Lord Chesterfield

十八世纪英国散文欣赏（一）

记得大学时，学 过

JOHNSON

博士的名篇

TO the Right Honorable

the Earl of Chesterfield

,

近来偶然读到

Johnson

朋友

James

Boswell(1 740-1795)

写的有关此篇的相关介绍。

Johnson and Lord Chesterfield

by James Boswell

Lord Chesterfield, to whom Johnson had paid the high compliment of

addressing to his Lordship the Plan of his Dictionary, had behaved to him

in such a manner as to excite his contempt

（蔑视）

and indignation

（愤

怒）

. The world has been for many years amused with a story confidently

told, and as confidently repeated with additional circumstances, that a

sudden disgust was taken by Johnson upon occasion of his having been

one day kept long in waiting in his Lordship?s ante

-chamber, for which

the reason assigned was that he had company with him; and that at last,

when the door opened, out walked Colley Cibber; and that Johnson was

so violently provoked when he went away in a passion and never would

return. I remember having mentioned this story to George Lord Lyttelton,

who told me he was very intimate with Lord Chesterfield; and holding it

as a well-

known truth, defended Lord Chesterfield by saying that “Cibber,

who had been introduced familiarly by the back-stairs, had probably not

been there above ten minutes.” It may seem s

trange even to entertain a

doubt concerning a story so long and so widely current and thus

implicitly adopted, if not sanctioned, by the authority which I have

mentioned; but Johnson himself assured me that there was not the least

foundation for it. He told me that there never was any particular incident

which produced a quarrel between Lord Chesterfield and him; but that his

Lordship?s continued neglect was the reason why he resolved to have no

connection with him. When the Dictionary was upon the eve of

publication, Lord Chesterfield, who it is said had flattered himself with

expectations that Johnson would dedicate the work to him, attempted, in a

courtly manner, to soothe and insinuate himself with the Sage, conscious,

as it should seem, of the cold indifference with which he had treated its

learned author; and further attempted to conciliate him by writing two

papers in the World, in recommendation of the work; and it must be

confessed that they contain some studied compliments, so finely turned

that if there had been no previous offence it is probable that Johnson

would have been highly delighted. Praise, in general, was pleasing to him;

but by praise from a man of rank and elegant accomplishments he was

peculiarly gratified….

辱。关于此 事，社会上早有传闻，以讹传讹。琼生某日拜会柴爵爷，

在门房久等不见。后来，从里面 出来刺伯科。琼君早于其先至，而其

确先被接见。心中有怨，愤然离开柴府。终不踏其门 庭半步。此事，

我记得问过李乔治爵爷，他与柴爵爷颇有交情。他替柴爵爷辩解道：

“刺伯科与柴爵爷宿有来往，当日是从后门入府，且很快离府，约莫

半顿茶的功夫。”若非知情人士以告，我等对此事哪生得半点疑心。

然琼生对余言道，李 某之言不足为信；琼生与柴爵爷从未有过争执；

是柴爵爷的怠慢使琼生决意不为门客为其 驱使。字典即将付梓之时，

据说柴爵爷放言琼生会将此巨作题献于他，

< br>想到昔日有负琼生，

试图

弥补裂痕。并在世界报刊登两篇 评论，试图与琼生复好。评论上可见

柴爵爷对词典的推崇与褒奖之词。

< br>于是乎得出结论，

柴爵爷若当初没

有凌辱琼生，

为何琼生对如此褒奖之词不屑一顾，

乃至有后来发表的

< br>答复之词呢？

This courtly device failed of its effect. Johnson, who thought that “all

was false and hollow,” despised the honeyed

words, and was even

indignant that Lord Chesterfield should for a moment imagine that he

could be the dupe of such an artifice. His expression to me concerning

Lord Chesterfield upon this occasion was, “Sir, after making great

professions, he had, for many years, taken no notice of me; but when my

dictionary was coming out, he fell a-scribbling in the world about it.

Upon which, I wrote him a letter expressed in civil terms, but such as

might show him that I did not mind what he said or wrote, and that I had

done with him.”

参考译文：爵爷的计策没有奏效。琼生 认为那是假仁假义，不屑

其恭维之词。更愤慨其厚颜，妄图分享编撰词典的功劳。琼生对 余言

道：

“君可知，昔时吾曾几番希望得到柴爵爷的支持，可多 年来，吾

备受其冷落。现词典即将问世，他竟然屈尊撰文

世界报

发表评论。为

此，吾致信柴爵爷，虽言辞谦逊，但申明本人对其 言论与评论无甚特

别关注，且与君之恩义早已断绝。”

This is that celebrated letter of which so much has been said, and

about which curiosity has been so long excited, without being gratified. I

for many years solicited Johnson to favour me with a copy of it, that so

excellent a composition might not be lost to posterity. He delayed from

time to time to give it me; till at last in 1781, when we were on a visit at

Mr. Dilly?s, at Southhill in Bedfordshire, he was pleased to dictate it to

me from memory. He afterwards found among his papers a copy of it,

which he had dictated to Mr. Baretti, with its title and corrections in his

own handwriting. This he gave to Mr. Langton; adding that if it were to

come into print, he wished it to be from that copy. By Mr. Langton?s

kindness, I am enabled to enrich my work with a perfect transcript of

what the world has so eagerly desired to see.

参考译文：关于这篇著名的（书信体）答复， 谈论已经很多，一

直以来被饶有兴趣地关注，可惜，原信一直没有公开。多年来，余一< /p>

直恳请琼生慨与信的复写本，以流传后世。可他迟迟没有答复。终于

在

1781

年（译者注：信写于

17 54

年

2

月

7

日），我们在拜佛郡南山

的迪先生家做客时，他才欣然应允，凭 着记忆口述信的内容。后来，

琼生从他留存的信件中找到原信的复写本。

他口授，

巴莱缇先生执笔，

信的标题和修改出自琼生之 手。

这个复写本他给了朗唐先生。

琼生还

嘱咐，

答复信的刊印本以朗唐先生手里的信做底本。

蒙朗唐先 生慨允

提供底本，

使我能顺利完成琼生的重托，

以飨世人――他们期盼的太

久了。

< br>译后记

：本文是十八世纪英国散文，个别地方的语法，用法与今

< br>有异。这里提供的很大可能是第一个中文译本，故译者诚惶诚恐，深

怕以讹传讹。 但本人学养有限，错误不可避免。欢迎大家批评指正，

共同进步。

感谢我的老师，让我萌发学英语的兴趣。

查斯特菲尔德

查斯特菲尔德勋爵，英国著名政治 家、外交家及文学家，曾

就读于剑桥大学，并游学欧洲大陆。

1 726

年继承爵位，

1728

年出

使荷兰，

任驻荷兰大使，

1745

年任爱尔兰总督

,1746~1748

年身兼< /p>

国务大臣等职位

,

表现出了杰出的政治才 干。

他风流倜傥，

是英国

讲究礼仪的典 范，备受当地人民的爱戴。以著作《

致儿子的信

》

文明于世。他与同时代的文学家波普、艾略特、爱迪生、斯威夫

特等过往甚密 。

有《教子书》(“letters

to

his

son”)传世。名为

<

一生的

忠告

>

是查斯特菲尔德勋爵写给儿子的家书，

其内容说理透彻，

辞

藻华丽，在英国上流社会广为流传

,

被誉为是译本

绅士教育的教

科书

并成为一本世界名著。