mother.
我们还要接着做下去。
We‘re going throug
h with
this.
孩子的嘴已经流血了。
The child‘s mouth was
already bleeding.
她的舌头破了，还在歇斯底里地大叫着。
Her tongue was cut and she
was screaming in wild hysterical shrieks.
也许我应该停下来，过一个多小时再回来无疑这样会好一些。
Perhaps I should have
desisted and come back in an hour or more. No
doubt it would have been
better.
但我已经看到至少两个孩子因为这种情况而被疏忽了，
躺在床上死去，
我感到我必须现在进
行诊断，
否则就再没有机会了。
But I
have seen at least two children lying dead in bed
of neglect in such cases, and feeling that I
must get a diagnosis now or never I
went at it again.
然而最糟糕的是，<
/p>
我也失去了理智，
我本可以在盛怒之下将女孩的嘴扒开来享受其中
的快乐，
向她发起进攻真是一件乐事，我的脸也因此而发热。
But the worst of it was
that I too had got beyond reason. I could have
torn the child apart in my
own fury and
enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her, my
face was burning with it.
在
这种时候，
谁都会叮咛自己，
无论这个可恶的小鬼做出任何愚蠢
的举动，
也要违背她的意
愿来保护她。
The
damned
little
brat
must
be
protected
against
her
own
idiocy,
one
says
to
one‘s self
at
such
times.
这样做也是为了保护其他孩子，同时这也是一种社会需要，事实也确是如此。
Others must be protected
against her. It is a social necessity. And all
these things are true.
然而由于
释放体内能量的欲望而产生的一种盲目的无法控制的狂怒和一种成年人的羞耻感，
使我一
直坚持到最后。
But a
blind fury, a feeling of adult shame, bred of a
longing for muscular release are the operatives.
One goes on to the end.
在最后失去理性的
―
战斗
‖
中，
我控制了女孩的脖子和下巴，
我强行将沉重的银勺从她的牙后
面伸到嗓子直到她作呕。
In the fin
al
unreasoning assault I overpowered the child‘s neck
any jaws. I forced the heavy silver
spoon back of her teeth and down her
throat till she gagged.
果然，
两个扁桃体上有着一层膜状物。
她勇敢地反抗就是为了不让我发
现她的这个秘密，
她
至少隐瞒了
3
天嗓子疼，并对父母撒谎，都是为了逃避这样一个结果。
And there it was
–
both tonsils covered with
membrane. She had fought valiantly to keep me from
knowing her secret. She had been hiding
that sore throat for three days at least and lying
to her
parents in order to escape just
such an outcome as this.
现在
，她真的狂怒了，在这以前她一直处于守势，但是现在她开始进攻了。
Now truly she was furious.
She had been on the defensive before but now she
attacked, Tried to
get off her father‘s
lap and fly at me while tears of defeat blinded
her eye.
Lesson
Four
Die as You Choose
制定关于安乐死的法律已经到了不能再回避的地步。
The need for laws on
euthanasia cannot be dodged for much longer.
在世界上某个较小的国家里，安乐死被医疗机构普遍接受，每
年都有数千例公开实施。
In
one
of
the
world‘s
smaller
countries,
mercy
-killing
is
accepted
by
the
medical
establishment
and openly practiced a few thousand
times each year.
而在某个世界大国，<
/p>
安乐死虽然经常受到医疗机构的公开谴责，
每年却以数倍于此的次
数秘
密实施，且从未公之于众。
In
one
of
the world‘s
biggest
countries,
euthanasia
is condemned
by
the
medical
establishment,
secretly
practiced many times more often, and almost never
comes to light.
但是，在上述那个国家有
医生因为实施安乐死而在监狱里服刑呢？
Which of these countries has a mercy-
killing doctor now languishing in its jails?
是在小国荷兰。荷兰制定了有关安乐死的法律，能有效地管理
它。
It is the
small one, Holland, which has rules for euthanasia
and so can police it effectively.
那位荷兰的医生违反了他国家的规定。
The Dutch doctor broke his
country‘s rules.
有关安乐死的问题在所
有国家都存在，决不仅出现在美国这个禁止安乐死的大国。
There
is
a
moral
here
for
all
the
countries,
and
not
just
for
the
big
death-
forbidding
country,
America.
目前美国正再次展开有关安乐死的辩论。
Right now it is going over
the arguments about euthanasia once again.
美国医学协会会刊
1
月份发表了一封非同寻常的来信。
一位医生在信中宣称自己按照病人的
意愿，杀死了一位身患癌症的
20
岁女孩。
In January the
Journal of the American Medical Association
published a bizarre letter, in which an
anonymous doctor claimed to have killed
a 20-year-old cancer patient at her own request.
这件事引起了一场辩论，
而这场辩论
将轰轰烈烈地持续到秋季，
那时加利福尼亚州可能会就
一项使安
乐死合法化的法律进行投票表决。
This
started
a
debate
that
will
rumble
on
into
the
autumn,
when
Californians
may
vote
on
a
proposed law legalizing euthanasia.
这封信可能是为了起到引发争论的效果，内容并不可信。
The letter was probably
written for polemical impact. It is scarcely
credible.
是作者自己在信中声称他
（或她）
第一次与那位得了癌症的病人见面，
听到病
人说出
5
个字
——―
< br>让我去死吧
‖——
然后就杀了她。
It‘s
author
claims
that
he
met
the cancer
patient
for
the
first time,
heard
five words from
her
–
―Let‘s get this
over with‖ –
then killer her.
即使是极端的安乐死支持者也不赞成在这种情况下采取如此做
法。
Even
the
most
extreme
proponents
of
euthanasia
do
not
support
such
an
action
in
those
circumstances.
然
而，
医疗上出现的可怕事件如洪水猛兽一般，
并不比安乐死的情
况更好。
它们无疑会在英
美以及其他国家中继续肆虐，几乎成了
令人恐怖的常规。
Yet
medical monstrosities that are hardly any better
undoubtedly continue, almost as a matter of
macabre routine, in America, Britain
and many other countries.
一
些医生私下透露他们有时会故意杀死病人，这样的情况非常普遍，令人担忧。
It is disturbingly easy to
find doctors who will say, in private, that they
sometimes kill patients on
purpose.
多数医生说他们知道其他医生也有同样的行为，
但是因为即使在病人乞求他们的时候，
医生
也几乎不
能与病人公开讨论安乐死，
因此医生往往倾向于仅在要死的人处于垂危昏迷之际而
无法表达是否同意安乐死时，才结束其生命。
Most
say
that
know somebody
else
who
does.
But
because
they
can
rarely
discuss
euthanasia
openly with
patients
–
even when those
patients beg them for it
–
doctors tend to kill only when
the
dying are too far gone to consent.
由于自愿要求安乐死受到禁止，
就只能由医生自行作出决定了，
病人会在夜间受到药物注射
而非自愿地离开人世。
Thus, because voluntary
euthanasia is taboo, a doctor makes the decision
himself
–
and the patient
is killed involuntarily in the night
with a syringe.
这是不使安乐死公开的代价。
That is one price of keeping euthanasia
secret.
如果所有形式的安乐死都是错误的，那就应
该统统列入禁止之列。
If
all forms of mercy-killing are wrong, they should
remain taboo.
可情况果真如此吗？
But are they?
许多
人都认为依靠医学技术来延续生命带给人的痛苦是令人悲哀、
可憎可恶的，
完全不顾人
的尊严，因此被动的安乐死
——
让病人自行死亡
——
被人们普遍接受。
Because
many
people
accept
that
it
is
sad,
undignified
and
gruesome
to
prolong
the
throes
of
death
will all the might of medical technology, passive
euthanasia
–
letting
patients die
–
is widely
accepted.
美国大多数州
都有关于
―
活遗嘱
‖
< br>的法规，
为医生提供保护。
如果医生没有尽力救助曾声明
不
想延续生命的病人，不会为此受到起诉。
Most
A
merican
states
have
―living
–
will‖
legislation
that
protects
doctors from
prosecution
if
they do not try to save someone who has
said he does not want life prolonged.
主动的安乐死
——
杀死病人
——
却依然争论颇多。
Active euthanasia
–
killing
–
remains controversial.
将人杀死与让人死亡之间的界线还能维持多久呢？
How long can the
distinction between killing and letting die hold
out?
正如因未履行某种职责受到处罚一样，人也可能因
干了某事而不受责难。
Just
as there can be culpable omissions, so too can
there be blameless acts.
让我
们从道德伦理著作中举例说明。
假定一个人会从某个孩子的死亡中获益，
当这个孩子在
浴缸中撞伤头部而失去知觉时，那个人视而不见，任其溺水身亡。
Suppose
–
to take an example from
the moral philosophy books
–
that a man stands to gain from
the
death of a certain child. The child strikes his
head in the bath and falls unconscious. The man
sits down and watches him drown.
虽然这个人什么都没有做，但他并不能因此开脱罪责。
The fact that the man has
performed no action does not excuse him.
同样，再假设为了缩短而不是延长死亡到来的时间，医生终止
某种治疗是无可指责的做法，
那么如果这位医生使用足够的镇痛剂致使病人死亡，他就一
定大错特错吗？
Similarly, suppose that a doctor does
no wrong by withholding some treatment in order
that death
should
come
sooner
rather
than
later.
Is
he
then
necessarily
wrong
if
he
administers
enough
painkillers to kill?
这位医生采取了某种行动，而不是未尽某种职责，这会使他有
罪吗？
Does the
fact that the doctor performed an action, rather
than an omission, condemn him?
许多医生一直在为解除病人临终前的痛苦而奋斗着。
他们认为在病人请求安乐死
时，
根本无
法截然区分被动与主动的安乐死。
< br>
Many
doctors
working
on
the
battlefield
of
terminal
suffering
think
that
only
squeamishness
demands a firm
difference between passive and active euthanasia
on request.
他们赞成医生杀死病人的理由是：
医生的职责之一就是使病人免遭痛苦，
这是医生所做的全
部事情，而杀死病人则是做到这一点的惟一办法。
Their
argument
for
killing
goes
like
this:
one
of
a
doctor‘s
duties
is
to
prevent
suffering;
sometimes that is all there is left for
him to do, and killing is the only way to do it.
这个观点并不新颖。
当希波克拉底为
医生制定信条的时候，
曾明确禁止安乐死，
而多数其他
希腊医生和思想家都不赞成这一禁令。
There
is
nothing
new
in
this
view.
When
Hippocrates
formulated
his
oath
for
doctors,
which
explicitly rules out active killing,
most other Greek doctors and thinkers disagreed
with his ban.
前事不忘，后事之师。
Let the past be a guide.
有人认为死亡的时间是上帝安排的，
任何人不得缩短他人的生命，<
/p>
然而假如一位病人的人生
观使其接受安乐死，
那么人们不禁要问：
为什么其他人还要用不同的宗教观念去干预其死亡
呢？
Some
people believe that the time of death is appointed
by God and that no man should put the
clock back on another. Yet if a
patient‘s philosophical views embrace euthanasia,
it
is not clear
why the
religious objections of others should intrude on
his death.
另一个令人担忧问题是，
有关安乐死的法律体系允许医生在规定的情况下按照垂死病人的请
求实施安
乐死，就可能为杀人首开先例，从而危害社会。
Another
worry
is
that
a
legal
framework for
euthanasia,
permitting
a
doctor
to
comply
with
a
dying man‘s request
in a prescribed se
t of circumstances,
might pose dangers for society by setting
a precedent for killing.
这个问题取决于社会。
That depends on the society.
尽管有不同意见，荷兰对建立这样的法律体系已经准备就绪。
Holland, arguably, is ready
for it.
当年就是荷兰医生英勇无比地顶住了压力，
拒绝参与使安乐死声名狼藉的纳粹用人体进行医
学实验的暴行，
这恐怕不是巧合。
It is
probably no coincidence that it was Dutch doctors
who most heroically resisted pressure to
join in the Nazi medical atrocities
that have given euthanasia its worst name.
这些医生对个人自由坚定不移的尊重使他们没有杀害渴望活下
去的健康人。
今天正是同样的
精神又使他们去帮助不愿活下去的
垂危病人。
The same
tenacious respect
for
individual
liberty
that
stopped
them
killing
healthy
people,
who
did
not want to die, now lets them help dying people
who do.
与之相反，西德在未来相当长的时间里都无
法使任何形式的安乐死合法化。
West Germany, by contrast, will not be
able to legalize any form of euthanasia for
a long time to
come.
由于历史的阴影反对安乐死的力量异常强大，
在那些近年来自由意志的传统未受任何干扰的
国家里，为自愿安乐死制定有限的
规定并不会使人们产生太多的恐惧。
Opposition is too fierce, because of
the shadow of the past. Countries with an
uninterrupted recent
libertarian
tradition have less to fear from setting some
limited rules for voluntary euthanasia.
拒绝讨论这个问题会使情况更加糟糕。
By refusing to discuss it,
they usher in something worse
Lesson Five I'd Rather Be Black than
Female
我是第一位当选国会议员的黑人妇女，这使我不同凡响。
Being the first black woman
elected to Congress has made me some kind of
phenomenon.
国会中还有九位黑人议员和十位妇
女议员，但我是第一位同时克服两个不利因素的人。
There are nine other blacks in
Congress; there are ten other women. I was the
first to overcome
both handicaps at
once.
在这两种不利因素中，是个女人比是黑人更糟。
Of the two handicaps, being
black is much less of a drawback than being
female.
如果我说做黑人比做妇女更糟糕，也许没有
人会对我的说法提出质疑。
If
I
said
that
being
black
is
a
greater
handicap
than
being
a
woman,
probably
no
one
would
question me.
为什么呢？因为
―
< br>众所周知
‖
，美国存在着对黑人的歧视。
Why? Because ―we all
know‖ there is prejudice against black
peopl
e in America.
< br>说美国存在着对妇女的歧视对于几乎所有男人
——
还有大
多数女人来说
——
却是不可思议
的。<
/p>
That there is
prejudice against women is an idea that still
strikes nearly all men
–
and, I am afraid,
most women
–
as bizarre.
许多年以来，多数人看不到社会存在着对黑人的歧视。
Prejudice against blacks
was invisible to most white Americans for many
years.
当黑人终于通过静坐示威、联合抵制和自由乘
车游行的方式以示抗议，来提及这个问题时，
他们觉得简直难以置信。
< br>
When blacks finally
started to ―mention‖ it, with sit
-ins,
boycotts, and freedom rides, Americans
were incredulous.
―
谁，我们？
‖
他们委屈地问道。
―Who, us?‖ they
asked in injured
tones.
―
我们歧视黑人？
‖
对美国白人来说，这是漫长而痛苦的再教育的开始。
―We‘re prejudiced?‖ It was the start of
a long, painful reeducation for white America.
他们，
包括那些自认为是自由主义者
的白人
——
还需要许多年才能发现并消除他们实际上都
持有的种族主义态度。
It will take years for whites
–
including those who think
of themselves as liberals
–
to discover and
eliminate the racist
attitudes they all actually have.
消除对妇女的歧视的困难有多大？我确信这将会是一场更持久的斗争。
How much harder will it be
to eliminate the prejudice against women? I am
sure it will be a longer
struggle.
部分问题在于比起黑人来美国妇女被洗脑的程度更深，且更满
足于她们次等公民的角色。
Part of the problem is that women in
America are much more brainwashed and content with
their
roles as second
–
class citizens than blacks
ever were.
我来解释一下。
Let me explain.
二十多年来我一直积极参与政治活动。
I have been active in
politics for more than twenty years.
<
/p>
除了最后的那六年，
其余那些年干活的是我，
我干的是所有无聊琐碎但对竞选胜负至关重要
的工作
——<
/p>
可得到好处的却是男人，这几乎就是政界妇女一直以来的命运。
For
all
but
the
last six,
I
have
done
the work
–
all
the
tedious
details
that
make
the
difference
between
victory
and
defeat
on
election
day
–
while
men
reaped
the
rewards, which
is
almost
invariably the lot of
women in politics.
在美国政界，大部
分的工作仍然是由妇女来做
——
大约
3
00
万志愿者。
It
is
still
women
–
about
three
million
volunteers
–
who
do
most
of
this work
in
the
American
political world.
她们中任何人所能期待的最好结果是有幸当选为区或县的副主席，
这是一个隔离却平等
的职
位，是给那些多年来一直忠实从事装信封和组织牌局工作的妇女的奖赏。
The best any of them
can hope for is the honor of being district or
county vice-chairman, a kind of
separate-but-equal
position
with
which
a
woman
is
rewarded
for
years
of
faithful
envelope
stuffing and card-party organizing.
在这种职位上，
她可以享受公费出差
去参加州或全国性的会议或代表大会，
在这些场合她的
作用就是
和她单位的男主席投一样的票。
I
n
such
a
job,
she
gets
a
number
of free
trips
to
state
and
sometimes
national
meetings
and
conventions, where her
role is supposed to be to vote the way her male
chairman votes.
1963
年，当我企图摆脱这一角色代表布鲁克林的贝德富锡
—
斯图维桑特参加竞选纽约州众
议院的席位时，遇到了极大的阻力。
When I tried to break out
of that role in 1963 and run for the New York
State Assembly seat from
Brooklyn‘s
Bedford
-Stuyvesant, the resistance was
bitter.
从竞选一开始，我就要面对他们毫不掩饰的对女性的敌意。
From the start of that
campaign, I faced undisguised hostility because of
my sex.
但是在四年以后，当我竞选国会议员时，性
别问题才成了一个主要争端。
But it was four years later, when I ran
for Congress, that the question of my sex became a
major
issue.
我所在党派的党员召开秘密会议讨论如何阻止我参加竞选。
Among members of my own
party, closed meetings were held to discuss ways
of stopping me.
我的对手，著名的人权运
动领袖詹姆士
?
法默竭力把自己塑造成一个具有男子汉气概的黑
人
形象；
他坐着带有扩音器的卡车在附近地区巡回，
车上满载着留着非洲发式、
穿颜色花哨的
宽袍和蓄
胡子的年轻人。
My
opponent,
the
famous
civil-rights
leader
James
Farmer,
tried
to
project
a
black,
masculine
image; he toured
the neighborhood with sound trucks filled with
young men wearing Afro haircuts,
dashikis, and beards.
电视台记者对我不屑一顾，
他们忽略了一个非常重要的数据，
而对此我和我的竞选经纪人韦
斯利
?
麦克唐纳
?
霍尔德却很清楚。
While the television crews
ignored me, they were not aware of a very
important statistic, which
both I and
my campaign manager, Wesley MacD. Holder, knew.
在我这个区内，登记参加投票选举的人中男女的比例是
1
∶
2.5
。而且那
些妇女是有组织的
——
是教师家长协会、
教会社团、
牌局俱乐部以及其他社会服务性团体的成员。
我去
找她们
寻求帮助。
n
my
district
there
are
2.5
women
for
every
man
registered
to
vote.
And
those
women
are
organized
–
in PTAs, church societies, card clubs,
and other social and service groups I went to
them and asked their help.
法默先生到现在仍然不知道他是如何被击败的。
Mr. Farmer still doesn‘t
quite know what hit him.
当一
位聪明的年轻女大学生开始找工作时，为什么第一个问题总是
―
你会打字吗？
‖
When a
bright young woman graduate
starts
looking for a job, why is the first question
always:
―Can you type?‖
在这个问题背后是一整部妇女受歧视的历史。
A history of prejudice lies
behind that question.
为什么被看
成是秘书而不是管理者？为什么被看成是图书管理员和教师而不是律师？
Why
are
women
thought
of
as
secretaries,
not
administrators?Librarians
and
teachers,
but
not
doctors and lawyers?
因为她们被认为是不一样的，低人一等的。
Because they are thought of
as different and inferior.
快乐的家庭主妇和心满意足的黑鬼都是由歧视产生的典型人物。
The happy homemaker and the
contented darky are both stereotypes produced by
prejudice.
妇女甚至还没有达到黑人所达到的象征性的平等水平。
Women have not even reached
the level of tokenism that blacks are reaching.
最高法院中没有妇女，只有两名妇女曾担任内阁的职位，但现
在一个也没有。
No women
sit on the Supreme Court. Only two have held
Cabinet rank, and none do at present.
只有两位妇女担任大使。
Only two women hold ambassadorial rank.
妇女主要从事工资低、
伺候人、
没有前途的工作。
即使她们获得较好的职位，
他们的工资也
总是比同样工作的男人低。
But women predominate in
the lower-paying, menial, unrewarding, dead-end
jobs, and when they
do reach better
positions, they are invariably paid less than a
man for the same job.
这不是歧视又是什么？
If that is not prejudice, what would
you call it?
几年前，我与一位政治领袖谈论
有关一个有前途的青年妇女做候选人的事。
A
few
years
ago,
I
was
talking
with
a
political
leader
about
a
promising
young
woman
as
a
candidate.
―
为什么要花费时间和精力去树立这个女孩的威信？
< br>‖
他问道，
―
你很清楚她只会在
我们打算
让她竞选市长时退出竞选去而生孩子。
‖
―Why invest time and effort
to build the girl up?‖ he asked me. ―You know
she‘ll only drop out of
the game to
have a couple of kids just about the time we‘re
ready to run her for mayor.‖
对于我，许多人说了类似的话。
Plenty of people have said similar
things about me.
每次当我试图向上迈一
步时，
许多人劝我回去教书，
说那才是妇女的职业，
把政治留给男人。
Plenty of others have advised me, every
time, I tried to take another upward step, that I
should go
back to teaching, a woman‘s
vocation and leave politics to the men.
我热爱教书，只要我确信这个国家再也不需要女人作贡献时，
我就会去教书。
I love
teaching, and I am ready to go back to it as soon
as I am convinced that this country no
longer needs a women‘s contribution.
当在这个富足的国家里，当没有孩子饿着肚子上床睡觉时，我
可能会回去教书。
When
there are no children going to bed hungry in this
rich nation, I may be ready to go back to
teaching.
当每一个孩子都能上好学校时，我也许会回去教书。
When there is a good school
for every child, I may be ready.
当我们不再将钱财耗费在武器装备上来杀人时，
当我们不再容忍对少数民族
的歧视时，
当惩
治住房和雇佣不公行为的法律得以实施而不是被
束之高阁时，
那么我在政治上也就再没什么
可做的了
When
we
do
not
spend
our wealth
on
hardware
to
murder
people, when we
no
longer
tolerate
prejudice
against
minorities,
and
when
the
laws
against
unfair
housing
and
unfair
employment
practices are
enforced instead of evaded, then there may be
nothing more for me to do in politics.
但是在那以前
——
我们都知道那不是今
年或是明年
——
我们需要的是更多的妇女投身于政
治，因为妇女可以作出特殊的贡献。
But until that happens
–
and we all know it will
not be this year or next
–
what we need is more
women in politics,
because we have a very special contribution to
make.
我希望自己成功的例子能使其他的妇女愿意参与
政治活动
——
不仅仅是装信封，
而是竞
选政
府职位。
I hope that the example of my success
will convince other women to get into politics
–
and not
just to
stuff envelopes, but to run for office.
妇女能将同情、
宽容、
远见、
忍耐和毅力带到政府中
——
< br>这是我们与生俱有的品质或是在男
人的压制下不得不培养出来的品质。
It is women who can
bring empathy, tolerance, insight, patience, and
persistence to government
–
the qualities we naturally have or have
had to develop because of our suppression by men.
一个国家的妇女通过她们在生活中的行为来塑造这个国家的道
德、宗教和政治。
The
women of a nation mold its morals, its religion,
and its politics by the lives they live.
目前，
我
们国家在政治上也许比其他任何方面更需要妇女的理想主义和决心。
At present, our country
needs women‘s idealism and determination, perhaps
more in politics than
anywhere else
Lesson Six A Good Chance
我到鸭溪时，喜鹊没在家，我和他的妻子阿米莉亚谈了谈。
When I got to Crow Creek,
Magpie was not home. I talked to his wife Amelia.
―
我要找喜鹊，
‖
我说，
―
我给他带来了好消息。
‖
我指指提着的箱子，
―
我带来了他的诗歌和
一封加利福尼亚大学的录取通知书，他们想让他来参加为
印第安人举办的艺术课。
‖
―I
need
to
find
Magpie,‖
I
said.
―I‘ve
really
got
some
good
news
for
him.‖
I
pointed
to
the
briefcase
I
was
carrying.
―I
have
his
poems
and
a
letter
of
acceptance
fro
m
a
University
in
California where they want him to come
and participate in the Fine Arts Program they have
started
for Indians.‖
―
你知道他还在假释期间吗？
‖
―Do you know that he was on
parole?‖
―
这个，不，不
大清楚。
‖
我犹豫着说，
―
我一直没有和他联系，但我听说他遇到了些麻烦。
‖
―Well, no, not exactly,‖ I
said hesitantly, ―I haven‘t kept in touch with him
but I heard that he was
in some kind of
trouble.
她对我笑笑说：
―
他已经离开很久了。你知道，他在这儿不安全。他的假释官随时都在监视
他，
所以他还是不到这儿来为好，
而且我们已经分开
一段时间了，
我听说他在城里的什么地
方。
‖
She
smiled
to
me
and
said,
―He‘s
gone
a
lot. It‘s
not
safe
around
here
for
him,
you
know.
His
parole
officer really watches him all the time and so
sometimes it is just better for him not to come
here. Besides, we haven‘t been together
for a while. I hear he‘s in town somewhere.‖
―
你是指他在钱柏林？
‖
―Do you mean in
Chamberlain?‖
―
对
。我和他姐姐住在这儿，她说前一段时间她在那儿见过他。不过喜鹊不会去加利福尼亚
的
。即使你见到他并和他谈此事，他现在也决不会离开这儿。
‖
―Yes, I live here with his sister and
she said that she saw him there, quite a while
ago. But Magpie
would not go to
California. He would never leave here now even if
you saw him and talked to him
about
it.‖
―
可他以前去过，
‖
我说，
―
他去过西
雅图大学。
‖
―But he
did before,‖ I said, ―He went to the University of
Seattle.‖
―
是的，但<
/p>
……
但是，那是以前，
‖
她说，似乎不想再谈这个话题。
―Yeah, but…well, that was before,‖ she
said, as though to finish the matter.
―
你难道不希望他去吗？
‖
我问道。
―Don‘t you
want
him to go?‖ I asked.
―
哦，这不是我说了算的。我们现在已经分开了。我只是告诉你，你一定会失望的。像你这< p>
样的人希望他需要那些，可他已经不再需要了。
‖
她很快答道，语气非常肯定。
Quickly, she responded, ―Oh, it‘s not
up to me to say. He is gone from me now. I‘m just
telling
you that you are in for a
disappointment. He no longer
needs the
things that people like you want
him to
need,‖ she said positively.
当她意识到我不喜欢她用
―
像你这样的人
‖
的字眼时，
她停了一下，
然后把
手放在我的胳膊上，
―
听着，
‖
她说，
―
喜鹊现在终于快乐了。他情绪很好，
英俊倜傥，自由自在而又意志坚强。
他和兄弟们一起坐在皮鼓前唱歌，
< br>他现在一切都很好。
以前，
每当发表那些反政府和反对美
国印第安人事务委员会的言论时，
他总会越发气愤，
充满怨恨。
我曾为他担忧，
但现在我不
再担心了。你为什么不让他独自呆着呢？
‖
When she saw that I didn‘t like her
reference to ―people like you‖, she stopped for a
moment and
then put her hand on my arm.
―Listen,‖ she said, ―Magpie is happy now, finally.
He
is in good
spirits, handsome and free and strong.
He sits at the drum
and sings with his
brothers: he‘s okay
now.
When
he was saying
all
those
things
against
the
government
and
against
the
council,
he
became more and more ugly and
embittered and I used to be afraid for him. But
I‘m not now.
我和赛利娜坐在一家咖啡馆里。
I was sitting at the café
with Salina.
她突然说道：
< br>―
我不知道喜鹊在哪儿，我已经
4
天没见到他了。
‖
Abruptly she said, ―I don‘t know where
Mapie is. I haven‘t seen him in four days.‖
―
我把他的诗也带来了。
‖
我说，
―
他有机会进入
加利福尼亚的艺术学院，但是我必须和他谈
一谈，还要让他填一下这些表格。我相信他一
定会感兴趣的。
‖
―I‘ve
got his poems here with me,‖ I said.
―He
has a good change of going to a
Fine Arts school in
California,
but
I
have
to
talk
with
him
and
get
him
to
fill
out
some
papers.
I
know
that
he
is
interested.‖
―
不，他不会的，
‖
她打断了我，
―
他根本就不再做这些没用的、愚蠢的梦了。
‖
―No, he isn‘t,‖ she broke
in. ―He doesn‘t have those worthless, shitty
dreams anymore.‖
―
别这样说，赛利娜，这对他真的是个好机会。
‖
―Don‘t say that, Salina. This is a good
chance for him.‖
―
好了，你爱怎么想就怎么想吧，可最近你跟他谈过吗？你知道他如今怎么样吗
?‖
―Well, you can think what
you want, but have you talked to him lately? Do
you know him as he is
now?‖
―
我知道他情况很好，我也知道他有这个天分。
‖
―I know he is good. I
know he has such talent.‖
―
他是一个印第安人，这次他回到这里是要住下来。
‖
―He is Indian, and he‘s
back here to stay this time.‖
< br>―
你和我一起开车去钱柏林，好吗？
‖
< br>我问道。
―Would
you drive into Chamberlain with me?‖ I asked.
她一言不发。
She said nothing.
―
如果他是你所说的那种印第安人，
不管那是什么意思，如果他这次回来是要住下来，如果
他自己亲口对我说出来，我就打消
这个念头。但是，赛利娜，
‖
我极力说服道，
< br>―
我一定要跟
他谈谈，问问他想要做什么。你知道我的意
思，不是吗？
‖
―If he
is Indian as you say, whatever that means, and if
he is back here to stay this time and if he
tells me that himself, I‘ll let it go.
But
Salina,‖ I urged, ―I must talk to
him and ask him what he
wants to do.
You see that, don‘t you?‖
―
是的，
我知道了，
‖
她
终于说道，
―
他有权知道这一切，
但你会明白。
‖
―Yes,‖ she said finally. ―He has a
right to know about this, but you‘ll see…‖
我们离开时，
她的高跟鞋在咖啡屋前
的人行道上发出清脆的响声，
当她又谈及喜鹊时，
变得
焦虑不安。
Her
heels clicked on the sidewalk in front of the
café
as we left, and she became
agitated as she
talked.
―
他在卡司特抗议时，因为法院被烧，惹了麻烦，被判入狱
1
年。他现在还在假释期间，他
的假释期还有
5
年，可他们连任何对他不利的证据都没有找到。
< br>5
年呀！你能相信吗？现在
连谋杀罪的人都没有判这样重
。
‖
―After all
that trouble he got into during t
hat
protest at Custer when the courthouse was burned,
he
was in jail for a year. He‘s still
on parole and he will be on parole for another
five years –
and they
didn‘t
even prove anything against him! Five years! Can
you believe that? People these days can
commit murder and not get that kind of
a sentence.‖
我们驱车行使在钱柏林的大街上
，
埃尔吉正站在银行附近的拐角处，
我和赛利娜都心照不宣，<
/p>
这个喜鹊的好朋友肯定知道他在哪儿。
Elgie was standing on the corner near
the Bank as we drove down the main street of
Chamberlain,
and both Salina and I knew
without speaking that this man, this good friend
of Magpie‘s, would
know of his
whereabouts.
我们停了车，埃尔吉走了过来，舒服地靠坐在车的后排座位上。
We parked the car, Elgie
came over and settled himself in the back seat of
the car.
车慢慢地驶到了我们停车的街角处，
假释官目不转睛地盯着我们
3
人，
而我们却假装没看见。
A police car moved slowly to the corner
where we were parked and the patrolmen looked at
the
three of us intently and we
pretended not to notice.
巡逻车在空荡荡的街道上慢慢前行。我小心谨慎地转向埃尔吉。
The patrol car inched down
the empty street and I turned cautiously toward
Elgie.
我还没来得及开口，赛利娜说，
―
她给喜鹊拿了些表格。他有可能进入加利福尼亚的一所作
< br>家学院读书。
‖
Before I could speak, Sa
lina
said, ―She is got some papers for Magpie. He has a
chance to go to a
writer‘s school in
California.‖
总是不太想让别人清楚地了解他
的想法的埃尔吉说道，
―
是吗？
‖
可赛利娜却不想让他就这么
不置可否。
―<
/p>
埃尔吉，
‖
她嘲弄道，
< br>―
埃尔吉，你知道他是不会去的！
‖
Always
tentative
about
letting
you
know
what
he was
really
thinking,
Elgie
said,
―Yeah?‖
But
Salina
wouldn‘t
let
him
get
away
so
noncommittally,
―Elgie,‖
she
scoffed.
―You
know
he
wouldn‘t
go!‖
―
是呀，你知道，
‖
埃尔吉开口说，
―
卡司特那件事发生以后，我和喜鹊曾经想要躲藏起来，
最后我们到了奥古斯塔娜大学的校
园。
那儿有我们的几个朋友。
他开始谈论自由，
而这些是
我永远都不会忘记的。
在那以后当他被捕入狱
时，
自由便成为了他的主要话题。
自由。
他渴
望自由，可是，老兄，他们总盯着你的时候，你不可能有自由。哦，那个怪物，就
是他的那
个假释官，是一只卑鄙的看门狗。
‖
―Well, you know,‖ Elgie
began, ―one time when Magpie and me were hiding
out after that Custer
thing, we ended
up on to Augustana College Campus. We got some
friends there. And he started
talking
about
freedom
and
I
never forget
that,
and
then
after
he went wants
to
be free
and
you
can‘t be that, man, when they‘re
watching you all the time. Man, that freak that‘s
his parole officer
is some mean
watch-
dog.‖
―
你觉得他会拿到奖学金吗？
‖
我满怀希望地说
。
―You think he
might go for the scholarship?‖ I asked, hopefully.
―
我不知道。也许吧。
‖
―I don‘t know. Maybe.‖
―
他在哪儿？
‖
我问道。
―Where is he?‖ I asked.
沉默了很长一会儿后，埃尔吉终于开口了：
―
我想你来得太好了，因为喜鹊需要从这没完没
了的监视和检查中解脱出来。事实上，他一
直谈道：
―
如果我和白人交往，那么我将没有自
由；
那里没有印第安人的自由。
你现在应该和他谈谈。
他变了。
他赞成同白人完全分离或隔
离
。
‖
There was
a
long
silence
.
Then
Elgie
said
at
last,
―I
think
it‘s
good
that
you‘ve come,
because
Magpie
needs
some
relief
from
this
constant
surveillance,
constant checking
up. In
fact,
that‘s
what he always
talks about. ?If I have to associate with the
whites, then I‘m not free:
there is no
liberty
in
that
for
Indians.‘
You
should
talk
to
him
now.
He‘s
changed.
He‘s
for
complete
separation,
segregation, total isolation from the whites.‖
―
这是不是有点太过分了？太不实际
了？
‖
我问道。
―Isn‘t that a bit too
radical? Too unrealistic?‖ I asked.
―
我不知道。我真的不知道。
‖
―I don‘t know. Damn if I
know.‖
―
好了，
‖
赛利娜说，
―
你觉得他
在加利福尼亚的那所大学里会怎样？可这是他学习和写作的
一个好机会。我觉得他会从中
找到一种愉快的感觉。
‖
―Yeah,‖
said
Salina,
―Just
what
do
you
think
it
would
be
like
for
him
at
that
university
in
California?‖ ―But it‘s a
chance for him to study, to write. He can find a
kind of satisfying isolation
in that, I
think.‖
过了一会儿，埃尔吉说道：
―
不错，我认为你是对的
‖
。
After a few
moments, Elgie said, ―Yeah, I think you are
right.‖
然后他又从后排座位上抬起身来说道：
―
我要过桥了，再过大约
3
个街区就到了。在我快要
下桥的地方的左边有一座白色的老式二层小楼。喜鹊的
哥哥刚从内布拉斯加州教养院出来，
现在跟他的妻子就住在那儿，喜鹊也在。
‖
‖ Soon he got out
of the back seat and said, ―I‘m going to walk over
the bridge . It‘s about three
blocks
down there. There is an old, whit two-story house
on the left side just before you cross the
bridge. Magpie‘s brother just got out
of the Nebraska State Reformatory and he is
staying there
with his old lady, and
that‘s where Magpie is.‖
现在终于能够和他谈谈，并让他自己作出决定了。
At last! Now I could really
talk to him and let him make this decision for
himself.
―
呵！还有些问
题，
‖
埃尔吉说，
―
< br>喜鹊本不应该在那儿，你知道，因为这是他的假释条件的
一部分，那就是他要离开
朋友、亲戚和以前的囚犯，差不多是所有的人。可上帝呀，这是他
的哥哥呀。
等到日落前你们再来。
把车停在加油站那儿，
只要
从那儿绕过那条街走到房子的
后门进去，你就可以跟喜鹊谈所有这一切了。
‖
―There are things
about this though,‖ Elgie said. ―Magpie shouldn‘t
have be
en there, see, because
it‘s
a
part
of
the
condition
of
his
parole
that
he
stays
away
from
friends
and
relatives
and
ex-convicts and just about everybody.
But Jesus, this is his brother. Wait until just
before sundown
and then come over. Park
your car at the service station just around the
block from there and walk
to the back
entrance of the house and then you can talk to
Magpie about all this.‖
赛利娜
跟我讲述着喜鹊在背井离乡数月后返回鸭溪的情形及他的亲戚是怎样到他姐姐家欢
迎他返
乡的。
―
他们来听他和兄弟唱歌，他们围坐在椅子上，欢笑着和
他一起歌唱。
‖
Salina
was talking, telling me about Magpie‘s return to
Crow Creek after months in exile and how
his relatives went to his sister‘s
house and welcomed him home. ―They came to
he
ar him sing with
his
brothers, and they sat in chairs around the room
and laughed and sang wit him.‖
我们到达时，院子里停着几辆车。赛利娜压低声音说，
―
她们可能正在聚会。
‖
Several cars were parked in the yard of
the old house as we approached, and Salina,
keeping her
voice low, said, ―Maybe
they are having a party.‖
然
而，
四周的寂静使我忐忑不安。
当我们走进敞着的后门时，
看到人们都站在厨房里，
我小
心翼翼地问道
，
―
出什么事了？
But the silence which hung
about the place filled me with apprehension, and
when we walked in
the back door which
hung open, we saw people standing in the kitchen.
I aske
d carefully, ―What‘s
wrong?‖
没有人答话，只有
埃尔吉走了过来。他那充血的眼睛里充满悲伤和痛苦。
Nobody spoke but Elgie came over, his
bloodshot eyes filled with sorrow and misery.
他在我们面前站了一会儿，然后示意我们到起居室去。
He stood in front of us for
a moment and then gestured us to go into the
living room.
屋子里静静地，坐满了人。终于
，埃尔吉轻轻地说道，
―
他们枪杀了他。
‖
The room was filled with
people sitting in silence, and finally Elgie said,
quietly, ―They shot him.‖
―
他们说他违反了假释条件把他抓走了，关进监狱后就枪杀了他。
‖
―They picked him up for
breaking the conditions of his parole and they put
him in jail and … they
shot him.‖
―
可是为什么？
‖
我大喊道，
―
怎么会发生这样的
事？
‖
―But why?‖ I
cried. ―How could this have happened?‖
―
他们说他们认为他要反抗，而且他们害怕他。
‖
―They said they
thought he was resisting and that they were afraid
of him.‖
―
害怕？
‖
我怀疑地问，
―
但
……
但是，他有武器吗？
‖
―Afraid?‖ I
asked,
incredulously.
―But…but…was he armed?‖
―
没有
‖
，埃尔吉说着坐了下来。他的胳膊撑
在膝盖上，头低着。
―No,‖
Elgie said, seated now, his arm on his knees, his
head down. ―No, he wasn‘t armed.‖
我把喜鹊的诗紧紧握在手里，两手的拇指交替在平滑的纸夹上狠狠地摁着。
I held the poems tightly
in my hands pressing my thumbs, first one and then
the other, against the
smoothness of
the cardboard folder.
Lesson Seven Miss Brill
尽管阳光
明媚
——
蓝天涂上了金色，
巨大的光点
犹如泼洒在公共花园里的白葡萄酒
——
布里
尔小姐很高兴自己还是决定戴上了狐皮围巾。
Although it was so brilliantly fine
–
the blue sky powdered with
gold and the great spots of light
like
white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiques
–
Miss Brill was glad that
she had decided on
her fur.
空气中一丝风也没有，
但当你张开嘴时，
却有那么一丝丝凉意。
那感觉犹如你要吸一小口冰
水时从杯子
里冒出的凉气那样。不时有一片落叶从无人知晓的地方飘来，从天空飘来。
The air was motionless, but
when you opened your mouth there was just a faint
chill, like a chill
from a glass of
iced water before you sip, and now and again a
leaf came drifting
–
from
nowhere,
from the sky.
布里尔小姐抬起手来摸着狐皮围巾。
Miss Brill put up her hand and touched
her fur.
可爱的小东西！再次触摸到它感觉真好。
Dear little thing! I t was
nice to feel it again.
下午她把
它从盒子里拿了出来，
抖掉防蛀粉，
好好地刷了一遍，
把没有光泽的小眼睛擦得又
恢复了生气。
She had taken it out of its
box that afternoon, shaken out the moth-powder,
given it a good brush,
and rubbed the
life back into the dim little eyes.
―
我怎么了？
‖
忧
伤的小眼睛问道。
―What
has been happening to me?‖ said the sad little
eyes.
哈，
看到它们从红鸭绒
垫上再次亮闪闪地盯着她，
实在是令人高兴，
但是用某种黑色合
成物
做的鼻子很不结实了，一定是不知怎么被撞了一下。
Oh,
how sweet
it
was
to see
them snap
at
her
again
from
the
red
eiderdown!
…But
the
nose,
which was of some black composition,
wasn‘t at a
ll firm. It must have had a
knock, somehow.
没关系，到时候，到绝对
必要的时候用黑色的火漆擦一擦小淘气！
Never
mind
–
a
little
dab
of
black
sealing-wax
when the
time
came
–
when
it was
absolutely
necessary. … Little rogue!
是的，她的确觉得它是个小淘气。
Yes, she really felt like that about
it.
这个小淘气就在她左耳边咬住自己的尾巴。
Little rogue biting its
tail just by her left ear.
她本可以取下它来放在膝上抚弄一下，
她感到手和胳膊略微有些刺痛，
< br>她想可能是由于走了
路的缘故。
She could have taken it off
and laid it on her lap and stroked it. She felt a
tingling in her hands and
arms. But
that came from walking, she supposed.
当她呼吸时，
似乎有一种轻柔忧郁的东西
——
不，
不是忧郁
——
是某种温柔的东西在她的胸
中移动。
And when she breathed,
something light and sad
–
no, not sad, exactly
–
something gentle seemed
to move in her
bosom.
今天下午出来的人很多，比上星期日多多了，
而且乐队演奏得也好像更加响亮、欢快。
There
were
a
number
of
people
out
this
afternoon.
far
more
than
last
Sunday.
And
the
band
sounded louder and
gayer.
那是因为演出季节开始了。
That was because the Season had begun.
尽管乐队每逢星期日都演奏，但不是演出季节时总是不太一样。
For although the band
played all the year round on Sundays, out of seaon
it was never the same.
就好像一
个人只演奏给家里人听那样，没有陌生人在场，演得怎样都没关系。
It was
like
someone
playing
with
only
the
family
to
listen;
it
didn‘t
care
how
it
played
if
there
weren‘t
any strangers present.
指挥不也穿了一件新上衣吗？她肯定那是新的。
Wasn‘t the conductor
wearing a new coat, too? She was sure
it
was new.
他像一只
正要鸣叫的公鸡那样一只脚蹭着地，
摆动着双臂。
坐在绿色圆亭
里的乐队成员们鼓
起两腮，眼睛盯着乐谱。
He
scraped with
his
foot
and
flapped
his
arms
like
a
rooster
about
to crow,
and
the
bandsmen
sitting in the green rotunda blew out
their cheeks and glared at the music.
这时传来
―
长笛般
‖
柔和清亮的一小段音乐
——
十分
悦耳
——
一长串活泼的急降。
Now there came a little
―flutey‖ bit –
very pretty!
–
a litter chain of bright
drops.
她知道这一段一定会重复出现的。是的，重复
了，她抬起头来笑了。
She
was sure it would be repeated. It was; she lifted
her head and smiled.
只有两个人和
她一起坐在她的
―
专座
‖
上，
一位是穿着丝绒上衣相貌出众的老头，
双手握着
一
根巨大的雕花手杖；
还有一个身材高大的老太太，
笔直地坐着，
绣花围裙上放着一卷织着的
毛活。<
/p>
Only two people
shared her ―special‖ seat: a fine old man in a
velvet coat, his hands clasped over
a
huge carved walking-stick, and a big old woman,
sitting upright, with a roll of knitting on her
embroidered apron.
< br>他们都不说话，
令人非常失望，
因为布里尔小姐总是期待
着别人的谈话，
她觉得自己能够十
分老练、
不动声色地听别人的谈话，
十分在行地利用别人在她周围谈话的时机短暂地介入别<
/p>
人的生活。
They did not speak. This was
disappointing, for Miss Brill always looked
forward to conversation.
She had become
really quite expert, she thought, at listening as
thou
gh she didn‘t listen, at sitting
in other people‘s lives just a minute
while they talked round her.
她斜眼看了看这对老人，他们也许很快就会走的。
She glanced, sideways, at
the old couple. Perhaps they would go soon.
上星期日也不如平时那么有趣。
Last Sunday, too, hadn‘t
been as interesting
as usual.
那天有一个英国人和他的妻子，
男人
戴了顶非常难看的巴拿马草帽，
女人穿了双带扣长筒靴。
An Englishman and his wife,
he wearing a dreadful Panama hat and she button
boots.
所有的时间里她都在说她如何应该戴眼镜，<
/p>
她知道自己需要眼镜，
可买眼镜也不行，
也许会
打碎，总是戴不住。而男人是那么耐心，他什么建议都提了，金丝镜框，那种镜腿
弯曲紧扣
耳朵的镜框，眼镜鼻架侧面安上小垫。不行，什么也无法使她满意。
―
它总是会从鼻子上滑
下来的！
< br>‖
布里尔小姐真想抓住她好好地摇她几下。
And she‘s gone on the whole
time about how she ought to wear spectacles; she
knew she needed
them; But that it was
no good getting any; they‘d be sure to break and
they‘d never keep on. And
he‘d been so
patient. He‘d suggested e
verything
–
gold rims, the kind that
curved round your ears,
little pads
inside the bridge. No, nothing would please her.
―They‘ll always be sliding down my
nose!‖ Miss Brill had wanted to shake
her.
那两个老人坐在座位上，仍像雕像一样一声不响。
The old people sat on the
bench, still as statues.
没关系，总有许多人可看。
Never mind, there was always the crowd
to watch.
在花圃前和乐队所在的圆亭前，
成双成对或三五成群的人们来回漫步，
时而停下来交谈、
打
招呼，或从一个把花盘捆在栏杆上的老乞丐手里买上一把花。
To
and
fro,
in
front
of
the
flower-beds
and
the
band
rotunda,
the couples
and
groups
paraded,
stopped to talk, to
greet, to buy a handful of flowers from the old
beggar who had his tray fixed to
the
railings.
孩子们在他们中间奔跑着，
打闹着，
大声笑着，
男孩子们下巴底下戴着大个的
白色丝绸蝴蝶
领结，女孩子们打扮得就像法国玩具娃娃，穿着丝绸带花边的衣服。
Little children
ran among them, swooping and laughing; little boys
with big white silk bows under
their
chins; little girls, little French dolls, dressed
up in velvet and lace.
有时一个
刚刚学步的小家伙突然从树下摇摇晃晃地走出来，
在空地上停下，
睁大眼睛张望着，
突然
―
扑通
‖
一下坐在地上，
直到他娇小的母亲高抬着脚
步像只小母鸡一样一边责备着一边冲
过去把他救起。
And
sometimes
a
tiny
staggered
came
suddenly
rocking
into
the
open
from
under
the
trees,
stopped,
stared,
as
suddenly sat
down
until
its
small
high-
stepping
mother,
like
a
young
hen, and
rushed scolding to its rescue.
另外一些人坐在长凳上或是绿色的椅子上，但一个又一个星期日，几乎总是同样的一些人，
而且布里尔小姐常常注意到他们几乎所有的人身上都有一些奇怪之处。
Other people sat on the
benches and green chairs, but they were nearly
always the same, Sunday
after Sunday,
and
—
Miss Brill had often
noticed
—
there was some-thing
funny about nearly all of
them.
他们古怪、沉默，几乎都很老。看他们睁大眼睛的样子，好像
是刚从黑暗的小屋子里出来，
甚至
——
甚至是刚从小橱柜里出来。
They were odd, silent, nearly all old,
and from the way they stared they looked as though
they'd
just come from dark little rooms
or even
—
-even cupboards!
在圆形大厅后面是垂着黄叶的细长的树木，
< br>穿过树叶可见一线大海，
在那之外便是漂浮着金
色纹脉白
云的蓝天。
Behind the
rotunda the slender trees with yellow leaves down
drooping, and through them just a
line
of sea, and beyond the blue sky gold-veined
clouds.
Tum-tum-tum tiddle-
um! Tiddle-um! Turn tiddley-um turn ta! Blew the
band.
两个穿红色衣服的年轻姑娘从附近走过，
两个穿蓝色军装的年轻土兵同她们相遇。
他们高声
笑着分成两对挽臂而去。
Two young girls in red came by and two
young soldiers in blue met them, and they laughed
and
paired and went off arm in arm.
两个戴着可笑草帽的农妇神情庄重地牵着漂亮的暗灰色的毛驴
走了过去。
Two
peasant
women
with
funny
straw
hats
passed,
gravely,
leading
beautiful
smoke-colored
donkey.
一个冷冰冰的，面色苍白的修女匆匆走过。
A cold, pale nun hurried
by.
一个美貌的女人向这边走来，
将一束紫罗兰掉在地上，
一个小男孩追上去把花递还给她，
她
接过去后又扔掉了，仿佛花被放了毒似的。
A beautiful woman came
along and dropped her bunch of violets, and a
little boy ran after to hand
them to
her, and she took them and threw them away as if
they'd been poisoned.
天哪，布里尔小姐真不知道该不该称赞这种行为。
Dear me! Miss Brill didn't
know whether to admire that or not!
现在一个戴貂皮无沿帽的女人和一个穿灰衣服的先生正好在她面前相遇了。
< br>
And now an ermine toque
and a gentleman in grey met just in front of her.
他身材高大、神态拘谨、举止庄重，而她戴的貂皮无沿帽是在
她的头发是黄色时买的。
He
was tall, stiff, dignified, and she was wearing
the ermine toque she'd bought when her hair was
yellow.
而现在她的一切，
头发，
脸，
甚至眼睛都和这顶破旧的貂
皮帽一样颜色苍白了。
她抬起来轻
抹嘴唇的那只戴着洗过手套的
手是只发黄的爪子。
Now
everything, her hair, her face, even her eyes, was
the same color as the shabby ermine, and
her hand, in its cleaned glove, lifted
to dab her lips, was a tiny yellowish paw.
哈！她见到他真是太高兴了
——
太愉快了！
Oh, she was so pleased to see him
—
delighted!
她觉得他们是定好下午会面的。
She rather thought they were going to
meet that afternoon.
她描述她到了
什么地方
——
这儿、那儿、海边，到处都去了。
She described where
she'd been
—
everywhere,
here, there, along by the sea.
天气是这样可爱
——
难道他不同意吗？也许他不愿意吧
？
The day was so
charming
—
didn't he agree?
And wouldn't he, perhaps?
但
他摇了摇头，点上一支香烟，徐徐地把一大口烟喷在了她的脸上，在她仍在谈笑风生时，
把火柴轻轻向外一弹，继续走开去。
… But he shook his head, lighted a
cigare
tte, slowly breathed a great deep
puff into her face and,
even while she
was still talking and laughing, flicked the match
away and walked on.
只有貂皮无沿帽独自呆在那里，她笑得更加明快了。
The ermine toque was alone;
she smiled more brightly than ever.
就连乐队也似乎知道她的感觉而演奏得更轻柔了，
乐队轻柔地演奏着
，
鼓点声一遍又一遍地
敲出：
―
畜生！畜生！
‖
But even the band seemed to know what
she was feeling and played more softly, played
tenderly,
and the drum beat
她要做些什么呢？现在会发生什么事？
What would she do? What was
going to happen now?
然而就在布里
尔小姐想着这些的时候，
貂皮无沿帽转过身去，
好像看见了就在
那边有另一个
更好的人似地扬起手，嗒嗒地走了。
But
as
Miss
Brill
wondered,
the
ermine
toque
turned,
raised
her
hand
as
though
she'd
seen
someone else, much nicer, just over
there, and pattered away .
乐队又一次改变节奏，
演奏得比任何时候都更快，
更欢，
坐在布里尔小姐凳子上的老人站起
身来走了。
乐队又一次改变节奏，
演奏得比任何
时候都更快，
更欢，
坐在布里尔小姐凳子上的老人站起
身来走了。
这个连鬓胡子很长的老头真滑稽，
和
着音乐的节拍蹒跚地走着，
差点被四个并排
走着的姑娘给撞倒。
And the band
changed again and played more quickly, more gaily
than ever, and the old couple on
Miss
Brill‘s seat got up and marched away, and such a
funny old man w
ith long whiskers
hobbled
along in time to the music and
was nearly knocked over by four girls walking
abreast.
啊，这一切是多么的迷人！多么令她欣喜！
Oh, how fascinating it was!
How she enjoyed it!
她是多么喜欢坐在这里，看着这一切！
How she loved sitting here,
watching it all!
就像是一出戏，完全就像是一出戏。
It was like a play. It was exactly like
a play.
谁能相信背后的天空不是画出来的？
Who could believe the sky at the back
wasn‘t painted?
但是直到一只棕色的小狗
神色庄重地迈着小步走过来，
然后又慢慢迈着小步走过去，
就像
一
只
―
演戏
‖
的小狗，
一只被轻度麻醉的小狗那样，
直到这时布里尔小姐才发现这一切如此令人
激动。
But
it
wasn‘t till
a
little
brown
dog
trotted
on solemnly
and
then slowly
trotted
off,
like
a
little
―theatre‖ dog, a little dog that had
been drugged, that Miss Brill discovered what it
was that made
it so exciting.
他们全都在舞台上。他们不仅仅是观众，不仅仅在一边观看，
他们也在演戏。
They
were all on the stage. They weren‘t
only the audience, not only looking on; they were
acting.
就连她自己也是其中的一个角色，每个星期天都来。
Even she had a part and
came every Sunday.
毫无疑问，如果她
没有来，就会引起别人的注意，她毕竟是整个演出的一部分。
No doubt somebody would have noticed if
she hadn't been there; she was part of the
performance,
after all.
奇怪，她过去从未这样想过。
How strange she‘d never thought of it
like that before!
但是这也解释了她为
什么每一个星期都要这样特意在同一时间离家
——
是为了不误演
出
——
而且这也解释了为什么她在给来向她学习英语的学生讲她
如何度过每个星期日下午时
会有这样古怪的羞怯的感觉。
And yet it explained why
she made such a point of starting from home at
just the same time each
week
—
so as not to be late for
the performance
—
and it also
explained why she had quite a queer
shy
feeling at telling her English pupils how she
spent her Sunday afternoons.
真是难怪！布里尔小姐几乎笑出声来。
No wonder! Miss Brill
nearly laughed out loud.
她是
在舞台上。
她想起了那个生病的老人，
她每周有四个下午趁他在
花园里躺着时给他读报
纸。
She was on the stage. She thought of
the old invalid gentleman to whom she read the
newspaper
four afternoons a week while
he slept in the garden.
她已经
完全习惯了在棉布枕头上的那个虚弱的脑袋，
那深深凹陷的眼睛，
张着的嘴巴和高高
的皱缩的鼻子。
She had got quite used to the frail
head on the cotton pillow, the hollowed eyes, the
open mouth
and the high pinched nose.
如果他死去，很可能她许多个星期都不会注意到，也不会在乎。
If he'd been dead she
mightn't have noticed for weeks; she wouldn't have
minded.
但是他突然知道了给他读报纸的是个女演员
！
―
一个女演员！
‖
< br>衰老的头抬了起来，
昏花的眼
中闪动着两个光点。
But suddenly he
knew he was having the paper read to him by an
actress!
head lifted; two points of
light quivered in the old eyes.
―
女演员
——
是你吗？
‖
布里尔小姐于是抚平报纸，
仿佛这是她的
台词，
并且温柔地说道：
―
是
的，我当演员已经很久了。
‖
—
ar e
ye?
of her part and said gently:
乐队刚才一直在休息，现在又重新开始演奏了。
The band had been having a
rest. Now they started again.
< br>他们演奏的乐曲热烈、
明快，
然而透着一丝凉意
——
一种难以言状的东西。
是什么呢？
——
不是悲哀
——
不，
不是悲哀
——
是一种使你想唱歌的气氛。
And what they played was
warm, sunny, yet there was just a faint chill
—
a something, what was
it?
—
not
sadness
—
no , not
sadness
—
a something that
made you want to sing.
曲调升华
，
升华，
阳光灿烂，
布里尔小姐感到再
过一会儿他们所有的人，
剧团全体人员都会
唱起来。
The tune lifted,
lifted, the light shone; and it seemed to Miss
Brill that in another moment all of
them, all the whole company, would
begin singing.
那些年轻的人，
那些在一起活动的笑着的人会先开始歌唱，
然后坚定勇敢的男声会加入进来
，
然后她也加入，还有长凳上坐着的其他人
——
他们会以伴唱的形式加入进来
——
声音很低，
几乎没有起伏，
非常动听
——
< br>感人
……
布里尔小姐眼中充满泪水，
微笑着看着剧团的全体人
员。
The young ones, the laughing ones who
were moving together, they would begin, and the
men's
voices, very resolute and brave,
would join them. And then she too, she too, and
the others on the
benches
—
they
would come in with a kind of
accompaniment
—
something low,
that scarcely rose
or fell, something
so beautiful
—moving … and Miss Brill's
eyes filled with tears and she looked
smiling at all the other members of the
company.
是的，我们明白，我们明白，她想到
——
虽然她并不知道他们明白什么。
Yes we understand, we
understand, she
thought
—
though what they
understood she didn't know.
这个时候一对青年男女走过来坐在刚才那对老夫妻坐的地方。
Just at that moment a boy
and a girl came and sat down where the old couple
had been.
他们衣着鲜亮，正在恋爱。
They were beautifully dressed; they
were in love.
当然男女主人公刚刚从他父亲的游艇上下来。
The hero and heroine, of
course, just arrived from his father's yacht.
布里尔小姐仍然在无声地唱着歌，仍带着颤抖的微笑，她准备
好听他们的谈话。
And
still soundlessly singing, still with that
trembling smile, Miss Brill prepared to listen.
―
不行，现在不行，
‖
姑娘说道，
―
别在这里，我
不能。
‖
―
可是为什么？是因为坐在那一头的那个愚蠢的老家伙吗？
‖
小伙子问。
―
她为什么
要到这里来
——
谁需要她？她为什么不把她那副愚蠢的尊容留在
家里？
‖
does
she
come
here
at
all
—
who wants
her?
Why
doesn't
she
keep
her silly
old
mug
at
home?
―
她的那条皮围巾太滑稽了。
‖
姑娘哈哈地笑着说，
―
和一条炸鲤鱼完全一样。
‖
―
嘿，滚你的吧！
‖
小伙子生气地低语道。接着
又说：
―
告诉我，小心肝
——‖
—
―
不，别在这里，
‖
姑
娘说道，
―
先别这样。
‖
在回家的
路上她总是要在面包店买上一块蜂蜜蛋糕。这是她星期日的特殊享受。
On her way home she usually
bought a slice of honey-cake at the baker's. It
was her Sunday treat.
有时候买的蛋糕里有粒杏仁，有时候没有。有没有大不一样。
Sometimes there was an
almond in her slice, sometimes not. It made a
great difference.
如果有杏仁，就像是
带回家一个小小的礼物
——
一份惊喜
—
—
一个本来很可能没有的东西。
If
there was
an
almond
it
was
like
carrying
home
a
tiny
present
—
a
surprise
—
something
that
might very well not
have been there.
在有杏仁的那些星期日
，她总是匆匆赶回家，精神抖擞地划火柴点火烧水。
She hurried on the almond Sundays and
.struck the match for the kettle in quite a
dashing
但是今天她径直从面包店门前走过，
爬上楼梯走进那个昏暗的小屋
——
她的像小柜
橱一般的
小屋
——
坐在红鸭绒垫上。<
/p>
But today she
passed the baker's by, climbed the stairs, went
into the little dark room
—
her room
like a
cupboard
—
and sat down on the
red eiderdown.
她坐了很久。
She sat there for a long time.
装狐皮围巾的那只盒子放在床上。
The box that the fur came
out of was on the bed.
她迅速解下围巾，看也不看，很快地把它放进了盒子。
She unclasped the necklet
quickly; quickly, without looking, laid it inside.
但当她盖上盒盖时，她觉得听见了哭声。
But when she put the lid on
she thought she heard something crying
第八课
人生的一课
快一年了，大部分时间我都泡在家里、店铺、学校和教堂里，就像一块旧饼干，又脏又难以
下咽。
For
nearly
a
year,
I
sopped
around
the
house,
the
Store, the school
and
the church,
like
an
old
biscuit,
dirty and inedible.
这时我遇到或者说认识了抛给我第一根救生索的那位夫人。
Then I met, or rather got
to know, the lady who threw me first lifeline.
波萨
?
弗劳
尔斯夫人是斯坦普司黑人区中的出类拔萃的人物。
Mrs. Bertha Flowers was the aristocrat
of Black Stamps.
她动作优雅，
即使在最冷的天气里也不缩手缩脚，
而在阿肯色州的夏日里，
她似乎又有属于
自己的微风环绕在她的身旁，给她带来凉爽。
She had the grace of
control to appear warm in the coldest weather, and
one the Arkansas summer
days it seemed
she had a private breeze which swirled around,
cooling her.
她的皮肤深黑迷人，
如果被挂住就会像李子皮一样剥落，
但没有人敢离她近点，
碰皱她的衣
服，更不要说挂住她的皮肤了。
Her skin was a rich black
that would have peeled like a plum
if
snagged, but then no one would
have
thought of getting close enough to Mrs. Flowers to
ruffle her dress, let alone snag her skin.
她不太喜欢亲近，另外她还带着手套。
She didn't encourage
familiarity. She wore gloves too.
她是我所知道的为数不多的有气质的女士之一，并且是我做人的楷模，影响了我一生。
She was one of the
few gentlewomen I have ever known, and has
remained throughout my life the
measure
of what a human being can be.
我被她深深地吸引，因为她像是我从没有亲身遇到过的那些人。
She appealed to me because
she was like people I had never met personally.
她就像英国小说中的女人，
走在沼泽
地里
（不管是什么地方），
一群忠实的狗奔跑在她们的
身旁，并与她们保持一定的距离以示尊敬。
Like women in English novels who walked
the moors (whatever they were) with their loyal
dogs
racing at a respectful distance.
她就像坐在炉火熊熊的壁炉前的女人，不时从装满蛋糕和松脆
饼的银盘中取东西喝。
Like
the women who sat in front of roaring fireplaces,
drinking tea incessantly from silver trays
full of scones and crumpets.
她就像走在
―
石南丛生的荒野
‖
中，
读着用摩洛哥
山羊皮装订的书的那些女人，
而且有用连字
符隔开的两个姓。<
/p>
Women
who walked
over
the
and
read
morocco-bound
books
and
had
two
last
names
divided by a hyphen.
可以肯定地说，是她本人使我为自己是个黑人而感到骄傲。
It would be safe to say
that she made me proud to be Negro, just by being
herself.
那个在我的记忆中如甜奶般鲜活的夏日的
午后，她来我们的店里买东西。
One
summer
afternoon,
sweet-milk
fresh
in
my
memory,
she
stopped
at
the
Store
to
buy
provisions.
换了另外
一个同她身体情况和年龄相当的黑人妇女就会一只手把纸袋拎回家去，但奶奶却
说，
―
弗劳尔斯大姐，让贝利帮你把东西送回家去。
‖
Another Negro woman of
her health and age would have been expected to
carry the paper sacks
home in one hand,
but Momma said,
things.
―
谢谢您，汉德森夫人。但我想让玛格丽特帮我送回去。
‖
她说我名字时，我的名字也变得动听起来。
My name was beautiful when
she said it.
―
反正
我一直想跟她谈一谈。
‖
她们互相对视了一下，
其间的意思只有她们这些同龄人才明白。
在石头路旁有一条小路，弗劳尔斯夫
人在前面摆动着胳膊，在碎石路上小心地走着。
There was a little path beside the
rocky road, and Mrs. Flowers walked in front
swinging her arms
and picking her way
over the stones.
她没有回头，对我说，
―
听说你在学校里功课很好，玛格丽特，但那都是笔头作业。老
师说
他们很难让你在课堂上发言。
‖
She said, without turning her head, to
me,
but that it's all written. The
teachers report that they have trouble getting you
to talk in class.
我们走过左边三角形
的农场，
路变宽了，
可以允许我们并排走在一起。
但我畏缩地走在后面，
想着那些没有问出口也无法回答的问题。
We
passed
the
triangular
farm
on
our
left
and the
path
widened
to
allow
us
to
walk
together.
I
hung
back in the separate unasked and unanswerable
questions.
―
过来和我
一起走，玛格丽特。
‖
我无法拒绝，尽管我很想。
她把我的名字叫得如此动听。
或者更确切地说，
她把每个词
都说得这样清晰，
我相信就是一
个不懂英语的外国人也能听懂她
的话。
She
pronounced my name so nicely. Or more correctly,
she spoke each word with such clarity that
I was certain a foreigner who didn't
understand English could have understood her.
―
现在没有人要强迫你说话
——
恐怕也没人能做到这一点。但是你记住，语言是人类进行沟
通的方式，是语言将人类同低等动物区分开来。
‖
―Now
no
one
is
going
to
make
you
talk
—
possibly
no
one
can.
But
bear
in
mind,
language
is
man's way of communicating with his
fellow man and it
is
language alone which separates him
from
the lower animals.‖
这对我来说是一个全新的观点，我需要些时间认真考虑一下。
That was a totally new idea
to me, and I would need time to think about it.
―
你奶奶说你读了很多书，一有机会
就读。这很好，但还不够好，言语的含义不仅是写在纸
上的那点。它需要人的声音赋予它
深层含义的细微差别。
‖
Words mean more than what is
set down on paper. It takes the human voice to
infuse them with
the shades of deeper
meaning.
我记住了有关声音赋予言语更多内涵的话
。这些话听起来是那么正确，那么富有诗意。
I memorized the part about the human
voice infusing words. It seemed so valid and
poetic.
她说她要给我一些书，要我不仅阅读这些书，还要大声朗读。
She said she was going to
give me some books and that I not only must read
them, I must read
them aloud.
她建议我用尽可能丰富的语调去读每一句话。
She suggested that i try to
make a sentence sound in as many different ways as
possible.
―
如果你草草
读完这些书就还给我的话，我不接受任何理由。
‖
我想像不出如果我真的没有认真读弗
劳尔斯夫人的某一本书，
将会受到怎样的惩罚。
让我去
死恐怕是太仁慈太干脆了。
My imagination boggled at the
punishment I would deserve if in fact I did abuse
a book of Mrs.
Flowers'. Death would be
too kind and brief.
房子里的气味让我有点吃惊。
The odors in the house surprised me.
不知什么缘故，我从来没有将弗劳尔斯夫人与食物、吃饭或是
平常人的琐事联系起来。
Somehow
I
had
never
connected
Mrs.
Flowers
with
food
or
eating
or
any
other
common
experience of common
people.
那里一定也有户外厕所，但我一点也记不起来了。
There must have been an
outhouse, too, but my mind never recorded it.
她打开门，香草的芬芳迎面扑来。
The sweet scent of vanilla
had met us as she opened the door.
―
今天早上我做了些茶点。你瞧，我早打算好要请你来吃点心、柠檬水
，这样我们就可以聊
一会了。柠檬水正放在冰盒子里呢。
‖
so we could have
this little chat. The lemonade is in the
icebox.
这意味着弗劳尔斯夫人平时也买冰，
而镇上大多数人家只是在星期六下午才买冰，
放在木头
< br>做的冰淇凌冷藏机内，整个夏天也不过只买几次。
It followed that Mrs. Flowers would
have ice on an ordinary day, when most families in
our town
bought
ice
late
on
Saturdays
only
a
few
times
during
the
summer
to
be
used
in
the
wooden
ice-cream freezers.
―
坐吧，玛格丽特，坐到那边桌子旁
。
‖
她端着一个用茶布盖着的盘。
She carried a platter covered with a
tea towel.
尽管她事先说过她已经好久没有做点
心了，
我还是相信就像她的其他任何东西一样，
点心也
会十分精美可口。
Although she warned that she hadn't
tried her hand at baking sweets for some time, I
was certain
that like everything else
about her the cookies would be perfect.
我吃点心的时候，她开始给我讲我们后来称之为
―
我生活中的一课
‖
的第一
部分。
As I ate she
began the first of what we later called
她告诉我不能宽容无知，但可以理解文盲。
She said that must always
be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of
illiteracy.
她认为有些人虽然没有上过学，但
却比大学教授更有知识，甚至更聪明。
That
some
people,
unable
to
go
to school, were
more
educated
and
even
more
intelligent
than
college professors.
她还鼓励我认真倾听被乡下人称为常识的一些俗语。
她说这些朴实谚语是一代代人集体智慧
的结晶。
She
encouraged
me
to
listen
carefully
to
what
country
people
called
mother wit.
That
in
those
homely
sayings was couched the collective wisdom of
generations
我吃完点心后，她把桌子打扫干净
，从书架上拿了一本又厚又小的书。
When I finished the cookies she brushed
off the table and brought a thick, small book from
the
bookcase.
我读
过《双城记》，认为这本书符合我心目中浪漫主义小说的标准。
I had read A Tale of Two
Cities and found it up to my standards as a
romantic novel.
她翻开第一页，于是我平生第一次听到了诗朗诵。
She opened the first page
and I heard poetry for the first time in my life.
―
这是最辉煌的时代也是最糟糕的时
代
……‖
她的声音圆润，
随着言语的起
伏而抑扬顿挫，
就
像在唱歌一样。
over the words.
She was nearly singing.
我想看一下她读的是否真的和我过去看的一样？
I wanted to look at the
pages. Were they the same that I had read?
还是像赞美诗一样，书页上满是音符？
Or were there notes, music,
lined on the pages, as in a hymn book?
她的声音开始慢慢低沉下来。
Her sounds began cascading gently.
我听过很多次布道，因此我知道她的朗诵就要结束了，但我还
没有真正听见或听懂一个词。
I
knew from listening to a thousand preachers that
she was nearing the end of her reading, and I
hadn't really heard, heard to
understand, a single word.
―
你觉得怎么样？
‖
我这才意识到她在期待我的回答。
It occurred to me that she expected a
response.
我的舌间还留有香草的余味，她的朗诵对我来说很奇妙。
The sweet vanilla flavor
was still on my tongue and her reading was a
wonder in my ears.
我得说点什么了。
I had to speak.
我说：
―
是的，夫人。
‖
我至少得说这些，我也只能说这些。
I said,
―
还有一件事。你把这本诗集拿去，背下其中的一首。下次你再来看我时，我希望你背诵给
我听。
‖
'There
s one more thing. Take this book of poems and
memorize one for me. Next time you pay
me a visit, I want you to recite.‖
在经历了成年后的复杂生活后，
我多
次试图弄清楚为什么当年她送给我的礼物一下子就让我
陶醉了。
I have tried often to
search behind the sophistication of years for the
enchantment I so easily found
in those
gifts.
书中的内容已经忘却，但余韵仍存。
The essence escapes but its aura
remains.
被准许，
不，<
/p>
是被邀请进入一群陌生人的私人生活中，
与他们共同分享喜悦和恐
惧，
这使我
读贝奥武夫时就犹如喝一杯蜜酒，读奥立佛
?
特威斯特时，犹如饮一杯热奶茶，忘记了那犹
如南方苦艾酒般的痛苦经历。
To
be allowed, no, invited, into the private lives of
strangers, and to share their joys and fears, was
a chance to exchange the Southern
bitter wormwood for a cup of mead with Be-owulf or
a hot cup
of tea and milk with Oliver
Twist.
当我大声地说
―
这比我做过的任何一件事都好得多
‖
时，<
/p>
我眼中涌出了爱的泪水，
那是为了自
己的
忘我
When I said
aloud,
is a far, far better thing
tha
t I do, than I have ever
done…
filled my eyes at my selflessness.
在我第一次去她家回来，
我跑下山去
冲到马路上
（路上很少有车经过）
，
快
到店铺时我还居
然没忘了停下来。
On that first day, I ran down the hill
and into the road (few cars ever came along it)
and had the
good sense to stop running
before I reached the Store.
有人喜欢我，这是多么的不同啊。
was liked, and what a difference it
made.
有人尊敬我，
并不是因
为我是汉德森夫人的外孙女或是贝利的妹妹，
而是因为我是玛格丽特
?
约翰逊。
I was respected not as Mrs. Henderson's
grandchild or Bailey's sister but for just being
Marguerite
Johnson.
孩提时的逻辑永远不需要证实（所有的结论都是绝对的）。
Childhood's logic never
asks to be proved (all conclusions are absolute).
我从来没有想过为什么弗劳尔斯夫人会选中我来表示关怀，<
/p>
也从来没想过也许是奶奶曾请求
她开导我一下。
< br>
1 didn't question why
Mrs. Flowers had singled me out for attention, nor
did it occur to me that
Momma might
have asked her to give me a little talking to.
我只关心她曾给我做点心吃，还给我读她最喜欢的书。这些足
以证明她喜欢我
All I
cared about was that she had made tea cookies for
me and read to me from her favorite book.
It was enough to prove that she liked
me.
奶奶和贝利在店铺里等我。
Momma and Bailey were
waiting inside the Store.
他
问：
―
她给了你什么？
‖
他已经看到那些书了，
但我把装着他那份点心的纸袋放在怀里，
用
诗集挡住。
He said.
cookies in my arms
shielded by the poems.
奶奶说：
―
小姐，我知道你的举止像位女士。
Momma
said,
I
know
you
acted
like
a
little
lady.
That
do
my
heart
good
to
see
settled
people take to you all.
我已经尽最大努力了，上帝知道，但这些天
……‖
她的声音低下来，
―
快去把衣服换了。
‖
I'm trying my best, the
Lord knows, but these days…
your dress.‖
Lesson Nine The Trouble
with Television
电视的毛病
The Trouble with Television
要摆脱电视的影响是困难的。
It is difficult to escape
the influence of television.
假如统计的平均数字适用于你的话，
那么你到
20
岁的时候就至少看过
2
万个小时的电视了，
从那以后每生活
10
年就会增加
1
万小时。
If you fit the statistical averages, by
the age
of 20 you will have been
exposed to at least 20,000
hours of
television. You can add 10,000 hours for each
decade you have lived after the age of 20.
笔起看电视，美国人只有在工作和睡眠上花时间更多。
The only things Americans
do more than watch television are work and sleep.
稍微计算一下，使用这些时间的一部分能够做些什么。
Calculate for a moment what
could be done with even a part of those hours.
听说一个大学生仅用
5000
小时就可以获得学士学位。
Five
thousand
hours, I
am
told,
are what
a
typical
college
undergraduate
spends working
on
a
bachelor's
degree.
在
1
万个小时内你能学成一个天文学家或工程师，流利掌握几门外语。
In 10,000 hours you could
have learned enough to become an astronomer or
engineer. You could
have learned
several languages fluently.
如果你感兴趣的话，
你可能读希腊原文的荷马史诗或俄文版的陀思妥耶夫斯基的作品；
如果
对此不感兴趣，那你可以徒步周游世界，撰写一本游记。<
/p>
If it appealed
to you, you could be reading Homer in the original
Greek or Dostoyevsky in Russian.
If it
didn't, you could have walked around the world and
written a book about it.
电视的毛病在于它分散了人们的注意力。
The trouble with television
is that it discourages concentration.
生活中几乎一切有趣的、能给人以满足的事都需要一定的建设性的、持之以恒的努力。<
/p>
Almost anything
interesting and rewarding in life requires some
constructive, consistently applied
effort.
即使是我们中间那
些最迟钝、
最没有天才的人也能做出一些事来，
而这些事使那些
从来不在
任何事情上专心致志的人感到像是奇迹一般。
The
dullest,
the
least
gifted
of
us can
achieve
things
that seem
miraculous
to
those who
never
concentrate on anything.
但电视鼓励我们不做出任何努力，
它向我们兜售即时的满足，
它给我们提供娱乐，
使我们只
想娱乐，让时间
在毫无痛苦中消磨掉。
But
Television encourages us to apply no effort. It
sells us instant gratification. It diverts us only
to divert, to make the time pass
without pain.
电视节目的多样化成了一种麻醉剂而不是促进思考的因素。
Television's variety
becomes a narcotic , nor a stimulus.
它那系列的、多变的画面引着我们跟着它走。
Its serial, kaleidoscopic
exposures force us to follow its lead.
观众无休无止地跟着导游游览：参观博物馆
30
分钟，看大教堂
30
分钟，喝饮料
30
分钟，
然后上车去下一个参观点，
只是电视的特点是时间分配以分秒计算，
而所选择的内容却多为
车祸和人们的互相残杀。
The viewer is on a perpetual guided
tour: 30 minutes at the museum, 30 at the
cathedral, 30 for a
drink,
then
back
on
the
bus to
the
next
attraction
—
-except
on
television.,
typically,
the
spans
allotted arc on the order of minutes or
seconds, and the chosen delights are more often
car crashes
and people killing one
another.
总之许多电视节目取代了人类最可贵的一
种才能，
即主动集中自己的注意力，
而不是被动地
奉送注意力。
In
short, a lot of television usurps one of the most
precious of all human gifts, the ability to focus
your attention yourself, rather than
just passively surrender it.
吸引并抓住人们的注意力是大多数电视节目安排的主要目的，
它加强了电视是有利可
图的广
告的载体的作用。
Capturing your attention
—
and holding
it
—
is the prime motive of
most television programming
and
enhances its role as a profitable advertising
vehicle.
节目安排使人生活在无休止的恐惧之中，
唯恐抓不住人们的注意力
——
不管是什
么人的注意
力都担心。
Programmers live in constant fear of
losing anyone's
attention
—
anyone's.
避免造成这一局面的最有把握的办法就是使一切节目都保持简
短，
不要使任何人的注意力过
于集中而受到损害，而要通过多样
化、新奇性、动作和行动不断地提供刺激。
The surest way to avoid doing so is to
keep everything brief, not to strain the attention
of anyone
but instead to provide
constant stimulation through variety, novelty,
action and movement.
很简单，电视
的运作原则就是迎合观众的注意力跨度短这一特点。
Quite simply, television operates on
the appeal to the short attention span.
这只是最简单的解决办法，但它逐渐被看作是电视这一宣传媒
体特定的，内在固有的性质，
是必须履行的职责，
似乎是司令萨
尔诺夫或另一个令人敬畏的电视创始人给我们传下了刻有
铭文的石碑，命令电视上出现的
一切节目均不得使观众需要片刻以上的注意力。
It
is simply
the
easiest
way
out.
But
it
has come
to
be
regarded
as
a
given,
as
inherent
in
the
medium itself; as an
imperative, as though General Sarnoff, or one of
the other august pioneers of
video,
had
bequeathed
to
us
tablets
of
stone commanding
that
nothing
in
television
shall
ever
require more than a few
moments' Concentration.
要是运用得恰当，这倒也无可厚非。
In its place that is fine.
如此出色地把使人忘却现实的娱乐作为大规模推销工具加以包装，
谁又能反对这样一种宣传
媒介呢？
Who
can
quarrel
with
a
medium
that
so
brilliantly
packages
escapist
entertainment
as
a
mass-
marketing tool?
但是我看到了它的价值现已充斥于这个国家及其生活之中。
But I see its values now
pervading this nation and its life.
认为快速思维和快餐食品一样影响着生活节奏很快、
性情急躁的公众
，
这已成了时髦的看法。
It
has
become
fashionable
to
think
that,
like
fast
food,
fast
ideas
are
the
way
to
get
to
a
fast-moving,
impatient public.
在新闻方面，我认为这种做法不能进行很好的交流。
In the case of news, this
practice, in my view, results in inefficient
communication.
我怀疑电视每晚的新闻节目真正能够被人吸收和理解的有多少。
I question how much of
television's nightly news effort is really
absorbable and understandable.
其中许多被形象地描述为
―
机关枪不连贯地点射
‖
。
Much of it is what has been aptly
described as
我认为这种技术是与连贯性作对的。
I think the technique fights coherence.
我认为它最终会使事情变得枯燥乏味、
无足轻重
（除非伴以恐怖的画面）
，
因为任何一件事，
如果你对它几乎一无所知，那么它差不多总会是枯燥乏味、使人觉得无
足轻重的。
I think it
tends to make things ultimately boring and
dismissible (unless they are accompanied by
horrifying pictures) because almost
anything is boring and dismissible if you know
almost nothing
about it.
我认为，电视迎合观众注意力跨度短的做法不仅会造成交流不畅，而且还会降低文化水平。<
/p>
I
believe
that
TV's
appeal
to
the
short
attention span
is
not
only
inefficient
communication
but
decivilizing as well.
想一想电视要达到的那些极不慎重的原则吧：
必须避免复杂性，
用视觉刺激来代替思考，
语
言的精确早已是不合时宜的要求。
Consider
the
casual
assumptions
that
television
tends
to
cultivate:
that
complexity
must
be
avoided, that visual
stimulation is a substitute for thought, that
verbal precision is an anachronism.
它可能已过时，但我所受的教育告诉我思想就是语言，是按准确的语法规则组织起来的。
It may be old-
fashioned, but I was taught that thought is words,
arranged in grammatically precise
在美国存在着读写能力的危机。
There is a crisis of literacy in this
country.
据一项研究估计，约有
< br>3000
万美国成年人是
―
功能
性文盲
‖
。他们的读写能力无法回答招聘
广告，或读懂药瓶上的说明。
One study estimates that some 30
million
adult Americans are
read
or write well
enough
to
answer
the want
ad
or
understand
the
instructions
on
a
medicine
bottle.
能读写可能算不上是一项不可剥夺的人权，
但是我们学识渊博的
开国元勋们并不感到它是不
合理的或者甚至是达不到的。
Literacy
may
not
be
an
inalienable
human
right,
but
it
is
one that
the
highly
literate
Founding
Fathers might not
have found unreasonable or even unattainable.
从统计数字上看，我们的国家不仅未达到人人能读写的程度，
而且离这一目标越来越远。
We
are not only not attaining it as a nation,
statistically speaking, but we are falling further
and
further short of attaining it.
尽管我不会天真到认为电视是造成这一情况的原因，
但我却相信它起了一定的作用，
是有影
响的。<
/p>
And,
white
I would
not
be
so
simplistic
as
to
suggest
that television
is
the
cause,
1
believe
it
contributes and is an influence.
美国的一切：社会结构、家庭组织形式、经济、在世界上的地
位，都变得更为复杂，而不是
相反。
Everything
about
this
nation
—
the structure
of
the society,
its forms
of
family
organization,
its
economy, its place in the
world
—
has become more
complex, not less.
然而其占主导地位
的传播媒介，
全国联系的主要方式，
却在人类存在的问题上推销
简单的解
决方式，而这些问题通常是没有简单的解决方式的。
Yet
its
dominating communications instrument, its
principal form of national linkage, is one that
sells neat resolutions to human
problems that usually have no neat resolutions.
在我的心目中，那
30
秒钟一个的商业广告：一位家庭主妇因选对了牙膏而感到幸福的那小
小的戏剧
性场面就是这一切的象征。
电视已使这极其成功的艺术形式成为我们文化不可缺少
的一个部分了。
It is all symbolized in my mind by the
hugely successful art form that television has
made central
to
the
culture,
the
30-second
commercial:
the
tiny
drama
of
the
earnest
housewife
who
finds
happiness in choosing
the right toothpaste.
在人类历史
上，
几时曾有这样多的人共同把自己这样多的业余时间奉送给一件玩具，
一项大
众娱乐？
When
before
in
human
history
has
so
much
humanity
collectively
surrendered
so
much
of
its
leisure to one toy, one
mass diversion?
几时曾有一个国家使自己整个地置于商品推销媒介的摆布之下？
When before has virtually
an entire nation surrendered itself whole-sale to
a medium for selling?
几年前，耶
鲁大学的法学教授小查尔斯
?L?
布莱克写道：
―……
被喂食本身并不是件琐碎小
事。
‖
Some years ago Yale
University law professor Charles L. Black. Jr.,
wrote:
trivial fare is not itself a
trivial matter-
我认为我们这个社会正在强行被喂食。
I think this society is
being forced-fed with trivial fare,
我担心这一做法对我们的思维习惯，
对我们的语言、
我们努力的极限度及对复杂情况的兴趣
等方面所造成的影响，这一点我们还只是
极模糊地意识到。
and I
fear that the effects on our habits of mind, our
language, our tolerance for effort, and our