The English Character

The English Character

To

other

Europeans,

the

best

known

quality

of

the

British,

and

in

particular of the English, is

not

talk

very

much

to

strangers,

does

not

show

much

emotion,

and

seldom

gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person:

he never tells

you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without

ever

knowing

where

he

lives,

how

many

children

he

has,

and

what

his

interests are. English people tend to be like that.

If they are making a journey by bus,

they will do their best to find

an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the

compartment with a stranger,

they may travel many miles without starting

a

conversation.

If

a

conversation

does

start,

personal

questions

like

old are you?

This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality

in some ways since it tends to give the impression of coldhess, and it is true

that

the

English

(except

perhaps

in

the

North)

are

not

noted

for

their

generosity

and

hospitality.

On

the

other

hand,

they

are

perfectly

human

behind

their

barrier

of

reserve,

and

may

be

quite

pleased

when

a

friendly

stranger

or

foreigner

succeeds

for

a

time

in

breaking

the

barrier

down.

We

may

also

mention

at

this

point

that

the

people

of

the

North

and

West,

especially

the

Welsh,

are

much

less

reserved

than

those

of

the

South

and

East.

Closely related to English reserve is English modesty.

Within their

hearts,

the English are perhaps no

less conceited than anybody else,

but

in

their

relations

with

others

they

value

at

least

a

show

of

modesty.

Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis

and someone asks him if he is a good player,

he will seldom reply

because

people

will

think

him

conceited.

He

will

probably

give

an

answer

like,

tennis.

(i.e.

I'm

very

fond

of

it.)

Even

if

he

had

managed

to

reach

the

finals

in last year's local championships,

he would say it in such a way as

to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck.

The famous English sense of humor is similar.

Its starting-point is

self- dispraise,

and

its

great

enemy

is

conceit.

Its

object

is

the

abili-

ty

to

laugh

at

oneself --at

one's

own

faults,

one's

own

failure,

even

at

one's

own

ideals. The criticism,

in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to

life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel

or

disrespectful

or

malicious.

The

English

do

not

laugh

at

a

cripple

or

a

madman,

or a tragedy or an honorable failure.

Since reserve, a show of modesty, and a sense of humor are part of his

own

nature,

the

typical

Englishman

tends

to

expect

them

in

others.

He

secretly looks down on more excitable nations, and likes to think of himself

as

more

reliable

than

they.

He

doesn't

trust

big

promises

and

open

shows

of feelings,

esp.

if they are expressed in flowery language.

He doesn't

trust

self-praise

of

any

kind.

This

applies

not

only

to

what

other

people

may tell him about themselves

orally,

but

to

the

letters

they

may

write

to

him.

To

those

who

are

fond

of

flowery expressions,

the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.

Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal

which

not

all

Englishmen

live

up

to.

It

must

be

realized

that

sport

in

its

modern

form

is

almost

entirely

a

British

invention.

Boxing,

rugby,

football,

hockey,

tennis

and

cricket

were

all

first

organized

and

given

rules

in

Britain.

Rules

are

the

essence

of

sport,

and

sportsmanship

is

the

ability

to

practice

a

sport

according

to

its

rules,

while

also

showing

generosity to one's opponent and good temper in defeat.

The high pressure

of modern international sport makes these ideals difficult to keep,

but they

are

at

least

highly

valued

in

Britain

and

are

certainly

achieved

there

more

commonly than among more excitable peoples. Moreover, sportsmanship as

an

ideal

is

applied

to

life

in

general.

This

is

proved

by

the

number

of

sporting

terms

used

in

ordinary

speech.

Everybody

talks

of

play

and

the

shoulder

is

used

to

describe

a

well-aimed,

strong

criticism

and

the

belt

is

used

to

describe

an

unfair

one.

One

of

the

most

elementary

rules

of

life

is

hit

a

man

when

he's

down

—

in

other

words,

never

take

advantage

of

a

person's

misfortune.

English

schoolboys

often

show

this

sense

of

sportsmanship

to

a

surprisingly

high

degree in their relations with each other.

参考译文

在其他 欧洲人看来，英国人，尤其是英格兰人，最著称的特点是其

“

缄 默

”

。一个缄默的人不大与陌生人交谈，感情不大外露，也很少 情绪

激昂。

要了解一个缄默的人很难。

他从不告诉你关于他自己的任何情况。

你有可能和这样一个人在一起工作多年，而不知他 、住在哪里，有几个

孩子，对什么感兴趣。英国人往往就是这样。