历届韩素音翻译大奖赛竞赛原文及译文
来源:2022-05-03 12:37:38 时间:百年教育职业培训中心
更多资料：微信搜索【渝粤教育】公众号
历届韩素音翻译大奖赛竞赛原文及译文
美(节选)........................................................................................................... 3
知识文学与力量文学托 马斯·昆西............................................................. 8
An Experience of Aesthetics by Robert Ginsberg........................................... 11
审美的体验 罗伯特·金斯伯格................................................................... 11
A Person Who Apologizes Has the Moral Ball in His Court by Paul Johnson 14
谁给别人道歉，谁就在道义上掌握了主动 保罗·约翰逊..................... 14
On Going Home by Joan Didion.................................................................... 18
The Making of Ashenden (Excerpt) by Stanley Elkin.................................... 22
艾兴登其人（节选）斯坦利·埃尔金........................................................... 22
超越生命[美] 卡贝尔 著............................................................................ 28
论嫉妒 [英]塞缪尔·约翰逊 著.................................................................. 33
在义与利之外................................................................................................ 37
Beyond Righteousness and Interests............................................................... 37
The Bitter-Sweetness of Reading Yang Jiang................................................. 40
想起清华种种 王佐良............................................................................ 43
Reminiscences of Tsinghua Wang Zuoliang................................................... 43
歌德之人生启示宗白华................................................................................ 45
What Goethe's Life Reveals by Zong Baihua................................................. 45
怀想那片青草地 赵红波.............................................................................. 48
Yearning for That Piece of Green Meadow by Zhao Hongbo......................... 48
Nanjing the Beloved City............................................................................... 51
The Rosy Cloud byBingxin............................................................................ 53
老来乐 金克木............................................................................................. 55
Delights in Growing Old by Jin Kemu........................................................... 55
可贵的"他人意识"...................................................................................... 58
Calling for an Awareness of Others................................................................. 58
教孩子相信.................................................................................................... 61
To Implant In Our Children’s Young Hearts An Undying Faith In Humanity 61
美(节选)
g into beauty. "I don't "but it feels the same." t must be happening in e first time Dirac's⑴ ng relativity. "They're Or at least on the way |
know if it's the same beauty you see in the sunset," a friend tells me,
2014-11-23 02:05:58
This friend is a physicist, who has spent a long career deciphering wha law of nature 自 然 法 则
the interior of stars. He recalls for me this thrill on grasping for th equations describing quantum mechanics, or those of Einstein describi so beautiful," he says, "you can see immediately they have to be true.
toward truth." I ask him what makes a theory beautiful, and he replies, "Simplicity, symmetry, elegance, and power."
我结识一些科学家（包括伊娃和露丝），也拜读过不少科学家的著作，从中我作出
推断：人们在探求自然规律的旅途中，须臾便会与美不期而遇。一个朋友对我说："我 不敢肯定这种美是否与日落之美异曲同工，但至少，两者带给我的感受别无二致。" 我的这个朋友是一位物理学家，他大半辈子都在致力于破解群星内部的秘密。他向我讲述了当年邂逅科学之美时的狂喜：那是当他生平第一次顿悟狄拉克的量子力学方程式，或是洞彻爱因斯坦相对论的方程式时的感受。"那些方程式是如此动人，"他说道，"只消 看一眼你就会明白，它们一定是正确的，或者说---至少，它们的指向是正确的。" 我好奇一个"动人的"理论是个什么样，他的回答是："简约、和谐、典雅，有力。"
Why nature should conform to theories we find beautiful is far from obvious. The most incomprehensible thing about the universe, as Einstein said, is that it's comprehensible. How unlikely, that a short-lived biped on a two-bit planet should be able to gauge the speed of light, lay bare the structure of an atom, or calculate the gravitational tug of a black hole. We're a long way from understanding everything, but we do understand a great deal about how nature
behaves. Generation after generation, we puzzle out formulas, test them, and find, to an astonishing degree, that nature agrees. An architect draws designs on flimsy paper, and her buildings stand up through earthquakes.
那些打动我们的理论，往往受到自然之母的肯定，其中奥妙不可言宣。诚如爱因斯
坦所言：这个世界最让人费解之处就在于：它是能够被了解的。想想这一切是多么地不可思议：在一个不起眼的星球上，生存着一种拥有短暂生命的两足生物，然而，正是这些微不足道的小生物，不但测量出了光速，而且把原子层层剥开，还计算出了黑洞的引力。人类虽然尚未全知全能，但是，关于大自然的脾性，我们所知道的确实不能算少。人类经过世世代代的努力，猜想出各种定理公式，并在实践中检验它们，然后惊讶地发现：大自然竟然与我们不谋而合。这就像一位建筑师在薄薄的图纸上绘制出设计方案，
依此建造的高楼大厦，竟能够经受住地震的洗礼考验，依然耸立。
⑴ Dirac: 迪拉克，保罗·阿德利安·莫里斯 1902-1984 英国数学和物理学家。1933 年因新原子理论公式与人分享诺贝尔奖。
We launch a satellite into orbit and use it to bounce messages from continent to continent. The machine on which I write these words embodies hundreds of insights into the workings of the material world, insights that are confirmed by every burst of letters on the screen, and I stare at that screen through lenses that obey the laws of optics first worked out in detail by
Isaac Newton⑵.
我们发射一枚人造卫星，它便帮助我们将讯息传遍世界各地。而我，正在一台机器上记录下这些文字，这台机器包涵着人类思想的精髓---对物质世界运作方式的真知灼见
---每一次敲打键盘，这些真知便化为字母跳入屏幕；当我注视着屏幕，架在鼻梁上的眼镜则是根据光学原理配制而成的，而对这一理论进行详细论证的开山始祖则是艾萨克·牛顿。
By discerning patterns in the universe, Newton believed, he was tracing the hand of God. Scientists in our day have largely abandoned the notion of a Creator as an unnecessary hypothesis, or at least an untestable one. While they share Newton's faith that the universe is ruled everywhere by a coherent set of rules, they cannot say, as scientists, how these particular rules came to govern things. You can do science without believing in a divine Legislator, but not without believing in laws.
通过对万物造化的深入观察，牛顿相信自己正追随着上帝的笔触。如今的科学家大
都摒弃了"造物主"一说，认为那是无稽的假设，即使不全盘否定，至少也认定那是不 可能得到验证的假说。诚然，他们坚信牛顿的看法---世界受一套整合的法则所支配，但问题在于，发轫之始，这些法则是如何开始掌管世界的？对此，身为科学家的他们也无从知晓。在科学的疆界，我们可以拒绝相信上帝的存在，但我们不能否认万物之法的存在。
I spent my teenage years scrambling up the mountain of mathematics. Midway up the slope, however, I staggered to a halt, gasping in the rarefied air, well before I reached the heights where the equations of Einstein and Dirac would have made sense. Nowadays I add, subtract, multiply, and do long division when no calculator is handy, and I can do algebra and geometry and even trigonometry in a pinch, but that is about all that I've kept from the language of numbers. Still, I remember glimpsing patterns in mathematics that seemed as bold and beautiful as a skyful of stars.
少年时，我曾试图攀登数学之颠。可惜才到半山腰，便开始步履踉跄；空气稀薄，
使我气喘吁吁，不得不停下脚步，而爱因斯坦和狄拉克的方程式却仍旧远在高处。现在的我，若是手边没有计算器，便通过心算处理加减乘除；有必要时，我还能应付代数、
几何，甚至三角运算；但是话说回来，数字世界留给我的也就只有这些零星点滴了。不过，我至今仍然记得曾在数学王国里浅尝到的无穷变幻---大胆、迷人，犹如群星漫天。
⑵ Isaac Newton: 牛顿 (1642-1727) 英国物理学家、数学家。
I'm never more aware of the limitations of language than when I try to describe beauty. Language can create its own loveliness, of course, but it cannot deliver to us the radiance we apprehend in the world, any more than a photograph can capture the stunning swiftness of a
hawk or the withering power of a supernova⑶. Eva's wedding album holds only a faint
glimmer of the wedding itself. All that pictures or words can do is gesture beyond themselves toward the fleeting glory that stirs our hearts. So I keep gesturing.
每当我尝试着将美付诸于文字时，我便极为深刻地意识到：文字的力量是多么有限。
语言自有其灵动可人之处，可它却无法传达大千世界的绚烂。正如一方相片框不住一只鹰的迅捷，也再现不了一颗超新星毁灭时的壮丽。伊娃的婚礼相册仅仅留存了一丝微弱的光芒，以见证婚礼现场的光鲜夺目。相片和文字能够做到的最多只是描摹那些瞬息即逝的、那些让我们心潮涌动的光芒。于是，我一直都在努力描摹。
"All nature is meant to make us think of paradise," Thomas Merton⑷ observed.
Because the Creation puts on a nonstop show, beauty is free and inexhaustible, but we need training in order to perceive more than the most obvious kinds. Even 15 billion years or so
after the Big Bang⑸, echoes of that event still linger in the form of background radiation⑹, only a few degrees above absolute zero⑺. Just so, I believe, the experience of beauty is an
echo of the order and power that permeate the universe. To measure background radiation, we need subtle instruments; to measure beauty, we need alert intelligence and our five keen senses.
托马斯·梅尔顿说过，"世间造物之神奇无不令人联想到天堂乐土"，因为创世纪本 身就是一出永不落幕的表演；其间芳华之美悠游自在，无穷无尽。有些美显而易见，容
易为我们所捕捉，但另一些则不然：若要欣赏她们，我们得付出一点努力。宇宙大爆炸在一百五十多亿年后的今天仍余波未平，爆炸当时所释放的能量（即使这些能量看起来似乎微不足道）仍以背景辐射现象的形式存在着。由此，我得出一个观点：人类对美的体验中暗含着秩序和力量的影子，而这些秩序和力量充斥着整个宇宙空间。测量背景辐射，我们需要精密仪器；而衡量美，则需要动用我们的聪慧和所有敏锐的感官。
⑶ supernova: 超新星，一种罕见的天文现象，表现为一恒星中的绝大部分物质爆炸后，产生能放射极大能量的极为明亮而存在时间极短的物体。
⑷ Thomas Merton: 默顿，托马斯 1915-1968 美国天主教教士和作家，其作品主要是关于当代宗教和世俗生活的，包括 《七重山》（1948 年）和 《无人为孤岛》（1955 年）。
⑸ the Big Bang: 创世大爆炸按照大爆炸理论，标志宇宙形成的宇宙爆炸。
(6) background radiation: 背景辐射,又名 3K 宇宙背景辐射，是 60 年代天文学上的四大发现之一，它是由美国射电天文学家彭齐亚斯和威尔逊发现的。该学说认为，大爆炸之初，宇宙的温度高得惊人。随着宇宙膨胀的进行，其温度不断降低，到现在平均只有绝对温度２．７度（相当于零下２７０．４６摄氏度）左右。
(7) absolute zero: 绝对零度在此温度下物质没有热能，相当于摄氏-273.15 度或华氏
-459.67 度。
Anyone with eyes can take delight in a face or a flower. You need training, however, to perceive the beauty in mathematics or physics or chess, in the architecture of a tree, the design of a bird's wing, or the shiver of breath through a flute. For most of human history, the training has come from elders who taught the young how to pay attention. By paying attention, we learn to savor all sorts of patterns, from quantum mechanics to patchwork quilts. This predilection brings with it a clear evolutionary advantage, for the ability to recognize patterns helped our ancestors to select mates, find food, avoid predators. But the same advantage would apply to all species, and yet we alone compose symphonies and crossword puzzles, carve stone into statues, map time and space.
任何人都能在一颦一笑，一花一草中体验快乐。但是，发现数学之美、物理之绝、象棋之妙的眼睛并不是与生俱来，而欣赏树木形态、鸟翼构造、或是悠扬笛声的心灵也
非浑然自成。我们需要点拨和引领。纵观历史传承，这样的点拨和引领往往来自长者， 籍此，年轻人学会专注；因为专注，我们领略到万千形态的美，无论是量子力学中精妙的理论，还是棉被上漂亮的拼花图案。正是出于对美的强烈偏爱，才使得人类在物种进化的追逐比拼中处于上风。因为人类能够辨识出美的事物，而我们的祖先则因循这一标准选择伴侣，寻找食物，躲避敌人。如果自然界中所有的物种都拥有发现美的能力，那么它们都将在进化过程中称霸一方。然而，惟独人类在演变中独占鳌头：我们谱写交响曲，创造字谜游戏；在我们的手中，顽石诞生为雕像，时空归依为坐标。
Have we merely carried our animal need for shrewd perceptions to an absurd extreme? Or have we stumbled onto a deep congruence between the structure of our minds and the structure of the universe?
这一切究竟来源于何？仅仅是我们将本能的敏锐感知力推向了荒谬的极致，还是我
们不经意间摸索到了扎根于人类思想和苍茫万物间那深刻的一致性？
I am persuaded the latter is true. I am convinced there's more to beauty than biology, more than cultural convention. It flows around and through us in such abundance, and in such myriad forms, as to exceed by a wide margin any mere evolutionary need. Which is not to say that beauty has nothing to do with survival: I think it has everything to do with survival. Beauty feeds us from the same source that created us.
我相信后者是正确的。我坚信美不仅仅存在于生物学和文化习俗中。美我们身边流
淌，充盈、润泽着我们的心田；而其量之充沛，形态之多变已经远远超越了进化本身的需要。我这样说并不意味着美和生存毫无干系；恰恰相反，我相信美和生存之间有着千丝万缕的联系。如果说是自然造就了我们，那么，是美通过自然滋养了我们。
It reminds us of the shaping power that reaches through the flower stem and through our own hands. It restores our faith in the generosity of nature. By giving us a taste of the kinship between our own small minds and the great Mind of the Cosmos, beauty reassures us that we are exactly and wonderfully made for life on this glorious planet, in this magnificent universe. I find in that affinity a profound source of meaning and hope. A universe so prodigal of beauty may actually need us to notice and respond, may need our sharp eyes and brimming hearts and teeming minds, in order to close the circuit of Creation.
无论是一朵花或是一双手，都让我们联想到美的创造力量。美让我们重拾信念--- 相信自然对于我们的无私恩惠与慷慨。美在人类渺小的心灵和宇宙伟大的精魂之间，化
身为一座沟通的桥梁，并以此让我们不再怀疑：在这片恢宏的宇宙中，在这颗璀璨的星球上，人类的存在实为天工之作，神明之意。宇宙和人类对于美的共识，给予我生存的意义与希望。我们的宇宙中，美无处不在；她等待着我们敏锐的眼睛、充实的心灵，和泉涌般的智慧，去发现美，去回应美，由此成全造物的圆满。
译者注：
本文为美国当代作家司各特·罗素·桑达（Scott Russell Sander，1945-）所写。桑达出生于美国田纳西州(Tennessee)的孟菲斯(Memphis)。1963 年，他就读于布朗大学(Brown University), 其后，又就读于剑桥大学（Cambridge University）并获得文学博士。1971 年，他携妻子(就是本文一开始提到的 Ruth，而 Eva 则是作者的女儿)迁往印地安那州(Indiana)的布鲁明顿(Bloomington), 并在那里的印地安那大学(Indiana University)任教至今。印地安那的自然风光给予他创作的灵感，他在作品中对于自然的生动细致描写充分体现出他对环境的关注。本文选自他新近出版的作品《寻找希望》（Hunting for Hope）。
（编辑：李吉琴）
The Literature of Knowledge and the Literature of Power byThomas De Quincey
What is it that we mean by literature? Popularly, and amongst the thoughtless, it is held to include everything that is printed in a book. Little logic is required to disturb that definition. The most thoughtless person is easily made aware that in the idea of literature one essential element is some relation to a general and common interest of man—so that what applies only to a local, or professional, or merely personal interest, even though presenting itself in the shape of a book, will not belong to Literature. So far the definition is easily narrowed; and it is as easily expanded. For not only is much that takes a station in books not literature; but inversely, much that really is literature never reaches a station in books. The weekly sermons of Christendom, that vast pulpit literature which acts so extensively upon the popular mind—to warn, to uphold, to renew, to comfort, to alarm—does not attain the sanctuary of libraries in the ten-thousandth part of its extent. The Drama again—as, for instance, the finest of Shakespeare's plays in England, and all leading Athenian plays in the noontide of the Attic stage—operated as a literature on the public mind, and were (according to the strictest letter of that term) published through the audiences that witnessed their representation some time before they were published as things to be read; and they were published in this scenical mode of publication with much more effect than they could have had as books during ages of costly copying or of costly printing.
我们所说的"文学"是什么呢？人们，尤其是对此欠考虑者，普遍会认为：文学包括印 在书本中的一切。可这种定义无需多少理由便可被推翻。最缺乏思考的人也很容易明白， "文学"这一概念中有个基本要素，即文学或多或少都与人类普遍而共同的兴趣有关； 因此，那些仅适用于某一局部、某一行业或仅仅处于个人兴趣的作品，即便以书的形式 面世，也不该属于"文学"。就此而论，文学之定义很容易变窄，而它同样也不难拓宽。 因为不仅有许多跻身于书卷之列的文字并非文学作品，而且与之相反，不少真正的文学 著作却未曾付梓成书。譬如基督教世界每星期的布道，这种篇什浩繁且对民众精神影响 极广的讲坛文学，这种对世人起告戒、鼓励、振奋、安抚或警示作用的布道文学，最终 能进入经楼书馆的尚不及其万分之一。此外还有戏剧，如英国莎士比亚最优秀的剧作， 以及雅典戏剧艺术鼎盛时期的全部主流剧作，都曾作为文学作品对公众产生过影响。这些作品在作为读物出版之前，已通过观看其演出的观众而"出版"了（这正是"出版" 一词最严格的意义）。在抄写或印刷都非常昂贵的年代，通过舞台形式"出版"这些剧 作远比将它们出版成书效果更佳。
Books, therefore, do not suggest an idea coextensive and interchangeable with the idea of Literature; since much literature, scenic, forensic, or didactic (as from lecturers and public
any knowledge, of which a |
million separate items are still but a million of advancing steps on the same earthly level; what you owe is power—that is, exercise and expansion to your own latent capacity of sympathy with the infinite, where every pulse and each separate influx is a step upwards, a step ascending as upon a Jacob's ladder from earth to mysterious altitudes above the earth. All the steps of knowledge, from first to last, carry you further on the same plane, but could never raise you one foot above your ancient level of earth: whereas the very first step in power is a flight—is an ascending movement into another element where earth is forgotten.
由此可见，书之概念与"文学"之概念不可相提并论，互相替换，因为许多文学作品，
如戏剧演出或演讲者，雄辩家的说教和辩论，也许永远都不会付印成书，而不少印成书 册的作品却可能与文学趣味并不相关。不过更为重要的是，要纠正人们对文学普遍的模 糊观念，与其去为文学找一个更好的定义，不如更明确地划分文学的两种功能。在那两个被我们统称为文学的庞大社会媒体中，可以分辨出两种不同的功能。两种功能可能混 合，而且经常混合，但各自又具有一种绝缘性，而且天生就互相排斥。这二者之一乃"知识文学"，之二则为"力量文学"。知识文学的作用在于教诲，力量文学的功能在于感化。前者可谓舵艄，后者则是桨桡或蓬帆。前者只有助于纯粹的推理悟解，后者则总是通过 愉悦之情和恻隐之心的影响，最终激发出更高的悟性，或曰理性。远而望之，仿佛它可以通过培根称之为"理性之光"中的某个目标，近而观之，方知它必须通过那道被世人七情六欲之蒙蒙薄雾和闪闪彩虹包裹的"感性之光"发挥其作用，不然它就不再是一种"力量"的文学。世人对文学这两个更为重要的作用思之甚少，所以如果有人说赋予知 识是书本平庸或次要的用途，此说便被视为悖论。但只有在悖论亦真这个意义上，此说方为悖论。每当我们用平常语言谈论求学求知的时候，总以为这些字眼与某种绝对新奇 的事务有联系。然而，能在人类关注的事物中占据极高地位的真理之所以伟大，就在于它对最卑微者而言也绝非新奇；无论在最卑微者还是最高贵者心中，真理永远都以种子 或潜在原理的方式存在，他只需去培育或发现，而无需去种植或创造。能够被移植是判 断一个真理属于低级真理的直接标准。除此之外，还有一种比真理更珍贵的东西，那就是力量，或曰对真理的深切认同。举例而言，儿童对社会有何作用呢？儿童的无助、天真和单纯所唤起的怜悯、柔情和种种特殊的爱慕之意，不仅可强化和升华世人与生俱来 的仁爱之心，就连那些在上帝眼中最为珍贵的品质，诸如唤醒宽容的柔弱、象征神圣的 天真、以及超凡脱俗的单纯，也都会在永恒的记忆中得以保持，其完美典范亦会不断更 新。更高层次的文学，即力量的文学，要实现的正是与此相同的目的。从弥尔顿的《失乐园》中你能获取什么知识呢？一无所获。从一本烹调书中你能学到什么呢？从每一段 中你都能学到某种新的知识，某种你不曾知晓的知识。可你能因此而认为那本微不足道 的烹调书比那部神圣的诗作更高明吗？你应该感谢弥尔顿的不是他给了你什么知识，因为获取一百万条互不相干的知识，也不过是在茫茫尘世向前走了一百万步；你应该感谢的是他给予你"力量"，使你能发挥并拓展与无限世界产生共鸣的潜能。在无限世界中，
每一次脉动和心跳都是上升的一步，犹如沿雅各的天梯从地面攀向远离凡尘的神秘高处。知识的步伐，自始至终都让你在同一层面行进，但绝不可能使你从古老的人间尘世上升一步；而力量迈出的第一步就是飞升—— 升入另一种境界，一种使你忘却凡尘的境界。 （集体讨论 曹明伦、吴刚 执笔）
An Experience of Aesthetics by Robert Ginsberg
I climbed the heights above Yosemite Valley, California in order to see the splendid granite mountain, Half Dome, in its fullest view. Approaching the edge through the woods I was filled with heightened expectation. I saw the ruin of a cabin and my approach caused the alignment of the chimney on this side of the valley with the shorn mountain across the valley. I stopped. Something happened. The stone verticals corresponded, one human-shaped, the other natural. The human site was still engaged in sightseeing. I was on its side. I saw the famous sight through the eyes of the ruin. I had come expecting beauty; I discovered an unexpected dimension to the beauty of the scene/seen.
为了饱览壮丽的花岗岩山峰半穹顶的全景，我登上了加州约塞米蒂谷的高地。穿过树林， 走近山沿，心中充满美的期盼。远远望见一处小屋的废墟，走到近前，只见山谷这边的
烟囱与横穿山谷的陡峭山崖恰好连成一线。我停下脚步，奇观出现了：两道石壁遥相呼应，一边人工打造，一边浑然天成。人造景观这边仍供观光游览，我此时就身临其境。透过小屋的废墟，我看到了著名的景观。我怀着对美的期盼而来，不经意间却发现了美的另一番天地。
In this experience I had been seeking the aesthetic. I knew I would find it, for I had seen post cards in advance and was following the trail map. The seeking took considerable effort and time. It was a heavy investment. I was not going for the scientific purpose of studying rock formation, nor was it for the recreational purpose of exercising my limbs in the fresh air, though that exertion added intensity to the experience and was its context. Primarily, I was going for the scenic wonders. No wonder that I would take delight in seeing Half Dome. The expectation elicited the outcome. I was suitably prepared. No distractions of practical consideration — or theoretic — detracted from my concentrated expectancy. Indeed, the world all around me on the climb contributed to the context for my goal. I was on the terrain of Nature in a national park, following the trail to a viewpoint upon a celebrated natural formation. Each step in the climb not only brought me closer but obliged me to sense the altitude. Moving through the thick woods was in anticipatory contrast to the great gap of the valley and the starkness of the treeless granite boulder.
这次旅程中我一直在捕捉一种美感。我知道会如愿以偿，因为我事先看过一些有关的风
景明信片，循着山路示意图一路找来。这样的寻找费时费力，投入颇大。我此行的目的 既不是出于对科学的动机来研究岩石的结构，也不是出于娱乐消遣的考虑在清新的空气 中舒展肢体——尽管这次跋涉加深了我对美的体验，而且是这番体验的不可或缺的环 节。我来这主要是为了览胜，因此见到半穹顶自然欣喜不已。有什么样的期盼就有什么 样的结果。我有备而来，心无旁骛，一心期盼着美景，不受任何实际或假设因素的干扰。真的，在攀登过程中，我周围的一切都为寻美营造了氛围。我登上了国家公园的天然山 地，循着山道前来观赏闻名遐迩的大自然的鬼斧神工。攀登中的每一步不仅使我距目标 越来越近，也使我感受到海拔越来越高。不出所料，穿行在茂密的树林中，登上大峡谷 寸草不生的花岗岩巨石，两种不同境界给人以强烈的反差。
My spirit and my senses were heightened. I was keenly aware of the world, eager to experience it. My senses were willing to be gratified by their fullest exercise. Hence my eye was sharp, but so was my ear and my nose, I was open to experiencing aesthetically. And on the way I did take minor pleasure in a bird's song, a tree's sway, and a cloud's contortion. I was in the world considered as potential aesthetic realm. Any pleasing feature that appeared would be welcomed. And that welcoming mode drew forth pleasing features. A tonic subjective at-homeness with the world pervaded my feelings. I was in the right mood to enjoy Nature.
我精神抖擞，感官敏锐。我真切地感受到周围的一切，急于体验这一切，渴望在最充分的感官体验中得到最大满足。因此我不但目光敏锐，听觉和嗅觉也十分灵敏——我敞开
心扉，尽情地体验着美的滋味。沿途所见所闻，哪怕是一点小小的愉悦，鸟雀鸣唱、树影婆娑、云卷云舒，都着实让我动情。置身于这样一个处处蕴含着美的王国，我随时准备接纳任何不期而至的景色。这样一种心态更促生了令人赏心悦目的景致，一种心旷神怡的回归自然之情在我心中油然而生。这样一种心情最适于欣赏自然美景不过了。
Then the unexpected happened. I had no thought in reaching the natural heights that a human structure would be present. Normally, I would have avoided any such structure as I directed my steps toward the natural view. In retrospect it makes sense that a service building be present at the trail end. It may have had facilities for visitors and played an interpretive role. But the building was not present when I arrived. It was absent though its ruin was present. And that ruin spoke to my experience as related to what I had come to see. If I had been trudging on in a dulled state, passing the time in surroundings — like those of the railway station — that did not draw interest, I might well have missed the chimney, walked past it as if it were another tree on the way to the goal. The heightened intensity of my sensibility allowed the chimney to be integrated into the experiencing aesthetically. Readiness was all. The extraterrestrial aesthetician would explain that the creature it was observing on the trail was a specimen of an aesthetic being whose experiencing apparatus for the aesthetic was on
full alert. The individual was completely given over to the enjoyment of its experience. And while headed in the direction of an anticipated goal it was nonetheless open to enjoying anything that came its way. Something quite unexpected came its way, and it was ready to attend to it, getting the maximum aesthetic value out of the encounter. The creature was embarked on an adventure in experience. Given the wide range of accessible natural wonders in the national park, the individual in the right mood was bound to make gratifying discoveries.
接着，出乎意料的景观出现了。我怎么也不曾想到，在抵达天然高地时竟然会出现一处
人工建筑。在通常情况下，我要是徒步参观某处自然景点，一定会绕开这类建筑。回想 起来，在山路尽头有一座服务性建筑也全在情理之中。这小屋也许曾为游客提供过方便， 起过导游讲解作用。可我来到高地时，小屋不见了。虽有断垣残壁，房屋却荡然无存。而正是这片废墟使我体验到此行览胜的真正含义。如果我当时兴致索然地一路跋涉，比 如像在火车站那样的地方消磨时光，周围的事物一点也不引人注意，那么我很可能会错 过烟囱，只当它是沿途路过的又一棵树罢了。而现在，我的感悟力增强了，烟囱作为一 道景观融入了审美体验的始终。一切取决于心态。如果一个天外美学家看到我这模样， 可能会认为，它观察到的路上这个怪人准是个充满审美细胞的动物，其审美感官正处于 极度警觉的状态。他已完全沉浸在审美体验所带来的愉悦之中。他朝着既定的目标行进， 同时又不放过闯入视野的任何景致。奇观乍现，立即映入眼帘，他便从中发掘出最大的 审美价值。此人正在经历一次美的历险。有国家公园这般天地，随处可见自然奇现，心 境舒畅的游人必定会获得心满意足的发现。
What are the contents of the aesthetic discovery? Formal properties of beauty may be pointed to in what I saw: the verticals as distinctively shaped and gathering space about them, and the interplay between the two kinds of vertical shapes over the enormous intervening space. The pleasure of perspective entered, for though the chimney is miniscule compared to Half Dome, my approaching it from the trail made it assume visual and spatial dignity equal to the mountain. Complexity of human meaning is encountered with poignant irony. The chimney is an enduring marker of the human value placed on the mountain visible from this point. Here human hands raised stones to shelter an experience of pure stone. So I have come to the right place; I am at home. But the human occupation has been lifted; our presence has turned to stone. Nature has reclaimed its elements. Half Dome presides over the petrifaction of the world. Chimney and mountain are in dialogue as I sense the switching between their perspectives. I am present in ruin and in unity.
这次审美体验的发现是什么？我所目睹的景致或许可以说明美的外在特征：悬崖峭壁，
造型奇特，给人以强烈的空间感，两道石壁形状迥异，广袤交错，凌空矗立。此外，还 有透视效果带来的愉悦：虽然与半穹顶相比石烟囱显得非常渺小，但我从山道这边靠近，
看上去无论在视觉上还是空间上其气势都一点儿不亚于半穹顶。人类的复杂意图受到了辛辣的讽刺。从这一视点看过去，那烟囱是人的价值置于大山上的一道永久性标记。人类在那里垒石筑屋，以观苍石。这样看来，我来对了地方，我找到了归宿。不过人类对自然的占据被消除掉了，我们的存在与石头融为一体。大自然索回了自己的要素，半穹顶主宰着石头的世界。我感受到两种不同景致的交替，仿佛听见烟囱在和大山对话。我站在小屋废墟上，也置身于和谐统一中。
（集体讨论 许建平 执笔）
A Person Who Apologizes Has the Moral Ball in His Court by Paul Johnson
I have sympathy for the butler in The Big Sleep. Marlowe detects him in a contradiction and asks him aggressively, "You made a mistake, didn't you?" To which the man replies, sadly and sweetly, "I make many mistakes, sir." And so do I. I am, by instinct and training, a very specific writer, and so my errors are numerous. Recent ones include misspelling Geoffrey Madan's name —I phoned the printers with a correction but my page had already gone to press — and crediting Richard Tauber with Donald Peers's signature-tune, "By a babbling brook" (Tauber's, of course, was "You are my heart's delight"). I apologise for these mistakes, and for others in the past, and for those to come.
我同情《长眠》这部影片中的男管家。马洛探长发现了他讲话前后有矛盾，就逼问道：
"你犯了一个错，对不？"管家伤感而乖巧地答曰："我犯下的错可多去啦，先生。" 我 又何尝不是如此呢？我有点灵气并且训练有素，写起东西来旁征博引，力求翔实，自然 就言多语失喽。最近犯下的错误包括把杰弗瑞·马丹的名字拼写错了——我给印厂打了 个电话，把更正告诉他们，可是我的那页已经开印了；我把唐纳德·皮尔斯的信号曲"在 潺潺的小溪旁"安到了理查德·陶波的头上（陶波的信号曲自然是"你是我心中的喜悦"。） 对于这些错误，以及过去犯的错误和今后会犯的错误，在下这厢有礼啦。
Disraeli thought that, in politics, apologies don't work. I see why. Such being the nature of parliamentary conflict, an apology in politics merely leads to fresh accusations and further demands for embarrassing details. I once said to Harold Wilson when he was prime minister, "It would be a good idea, Harold, to admit the government's mistakes occasionally, and apologise." He replied, "That's a shrewd suggestion, Paul, and I entirely agree with it." (Harold being Harold, I knew an untruth was coming.) "The trouble is, though, I can't actually think of any mistakes, and so there's nothing to apologise for." Which was to make Disraeli's point, though in a Wilsonian way.
迪斯累里首相认为在政治问题上，给别人道歉行不通。我明白个中的缘由。议会斗争的
本质就是如此，在政治问题上，道歉只会招致新的诘责和进一步要求交待让你左右为难的详情。还是哈罗德·威尔逊担任首相的时候，有一次我向他进言："哈罗德，偶尔承 认一下政府的错误，并且道个歉，不失为一个好主意吧。" 他答道："你这个建议高， 保罗，本人完全赞同。"（哈罗德毕竟是哈罗德，我知道一句言不由衷的话就要脱口而出 了。）"然而难办的是我实在想不出有哪些错误，因此，也就没有甚么好道歉的喽。" 这 正是以威尔逊的方式表达出了迪斯累里的意思。
Apologise is one of those words which has effectively reversed its original meaning. Its origin, in the Greek lawcourts, was jurisprudential: it signified the speech for the defence in which the prosecution's case was answered point by point. It retained its original meaning until at least the 16th century. Thus Sir Thomas More, after resigning from office, drew up his "Apologie of Syr Thomas More, Knyght; made by him, after he had geuen ouer the office of Lord Chancellor of Englande". Today we would say vindication. Only gradually did the word acquire the connotation of excuse, withdrawal, admission of fault and plea for forbearance. It still bore its original meaning in theology: Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua was not an apology at all but a vigorous rebuttal of Charles Kingsley's charges. Dickens's unfortunate statement about his reasons for splitting up with his wife, which his friends begged him not to publish, was self-destructive precisely because it was halfway between the two meanings: half defiant vindication, half admission of guilt.
有那么一些词儿，已经彻底演变得与本义完全相反，"Apologise"即是其中之一。该词 的本义，在希腊法庭上，具有法理学意义：该词即指辩护词，在辩护过程中，对于诉讼
方的指控，逐一予以回答。其原义至少到了 16 世纪还一直保留着。托马斯·莫尔爵士在挂印辞官之后，就是这样撰写了他的"托马斯·莫尔爵士之辩护词；辞去英格兰大法官之职后所作。"今天我们会使用"Vindication"（辩白，辩护）一词。只是渐渐地"Apologise" 这个词才获得了"原谅、撤回所说的话、承认错误并请求宽恕"之含义。在神学中该词 仍保留原来的意义：纽曼的《为吾生辩》（Apologia pro Vita Sua）根本就不是什么道歉， 而是对查尔士·金斯菜的指控所作的强硬辩驳。讲狄更斯与其妻分手理由的那篇倒霉的陈词（其友人求他不要发表），就是自毁其身，恰恰是它介于两个意义之间：一半是倔 强的辩白，一半是承认有愧。
No doubt everyone has to apologise for his life, sooner or later. When we appear at the Last Judgment and the Recording Angel reads out a list of our sins, we will presumably be given an opportunity to apologise, in the old sense of rebuttal, and in the new sense too, by way of confession and plea of repentance. In this life, it is well to apologise (in the new sense), but promptly, voluntarily, fully and sincerely. If the error is a matter of opinion and unpunishable, so much the better —an apology then becomes a gracious and creditable occasion, and an example to all. An enforced apology is a miserable affair.
毋庸置疑，任何人都要为自己的一生辩护，不管是今生还是来世。当我们出席最后的审判时，记录天使诵读出所罗列的我们的罪孽，我们作了忏悔并请求宽恕，这样大概会被给予辩白（这个词的老义）和表示歉意（它的新义）的机会。在今生中，道歉（新义） 是桩对的事， 但是要做到及时、要心甘情愿、要完完全全、要诚心诚意。如果过错是看法上的事，并且错不当罚，那最好不过——说一声"对不起"就成了一个显示大度的 机会，可赞可叹，众人之楷模也。而被迫去道歉，那可就难受了。
Newspaper apologies nearly always seem inadequate. The most audacious one I know was brought back from America by the artist Edward Burne-Jones to show his friend Lady Homer of Mells. It read: "Instead of being arrested as we stated, for kicking his wife down a flight of stairs, and hurling a lighted kerosene lamp after her, the Revd. James P. Wellman died unmarried four years ago." This sentence is remarkable for the enormity of the error and the succinctness of the correction — not, be it noted, an apology, for the law of libel, in the United States as in England, offers no redress to a dead person. I suspect the extract is from the New York World when it was a sensational paper owned by Pulitzer. For reasons which a recent biography of him does not clarify, he had a particular hatred for clergymen of all denominations, and frequently exaggerated or invented discreditable news items about them. He also discovered that such items invariably put on circulation.
报社的道歉几乎从来是不到位的。据我所知，最为厚颜的一次是艺术家爱德华·伯恩 — 琼斯从美国带回来，让他的友人麦尔斯庄园的洪纳夫人看的，曰："詹姆士·P. 维尔曼 神甫没有像我们所述说的那样，因为将妻子一脚踹下了楼梯，随后又将一支点燃的煤油灯朝她掷去而被逮捕，而是于四年之前过世，从未婚娶。"对于如此之大的错误，而更正又如此之简短，这一句话可谓妙矣也哉——请注意，这算不上是"赔礼道歉"，因为 在美国（正如在英国一样），根据诽谤法，是不给死人纠错的。我猜想这条剪报取自《纽约世界报》，曾是一家轰动的报纸，由普利策拥有。不知何故（最近有关普氏的传记并未澄清）他尤其痛恨各个教派的教士们，经常将一些诋毁他们的新闻段子加以渲染，或
是编造出一些这样的段子。他还发现此类新闻段子总是会使发行量剧增。
The most famous apology in history was made to a much maligned, though far from innocent, cleric: Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII. He had become involved in what is known as the Investiture Dispute, a fierce Church-State Kulturkampf, revolving round the appointment of bishops. His chief opponent, the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV — not a nice man but not a monster either — had called him an impostor, an antipope, an Antichrist and I know not what, but had got the worst of it in the armed struggle that followed. Henry decided to purge his excommunication and get the interdict on his territories withdrawn by apologising and doing penance. The Pope had sought the protection of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, then the world's richest woman, and princess of startling beauty, taste and wisdom. He was sheltering at her
stupendous mountain stronghold of Canossa, not far from Modena, and the Emperor had to climb there barefoot, in the depths of winter, to make his kowtow. Why has this amazing story not been the subject of a great opera? Perhaps it has. Needless to say, the apology was insincere and the tragic story ended in tears on both sides, the Pope's bitter last words being: "I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile." But the fact that the Church was slow to canonise this remarkable man suggests that to begin with it did not accept his version of events. A century later. Henry II of England was locked in mortal struggle over the same issue with Becket, and also apologised after he caused the archbishop's murder. This, too, was in some degree insincere, and trouble broke out afresh soon after Henry had donned sackcloth. Becket was at least as intemperate as Hildebrand, but he not only got his halo but did so in the fastest time on record. But then he was a martyr, and they always move to canonisation faster than any other category of saint.
历史上最为有名的"道歉"是向一位神职人士所致：此公乃是希尔得布兰德，即教皇格
列高利七世，他被人诋毁多多，然而也并非无辜。他卷入了史书所记载的"授职争议"， 即一次围绕教会与国家之间有关任命主教问题的激烈的"文化冲突"。他的主要对手就 是神圣罗马帝国的皇帝亨利四世——他算不上是个好人，但也不是什么魔鬼——他称教 皇是个骗子、伪教皇、假耶稣，还有一些不知道是什么样的骂名，但是在随后的武装冲 突中，他却为此一败涂地。亨利四世决定向教皇请罪，表示诲意，以此希冀教皇解除将 其逐出教门的惩罚，并撤回在其领土上的授权禁令。教皇寻求托斯坎尼区的玛蒂尔达伯 爵夫人的庇佑，这位伯爵夫人是当时世界上最富有的女人，一位倾国倾城，睿智聪颖， 极有品味的郡主。教皇躲进了她那气势恢宏的山间城堡，它建在离摩德纳市不远的卡诺 萨。皇帝不得不在隆冬季节赤脚攀上城堡，前去叩头谢罪。 这样一个令人拍案叫绝的故事却不曾成为一个大歌剧的主题，未知何也？或许已经有了。毋庸赘言，这次道歉并非真心实意，而悲剧则是以双方眼泪洗面告终。教皇临终时痛楚地说："吾爱正义而恶 不公：故而吾死于流放。"但是，教会迟迟不将这位杰出的人封为圣人，此事表明他们 从一开始就未曾接受他对事件的说法。一个世纪之后，英格兰的亨利二世与贝克特大主 教在同一问题上打得你死我活，不可开交；在他指使谋杀大主教之后，也做了道歉。这 在某种程度上也并非诚心诚意，在亨利二世披上麻衣去忏悔之后，麻烦再度出现。贝克 特主教至少也和希尔得布兰德一样放纵无度，然而他不但得到了光环，而且是以有史记 载以来最快的速度得到的。再说啦，他算是个殉道者，这些殉道者比起其他类圣人，其 被封圣的速度要快得多。
When I was an editor, I always preferred to apologise promptly, whatever the merits of the case, rather than face the expense and, more importantly, the time-consuming complexities and debilitating worry of litigation, libel being one of the least satisfactory branches of the law. When we took a crack at Dr Bodkin Adams, believing him to be dead, and his joyful lawyer
phoned me the next morning to tell me he was very much alive, I settled the matter there and then for the sum (if I remember correctly) of ￡450 and an apology. So my advice to editors is, get shot of claims quickly, unless the plaintiff's demands are manifestly unreasonable. 我还是
编辑的时候，无论情况如何，我总是选择立马道歉，而不是去面对诉讼过程中所 发生的
费用，更为重要的是，去面对费时耗神的诉讼过程中产生的复杂情况。诽谤法是 法律当中最不尽人意的部分。我们曾拿鲍德金·亚当姆斯医生开涮，还以为他已经死了； 莅日
，他的律师喜滋滋地打电话给我，告诉我亚当姆斯医生还活得好好的，我立时以一 笔450 英镑 （如果我没记错的话）的赔偿费和一句道歉的话了结此事。所以，我对编 辑们的忠告是：对于赔偿要求要立马了结，除非原告的要求太离谱。
Besides, there is something distinguished about a ready apology. It is the mark of a gentleman, more particularly if it is not necessary. It is the opposite of revenge. Bacon wrote, "In seeking revenge, a man is but equal with his enemy, but in forgiving him, he is superior, for it is a princes' part to pardon." So, the person who apologises freely has the moral ball in his court.
此外，随时准备好一句道歉的话，是一种高尚行为，特别是在没有必要道歉时而道歉，
更显示出一个绅士的特质。道歉与报复相对。培根有云："夫图报复焉，汝与汝仇等： 苟汝恕之，则汝优於汝仇焉；盖宽恕也，王者之风也。"由是，谁把"对不起"常挂在 嘴边，谁就在道义上掌握了主动。 （集体讨论 范守义 执笔）
I am home for my daughter's first birthday. By "home" I do not mean the house in Los Angeles where my husband and I and the baby live, but the place where my family is, in the Central Valley of California. It is a vital although troublesome distinction. My husband likes my family but is uneasy in their house, because once there I fall into their ways, which are difficult, oblique, deliberately inarticulate, not my husband's ways. We live in dusty houses ("D-U-S-T," he once wrote with his finger on surfaces all over the house, but no one noticed it) filled with mementos quite without value to him (what could the Canton dessert plates. mean to him? How could he have known about the assay scales, why should he care if he did know?), and we appear to talk exclusively about people we know who have been committed to mental hospitals, about people we know who have been booked on drunk-driving charges, and about property, particularly about property, land, price per acre and C-2 zoning and assessments and freeway access. My brother does not understand my husband's inability to perceive the advantage in the rather common real-estate transaction known as "sale-leaseback," and my husband in turn does not understand why so many of the people he hears about in my father's house have recently been committed to mental hospitals or booked
on drunk-driving charges. Nor does he understand that when we talk about sale-leasebacks and right-of-way condemnations we are talking in code about the things we like best, the yellow fields and the cottonwoods and the rivers rising and falling and the mountain roads closing when the heavy snow comes in. We miss each other's points, have another drink and regard the fire. My brother refers to my husband, in his presence, as "Joan's husband." Marriage is the classic betrayal.
我回家给女儿过周岁生日。我所说的"家"，并非指丈夫，我和小宝宝在洛杉矶的家，
而是指位于加州中央谷地的娘家。这样区分，尽管麻烦，却很重要。丈夫不是不喜欢我 娘家的人，但是在我娘家却颇不自在。因为我一回去，就染上了娘家人的习惯，说起话 来故意吞吞吐吐、拐弯抹角、令人费解，完全有别于丈夫的习惯。我们住在灰蒙蒙的屋子里（丈夫曾用手指在落满灰尘的地方都写上了"灰——尘"两个大字，只是没人注意）， 里面还摆满了纪念品，可在丈夫眼里这些东西毫无价值（粤式细瓷点心盘对他来说能有什么意义？他怎么可能了解分析天平？即使他了解，他又何必在意？）。在他看来，我 们好像尽在那谈熟人，哪个被送进了精神病院，哪个被控酒后驾车。还谈财产，特别是 地产、土地和地价，C-2 区制规划及评估，还有高速公路的出入口，等等。弟弟弄不明白，我丈夫怎么连很平常的"售后回租"这种房地产交易的好处也不懂？丈夫也觉得奇 怪，在我娘家为何听到这么多人最近被送进了精神病院，或是因酒后开车被控？其实丈 夫不明白，我们谈售后回租和依法征用公共用地的时候，是在用娘家人特有的语言谈论 最来劲的东西，像金黄色的田野、棉白杨、时涨时落的河水，以及下大雪时封闭的山路。话不投机，索性接着喝酒，默默注视着炉火。弟弟当着我丈夫的面，称他为"琼的丈夫"。 结婚啊，从古到今，都意味着背叛。
Or perhaps it is not any more. Sometimes I think that those of us who are now in our thirties were born into the last generation to carry the burden of "home," to find in family life the source of all tension and drama. I had by all objective accounts a "normal "and a "happy " family situation, and yet I was almost thirty years old before I could talk to my family on the telephone without crying after I had hung up. We did not fight. Nothing was wrong. And yet some nameless anxiety colored the emotional charges between me and the place that I came from. The question of whether or not you could go home again was a very real part of the sentimental and largely literary baggage with which we left home in the fifties; I suspect that it is irrelevant to the children born of the fragmentation after World War II. A few weeks ago in a San Francisco bar I saw a pretty young girl on crystal take off her clothes and dance for the cash prize in an "amateur-topless" contest. There was no particular sense of moment about this, none of the effect of romantic degradation, of "dark journey," for which my generation strived so assiduously. What sense could that girl possibly make of, say, Long Day's Journey into Night? Who is beside the point?
或许，现在情况变了。我有时想，我们这些三十几岁的人，注定成为承担"家"的重负、 并经受家庭生活中种种紧张和冲突的最后一代人。在别人的眼里，无论从哪方面看，我 都曾拥有一个"正常"而"幸福"的家。然而，直到将近三十岁以前，我与娘家人通电话后总是要哭鼻子。我们没吵过架，也没出过岔子。但一丝莫名的忧虑，浸染了我和生 我养我的家之间的情感纠葛。五十年代我们离家时，背负着一个装着伤感、多半是书籍 的行囊。还能回家吗？这个问题便是行囊中实实在在的一部分。我想，这个问题大概与 二战后破碎家庭里出生的孩子无关。几个礼拜前，在旧金山的一个酒吧里，我看见一位 吸了毒的漂亮姑娘，脱去衣服跳舞，仅仅是为得到一场"业余无上装"比赛的现金奖励！ 这没有什么特别的意思，与浪漫沉沦沾不上边儿，与我们这一代人所趋之若鹜的"黑暗 之旅"也沾不上边儿。那位姑娘呀，你对《进入黑夜的漫长旅程》作何理解？到底是谁 离题了？
That I am trapped in this particular irrelevancy is never more apparent to me than when I am home. Paralyzed by the neurotic lassitude engendered by meeting one's past at every turn, around every corner, inside every cupboard, I go aimlessly from room to room. I decide to meet it head-on and clean out a drawer, and I spread the contents on the bed. A bathing suit I wore the summer I was seventeen. A letter of rejection from The Nation, an aerial photograph of the site for a shopping center my father did not build in 1954. Three teacups hand-painted with cabbage roses and signed "E.M.," my grandmother's initials. There is no final solution for letters of rejection from The Nation and teacups hand-painted in 1900. Nor is there any answer to snapshots of one's grandfather as a young man on skis, surveying around Donner Pass in the year 1910. I smooth out the snapshot and look into his face, and do and do not see my own. I close the drawer, and have another cup of coffee with my mother. We get along very well, veterans of a guerrilla war we never understood.
这个不相干的问题困扰着我，在我返回老家后尤为明显。走过每个角落，打开每个食橱，
转身驻足间，我一次次地面对过去，思绪不宁，及至疲乏不堪，我还是漫无目的地逐个 房间走着。我决意正视过去，清理出一个抽屉，把东西摊在床上。一件我十七岁那年夏 天穿的泳衣；一封《民族》周刊的退稿信；一张从空中拍摄的选址照片，1954 年父亲曾打算在那里建购物中心；还有三只茶杯，上面有手绘的百叶蔷薇，并签有祖母名字的两 个首字母 E.M.。我不知道该如何处理 1900 年手绘的茶杯和《民族》周刊的退稿信，也不知道该如何处理祖父 1910 年的几张快照。照片里的祖父青春年少，踩着滑雪板，在察看唐纳山口。我抚平照片，注视着祖父的脸，依稀看到自己的影子，又似乎没有。我 关上抽屉，陪母亲又喝了一杯咖啡。我们现在相处得很好，就像打过游击战的老兵一样， 真不明白过去为何有龃龉。
Days pass. I see no one. I come to dread my husband's evening call, not only because he is full of news of what by now seems to me our remote life in Los Angeles, people he has seen,
letters which require attention, but because he asks what I have been doing, suggests uneasily that I get out, drive to San Francisco or Berkeley. Instead I drive across the river to a family graveyard. It has been vandalized since my last visit and the monuments are broken, overturned in the dry grass. Because I once saw a rattlesnake in the grass I stay in the car and listen to a country-and-Western station. Later I drive with my father to a ranch he has in the foothills. The man who runs his cattle on it asks us to the roundup, a week from Sunday, and although I know that I will be in Los Angeles I say, in the oblique way my family talks, that I will come. Once home I mention the broken monuments in the graveyard. My mother shrugs.
日子一天天过去，我没拜访任何人。我开始对丈夫晚间打来的电话感到害怕，不光是因为他老是跟我讲洛杉矶的情况，见到谁啦，哪些信件该回啦，等等，而洛杉矶的生活距离我似乎已遥远了啊！还因为他问我在做什么，有点拘束地建议我出去走走，开车去旧金山或伯克利。我却驾车去了河对岸的一块家族墓地。自我上次来过之后，墓地被破坏
了，墓碑断裂，翻倒在枯草丛里。以前我曾在草丛里见到一条响尾蛇，所以这次我待在车上，收听乡村与西部音乐台的广播。后来我同父亲开车去了他在山麓小丘上的农场。为他放牛的人请我们下周日来看他赶拢牛群。尽管我明明知道那时我已回到洛杉矶了， 但我还是以家里人绕弯子的方式说要来。一回到家里，我就提起了墓地里的断碑。母亲耸了耸肩。
I go to visit my great-aunts. A few of them think now that I am my cousin, or their daughter who died young. We recall an anecdote about a relative last seen in 1948, and they ask if I still like living in New York City. I have lived in Los Angeles for three years, but I say that I do. The baby is offered a horehound drop, and I am slipped a dollar bill "to buy a treat." Questions trail off, answers are abandoned, the baby plays with the dust motes in a shaft of afternoon sun.
我去看望姑婆们。其中几位把我当成了我的堂妹，或她们早逝的女儿，我们回忆起一位
亲戚的轶事，上次相见是在 1948 年。她们问我是否还喜欢住在纽约市。其实我在洛杉矶已经住了三年，但我还是说喜欢纽约。她们给我女儿带苦味的薄荷糖吃，还塞给我一 块钱"再买点好吃的。"慢慢地，问题少了，回答也就省了。女儿在午后的一缕阳光里， 欢快地抓弄着尘埃。
It is time for the baby's birthday party: a white cake, strawberry-marshmallow ice cream, a bottle of champagne saved from another party. In the evening, after she has gone to sleep, I kneel beside the crib and touch her face, where it is pressed against the slats, with mine. She is an open and trusting child, unprepared for and unaccustomed to the ambushes of family life, and perhaps it is just as well that I can offer her little of that life. I would like to give her more. I would like to promise her that she will grow up with a sense of her cousins and of rivers and of her great-grandmother's teacups, would like to pledge her a picnic on a river with fried
chicken and her hair uncombed, would like to give her home for her birthday, but we live differently now and I can promise her nothing like that. I give her a xylophone and a sundress from Madeira, and promise to tell her a funny story.
女儿的生日聚会开始了——有白蛋糕，草莓蜜饯冰激凌，和一瓶从别的聚会上留下来的
香槟。晚上，女儿睡着后，我跪在小床边，面颊贴着她那紧挨着床栏的小脸蛋。女儿性 情开朗，相信别人，对于家庭生活的陷阱既不知晓，也无防范。也许，我还是让她少过 这种生活吧。我倒是愿意给与她更多别的东西。我倒愿意许诺让堂兄弟姊妹的手足之情、潺潺流淌的小河、以及外曾祖母的茶杯伴着她成长；愿意答应带她去河边野炊，认她披 散着头发，啃炸鸡；愿意给她一个真正的家作为生日礼物。但是，我们的生活不同了啊， 我无法许诺给予她这一切！我只给了她一把木琴和来自马德里的背心裙，还答应给她讲 个有趣的故事。
（集体讨论 方开瑞 执笔）
The Making of Ashenden (Excerpt) by Stanley Elkin
I've been spared a lot, one of the blessed of the earth, at least one of its lucky, that privileged handful of the dramatically prospering, the sort whose secrets are asked, like the hundred-year-old man. There is no secret, of course; most of what happens to us is simple accident. Highish birth and a smooth network of appropriate connection like a tea service written into the will. But surely something in the blood too, locked into good fortune's dominant genes like a blast ripening in a time bomb. Set to go off, my good looks and intelligence, yet exceptional still, take away my mouthful of silver spoon and lapful of luxury. Something my own, not passed on or handed down, something seized, wrested—my good character, hopefully, my taste perhaps. What's mine, what's mine? Say taste—the soul's harmless appetite.
我一直活得无忧无虑，深得上帝垂爱，至少算个幸运儿，少数人才享有的尊荣富贵，我
垂手得之。就像百岁人瑞总有人讨教，我的秘诀也总有人探询。当然，秘诀谈不上，人 间之事大多纯属偶然。高贵的出身、顺畅的关系网有如凭遗嘱继承的茶具，随我所用。当然，我的幸运也有某种与生俱来的因素，一种血液里固有的强势基因；它像定时炸弹， 到时就会爆炸。一旦爆炸，我出类拔萃的相貌和智慧将会使口衔银匙、满堂金玉的身世 完全微不足道。我的成功源自我自己特有的东西，不是祖传的福荫，是某种我拼命抓住、努力得到的东西——我良好的性格或品味。那么，究竟什么才是我自己特有的东西?是 什么呢?是品味吧一一那种无害的心灵欲求。
I've money, I'm rich. The heir to four fortunes. Grandfather on Mother's side was a Newpert. The family held some good real estate in Rhode Island until they sold it for many times what
they gave for it. Grandmother on Father's side was a Salts, whose bottled mineral water, once available only through prescription and believed indispensable in the cure of all fevers, was the first product ever to be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration, a famous and controversial case. The government found it to contain nothing that was actually detrimental to human beings, and it went public, so to speak. Available now over the counter, the Salts made more money from it than ever.
我有钱，我富足，我继承了四笔遗产。外公姓纽波特，纽家在罗得岛坐拥不菲房产，后
来以高出原价好多倍出手。奶奶姓索尔茨。她的家族生产的瓶装矿泉水，一度只能凭医生处方才能买到，据说是治各种发热症所必需，是联邦食品药品管理局有史以来审查的第一宗产品。那个案例名噪一时、颇具争议。政府发现它没有对人体有害的东西，也就上市了。现在谁都可以在商店买到，索尔茨家族因此赚得钵满盆满。
Mother was an Oh. Her mother was the chemical engineer who first discovered a feasible way to store oxygen in tanks. And Father was Noel Ashenden, who though he did not actually invent the match-book, went into the field when it was still a not very flourishing novelty, and whose slogan, almost a poem, "Close Cover Before Striking"(a simple stroke, as Father liked to say), obvious only after someone else has already thought of it (the Patent Office refused to issue a patent on what it claimed was merely an instruction, but Father's company had the message on its matchbooks before his competitors even knew what was happening), removed the hazard from book matches and turned the industry and Father's firm particularly into a flaming success overnight—Father's joke, not mine. Later, when the inroads of Ronson and Zippo threatened the business, Father went into seclusion for six months and when he returned to us he had produced another slogan: "For Our Matchless Friends." It saved the industry a second time and was the second and last piece of work in Father's life.
家母随外婆姓欧。外婆是化学工程师，成功开发了罐装氧气。家父是诺尔•艾兴登。尽
管纸板火柴不是他发明的，但当它还是个新玩意儿、不怎么旺销时，他就人了这个行业。他的推销广告颇有诗意："阖盖一划火自来"(就像父亲常说的，轻轻一划就成)。很显然， 这是拾人牙慧(专利局因此拒发专利证，说这只不过是句使用说明。但父亲的公司在对 手还懵然不觉时，就抢先把这句广告词印在火柴盒上)。正是这句推销广告消除了纸板 火柴使用时的危险，使整个行业，特别是父亲的火柴公司，一夜之间生意火了起来—— 这是父亲的玩笑而非我本人的幽默。后来，荣升和芝宝打火机打人市场，火柴生意受到威胁。父亲于是隐退，半年后推出了另一句广告词："我友(有)火柴"，父亲因此第二次 拯救了火柴业，这也是父亲一生中第二个也是最后一个成就。
There are people who gather in the spas and watering places of this world who pooh-pooh our fortune. Après ski, cozy in their wools, handsome before their open hearths, they scandalize amongst themselves in whispers. "Imagine," they say, "saved from ruin because of some
cornball sentiment available in every bar and grill and truck stop in the country. It's not, not..." 那些整日泡在温泉浴场、休闲胜地的人对我们的财富嗤之以鼻。他们滑雪回来，换上温暖舒适的羊毛衫，神气活现地坐在壁炉前嘀嘀咕咕嚼舌头："想想看，"他们说，"他没 有完蛋，还不是因为郊野的酒吧、烧烤店、卡车场总有些人对纸板火柴恋恋不合。不是因 为 „ „ "
Not what? Snobs! Phooey on the First Families. On railroad, steel mill, automotive, public utility, banking and shipping fortunes, on all hermetic legacy, morganatic and blockbuster blood-lines that change the maps and landscapes and alter the mobility patterns, your jungle wheeling and downtown dealing a stone's throw from warfare. I come of good stock—real estate, mineral water, oxygen, matchbooks: earth, water, air and fire, the old elementals of the material universe, a bellybutton economics, a linchpin one.
不是因为什么？这帮势利眼！呸！什么第一家族！什么铁路、钢厂、汽车、公共设施、
银行和航运方面的财富！什么秘密遗产！什么贵贱婚配！什么豪门世家！你们改变了地 图、地貌、甚至改变了社会流动的格局，可你们弱肉强食，巧取豪夺，跟战争相差无几。我这才叫来路正宗——房地产、矿泉水、氧气、火柴：土、水、气、火，物质世界古老 的四大元素。这才是核心经济，这才是关键经济。
It is as I see it a perfect genealogy, and if I can be bought and sold a hundred times over by a thousand men in this country—people in your own town could do it, providents and trailers of hunch, I bless them, who got into this or went into that when it was eight cents a share—I am satisfied with my thirteen or fourteen million. Wealth is not after all the point. The genealogy is. That bridge-trick nexus that brought Newpert to Oh, Salts to Ashenden and Ashenden to Oh, love's lucky longshots which, paying off, permitted me as they permit every human life! (I have this simple, harmless paranoia of the good-natured man, this cheerful awe.) Forgive my enthusiasm, that I go on like some secular patriot wrapped in the simple flag of self, a professional descendant, every day the closed-for-the-holiday banks and post offices of the heart. And why not? Aren't my circumstances superb? Whose are better? No boast, no boast. I've had it easy, served up on all life's silver platters like a satrap. And if my money is managed for me and I do no work—less work even than Father, who at least came up with those two slogans, the latter in a six-month solitude that must have been hell for that gregarious man ("For Our Matchless Friends": no slogan finally but a broken code, an extension of his own hospitable being, simply the Promethean gift of fire to a guest)—at least I am not "spoiled" and have in me still alive the nerve endings of gratitude. If it's miserly to count one's blessings, Brewster Ashenden's a miser.
在我看来，我出身完美。如果这个国家有一千人百余次买卖我的股票——跟你同住一城的人可能会这么做；有远见的人，跟着感觉走的人，我祝福他们!当每股还只有八分钱
时，他们就买进了我的这种或那种股票——我对我原有的一千三、四百万，就很满足了。毕竟财富不是关键，关键是出身。桥牌般复杂的姻缘让外公走进了外婆的生活，奶奶嫁 给了爷爷，家父娶了家母。父母姻缘巧合的爱情造就了我，就像别人的爱晴造就了一个 个鲜活的生命！(我这个性良好的人也有这种朴素而无害的追问到底的执拗，这种对自 己生命的由衷的敬畏。)原谅我有如此热情，像一个无宗教信仰的爱国者，处处强调自 我，或者像一个职业继承人，每天心无所系，有如放假关门的银行和邮局。为什么不呢? 我的条件不优越吗?还有比我条件更好的吗?这不是吹牛，根本不是。我的一切来得太容 易，犹如一位大老爷，一切都有人用银盘奉上。钱有人管，不用工作一一我比父亲工作 还少，他起码还炮制了两句广告词，第二句还是他退隐半年的结果。对于像他那样好热闹的人来说，那半年简直是人间地狱("我友（有）火柴"，说到底并不算什么广告词， 而是个被破解的密码，是他殷勤个性的延伸，是他的好客之火，是普罗米修斯的圣火)。即便如此，我起码没被"宠坏"，浑身还洋溢着感恩之情。如果数数自己的福气也算是 小气的话，那我布鲁斯特·艾兴登就是个小气鬼。
This will give you some idea of what I'm like:
简单给您说说我的为人：
On Having an Account in a Swiss Bank: I never had one, and suggest you stay away from them too. Oh, the mystery and romance is all very well, but never forget that your Swiss bank offers no premiums, whereas for opening a savings account for 5,000 or more at First National City Bank of New York or other fine institutions you get wonderful premiums— picnic hampers, Scotch coolers, Polaroid cameras, Hudson's Bay blankets from L.
L. Bean, electric shavers, even lawn furniture. My managers always leave me a million or so to play with, and this is how I do it. I suppose I've received hundreds of such bonuses. Usually I give them to friends or as gifts at Christmas to doormen and other loosely connected personnel of the household, but often I keep them and use them myself. I'm not stingy. Of course I can afford to buy any of these things—and I do, I enjoy making purchases—but somehow nothing brings the joy of existence home to me more than these premiums. Something from nothing—the two-suiter from Chase Manhattan and my own existence, luggage a bonus and life a bonus too. Like having a film star next to you on your flight from the Coast. There are treats of high order, adventure like cash in the street.
说到在瑞士银行开户：我从没开过，建议你也别开。当然，那种神秘感觉和浪漫色彩挺
不错的。但记住，瑞士银行从不提供任何礼品。相反，如果你在纽约第一国民城市银行或别的优质机构开一个 5000 美元或更多的储蓄帐户，你就可以得到精美礼品，像什么野餐篮子啦、苏格兰冷饮啦、宝丽来相机啦、名牌毛毯啦、电动剃须刀啦，甚至还有草坪家私。我的经理们总给我留个百儿八十万元什么的玩着花，我顺手就到银行开个户。估计类似的赠品我已有几百件了。我常拿它们送朋友或作为圣诞礼物送给门童和家里的
勤杂人员。但我也经常留下自用。我不是抠门的人，这些玩意儿我当然买得起——也去买过，我喜欢购物一一但不知为什么，这些赠品给我带来了无与伦比的快乐。从无到有
——大通·曼哈顿银行送的男士小行李箱是这样，我的人生也是这样；行李箱是赠品， 人生也是赠品。那感觉就像在从西岸回来的飞机上，发现邻座是个电影明星。生活中总有这种难得的乐事，就像大街上捡钱那样刺激。
Let's enjoy ourselves, I say; let's have fun. Lord, let us live in the sand by the surf of the sea and play till cows come home. We'll have a house on the Vineyard and a brownstone in the Seventies and a pied-à-terre in a world capital when something big is about to break. (Put the Cardinal in the back bedroom where the sun gilds the bay at afternoon tea and give us the courage to stand up to secret police at the door, to top all threats with threats of our own, the nicknames of mayors and ministers, the fast comeback at the front stairs, authority on us like the funny squiggle the counterfeiters miss.) Re-Columbus us. Engage us with the overlooked, a knowledge of optics, say, or a gift for the tides. (My pal, the heir to most of the vegetables in inland Nebraska, has become a superb amateur oceanographer. The marine studies people invite him to Wood's Hole each year. He has a wave named for him.) Make us good at things, the countertenor and the German language, and teach us to be as easy in our amateur standing as the best man at a roommate's wedding. Give us hard tummies behind the cummerbund and long swimmer's muscles under the hound's tooth so that we may enjoy our long life. And may all our stocks rise to the occasion of our best possibilities, and our humanness be bullish too.
我常说，我们要玩得开心，要及时行乐。上帝啊，让我们住在海边吧，踏沙，冲浪，嬉
戏，直至永远。我们要在马萨葡萄园岛有一套独栋别墅，在纽约七十几街有一套褐石豪 宅，在某个世界之都有个安乐窝，以便就近亲临大事的现场。(请红衣主教住最里边的 卧室，下午茶时分的阳光将海湾镀上金色，同时给我们增添勇气，直面门外的秘密警察， 以我们的威胁来消除一切外来的威胁，报出达官贵人们的诨名，在门口与他们唇枪舌战， 那种威势，就像纸币上古怪的防伪线条，无法模仿。)我们要像哥伦布再世。我们要致 力于别人忽略的东西，如光学的某一方面或研究海潮的某种能力。(我有个朋友，在远 离海洋的内布拉斯加州继承了蔬菜种植业，却成了一位出色的业余海洋学家。研究海洋 的专业人士每年都请他去伍兹霍。有一种海浪以他的名字命名。)让我们擅长点什么吧， 无论成为男高音歌手还是掌握德文。让我们轻松地做业余专家，就像在室友的婚礼上做 伴郎那样容易。让我们的腰带下有结实的小腹，泳衣里有游泳健将的强劲肌肉，这样我 们会安享长命天年。让我们的股票天天猛涨，让我们做人也牛气冲天。
Speaking personally I am glad to be a heroic man.
私下里说，我很乐意做个英雄人物。
I am pleased that I am attractive to women but grateful I'm no bounder. Though I'm touched when married women fall in love with me, as frequently they do, I am rarely to blame. I never
encourage these fits and do my best to get them over their derangements so as not to lose the friendships of their husbands when they are known to me, or the neutral friendship of the ladies themselves. This happens less than you might think, however, for whenever I am a houseguest of a married friend I usually make it a point to bring along a girl. These girls are from all walks of life—models, show girls, starlets, actresses, tennis professionals, singers, heiresses and the daughters of the diplomats of most of the nations of the free world. All walks. They tend, however, to conform to a single physical type, and are almost always tall, tan, slender and blond, the girl from Ipanema as a wag friend of mine has it. They are always sensitive and intelligent and good at sailing and the Australian crawl. They are never blemished in any way, for even something like a tiny beauty mark on the inside of a thigh or above the shoulder blade is enough to put me off, and their breaths must be as sweet at three in the morning as they are at noon. (I never see a woman who is dieting for diet sours the breath.) Arm hair, of course, is repellent to me though a soft blond down is now and then acceptable. I know I sound a prig. I'm not. I am—well, classical, drawn by perfection as to some magnetic, Platonic pole, idealism and beauty's true North.
很高兴我深得女人青睐，但谢天谢地，我绝非好色之徒。尽管已婚女人有意于我时—— 这是常事——我会感动，但多责不在我。我从不鼓励这样的一时冲动，还会尽量让她们 恢复平静，以便保持与她们的夫君一一如果认识的话――的友谊，或者与她们本人的适 度关系。不过，这种事比你想像的要少，因为每次我到已婚明友的府上做客，都刻意携 一位靓女同行。这些女孩各行各业都有：模特啦、舞女啦、新星啦、演员啦、职业网球 手啦、歌手啦、富家女啦什么的，还有自由世界许多国家外交官的女儿们，真的是形形 色色。我的玩伴往往都像一个模子铸出来的，几乎都是个子高挑、肤色健康、身段苗条、金发碧眼的可爱美人，用我一个喜欢调侃的朋友的说话，她就像歌中走出来的"来自伊 帕内玛的女孩"。她们都敏感聪慧，擅长玩帆船和澳式自由泳。她们完美无瑕，因为即 使是大腿内侧或锁骨上边的美人痣也让我扫兴。她们还必需呵气如兰，即使在凌晨三点 也要像正午时分那样清新(我从不约见节食的女人，因为节食会使她的呼吸带酸味儿)。 自然，腋毛令我反感，金色细软绒毛倒是偶尔可以接受。听起来我有点自命不凡。但我 不是。我是那种，怎么说呢，正统的人，喜欢尽善尽美，像被某种磁力吸引着，去追求 那种柏拉图式的理想的、纯粹的美妙。
（集体讨论，蒋骁华、孔昊执笔）
超越生命[美] 卡贝尔 著
I want my life, the only life of which I am assured, to have symmetry or, in default of that, at least to acquire some clarity. Surely it is not asking very much to wish that my personal conduct be intelligible to me! Yet it is forbidden to know for what purpose this universe was intended, to what end it was set a-going, or why I am here, or even what I had preferably do while here. It vaguely seems to me that I am expected to perform an allotted task, but as to what it is I have no notion. And indeed, what have I done hitherto, in the years behind me? There are some books to show as increment, as something which was not anywhere before I made it, and which even in bulk will replace my buried body, so that my life will be to mankind no loss materially. But the course of my life, when I look back, is as orderless as a trickle of water that is diverted and guided by every pebble and crevice and grass-root it encounters. I seem to have done nothing with pre-meditation, but rather, to have had things done to me. And for all the rest of my life, as I know now, I shall have to shave every morning in order to be ready for no more than this!
我愿此生，我唯一确知的此生，能和谐地度过；若此愿不遂，至少也该活得有几分清醒。
希望自己之所作为能被自己了解，这肯定不算要求过分。不过有些奥秘却不容你去了解， 诸如宇宙宏旨之所在，乾坤归宿在何方，我为何置身于此间，于此间该做何事等。我隐 约觉得此生被指望去履行一项既定使命，但这是项什么使命，我却一无所知。而且真正 说来，我在过去的岁月里又有过什么作为呢？有那么几本书可显示为生命之赢余，可显 示为在我创作其之前这世间未曾有过的东西，其体积甚至可置换我入土后的那副躯壳， 从而使我生命之结束不致给人类造成物质损失。但当回首往昔，我发现自己的生命历程 就像溪流之蜿蜒漫无定向，触石砄草根则避而改道，遇岩缝土隙则顺而流之。我似乎做 任何事都未经事先考虑，而是任凭事务来摆布自己。且据我眼下所知，在我的整个余生， 我每日清晨得剃须也仅仅是为了翌日清晨得剃须。
I have attempted to make the best of my material circumstances always; nor do I see to-day how any widely varying course could have been wiser or even feasible: but material things have nothing to do with that life which moves in me. Why, then, should they direct and heighten and provoke and curb every action of life? It is against the tyranny of matter I would rebel—against life's absolute need of food, and books, and fire, and clothing, and flesh, to touch and to inhabit, lest life perish. No, all that which I do here or refrain from doing lacks clarity, nor can I detect any symmetry anywhere, such as living would assuredly display, I think, if my progress were directed by any particular motive. It is all a muddling through, somehow, without any recognizable goal in view, and there is no explanation of the scuffle tendered or anywhere procurable. It merely seems that to go on living has become with me a
habit. 我总想善用身边的物质环境，因时至今日我也不知有任何迥异之做法会更为明智可行。 然身外之物与涌动于我心中的那种生命毕竟无关。既如此，为何人之一举一动又常为身 外之物所引所趋，所扬所抑？我所厌恶的正是这种物质之主宰——这种为了生命苟存于 世而对食物、书本、炉火、衣衫等身外之物以及灵魂借以寓居之肉体的纯粹需求。的确， 我在世界之全部所为或忍而不为之事都不甚明了，无论何处我都看不到丝毫和谐
，而我 认为，我的人生历程若有任何特定目标之指引，定会显现出那种明澈和谐。但不知何故， 我眼前无可辨之目标，一直在浑然度日，而且对这种蹉跎或茫然也无从解说。活下去似 乎已成了我的一种习惯，仅此而已。
And I want beauty in my life. I have seen beauty in a sunset and in the spring woods and in the eyes of divers women, but now these happy accidents of light and color no longer thrill me. And I want beauty in my life itself, rather than in such chances as befall it. It seems to me that many actions of my life were beautiful, very long ago, when I was young in an evanished world of friendly girls, who were all more lovely than any girl is nowadays. For women now are merely more or less good-looking, and as I know, their looks when at their best have been painstakingly enhanced and edited. But I would like this life which moves and yearns in me, to be able itself to attain to comeliness, though but in transitory performance. The life of a butterfly, for example, is just a graceful gesture: and yet, in that its loveliness is complete and perfectly rounded in itself, I envy this bright flicker through existence. And the nearest I can come to my ideal is punctiliously to pay my bills, be polite to my wife, and contribute to deserving charities: and the program does not seem, somehow, quite adequate. There are my books, I know; and there is beauty "embalmed and treasured up" in many pages of my books, and in the books of other persons, too, which I may read at will: but this desire inborn in me is not to be satiated by making marks upon paper, nor by deciphering them. In short, I am enamored of that flawless beauty of which all poets have perturbedly divined the existence somewhere, and which life as men know it simply does not afford nor anywhere foresee.
我希望生活中有美。我曾在落日余晖、春日树林和女人的眼中看见过美，可如今与这些光彩邂逅已不再令我激动。我期盼的是生命本身之美，而非偶然降临的美的瞬间。我觉得很久以前我生活行为中也充溢着美，那时我尚年轻，置身于一群远比当今姑娘更为友善可爱的姑娘之中，置身于一个如今已消失的世界。时下女人不过是多少显得有几分姿色， 而据我所知，她们最靓丽的容颜都经过煞费苦心的设色缚彩。但我希望这在我心中涌动并期盼的生命能绽放出自身之美，纵然其美丽会转瞬即逝。比如蝴蝶的一生不过翩然一瞬，但在这翩然一瞬间，其美丽得以完善，其生命得以完美。我羡慕一生中有这种美丽闪烁。可我最接近我理想生活的行为只是付账单一丝不苟，对妻子相敬如宾，捐善款恰宜至当，而这些无论如何也远远不够。当然，还有我那些书，在我自己撰写以及
我可随意翻阅的他人所撰写的书中，都有美"封藏"于万千书页之间。但我与生俱来的 这种欲望并不满足于在纸上写美或从书中读美。简而言之，我所迷恋的那种无暇之美， 那种天下诗人在忐忑中发现存在于某处的美，那种世人所知的凡尘生活无法赐予也无法预见的美。
And tenderness, too—but does that appear a mawkish thing to desiderate in life? Well, to my finding human beings do not like one another. Indeed, why should they, being rational creatures? All babies have a temporary lien on tenderness, of course: and therefrom children too receive a dwindling income, although on looking back, you will recollect that your childhood was upon the whole a lonesome and much put-upon period. But all grown persons ineffably distrust one another. In courtship, I grant you, there is a passing aberration which often mimics tenderness, sometimes as the result of honest delusion, but more frequently as an ambuscade in the endless struggle between man and woman. Married people are not ever tender with each other, you will notice: if they are mutually civil it is much: and physical contacts apart, their relation is that of a very moderate intimacy. My own wife, at all events, I find an unfailing mystery, a Sphinx whose secrets I assume to be not worth knowing: and, as I am mildly thankful to narrate, she knows very little about me, and evinces as to my affairs no morbid interest. That is not to assert that if I were ill she would not nurse me through any imaginable contagion, nor that if she were drowning I would not plunge in after her, whatever my delinquencies at swimming: what I mean is that, pending such high crises, we tolerate each other amicably, and never think of doing more. And from our blood-kin we grow apart inevitably. Their lives and their interests are no longer the same as ours, and when we meet it is with conscious reservations and much manufactured talk. Besides, they know things about us which we resent. And with the rest of my fellows, I find that convention orders all our dealings, even with children, and we do and say what seems more or less expected. And I know that we distrust one another all the while, and instinctively conceal or misrepresent our actual thoughts and emotions when there is no very apparent need. Personally, I do not like human beings because I am not aware, upon the whole, of any generally distributed qualities which entitle them as a race to admiration and affection. But toward people in books—such as Mrs. Millamant, and Helen of Troy, and Bella Wilfer, and Mélusine, and Beatrix Esmond—I may intelligently overflow with tenderness and caressing words, in part because they deserve it, and in part because I know they will not suspect me of being "queer" or of having ulterior motives.
我也渴望柔情——但对生活如此奢求难道不是自作多情？我发现世人彼此间从不相互
喜欢。的确，作为理性动物，他们为何要相互喜欢呢？婴儿当然都有权得到短期柔情贷款，而且在童年时期还会有逐日递减的柔情进账，然而你回忆往事时就会发现，童年大
体上是一段孤独寂寞且屡屡受骗的时期。但成人都莫可名状地相互猜疑。我承认，男女 求爱时会有一时间的失常，而这种失常往往装扮成柔情蜜意，因此有时还让人误以为是 真情，但更多时候会变成男女间无休止争斗的伏笔。你会注意到，已婚男女通常不会柔 情缱绻，双方能以礼相待就不错了，除两性身体接触外，夫妻关系往往都不愠不火。以 我妻子为例，我横竖都觉得她就像斯芬克司，一个永远也猜不透的谜，而我想也没必要 去探究她那些秘密。并且就像我并无欣慰地述说的一样，她对我同样知之甚少，对我的 私事也没有表现出任何病态的兴趣。但这并非说一旦我罹病，她会因惧怕传染而置我于 不顾，也并非说万一她溺水，我会因不善游泳而不下水施救。我的意思是说，除非到紧 要关头，我俩会彼此容忍，和睦相处，但绝不会想到更进一步。我们与亲属的关系也势 必日渐疏远。因各自生活已不同，彼此情趣已相异，故见面时存心话说三分且多说套话。再说他们还知晓我们不想被别人抖露的底细。至于其他熟人，甚至包括未成年人，我发 现彼此间交往全然是蹈常袭故，我们的所言所行似乎都不会超出对方之所料。我知道我 们始终都互不信任，虽然有时毫不必要，我们仍本能地隐藏或伪装真实的思想感情。就 我个人而言，我不喜欢人类，因为从总体上看，我不知这个物种有何共同的品质使其值 得被人钦慕。但对书中那些人——例如米拉曼特夫人、特洛伊的海伦、贝拉·威尔弗、 比阿特丽克丝·埃斯蒙德等——我却能不失理性地满怀柔情，表达一腔爱慕之意，这一 则是因为她们值得我爱慕，二则是因为我知道她们不会怀疑我"变态"或别有用心。
And I very often wish that I could know the truth about just any one circumstance connected with my life. Is the phantasmagoria of sound and noise and color really passing or is it all an illusion here in my brain? How do you know that you are not dreaming me, for instance? In your conceded dreams, I am sure, you must invent and see and listen to persons who for the while seem quite as real to you as I do now. As I do, you observe, I say! and what thing is it to which I so glibly refer as I? If you will try to form a notion of yourself, of the sort of a something that you suspect to inhabit and partially to control your flesh and blood body, you will encounter a walking bundle of superfluities: and when you mentally have put aside the extraneous things—your garments and your members and your body, and your acquired habits and your appetites and your inherited traits and your prejudices, and all other appurtenances which considered separately you recognize to be no integral part of you,—there seems to remain in those pearl-colored brain-cells, wherein is your ultimate lair, very little save a faculty for receiving sensations, of which you know the larger portion to be illusory. And surely, to be just a very gullible consciousness provisionally existing among inexplicable mysteries, is not an enviable plight. And yet this life—to which I cling tenaciously—comes to no more. Meanwhile I hear men talk about "the truth"; and they even wager handsome sums upon their knowledge of it: but I align myself with "jesting Pilate," and echo the forlorn query that recorded time has left unanswered.
我还常常祈愿，愿我能了解关于我生活的哪怕任何一点真相。这变化的声色光彩是在真 正掠过，还是我脑海中的一种幻觉？譬如你何以知晓此刻我不是你梦中之幻象？毫无疑 问，你在你坦言的梦中肯定遇见过人，且眼观其行，耳闻其声，当时他们于你肯定就像 现时之我一样真实。注意，我说像现时之我一样真实！那么，我这口口声声称之谓的"我" 又当是何物？若你设法去感知你自己为何物，那种你觉得寓于你体内并肆意支配你肉体 的东西又为何物，那将有一大堆活生生的多余物与你不期而遇——诸如你的衣衫裙袍、手足躯干、习性胃口、禀性偏见以及其他所有附属物，那些你逐一视之便会承认其并非 你不可或缺的多余之物——而若是你从心中将这些多余物抹去，那在你珍珠色的脑细胞 了，在你最终的寓所之中，几乎就只剩下一种感知能力，可你知道，这种感知多半都是 幻觉。而毋庸置疑，仅仅作为一种极易受骗的知觉，暂居于神秘莫测的迷幻之中，这并 非一种令人羡慕的境况。然而这种生命——这种我死死黏附的生命——也不过如此这般。但与此同时我却听世人在谈论"真理"，他们甚至花大价钱为其所知的真理担保； 可我愿与"爱逗趣的彼拉多"为伍，重复那几个几乎没法回答且上千年来无人回答的疑 问。
Then, last of all, I desiderate urbanity. I believe this is the rarest quality in the world. Indeed, it probably does not exist anywhere. A really urbane person—a mortal open-minded and affable to conviction of his own shortcomings and errors, and unguided in anything by irrational blind prejudices—could not but in a world of men and women be regarded as a monster. We are all of us, as if by instinct, intolerant of that which is unfamiliar: we resent its impudence: and very much the same principle which prompts small boys to jeer at a straw-hat out of season induces their elders to send missionaries to the heathen…
最后我还企求高雅。我认为高雅乃世间最珍贵的品质。其实然，高雅或许并不存在于现
实之中。真正的高雅之士虚怀若谷，闻过则喜，不会被非理性的盲目偏见所左右，而在这个被庸男俗女充斥的世界，这等高雅之士只能被视为怪物。仿佛是出于天性，我们所有人都容不得稀罕之事，都恨其不守规矩；而正是依照与此极其相似的准则，小男孩嘲讽不合时令的草帽，他们的父辈则给异教徒派出传教士„ „ （集体讨论，曹明伦 执笔
）
Envy is almost the only vice which is practicable at all times, and in every place — the only passion which can never lie quiet for want of irritation; its effects therefore are everywhere discoverable, and its attempts always to be dreaded.
嫉妒几乎是唯一一种随时都能大行其道的恶习，唯一一种不会因缺乏刺激而平息的强
烈感情，因此其影响随处可见，其攻击性也总是令人生畏。
It is impossible to mention a name which any advantageous distinction has made eminent, but some latent animosity will burst out. The wealthy trader, however he may abstract himself from public affairs, will never want those who hint, with Shylock, that ships are but boards. The beauty, adorned only with the unambitious graces of innocence and modesty, provokes, whenever she appears, a thousand murmurs of detraction. The genius, even when he endeavours only to entertain or instruct, yet suffers persecution from innumerable critics, whose acrimony is excited merely by the pain of seeing others pleased, and of hearing applauses which another enjoys.
一提到某位因其所长而才出众的名流，就会有人发出隐伏于心的妒意。富商不管怎样超脱于公共事务，也不乏有人像夏洛克那样，说商船不过是一堆木板，暗示其财富由风浪摆布者不足以谓之富人。（1）美女纵然仅以端庄素雅为装饰，其出现也会引起众人私下
里的猜忌和诽谤。至于天才人物，即使他们只想展示令人愉悦的自然万象，或只想说明无可争辩的科学原理，也难免会招致众多批评者的诋毁，而批评者之尖刻仅仅是因为见不得别人欣然陶然，听不到别人所享受的掌声。
The frequency of envy makes it so familiar that it escapes our notice; nor do we often reflect upon its turpitude or malignity, till we happen to feel its influence. When he that has given no provocation to malice, but by attempting to excel, finds himself pursued by multitudes whom he never saw, with all the implacability of personal resentment; when he perceives clamour and malice let loose upon him as a public enemy, and incited by every stratagem of defamation; when he hears the misfortunes of his family, or the follies of his youth, exposed to the world; and every failure of conduct, or defect of nature, aggravated and ridiculed; he then learns to abhor those artifices at which he only laughed before, and discovers how much the happiness of life would be advanced by the eradication of envy from the human heart.
嫉妒之频频出现使我们队其熟视无睹，使我们很少想到其卑鄙险恶，除非自己碰巧也遭人妒忌。倘若遭妒忌者从不招惹怨恨，而只想凭真才实学超凡出众，那当他发现自己被
一群他觉得与之并无不可化解之个人恩怨的民众纠缠之时，当他发现自己被种种诽谤伎俩煽动起来的铺天盖地的恶意丑化成社会公敌之时，当他得知自己家庭之不幸和少时的愚行而被公诸于众，自己所有的不端行为和性格缺陷都被夸大和嘲笑之时，他便能学会
憎恶那些他此前只是一笑置之的伎俩，并发现若能从世人心中根除嫉妒，人们会怎样更多地感受生活之幸福。
Envy is, indeed, a stubborn weed of the mind, and seldom yields to the culture of philosophy. There are, however, considerations which, if carefully implanted and diligently propagated, might in time overpower and repress it, since no one can nurse it for the sake of pleasure, as its effects are only shame, anguish, and perturbation. It is above all other vices inconsistent with the character of a social being, because it sacrifices truth and kindness to very weak temptations. He that plunders a wealthy neighbour gains as much as he takes away, and may improve his own condition in the same proportion as he impairs another's; but he that blasts a flourishing reputation, must be content with a small dividend of additional fame, so small as can afford very little consolation to balance the guilt by which it is obtained.
嫉妒实乃人们心中难以根除的野草，它极少接受理性之教化。不过，只要循循善诱且坚
持不懈，迟早会有理性之思将其制服，毕竟没人会为了取乐而心怀嫉妒，因嫉妒之后果 只有羞耻、苦闷和不安。较之其他所有恶习，嫉妒与人的社会属性最为相悖，因为它会 蝇头小利而牺牲真诚和善良。一个人若是抢劫其富有的邻居，他所得之物即他所劫之物， 其境况之改善与其邻居境况之恶化恰成正比；但一个人若是毁损他人的盛名，他只能满 足于得到的那盛名分给他的一点点红利，而与他行恶而产生的负疚感相比，其获利之少 几乎不可能给他带来慰藉。
（1）参见莎士比亚《威尼斯商人》第 1 幕第 3 场开始时夏洛克对巴萨尼奥说的那番话。集体讨论，曹明伦执笔）
四川外语学院第七届"语言桥杯"翻译大赛获奖译文选登
These aspects of her personality I came to know gradually over the coming months. What struck me first were the outward things, her animation and expressiveness. I couldn't tell whether this was something she was born with, or whether the projection of emotion which she had learned as an actress had become second nature. When indignant, her eyes would flash fire, when happy she would laugh unrestrainedly like a child. I quickly changed my preconceived notions about the "inscrutableness" of Orientals.
在接下来的几个月里，我逐渐了解了她的这些个性特点。首先给我留下深刻印象的，是
她种种外在的表现：活泼开朗，能言善谈。我不知道这是她的天性使然，还是因为当过演员，表情达意早已成为她的第二天性。她气愤时，两只眸子会冒出怒火；高兴时，却又像个孩子似的开怀大笑。我原先以为东方人都是"神秘难测"的，认识她之后，很快 便改变了这个先入之见。
... She had not remarried because she had not found anyone for whom she could care enough and who would respect her independence.
„ „ 因为找不到一个既让她喜欢、又尊重她的独立性的男人，她一直没有再婚。至少，
在我出现在她的面前之前是这样。我俩初次相识就立即被对方的外貌所吸引。
Not, at least, till I came along. Our physical attraction was immediate and mutual. But more than that, we shared an identity of interests and found pleasure in each other's company...
不过，除此之外，我们还有着共同的兴趣爱好，觉得走在一起很开心。„ „
We sat in tea gardens amid flowering shrubs and fanciful pavilions and sipped green "Dragon Well" tea and cracked watermelon seeds. We wended through the City God Temple, with its many shops of marvelous handicrafts connected by a zigzag bridge around a lotus pond.
我们坐在绿树红花和亭台楼阁掩映下的茶园里，一边抿着碧绿的龙井茶，一边嗑着西瓜
子儿。我们在城隍庙徜徉，那里有很多出售精美的手工艺品的店铺；一座绕着荷塘迂回而行的九曲桥，把商铺连在一起。
And we met in her flat with a few other Chinese friends and talked in low voices, with the radios turned on loud against possible eavesdroppers, about who had just been arrested, or what bookstores had been raided, or whether more revolutionaries had been executed, and what the news from the Liberated Areas was. Sometimes we could pick up Yen’an on my short-wave set.
我们时常在她的公寓房间里和几个中国朋友聚会。为防窃听，我们只得低声交谈，同时
把收音机开得很响。我们谈论谁刚刚被捕了，哪几家书店被查抄了，是不是又有革命分子被处死，以及来自解放区的消息。有时我的那台短波收音机可以收听到延安电台的广播。
She had no doubt about our compatibleness, and if our future was unsure, so was the future of everyone in China. Nor did my "foreignness" seem to present any problems. She had got used to my appearance, and recovered from the initial shock of seeing me in a raglan sleeve topcoat on finding, when I took it off, that I had shoulders after all. In fact she had become bemused to such an extent that she thought I was quite nice-looking. No one stared when we appeared in public together, nor did I, for some reason, attract the crowds which often trailed other foreigners, awestruck by their outlandish garb and, by Chinese standards, huge noses. Her family offered no objections whatever.
她深信我俩意气相投。我们两个人也许前路渺茫，但是在中国何尝不是人人如此。我的"洋人相"似乎也不成问题。起初看到我穿着套袖的轻便大衣，她颇为惊愕，及至我脱
掉大衣，她发现原来我也长着两只肩膀，这才回过神来。如今，她早已习惯我的这副洋人相了。事实上，她简直不知如何看待我的长相，竟至于觉得我长得挺好看的。我俩一起在公共场所露面时，没有人盯着我们看；不知何故，我也没有吸引人群围观。洋人一身奇装异服，还有按中国人的标准显得特别高的鼻子，都使中国人感到惊异，因此他们常常喜欢尾随洋人。她的家人一点儿也不反对我俩交往。
Absence of racial or religious prejudice is traditional in China. For two thousand years
foreigners had been encouraged to settle in the Middle Kingdom and practice their religions and retain their customs. There was some talk among the rustics that all foreigners had red hair and blue eyes and walked without bending their knees. But those who had actually seen them knew better. None of her compatriots was shocked, though some perhaps wondered why she chose a foreigner when there was so many Chinese around.
传统上，种族歧视或宗教偏见在中国是不存在的。两千年来，"中央王国"一直柔怀远
人，鼓励外国人在这片土地上定居、信教，并且保留他们的风俗习惯。乡下人中间有传言说洋人全都赤发碧眼，而且直着腿走路。但是，亲眼见过外国人的那些人知道，事实并非如此。看到我这个"异类"和她在一起，她的同胞无人感到震惊，尽管有些人也许 会想：她的身边有那么多中国人，为什么偏偏选中一个老外？ (香港大学中文学院 汪宝荣)
在义与利之外
中译英部分
Beyond Righteousness and Interests "君子喻以义，小人喻以利"。中国人的人生哲学总是围绕着义利二字打转。可是，假 如我既不是君子，也不是小人呢？ "Men of virtue are concerned whether they behave righteously while virtueless men are
concerned about their personal interests." The Chinese philosophy of life can hardly go beyond the continuous debate over righteousness and interests. But what am I concerned about if I am neither a man of virtue nor one without it?
曾经有过一个人皆君子言必称义的时代，当时或许有过大义灭利的真君子，但更常见的是借义逐利的伪君子和假义真信的迂君子。那个时代过去了。曾几何时，世风剧变，义
的信誉一落千丈，真君子销声匿迹，伪君子真相毕露，迂君子豁然开窍，都一窝蜂奔利而去。据说观念更新，义利之辨有了新解，原来利并非小人的专利，倒是做人的天经地义。
There was once an alleged age of righteousness, in which all men were of virtue. Maybe, few of them were really men of virtue, who vindicated righteousness by sacrificing their own interests. However, most of them were either pharisees, who pursued their personal interests in the name of righteousness, or pedants, who believed in fake morality. Such an era had already elapsed. There was once a period of time when the ethos deteriorated overnight and people’s belief in righteousness greatly declined. Consequently, men of virtue vanished, pharisees revealed their impudent faces and pedants suddenly disenchanted. All people rushed for their own interests. It was said that people had renovated their values and they had endowed their conceptions of righteousness and interests with new contents. For them, the pursuit of personal interests is not a patent right of men without virtue but the primary principle followed by all human beings.
"时间就是金钱！"——这是当今一句时髦口号。企业家以之鞭策生产，本无可非议。
但世人把它奉为指导人生的座右铭，用商业精神取代人生智慧，结果就使自己的人生成了一种企业，使人际关系成了一个市场。 我曾经嘲笑廉价的人情味，如今，连人情味也变得昂贵而罕见了。试问，不花钱你可能 买到一个微笑，一句问候，一丁点儿恻隐之心
？
Nowadays "Time is money" is a popular slogan. It is reasonable for entrepreneurs to adopt it in their production management. However, if we substitute commercial spirit for life wisdom, taking this slogan as a motto to guide our life, we tend to regard our life as business and our relationship, market.
不过，无须怀旧。想靠形形色色的义的说教来匡正时弊，拯救世风人心，事实上无济于
事。在义利之外，还有别样的人生态度。在君子小人之外，还有别样的人格。套孔子的句式，不妨说："至人喻以情。"
I once derided the human kindness for its cheapness. But at present it has become costly and infrequent. Can you buy a smile, a greeting or a particle of sympathy without money? However, there is no need to reminisce. In fact, various preaches of righteousness are helpless to the rectification of current social malpractices and the salvation of present public morals. Beyond righteousness and interests, there are other life values. Apart from men of virtue and virtueless men, there are men with other personality. A remark by Confucius might be quoted here, which says: "A perfect man apprehends affection."
义和利，貌似相反，实则相通。"义"要求人献身抽象的社会实体，"利"驱使人投身世
俗的物质利益，两者都无视人的心灵生活，遮蔽了人的真正的"自我"。"义"教人奉献， "利"诱人占有，前者把人生变成一次义务的履行，后者把人生变成一场权利的争夺， 殊不知人生的真价值是超乎义务和权利外的。义和利都脱不开计较，所以，无论义师讨 伐叛臣，还是利欲支配众生，人与人之间的关系总是紧张。
Righteousness and interests seem opposite on the surface but in nature they have something in common. "Righteousness" requests people to devote themselves to the abstract social noumenon while "interests" impels them to pursue the mundane loaves and fishes. Both of them ignore people’s spiritual life and as a result, they shade their real "selves". "Righteousness" instructs people to dedicate themselves to the society and turns their life into the performance of an obligation while "interests" tempts people to appropriate material profits and makes their life become a scramble for rights and profits. Nevertheless, the real value of life lies beyond righteousness and interests. As both righteousness and interests can hardly escape from calculation and consideration, the interpersonal relations are always strained no matter when a justice army suppresses a rebellion or when all flesh are dominated by an appetite for personal interests.
如果说"义"代表一种伦理的人生态度，"利"代表一种功利的人生态度，那么，我所
说的"情"便代表一种审美的人生态度。它主张率性而行，适情而止，每个人都保持自 己的真性情。你不是你所信奉的教义，也不是你所占有的物品，你之为你仅在于你的真 实"自我"。生命的意义不在奉献或占有，而在创造，创造就是人的真性情的积极展开， 是人在实现其本质力量时所获得的情感上的满足。创造不同于奉献，奉献只是完成外在 的责任，创造却是实现真实的"自我"。至于创造和占有，其差别更是一目了然，譬如 写作，占有注重的是作品所带来的名利地位，创造注重的只是创作本身的快乐。有真性 情的人，与人相处唯求情感的沟通，与物相触独钟情趣的品味。更为可贵的是，在世人 匆忙逐利又为利所逐的时代，他接人待物有一种闲适之情。我不是指中国士大夫式的闲 情逸致，也不是指小农式的知足保守，而是指一种不为利驱、不为物役的淡泊的生活情
怀。仍以写作为例，我想不通，一个人何必要著作等身呢？倘想流芳千古，一首不朽的小诗足矣。倘无此奢求，则只要活得自在即可，写作也不过是这活得自在的一种方式罢了。
If "righteousness" represents an ethical value of life and "interests", a utilitarian attitude towards life, the "affection" that I have mentioned represents aesthetic attitude towards life. It claims that we should behave frankly and properly and all of us should maintain our real temperament. You are neither the teachings that you believe in nor the resources that you are possessed of, but your true "self", which is the very reason why you are yourself. The value of life does not consist in dedication or possession, but creation. Creation is the outspread of one’s true temperament and the affectional satisfaction that one obtains when achieving his/her essential potence. Creation differs from dedication in that the former is the realization of the true "self" but the later, only the fulfillment of the exterior responsibilities. As for creation and possession, the difference between them is distinct at a glance. For instance, in writing possession means the concern for the fame and the status brought by works but creation means the concern for the happiness of writing itself. A person with true temperament only seeks for emotional communication when getting alone with others while he is only in deep love with the taste of sentiment when in contact with things. More importantly, he is always in a tranquil mood in such an era when others scramble for personal interests and are driven by material benefits. It is neither the leisurely and carefree mood of the Chinese scholar-bureaucrats nor the content and conservative mood of the petty farmers, but a quiet mood free from hollow fames and material interests. Still take writing as an instance. I can hardly figure out why one must produce as many famous works as he can. An enduring poem is enough to make one renowned forever. Without such an extravagant hope, one only needs to live to his content. Writing is just one means to such an end.
肖伯纳说："人生有两大悲剧，一是没有得到你心爱的东西，另一是得到了你心爱的东 西。"我曾经深以为然，并且佩服他把人生的可悲境遇，表述得如此轻松俏皮。但仔细 玩味，发现这话的立足点仍是占有，所以才会有占有欲未得满足的痛苦和已得满足的无 聊这双重悲剧。如果把立足点移到创造上，以审美的眼光看人生，我们岂不可以反其意 而说：人生有两大快乐，一是没有得到你心爱的东西，于是你可以去寻求和创造；另一 是得到了你心爱的东西，于是你可以去品味和体验？当然，人生总有其不可消除的痛苦， 而重情轻利的人所体味到的辛酸悲哀，更为逐利之辈所梦想不到。但是，摆脱了占有欲， 至少可以使人免除许多琐屑的烦恼和渺小的痛苦，活得有器度些。我无意以审美之情为 救世良策，而只是表达了一个信念：在义与利之外，还有一种更值得一过的人生。这个 信念将支撑我度过未来吉凶难卜的岁月。
George Bernard Shaw once said: "There are two tragedies in our life. One is that you have not
obtained what you love while the other is that you have obtained what you love." I took his remark for granted and admired him for his easy and witty expression of the lamentable plight in life. But when carefully relishing it, I discover that the stand of this remark is still possession, which is the very reason why there are two tragedies: the affliction of not satisfying one’s appetite for possession and the vacuity of satisfaction. If we regard creation as our stand and have an aesthetic vision for life, can’t we say that there are two enjoyments: one is that you have not attained what you love and you can continue your pursuit and creation while the other is that you have attained what you love and you can commence your appreciation and experience? Certainly, there are always some agonies in our life and the sufferings experienced by those who value affection but despise profits are out of the consideration of those who pursue interests. However, if we can get rid of the appetite for possession, we, at least, can avoid a great deal of inconsiderable vexations and trivial afflictions and live a life of more tolerance. Rather than intending to suggest the aesthetic affection as an excellent tactics of salvation, I merely express such a belief that there is a life more worthy of living beyond righteousness and interests. This faith will support me through the precarious and unpredictable future.
The Bitter-Sweetness of Reading Yang Jiang 读书钻研学问，当然得下苦功夫。为应考试、为写论文、为求学位，大概都得苦读。陶 渊明好读书。如果他生于当今之世，要去考大学，或考研究院，或考什么"托福儿"， 难免会有些困难吧？我只愁他政治经济学不能及格呢，这还不是因为他"不求甚解"。
Reading and studying regularly calls for a painstaking effort, whether it is meant for passing an exam, writing a thesis or pursuing an academic degree. T'ao Yuanming, a famous scholar in Jin Dynasty, who doted on reading, might probably feel baffled if he were living today and had to take exams for getting into universities or graduate programs or to score well in such tests as the TOEFL. I'm afraid he might fail the exam in Political Economics, as the result of his motto "staying content with superficial reading".
我曾挨过几下"棍子"，说我读书"追求精神享受"。我当时只好低头认罪。我也承认自
己确实不是苦读。不过"乐在其中"并不等于追求享受。这话可为知者言，不足为外人 道也。
I was "cudgeled" for a couple of times, being reprimanded for reading "to seek spiritual indulgence." At the time, I had to bow down my head and confess my sin, and I have to admit as well that I've never made any painstaking effort in reality. Nevertheless, "enjoying reading" doesn't mean seeking indulgence, whose truth can only be shared with like-minded people,
but goes beyond those without similar experiences 我觉得读书好比串门儿——"隐身"的串门儿。要参见钦佩的老师或拜谒有名的学者， 不必事前打招呼求见，也不怕搅扰主人。翻开书面就闯进大门，翻过几页就升堂入室； 而且可以经常去，时刻去，如果不得要领
，还可以不辞而别，或者另找高明，和他对质。 不问我们要拜见的主人住在国内国外， 不问他属于现代古代，不问他什么专业，不问他 讲正经大道理或聊天说笑，都可以挨近前去听个足够。我们可以恭恭敬敬旁听孔门弟子 追述夫子遗言，也不妨淘气地笑问"言必称‘亦曰仁义而已矣’的孟夫子"，他如果生 在我们同一个时代，会不会是一位马列主义老先生呀？我们可以在苏格拉底临刑前守在 他身边，听他和一位朋友谈话；也可以对斯多葛派伊匹克悌忒斯的《金玉良言》思考怀 疑。我们可以倾听前朝列代的遗闻逸事
，也可以领教当代最奥妙的创新理论或有意惊人 的故作高论。反正话不投机或言不入耳
，不妨抽身退场，甚至砰一下推上大门——就是 说，拍地合上书面——谁也不会嗔怪。这是书以外的世界里难得的自由！
I would compare reading to visiting friends — in the spiritual rather than physical sense. Visiting a well-respected teacher or paying homage to a renowned scholar doesn't necessarily require appointment in advance and we won't feel as if we were disturbing him. Opening the book is like getting into the door uninvited; and turning a few pages, we may find ourselves in his study. Besides, we can go visit him as frequently as we want and at any time we wish. If we fail to get the pith of his argument, we can just leave without saying "good-bye" or turn to someone else for help, and come back to challenge him. We can get close to the host and listen to every word he has to say, no matter where he resides, at home or abroad, what a person he was or is, a contemporary or a man of the past, whatever field he specializes in, or whether he is talking about a serious subject of importance or simply chatting plus cracking jokes. We can sit in, in due reverence, and listen as Confucius' disciples recount their master's legacy of teachings, or playfully ask Mencius, who likes to prattle about nothing but kindness and justice, whether or not he would become a pious Marxist preacher, should he live in our time. We can stay by the side of Socrates at his execution and listen to him talking to his friend, or harbor doubt as we ponder the truth of Discourse by Epictetus, a Stoic Philosopher. We can indulge ourselves in the anecdotes and amazing tales of the past, and appreciate the profound nouveau theories of our own age or hear sensational arguments meant to shock the world. In a nutshell, we can bang the door shut —closing the book that is —the minute we find anything disagreeable or distasteful, and leave forthwith. No one will blame us. This is the kind of freedom we can hardly expect other than from the books.
壶公悬挂的一把壶里，别有天地日月。每一本书——不论小说、戏剧、传记、游记、日记，以至散文诗词，都别有天地，别有日月星辰，而且还有生存其间的人物。我们很不必巴巴地赶赴某地，花钱买门票去看些仿造的赝品或"栩栩如生"的替身，只要翻开一
页书，走人真境，遇见真人，就可以亲亲切切地观赏一番。
For Hu Gong (or Master Gourd), a master herbalist in ancient China, a magical gourd of his contains the entire world. Likewise, every book, be it a novel, a play, a biography, or a book of traveling notes, of journals, and of even essays or of poems, contains a world of its own, with its own sun, moon, and stars and its own live characters between heaven and earth. There is really no need trotting all the way to places and paying admission fees, merely to view imitations or vivid "substitutes", when we can simply open a book and find ourselves in real situations and meet real characters for a close contact.
尽管古人把书说成"浩如烟海"，书的世界却真正的"天涯若比邻"，这话绝不是唯心的
比拟。世界再大也没有阻隔。佛说"三千大千世界"，可算大极了。书的境地呢，"现在 界"还加上"过去界"，也带上"未来界"，实在是包罗万象，贯穿三界。而我们却可以 足不出户，在这里随意阅历，随时拜师求教。谁说读书人目光短浅，不通人情，不关心世事呢！这里可得到丰富的经历，可认识各时各地、多种多样的人。经常在书里"串门儿"，至少也可以脱去几分愚昧，多长几个心眼儿吧？
Despite the ancient saying about books being like a vast ocean, the distant world of books could be actually deemed as close as a next-door neighbour, which is not merely an idealistic metaphorical assertion. For in the world of books there are no longer any barriers. The Buddhist notion of "One Buddha- world" is extremely enormous. But what about the extremities of the world of books? It consists of "the present realm", "the past realm", and "the future realm", encompassing everything in each of the three great realms, across whose borders we can go back and forth with great ease. We can read and experience all we care to read and experience, and learn from masters any time we want, without venturing outdoors at all. Who says that book-lovers are near-sighted, inflexible and indifferent to worldly affairs! In the world of books, we can enrich our experience and get to know all kinds of people from different times and places. Those who visit the world of books frequently can at least rid themselves of some ignorance and gain a certain degree of wisdom.
可惜我们"串门"时"隐"而犹存"身"，毕竟只是凡胎俗骨。我们没有如来佛的慧眼，
把人世间几千年积累的智慧一览无余，只好时刻记住庄子"生也有涯而知也无涯"的名言。我们只是朝生暮死的虫豸（还不是孙大圣毫毛变成的虫儿），钻入书中世界，这边 爬爬，那边停停，有时遇到心仪的人，听到惬意的话，或者心上悬挂的问题偶有所得， 就好比开了心窍，乐以忘言。这"乐"和"追求享受"该不是一回事吧？
It is a pity that our physical body, invisible as we visit the world of books, is after all confined to this mundane world. Without the insight of Buddha, who takes in all the human wisdom accumulated over thousands of years at one glance, we have to comfort ourselves by what Zhuang Zi has said: "Human life-span is finite whereas knowledge is infinite." We are but
insects with a fleeting lifetime (not even the insects the Monkey King turned into with his hairs), crawling our way into the world of books, pausing hither and thither, becoming speechless with exultation when we accidentally bump into a much-admired person or hear a few soothing words or occasionally find an answer to a pending question. I wonder if this
sense of "joy" can be called "seeking indulgence in pleasure".（集体讨论 史志康 执笔）
Reminiscences of Tsinghua Wang Zuoliang 我只是清华几万校友中的一个
，现已不在清华工作，然而一说起这所学校，至今仍像年 轻时候一样兴奋，话也像说不完似的。
I am just one of the thousands of alumni of Tsinghua University, and although I am no longer working there, every time Tsinghua is mentioned, I would get as excited as when I was young, and can't seem to stop talking about it.
清华吸引人的究竟是什么？它有很好的校园，设备，但这些别校也有；它的历史也不很
长，世界大学中，成立已几百年的有的是；想来想去，还是由于清华的人，或者说清华人和中国历史的特殊关联。
What is it that makes Tsinghua so attractive? Its beautiful campus? Its advanced facilities? But all these are not lacking in other universities. Or its long history? But a good many universities in the world even boast histories of several hundred years. Having thought it over and over again, I come to the conclusion that it is the people of Tsinghua, or rather, the special relationship between its people and Chinese history, that makes it so attractive.
说起清华人，我怀念我的老师们。大学一年级，俞平伯、余冠英两先生教我国文，一位
教读本，一位教作文，都亲切而严格，有一次余先生指出我把爬山虎写成紫荆的错误， 但又要我多写几篇给他看。二年级，贺麟老师教我西洋哲学史，见了我长达百页的英文 读书报告不仅不皱眉，反而在班上表扬我；正是在他的指导之下，我读了不少古希腊哲 学家著作的英译，真有发现新星球似的喜悦。温德老师在工字厅讲意大利文艺复兴时期 艺术，打开许多画册让我们传阅，幽默地然而严格地区分画的优劣。同样难忘的事还多， 那时候日本军队已在华北城市大街上演习，而清华的师生们则在学术上特别争气，不久 又在政治上发动了公然反日的一二九运动。
Speaking of the Tsinghua people, I cherish a lot of sweet memories of my teachers. As a freshman, I was taught Chinese language and literature by Professor Yu Pingbo and Professor Yu Guanying in reading and writing respectively. They were both encouraging and rigorous with me. Once Professor Yu Guanying pointed out that I had mistaken creepers for redbuds and encouraged me to write more for practice. As a sophomore, I was taught History of
Western Philosophy by Professor He Lin. He did not frown at my one-hundred-page long book report in English, but rather praised me in class. It was under his guidance that I read a great deal of ancient Greek philosophers in English translation, the delight from which was just like that of discovering a new planet. I was also taught Italian Renaissance by Professor Winter in the Gongzi Courtyard. In his lectures, he passed around many painting albums, and humorously but rigorously offered his critical evaluations. I have many such unforgettable experiences. At the time when the Japanese troops were carrying out military maneuvers in the cities of North China, the teachers and students of Tsinghua were endeavoring to achieve excellence in learning, and soon openly launched the December 9th Movement, a political movement against Japanese invasion.
我们这一级（1935-1939）还有一段特殊经历，即抗日战争的锻炼。我们两年在清华园 度过，两年在长沙、南岳、蒙自、昆明度过 。有的同学进入解放区打游击，大多数在大后方直接或间接地参加战争工作。但是学术上并未放松。昆明西南联大集北大、清华、南开三校的精华，师生在最简陋的条件下做出了当时第一流的研究成绩，青年人的成长
分外迅猛。走遍半个中国给了我们以接触内地实际的宝贵经验，这是在清华园小范围内埋头读书所无法得到的。所以这次大转移又是我们知识和感情上的一次大扩充。
Our grade (1935-1939) also went through a special experience, an experience of being tempered in the Anti-Japanese War. We spent the first two years on Tsinghua Campus, and the last two at Changshang, Nanyue, Mengzi and Kunming. Some of us fought as guerillas in the liberated areas, while most stayed in the vast rear areas, directly or indirectly participating in war work. Nevertheless our academic work never let up. The Southwest Associated University in Kunming assembled the elites from Peking, Tsinghua and Nankai Universities, who, under the crudest conditions, achieved the best academic results of the time, with the young maturing very rapidly. Waling over half of China endowed us with invaluable experiences of getting closer contact with the reality of inland China. These experiences were impossible to obtain by burying ourselves in books within the confines of Tsinghua Campus. This great shift therefore broadened both our knowledge and our sympathies.
然而我们仍然怀念清华园。在昆明读书和教书的八年里，可以说没有一天不想念北方的 故土。中国历史上，汉族士大夫几度被赶出北方，却没有一次能够回去。正如冯友兰先生指出的，只有这一次抗日不同。我们战胜了，1946 年夏我从昆明带着妻儿重新回到了清华园，虽然校舍残破，校园荒芜，但有陈岱孙先生领导一批员工在进行大规模的复校工作，不久就在北方的灿烂秋阳中重新上课，清华人意兴之豪，达到了一个新的高度。
Nevertheless, we still missed Tsinghua Campus. During the 8 years of learning and teaching in Kunming, there was not a single day we did not miss the native land in the north. In the course of Chinese history, Han Literati had been driven out of the north several times, and had
never been able to return. As Professor Feng Youlan pointed out, the Anti-Japanese War was an exception. This time we won the war. In the summer of 1946, I, together with my wife and children, returned from Kunming to Tsinghua Campus. Although the school buildings were worn out, and the campus desolate, a large group of staff led by Mr. Chen Daisun immediately threw themselves into reconstruction on a large scale, and before long, the Tsinghua people resumed classes under the splendid autumn sun of the north, their aspirations and enthusiasm reaching a new height.
接着，我出国留学。等我回来，清华园已经解放，开始了一个新的历史时期。
After that, I went abroad to further my study. When I came back, Tsinghua Campus had already been liberated and ushered a new historical era.
后来我转入别的学校工作。但是我心里始终保持着一种清华做学问的标准。
Later on, I was transferred to another university. But the Tsinghua academic standard remains with me.
这标准并无人明确定出，但是无数师友"行胜于言"的实际榜样却使我悟到：做学问必
须要有最高标准，而取得学问却是为了报效国家。简单说，就是卓越与为公。
Such a standard has never been explicitly laid down, but the actual example set by our innumerable fellow teachers and students of "actions speaking louder than words" has made me realize that there must be the highest standard in scholarship, and that the ultimate purpose of gaining knowledge is to serve our country. To put it simply, "preeminence in academia and contribution to society."
What Goethe's Life Reveals by Zong Baihua 人生是什么？人生的真相如何？人生的意义何在？人生的目的是何？这些人生最重大 最中心的问题，不只是古来一切大宗教家哲学家所殚精竭虑以求解答的。世界上第一流 的大诗人凝神冥想，深入灵魂的幽邃，或纵身大化中，于一朵花中窥见天国，一滴露水 参悟生命，然后用他们生花之笔，幻现层层世界，幕幕人生，归根也不外乎启示这生命 的真相与意义。宗教家对这些问题的方法与态度是预言的说教的，哲学家是解释的说明 的，诗人文豪是表现的启示的。荷马的长歌启示了希腊艺术文明幻美的人生与理想，但 丁的神曲启示了中古基督教文化心灵的生活与信仰，莎士比亚的剧本表现了文艺复兴时 人们的生活矛盾与权力意志
。至于近代的，建筑于这三种文明精神之上而同时开展一个 新时代，所谓近代人生，则由伟大的歌德以他的人格，生活，作品表现出它的特殊意义 与内在的问题。
What is life? What are the true nature, meaning and purpose of life? Since ancient times, great
philosophers and scholars of religion have strained their energy and intellect to the limit for an answer to these crucial and central questions in a person's life. But they are not alone. First-rate poets in the world have done the same by contemplating and pondering over the questions—now delving into the depth of their souls—now communing with Nature. They envision Paradise through a flower and see the meaning of life in a dewdrop. Then, with their gifted pens, they picture a kaleidoscopic world and act upon act of the drama of life. In the end their works serve no other purpose than revealing the truth and meaning of life. Faced with these questions, scholars of religion adopt the attitude and approach of trying to prophesy and exhort; philosophers to explain and expound; poets and men of letters to portray and reveal. Homer's epics enlighten us about the kind of refined, colorful life and ideal in Greek art. Dante's Divina Comedia reveals people's minds and faith in the Christian culture of the Middle Ages. Shakespeare's plays reflect the contradictions in men's lives and the "will to power" during the Renaissance. As to the kind of life in modern times, which derives from the three civilizations mentioned above and heralds a new age, it is the great Goethe who, through his personal character, life and works, demonstrates its special meaning and innate problems.
歌德对人生的启示有几层意义，几种方面。就人类全体讲，他的人格与生活可谓极尽了人类的可能性。他同时是诗人，科学家，政治家，思想家，他也是近代泛神论信仰的一个伟大的代表。他表现了西方文明自强不息的精神，又同时具有东方乐天知命宁静致远的智慧。德国哲学家息默尔（Simmel）说："歌德的人生所以给我们以无穷兴奋与深沉 的安慰的，就是他只是一个人，他只是极尽了人性，但却如此伟大，使我们对人类感到有希望，鼓动我们努力向前做一个人。"我们可以说歌德是世界一扇明窗，我们由他窥 见了人生生命永恒幽邃奇丽广大的天空！
Goethe reveals to us different layers and aspects of the meaning of life. Taking the human race as a whole, we may say that Goethe's personality and life represent the best possible in man. He is at once a poet, scientist, statesman, thinker and an outstanding representative of pantheistic faiths of modern times. He is the embodiment of both the spirit of unremitting endeavor in western civilization and the oriental wisdom of easy contentment and internal peace with foresight. Simmel the German philosopher once said, "The reason that Goethe can give us infinite excitement and deep solace is that he is but a human being, and he does nothing more than bringing out the best in human nature. Yet he is so great, and his greatness makes one see the hope in mankind's future and serves to encourage everyone of us to forge ahead and be a worthy man." We may say that Goethe is like a window on the world, through which we can see the eternal, serene, uniquely beautiful and boundless skies of life.
再狭小范围，就欧洲文化的观点说，歌德确是代表文艺复兴以后近代人的心灵生活及其内在的问题。近代人失去了基督教对一超越上帝虔诚的信仰。人类精神上获得了解放，
得到了自由；但也就同时失所依傍，彷徨摸索，苦闷，追求，欲在生活本身的努力中寻得人生的意义与价值。歌德是这时代精神伟大的代表，他的主著《浮士德》是这人生全部的反映与其问题的解决。歌德与其替身浮士德一生生活的内容就是尽量体验这近代人生特殊的精神意义，了解其悲剧而努力以解决其问题，指出解救之道。所以有人称他的浮士德是近代人的圣经。
In a narrower sense, viewed in the perspective of European culture, Goethe indeed represents people of the post-Renaissance period in terms of their intellectual life and their inner problems. In modern times people have abandoned their strong Christian faith in an omnipotent God. Their spirit has been emancipated and they have acquired freedom. Yet, on the other hand, they have lost what gave them strength. They are nervously groping in the dark; they are spiritually tormented; they engage in a quest, trying to find the true meaning and value of life through their mundane efforts. Goethe is a great representative of our Zeitgeist. His most important work, Faust, is a reflection of everything in this kind of life and a solution to its problems. All that Goethe and Dr Faust, his stand-in, do throughout their lives is to experience to the fullest the peculiar spirit and meaning of life in modern times, try to understand its tragedy, strive to solve its problems and show people the way of deliverance. This is why his Faust is deemed the Bible of modern times.
但歌德与但丁莎士比亚不同的地方，就是他不单是由作品里启示我们人生真相，尤其在
他自己的人格与生活中表现了人生广大精微的义谛。
But Goethe is different from Dante and Shakespeare, in that he does not merely enlighten us about the true meaning of life through his works. His personal character and behavior does
even more in demonstrating the great and subtle truth of life.（黄焕猷 译）
Yearning for That Piece of Green Meadow by Zhao Hongbo
认识那片青草地，是一个早春二月里的日子。
It was a February day in early spring that I got to know that green meadow. 周围的一切还处于一派寂静之中。那片青草地却在不惹人注意的时候，以一种青春的蓬 勃，悄悄地展延着生命的颜色，生长着这个季节之初所独有的鹅黄嫩绿。
Everything around the green meadow was tranquil when it discreetly, with youthful vigor, slowly and quietly displayed the color of life, light yellow and soft green, the characteristics of the beginning of this season.
春天刚刚复活，这片青草地宛如茫茫人海中久违的朋友，似严冬日子里的一丝温暖，给
了一位从冬天走过来的孤寂旅人以新的生命、热爱生命的力量和勇气！
Spring had just renewed; the green meadow, like a long separated friend from a vast sea of faces or a breath of warmth during the freezing days of winter, gave a new life, and the life-loving strength, and courage to a solitary traveler just coming from the severe cold.
草儿似乎刚刚出浴。鲜嫩的叶片上溜滑着一滴两滴的露珠，在春阳的映照下，折射出一
片耀眼的晶莹，似一粒粒珍珠在熠熠闪光。微风清略湖畔的时候，露珠从叶尖上颤颤地滚落下来，使人想起杏花春雨里的千点万点晶亮亮的檐滴，想起了生命成长的过程„ „
The grass seemed to have just been bathed; one or two dewdrops under the spring sun were rolling on the fresh leaves and showed a refraction of crystal-clear brilliance, like glistening pearls. Dewdrops trembled down off the tips of leaves when a breeze brushed over the lakeside. This reminded me of glittering raindrops falling from eaves in the spring rain, with the apricot blossoming and the growing course of life...
我久久地伫立于湖畔，聆听一种生命悄然拔节的声音，心头如有暖流滚滚！刹那间，心
中的春天已是万木竞秀，繁花缤纷。我强烈地感受到：禁锢了一冬的生命正在苏醒，心 扉灵府里渗透了一种全新的感觉，那些弱小但又顽强不屈的草儿，以其锲而不舍的执著， 昭示出一种原始的壮美，使我真切地感悟到人生的真谛和生命的意义！
I stood for a long time by the shore of the lake, listening to the sound of life, with warm currents filling my heart. Suddenly spring inside me blossomed into luxuriance. I strongly felt that life was waking after being confined for the whole winter, and my heart was penetrated with a brand-new feeling. The persevering inflexibility of that, weak, yet indomitable grass, showed a primitive magnificence and beauty which helped me vividly realize the real essence and true meaning of life.
这以后，沉寂的万千生命开始喧闹起来。那片小草，也纷纷地擎起了一面面青春的旗幡，
沐浴着春风，欣欣然地欢舞，自由自在歌唱。我的干涸已久的心田，被这一片碧绿种满了生机。
Afterwards, the thousands of silent and quiet lives began to bustle. And the grass, lifting up their banner of youth, and bathed in the spring breeze, danced cheerfully and sang to their heart's content. My heart, which had dried up for so long, was filled with vitality from the green meadow.
于是，整个春天，这片青草地是我放牧心灵的绿洲，是我排遣尘间烦愁的安抚。看着草
儿们一天天秀茁，一如泰戈尔的诗句："小草呀，你的足步虽小，但你却拥有你足下的 土地"，我也有脚踏实地的充盈，如同小草一般，拥有我足下的土地。
Then, for the whole spring, the green meadow turned to the oasis where I set my heart out for pasture and it brought me the comfort, which diverted me from the vexations of the world. Watching the grass grow stronger and prettier day by day, I recalled a line from Tagore's poems: "Grass, small as thy pace is, thou hath thy own land under thy feet." And I felt I had my feet planted on the solid ground and, like the little grass, owned the earth beneath my feet.
下雪的日子里，我独自守在窗前，默诵雪莱那"如果冬天来了，春天还会远吗？"的名
句，看那一朵朵轻盈洁白的雪花，从铅灰色的冥空里无声地飘落下来，轻轻地覆盖在那片干枯的草地上，心想：那草儿来年一定会长得更茂盛的。
During the snowing days, standing alone by the window, I recited silently Shelley's famous lines that "If winter comes, can spring be far behind?" Watching the pure-white, graceful snowflakes falling in silence from the lead-gray sky, covering gently the withered meadow, I thought that in the coming year, the grass would flourish.
然而，那片给了我许多慰藉的青草地，已经永远从我的生活里消失了。消失于一次填湖
筑路，创造另一种形式的美的过程之中。那些小草被毁灭之前，一定为生存的权利抗争过吧！正如契诃夫《草原》里的小草一样："她说她热烈地想活下去，她还年轻„ „ 她 会长得更美。"
Yet, the meadow that had given me so much comfort has forever disappeared from my life. It disappeared when a path was constructed to the middle of the lake ― a process of creating another form of beauty. Before the extermination however, the grass must have struggled for the right to live on! Just like the grass in Chekov's "Prairie": "She said she earnestly wanted to live on, she was still young. She would be more beautiful..."
但是，在力量悬殊的抗争之中，扼杀生命是易如反掌的事情。闭上眼，我能看到：那些
半死不活、凋萎的小草，正在悲凉恳切地诉说着„ „ 讲到他们什么罪过也不曾有过，却要无辜地被人们毁灭掉„ „
But in the struggle of great disparity in strength, it was as easy as turning one's hand over to strangle a life. Closing my eyes, I could see those half-dead, withering grass complaining with grief...that they'd never done anything wrong, yet they would be destroyed by man innocently...
我不知道，那些善良的筑路人是否听到过草儿们哀怨的诉说？但我相信，那种哀怨的无声的诉说，一定是一种生命的绝唱！
I don't know whether those kind road-builders had ever heard the sad complaint of the grass. But I believe that the silent grievance must have been a kind of swan song of life!
如今，那条湖心小路蜿蜿蜓蜓，曲径通幽，有月光的夜里，树影婆娑。偶尔走在上面的
时候，只要想起那片青草地，想起那些曾经寄我情思、慰我心魂的小草，我的心中总有一股悲壮的感受，仿佛足踏在草儿们的尸骨上，听到脚下灵魂痛苦地呻吟叹息！
Now, the path winds its way to the middle of the lake ― leading into the privacy and seclusion. On moonlit nights, the shadows of trees dance in the breeze. When I walk on the path occasionally, thinking of that green meadow and of the grass, where I placed my feelings and I was comforted, I would feel something moving and tragic filling up my heart, as if I were treading on the remains of the grass and hearing the painful groan and sigh of its soul under my feet!
我想：假如生命终结之后确有灵魂存在的话，那么，这世上呻吟叹息的又岂只是那些小
草的灵魂？
If a soul does exist when a life comes to an end, then, could the soul of the grass be the only one that groans and moans on the earth?
现在，早春有一次来临，静谧的湖畔里又有星星点点的鹅黄嫩绿，悄悄繁衍着生命的碧
翠。在历经自然和人类的双重肃杀之后，无数生命又将开始一个新的轮回。固然逝去的已经不复存在，而活着的又要为生命继续拼搏！
Now, early spring has appeared once more, with flecks of light yellow and soft green silently breeding. After experiencing the double devastation of nature and man, thousands upon thousands of lives will start a new samsara. Although the deceased is out of existence, the living still has to continue struggling for life!
其实，生命这种东西轰轰烈烈也好，默默无闻也罢，归根结蒂，都不过是一种悲壮的过
程而已。正因为有了这种悲壮的过程，所以"太阳每天都是新的！"
In fact, in final analysis, life, being dynamic or unknown, is nothing but a solemn and stirring process. Yet just because of this solemn and stirring process, "the sun is new everyday!"
我因此时常怀想那片青草地。
Therefore, I often think of the green meadow.
（张晔 译）
Nanjing the Beloved City 南京，她有层出不穷的风流人物和彪炳千秋的不朽业绩
。大都会特有的凝聚力，吸引了 无数风云人物、仁人志士在这里角逐争雄，一逞豪彦。从孙权、谢安到洪秀全、孙中山， 从祖冲之、葛洪到李时珍、郑和，从刘勰、萧统到曹雪芹、吴敬梓，从王羲之、顾恺之 到徐悲鸿、傅抱石，还有陶行知、杨廷宝等等，中国历史上一批杰出的政治家、军事家、 科学家、文学家、艺术家、教育家、建筑家等荟萃于此，在这块钟灵毓秀的土地上一圆 他们的辉煌之梦。他们是中华民族的优秀儿女。巍巍钟山、滚滚长江养育了他们，为他 们提供了施展抱负的舞台，他们也以自己的雄才大略、聪明智慧为中华民族的灿烂文明 增添了流光溢彩的新篇章。
Nanjing has witnessed the continuous emergence of many distinguished talents and noble hearts as well as monumental achievements that shone through the ages. Attracted by her special appeal, a great number of powerful figures and people actuated by high ideals have stayed in or frequented this metropolis to contend for the lead or to give play to their genius and virtues. Military commanders such as Sun Quan and Xie An; political leaders such as Hong Xiuquan and Dr. Sun Yat-sen; scientists like Zu Chongzhi, Ge Hong, Li Shizhen and Zheng He; men of letters such as Liu Xie, Xiao Tong, Cao Xueqin and Wu Jingzi; artists like Wang Xizhi, Gu Kaizhi, Xu Beihong and Fu Baoshi; educators such as Tao Xingzhi; and architects like Yang Tingbao — all these renowned historical figures used to settle on this blessed land to have their splendid dreams fulfilled. The towering Purple Mountains and billowing Yangtze River nurtured them and provided them with arenas in which to realize their aspirations. By virtue of their genius, vision, and sagacity, these best and brightest sons and daughters of the nation made spectacular contributions to the resplendent Chinese civilization.
南京，她自新中国建立以来发生的巨大而深刻的变化更加令人欢欣鼓舞。"虎踞龙盘今 胜昔，天翻地覆慨而慷"。
The tremendous changes that have taken place in Nanjing since New China was founded are even more inspiring, just as the much quoted couplet from a poem written by the late Chairman Mao Zedong on the occasion of the liberation of the city on April 23, 1949 has it:
The city, a tiger crouching, a dragon curling, outshines its ancient glories; In heroic triumph heaven and earth have been overturned.
从 1949 年 4 月 23 日始，人民真正成为这座古老城市的主人。金陵回春，古城新生， 昔日饱尝的屈辱和灾难，至此如同梦魇终被摆脱。人民在自己的土地上辛勤劳作，把古
城南京装扮得面貌一新。特别是近十几年来，改革开放又给这座美丽的名城注入了新的 活力，崭新的工业、通达的运输、如画的城市建设、兴盛的第三产业、多彩的文化生活， 都使这个具有古都特色的现代都市焕发出勃勃英姿。孙中山先生所预言的："南京将来 之发展未可限量也"，正在逐步成为现实。
Balmy spring winds returned to bring new life to this historic city, of which the common people came to be the genuine masters. The night marish sufferings and humiliations of the past were left behind once and for all. The citizens of Nanjing have been working hard to give this age-old town a new appearance. Especially for the past ten years or more, the country's reform and opening-up policy has infused new vigor into this beautiful and famous city. Newly built industries, an efficient transportation network extending in all directions, picturesque urban construction, a booming tertiary industry, a varied and colorful cultural life, all these and more added charm and vitality to this modern metropolis, which retains somehow the ambiance and features of an ancient capital. The prophecy of Dr. Sun Yat-sen father of modern China that "Nanjing will have a future that knows no bounds" is becoming true.
南京，这座古老而又年轻的历史文化名城，是多么的可爱！
Nanjing, an old city with a rich and celebrated past, yet vigorous in her new youth — how lovely she is!（柯平 译）
The Rosy Cloud byBingxin 四十年代初期，我在重庆郊外歌乐山闲居的时候， 曾看到英文《读者文摘》上，有个很 使我惊心的句子，是： May there be enough clouds in your life to make a beautiful sunset.
During the early 1940s I was living a retired life in the Gele Mountains in the suburbs of Chongqing (Chungking). One day, while reading the English language magazine Reader's Digest I found a sentence that touched me greatly. It read: "May there be enough clouds in your life to make a beautiful sunset."
我在一篇短文里曾把它译成："愿你的生命中有够多的云翳，来造成一个美丽的黄昏。"
In a short article of mine, I quoted this sentence and translated it as "Yuan ni de shengming zhong you guo duo de yunyi, lai zaocheng yige meili de huanghun. " (literally: May there be enough clouds in your life to make a beautiful sunset.) *
其实，这个 sunset 应当译成"落照"或"落霞"。
As I see it now, the word "sunset" in the English sentence should have been translated as luozhao (the glow at sunset) or luoxia (the rosy cloud at sunset), instead of dusk.
霞，是我的老朋友了！我童年在海边、在山上，她都是我的最熟悉最美丽的小伙伴。她
每早每晚都在光明中和我说"早上好"或"明天见"。但我直到几十年以后，才体会到云彩更多，霞光才愈美丽。从云翳中外露的霞光，才是璀璨多彩的。
She has been my dear old friend, the Rosy Cloud! She was my closest and most beautiful little companion when, in my childhood, I played on the beach or in the hills. Bathed in the brilliant sunshine, she would say to me "Good morning!" at dawn and "See you tomorrow!" at dusk. But not until several decades later did I come to realize that the more clouds there are the more beautiful the rays of sunlight will be, and the glow of the sun breaking through the clouds becomes most resplendent and colorful.
生命中不是只有快乐，也不是只有痛苦，快乐和痛苦是相生相成，互相衬托的。
Life contains neither unalloyed happiness nor mere misery. Happiness and misery beget, complement and set off each other.
快乐是一抹微云，痛苦是压城的乌云，这不同的云彩，在你生命的天边重叠着，在"夕
阳无限好"的时候，就给你造成一个美丽的黄昏。
Happiness is a wisp of fleecy cloud; misery a mass of threatening dark cloud. These different clouds overlap on the horizon of your life to create a beautiful dusk for you when "the setting sun is most lovely indeed."**
一个生命会到了"只是近黄昏"的时节，落霞也许会使人留恋、惆怅。但人类的生命是
永不止息的。地球不停地绕着太阳自转。东方不亮西方亮，我床前的晚霞，正向美国东岸的慰冰湖上走去„ „
An individual's life must inevitably reach the point when "dusk is so near,"*** and the rosy sunset cloud may make one nostalgic and melancholy. But human life goes on and on. The Earth ceaselessly rotates on its axis around the sun. When it is dark in the east, it is light in the west. The rosy sunset cloud is now sailing past my window towards Lake Waban on the east coast of America ...
天气一天比一天寒冷 。北海公园的湖上已经结了厚厚的冰层，马路两旁树木上的叶子已经落尽了，只有光秃秃的树枝在寒风中瑟瑟颤抖着。
It was getting colder with each passing day. The lake in Beihai Park was covered with a thick layer of ice. The roadside trees had been stripped of their foliage, leaving their bare branches and twigs shivering in the biting wind.
北平已被强大的人民解放军包围，城门紧闭，粮食、蔬菜、鱼肉都运不进来。我们吃着
早已准备的酱萝卜，有时也用黄豆泡豆芽。
Peiping had been besieged by the powerful PLA forces. The city gates were shut tight and supplies of grain, vegetables, fish and meat were cut off. We had to make do with the pickled turnips we had laid in long beforehand and sometimes ate home-grown soybean sprouts instead.
时不时可以听见解放军的炮声。但是北平城内还有着数量庞大的国民党军队，虽然已如
瓮中之鳖，但如果负隅顽抗，仍将给人民的生命财产造成巨大损失。何去何从？急待抉择。当时，统率这批军队的傅作义将军在无可奈何的情况下，邀请了北平的一些学者名流，征询意见。
Now and then the PLA artillery was heard booming while entrenched inside the city were an enormous number of Kuomintang troops. Though bottled up like turtles in a jar, they could nevertheless cause a tremendous loss of life and property to the local inhabitants should they put up a last-ditch resistance. To surrender or not to surrender ― that was the question awaiting prompt solution by General Fu Zuoyi, then in command of the KMT troops. Faced with the dilemma, the General was obliged to call in some local scholars and celebrities for consultation.
会场设在中南海内，空气异常严肃紧张。傅作义将军作了简短的致词，表示愿意虚心听
取大家的意见。墙上的挂钟"滴答滴答"地响着，很长时间没有人发言。大家只是用疑 虑的眼光互相探询着，担心如果发言要求和平解放北平，会带来很大的风险。
They met in Zhongnanhai amidst an extremely solemn and tense atmosphere. General Fu made a brief opening address, in which he expressed his willingness to listen with an open
mind to all opinions. Thereupon, all was quiet except for the tick-tock of the clock on the wall. For a long while, the whole gathering kept silent and looked questioningly from one to another with eyes full of misgivings. They were afraid they could get themselves into great trouble by speaking in favor of the peaceful liberation of Peiping.
最后，沉默的空气还是被打破了。许多人纷纷发言，热烈希望傅作义将军以北平人民的
安全和保护故都文化胜迹为重，尽量争取早日和平解放北平。
At long last, however, silence was broken when many began to speak up one after another to urge the General to give first priority to protecting the local people and the cultural relics of the onetime capital, and therefore do everything he could to ensure a peaceful solution as soon as possible.
傅作义将军一直耐心而认真地听着大家的发言。最后，他站起来，表示感谢大家直言不
讳。
The General, who had been listening with patience and attention, finally rose to his feet to thank everybody for speaking their minds plainly. 会后，人们奔走相告，感到北平和平解放
的希望越来越大，漫长的黑夜终于即将过去。
After the meeting, people lost no time in spreading the good news, feeling more and more hopeful of the peaceful liberation of Peiping and the final speedy conclusion of the long dark
night. （张培基 译）
老来乐 金克木
Delights in Growing Old by Jin Kemu 六十整岁望七十岁如攀高山。不料七十岁居然过了。又想八十岁是难于上青天， 可望 不可及了。岂知八十岁又过了。老汉今年八十二矣。这是照传统算法，务虚不务实。现 在不是提倡尊重传统吗?
At the age of sixty I longed for a life span of seventy, a goal as difficult as a summit to be reached. Who would expect that I had reached it? Then I dreamed of living to be eighty, a target in sight but as inaccessible as Heaven. Out of my anticipation, I had hit it. As a matter of fact, I am now an old man of eighty-two. Such longevity is a grant bestowed by Nature; though nominal and not real, yet it conforms to our tradition. Is it not advocated to pay respect to nowadays?
老年多半能悟道。孔子说 "天下有道"。老子说 "道可道"。《圣经》说"太初有道"。
佛教说"邪魔外道"。我老了，不免胡思乱想，胡说八道，自觉悟出一条真理: 老年是广阔天地， 是可以大有作为的。
An old man is said to understand the Way most probably: the Way of good administration as put forth by Confucius, the Way that can be explained as suggested by Laotzu, the Word (Way)
in the very beginning as written in the Bible and the Way of pagans as denounced by the Buddhists. As I am growing old, I can't help being given to flights of fancy and having my own Way of creating stories. However I have come to realize the truth: my old age serves as a vast world in which I can still have my talents employed fully and developed completely.
七十岁开始可以诸事不做而拿退休金，不愁没有一碗饭吃，自由自在，自得其乐。要看
书可以随便乱翻。 金庸、梁羽生、克里斯蒂、松本清张，从前哪能拜读 ? 现在可以了。随看随忘，便扔在一边。无忧无虑，无人打扰，不必出门而自有天地。真是无限风光在老年。
At the age of seventy I began my retirement, in which I can rely on my old-age pension for a living, free from my burden of the boring routines I used to bear, and lead a life carefree and contended. As for reading I can, now, choose at my own will to thumb through anything to while away the time. I can find time to read anything that I didn't used to, for instance, such time- killers as those created by Jin Yong, Liang Yusheng, Christie and Seicho Matsummoto. I don't have to keep them in mind and quit them as I see fit. There being no worry and disturbance, I need not travel far in my own world so vast. True it is that the most splendid view may be found in old age!
偶尔有人来，不论男女老少认识不认识，天南地北，天上地下，天文地理，谈天说地，
百无禁忌。我的话匣子一开，激光磁盘便响个不停，滔滔不绝。无奈我闲人忙，听众逐渐稀少，终于门庭冷落，只剩一屋子广阔天地，任我独往独来，随意挥洒。
Occasionally I had some visitors, male or female, old or young, acquainted and unacquainted. We could chat about everything in the north or in the south, in the space or at the core, related to astronomy or geography, in the Heaven or in the Hell and there were no taboos for us at all. Whenever I broke the ice I began to pour my words, in a flow of eloquence, as continuously as a laser disc. Unfortunately, I was jobless while they were so busy that they almost melted away until few knocks came at the door and the world became vacant again. Now I alone can occupy it and go my own way.
打开电视，又是一番新气象。古今中外，赤道南极，变幻莫测。真能坐地日行八万里。
忽而庄严说教，忽而插科打诨，忽而高歌一曲，忽而舞步翩翩。帝王将相，牛鬼蛇神， 无不具备，应有尽有，场面各有不同。主持人个个精神焕发。服装表演件件花样翻新。足球射门中的。篮球投篮不空。马家军飒爽英姿。大歌星真人假唱。忽然出现红顶花翎， 拖着辫子，仿佛我的一百四十岁的父亲复活。他不辞辛苦跑到北京来对宣统皇帝磕头。我却曾在大庭广众中对溥仪先生点头问好。真是一代不如一代，一代胜过一代。正在得 意之间，不料长袍马褂已变成西装革履。长发长袜，飘来跳去，三点泳装耀眼生辉。眼 睛耳朵实在招架不住，那就下令暂停，闭目养神去也。
When I turn on the TV set, some other new scenes come into my sight, for example, the
changeable events in history or in current affairs, on the equator or at the poles. It might be said that while sitting in my room I can cover eighty thousand miles a day since our planet spins. Come upon the screen, now serious preaches, now comic gestures and remarks, now resounding songs, now twists and dances. The cast may be emperors, generals, monsters or demons, of all kinds and of all sorts, but in different situations. Every host beams with vigor and energy, as a model girl shows a brand new costume, as a goal is made in a football game, as each shot scores the basket, as a distance- race runner on the team coached by Mr. Ma makes a good performance or as a famous star comes on the stage in person but his /her song comes from the cassette. Suddenly the picture changes as an official in a red-topped hat and with a pigtail behind the back comes upon the scene, as if my 140-year-old father had come to life again. He made light of a tiring travel from my hometown to the capital in order to kowtow to the emperor Xuantong. In contrast, I did once meet with and greet Mr. Pu Yi, the same person, in public. Really, a new generation may be inferior to the old and in turn an old generation may be outshone by the new. As I am beside myself in high glee, the traditional costume gives way to a western suit. Then the long-haired and the long-stocked shake their legs as if adrift, sandwiched by the radiating bikinied. My eyes and ears can hardly stand those things and I order the set to be turned off for I am going to close my eyes for a rest.
这正是：
小屋之中天地阔， 老年无事是忙人。
So it is well said:
The world is vast though in the house very small; The old become jobless, yet now most active of all.
（集体讨论，萧立明 执笔）
可贵的"他人意识"
Calling for an Awareness of Others 上世纪中叶的中国式"集体主义"，自从在世纪末之前，逐渐分解以及还原为对个人和 个体的尊重，初步建立起个人的权益保障系统之后，"我们"——这个在计划经济时代 使用频率极高的词，已被更为普遍的"我"所代替。我喜欢说"我"，也因此欣赏其他的 那些"我"。如果没有"我"的确立，没有无数"我"的合作，" 我们"必定是空洞、 脆弱、空心化以至于不堪一击的
。
Shortly before the turn of the new century, the collectivism that had been haunting China since the 1950s went bankrupt, giving way to respect for individuality, and the protection of individual rights was initially institutionalized. The plural form "we," used ubiquitously in the era of planned economy, has been widely replaced by the singular form "me." I love to talk about "myself," and I have learnt to admire those other "selves." Without the assertion of individuality, without the cooperation of a vast number of individuals, the idea of "we" is bound to be meaningless, fragile, and vulnerable.
然而，在"我"和"我们"之间，是以"他人"作为连接点的。"我"因"他人"
而成为"我"；"我们"因"他人"而成为"我们"。当"我们"过度地强化、放大"我"， 而舍弃"他人"的时候，"我"便处于四面受敌的孤立无援之中。在我们的传统习性中， "他人"这一概念，更多的情况下，只是一种被供奉的虚设牌位。我们的成语中曾有"以 邻为壑"一词，可以佐证；有"只扫自家门前雪，哪管他人瓦上霜"的谚语，可以证言。即便在集体主义理想教育最为鼎盛之时，"他人 "不仅未能成为国人的自觉意识，"他 人"反而意味着告密、背叛、异己、危险、离间等等。这种体制下的集体主义文化，终 于导致了"他人即地狱"的严酷后果。闻"他人"而心颤，近"他人"而丧胆。也许正是由于对"他人"的恐惧，"文革"之后，"我们"迅速土崩瓦解，"我"自仰天长啸—
—而"他人"却不得不退出公众的视线，淡化为一个可有可无的虚词，成为公民道德的 模糊地带。
However, "others" form the nexus between "me" and "us." It is through others that I become myself. It is through others that we become ourselves. When "we" over-emphasize and magnify "myself" at the expense of others, "I" will end up defenseless, exposed to all kinds of slings and arrows. Our tradition, more often than not, only plays lip service to the idea of "others." For evidence, we can cite the idiom "Divert the flood to the neighbor’s courtyard," as well as the proverb "Mind your business and pay no heed to the rest of the world." Even when the indoctrination of collectivism approached its climax, respect for "others" never infiltrated into over awareness; instead, the word "others" often implied betrayal, alienation, danger, and estrangement. This institutionalized collectivism ushered in disastrous consequences, as expressed by the catch phrase "Hell is other people." Therefore, we shudder
and panic at the mere mention of "others." It is probably due to this phobia of others that the hegemony of "us" collapsed overnight after the Cultural Revolution. Each one now asserts himself aggressively, while "others" step out of the limelight, reduced to being an empty word, an insignificant particle, at best of questionable moral value.
五十年代以来，人口的高速增长，造成生存空间的高密度化；人口压力长期形成经
济发展与卫生保健的沉重负担；部分农村以及偏远地区的计划生育仍然阻力重重。"我" 生我的娃，关你什么样事？在人口问题上，可有"他人"的意识么？餐馆大肆收购、杀 戮、烹煮野生动物为牟取暴利；食客面不改色食用野生动物以饱"口福 "或炫耀财富； 官吏不惜以野生珍稀动物作为最高规格的宴席；"贿赂"上级领导为自己铺设升官晋级 的阶梯——在这个破坏自然生态的"人链"中，可有"他人" 的位置么？长期以来， 城市与乡村的公共卫生系统始终没有得到真正重视：办公室的脏乱差、公共场所的日常 消毒防护、公共厕所的洗手设备、污水处理、生活垃圾等等。但公共卫生的管理者与被 管理者的心态，却有着惊人的共识：这又不是我一个人的事情。在这些被忽略的公共卫 生死角中，可有"他人"的概念？日积累月的民众生活卫生习惯中，沉淀下多少恶习陋 性——随地吐痰、随地大小便、随地抛弃果皮塑料袋、就餐分餐制难以推行、酒后驾车、公共场所吸烟等等„ „ "我们"的传统文化是"不患寡，患不均"——在这利益与灾祸均享均沾、"同甘共苦"的行为惯性中，可有愿为"他人"避免灾祸而自控自律的一份责任感？
Since the 1950s, the nation’s fast growing population has resulted in a further comprehension of our living space, imposing heavy burdens on the nation’s economic development and health care. In some rural areas and remote hinterlands, the birth-control policy is still hard to implement. "I" decide to give birth to "my" baby, and what’s all the fuss about that on "your" part? On this matter, do we have any awareness of "others"? Unscrupulous restaurant owns rush to procure and slaughter wild animals so as to serve them up as delicacies for exorbitant profit. With typical sangfroid, customers feast on wild animal meat to gratify their curious palate or to flaunt their wealth. Government officials, to secure a quick promotion, typically choose to bribe their superiors with sumptuous banquets featuring wildlife meat. In this Great Chain of "Human" Beings designed to destroy our natural environment, can we find any consideration for "others"? For quite a long time, urban and rural public hygiene is much neglected: dirty, disorderly and ill-maintained offices become the norm rather than the exception. Everywhere we look, there is a lack of hygiene in public toilets, not to mention the decrepit sewage system and household waste scattered all about — the list can go much longer. However, both the administrators of public health and the general public share one view in common — that for such matters, personal effort makes no difference. In unvisited corners overlooked by public health workers, can we ever find a caring thought for "others"?
Yet, how many bad habits are still embedded in our time-honored customs? Spitting randomly, urinating and defecating in public places — just name a few. Out tradition teaches us that "not paucity in provision, but unequal distribution, is the source of anxiety." Does this blind faith in equal distribution, or feckless and torpid communitarianism alternatively, leave any room for self-discipline and a sense of responsibility towards others?
我们似乎一直在无意中铺设着迎接它到来的无障碍通道。然而，在公共领域里，"零
距离"是有害的。距离便是"他人"，而"他人"即社会公德。因为在这个世界上，除 了"你"和"我"之外，地球上更多存在的是陌生的"他"——"他人"，还有"它"
——与人类共存的动物朋友们。正是为了"我"的安全与自由，请不要再"唯我独尊"， 而多些对"他人"的关爱吧。"我"的自由是他人自由的终结。而他人的自由，最终才能成全"我"的自由。
In fact, we seem to have been building up, quite unwittingly, the royal road to the apocalypse. Nevertheless, "zero distance" is harmful in the public domain. Distance implies an awareness of others, which is the foundation of any public morality. In this world, besides "you" and "me," there exist an infinite number of others, both human and nonhuman, including our animal neighbors. Therefore, for the sake of the security and freedom of all individuals, let us curb our egocentrism, and try to show your concern for others. Remember this sobering truth: the reckless freedom of one’s own leads to the destruction of the freedom of others, without which no real freedom is possible for all.
教孩子相信
To Implant In Our Children’s Young Hearts An Undying Faith In
Humanity
今天，直率的年轻人对我说，你们 50 年代的人背负了"读书报国、以天下为己任"的十字架，但是我们新时代的人，对不起，不想背你们的十字架。我们唯一的十字架是如何在成千上万 yahoo 交友的照片中，找到一个自己最顺眼的伴。
Some blunt young people say to me nowadays, "You 1950s bunch bear this cross like martyrs
— the entire nation always on your mind, every ready to serve it with your schooling. Us teens, however, don’t want to be squashed under that burden. The only worries we have are how to catch, from among the loads of singles’ pics on Yahoo, someone attractive enough to date."
我哑然失笑。
Thus challenged, I can hardly hold back a chuckle. 谁说我们这一代人都是忧国忧民呢？大学时代，有那么多同龄人选择过自己的日子：整 天打麻将的、通宵跳舞的、到处找顺眼伴侣的、出了国酒誓死不归的、吃喝玩乐无所不 为的„ „ 不管哪个时代，认真地心怀家国社会的总是少数，那少数中学而有成的，又是 少数；学而有成海对家国之思持之以恒而且加以实践的，更是少数中的少数。社会的进 步，是这些少数执著的人锲而不舍的推动
，发挥影响而造成的。大多数的人，就搭了进 步的便车，顺势前行。
Who says my peers were only concerned about the country? Back in my university days, many of them also chose to live a cheerful, carefree life, playing mahjong all day, dancing all night, looking all over for a "presentable" boyfriend or girlfriend. Others, once abroad, swore never to return to their homeland. Still others acted on the hedonistic motto of "Eat, drink and be merry" and forgot all about life’s nobler aims … In any era, those who devote themselves to the good of their compatriots and society as a whole, are but a few to start with. Among them, those who have done well in their studies are even fewer. As for those who actually live up to that ideal, they are extremely rare. However, human society would not have made all of its advances without the painstaking effort or positive influence of such people — everyone else just muddles along.
不必谈社会制度的进步，即使只是一个灯光迷炫、乐鼓沸腾的酒吧舞场，也不会凭空而 来。在舞场存在以前，有人努力过，使这样的狂欢文化被容许而不是被取缔。然后，在 "狂欢"的背后，必须有人制定法规，有人做消防检查，有人处理噪音，有人组织音响， 有人筹备乐队，有人清理垃圾，有人设计下水道„ „
Let’s brush aside for a moment the question of how to advance society in general. Even a brilliantly lit disco, a lot of fun with fast pulsating music, does not come out of nowhere. It’s
available because someone or another pushed real hard to permit rather than ban such "festive culture." Yet behind the scenes, unsung heroes are called in to draw up rules and regulations, check the firefighting equipment, adjust he noise level, set up the sound system , organize the band, or simply dump trash or make sure the sewage runs.
现在的社会，是不是一个没有问题以至于年轻人无可发挥的社会？怎么可能？贫富不
均、是非混淆、公平与正义不明、权力与责任的规则混乱„ „ 我看见的是一个更为复杂、更难理解、需要更高智慧去面对的未来。沉重的"十字架"，不管是哪一个年代，总是 在的；愿意看见它而且去背负它的人，不管是哪一个时代，哪一个"世代"，总是少数 人。重点是，那少数人不能没有。搭便车是容易的，但总得有人开车，而且是清醒地开， 因为上车的可能是一群尽情完成自我、狂欢归来的醉客。
Is society today so bereft of problems as to leave no space for young men and women to play a role in it? Of course not. Take a look around, and you see the ever-widening gap between rich and poor, the blurring of the distinction between right and wrong, the diminishing value placed on justice or fairness, and the perplexity of rules governing power and accountability. What I see is a more intricate, bewildering future, which calls for higher wisdom before any solution is ever likely to emerge. A cross, heavy as it is, is always there — notwithstanding the fact that just a tiny bunch of people ever bother to see and hear it, regardless of their era or generation. The crux is that such a minority is at any rate indispensable. Though it is easy to catch a free ride, someone has to drive the vehicle, especially someone sober, because the passengers might be some self-absorbed drunks just back from yet another orgiastic frenzy.
要建立让孩子世世代代生长的信心。我们需要"相信"：相信政治人物有品格，相信文
明的不可或缺，相信自己脚踩的土地有人灌溉，相信沉重的十字架有人背起，相信在翻 来覆去喧哗浮躁的潮流中还是有一些恒久不变的东西，怎么颠倒都不被腐蚀，譬如责任、品格、道德、勇气。
It is essential to implant in our children’s young hearts an undying faith in humanity. We must develop our own trust — that political leaders are ethically and morally upright, that civilization is basic to our very survival, that the earth under our feet is amply irrigated and a heavy cross bravely borne. We must believe that beneath the clutter and chaos of this treacherous world lie things that never decay, despite constant erosion — matters such as responsibility, integrity, moral fortitude and courage
Aesthetic Education and National Progress
[1] The diminution of emphasis on the arts and the humanities and the corresponding increased emphasis on business and STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) has resulted in a normative conception of national progress that excludes aesthetic education. In this essay, I argue that aesthetic educators should challenge the normative understanding of national progress. (In the humanities, aesthetic educators typically are educators of English, foreign languages and literature, philosophy, art history and film studies.) To this end, I call attention to the writings of the French philosopher Germaine de Staël (1766-1817) because in the adaptation of her notion of progress lies possible hope for the future of the humanities and the arts.
[2] In contemporary American society, national progress is more often than not equated with job creation, and job creation is linked to advancement in business and the STEM disciplines. For example, in his 2012 acceptance speech after the national election, President Obama called for the United States to remain the leader in science and technology, and then he exclaimed, "America, I believe we can build on the progress we've made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunities and new security for the middle class."
[3] Lip service is paid to civic responsibility and its role in national progress, while federal and state governments, as well as institutions of higher education, drastically cut budgets and/or entire programs in the humanities and the arts. Aesthetic educators know that these cuts will, in the long term, be devastating to civil society because the humanities and the arts are precisely the programs that convey cultural capital. More precisely, they cultivate in students the critical judgment and the independence of thought needed to be able to make informed decisions about their place in civil society. Given the number of indicators that point to a decline in public and institutional support for the humanities and the arts, however, it has become easy for aesthetic educators to become demoralized, feel irrelevant, and even believe that we, in fact, have little or no role in national progress.
[4] As examples of indicators that point to the increasing irrelevance of the humanities, in FY 2014, the appropriations to both the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts(NEA) were cut by 13 percent from their peak 2010 numbers, while the National Science Foundation (NSF) appropriations increased by almost 4 percent from 2010. Perhaps the 13 percent cut would not have been so shocking if the NEH and NEA allocations did not represent a mere 2 percent of the total NSF allocation. The pill is even harder to swallow when one considers that, in 1979, the NEH and the NEA, respectively, received funding equivalent to approximately 16 percent of the NSF.
[5] Salaries represent a second measure of the diminishing consideration for the humanities and the arts within university structures. The Oklahoma Faculty Survey by Discipline, a study that surveys the salaries of professors at 114 "Research University/Very High Research Activity" institutions, lists average salaries for all ranks of tenure-track faculty in a number of disciplines. According to the 2013-14 study, the average salary of a faculty member in the arts was $71,463; in English,
$76,627; in philosophy and religious studies, $81,971; in physical sciences, $102,636; in engineering, $114,827; and in business management, $139,093. While salaries in 2013-14 increased from 2011-12 in the physical science, engineering, and business management, they decreased in the fine arts, English, and philosophy. If markets drive salaries, the arts and the humanities are clearly not high in market demand. This lack of demand for the humanities and the arts is further underscored in Governor Rick Scott's proposal that tuition rates for Florida state universities be frozen for students who major in "strategic areas". Lizette Alvarez from the New York Times states of Scott’s proposal, "The message from Tallahassee could not be blunter: Give us engineers, scientists, health care specialists and technology experts. Do not worry so much about historians, philosophers, anthropologists and English majors." From multiple perspectives, then, we see an explicit shift to STEM disciplines and a discouragement of humanities and arts education, whether in program development, faculty salaries, or student tuitions. Faced with what seems to be such overwhelming confirmation of aesthetic educators’ irrelevance to today’s understanding of national progress—namely, advancement in business, science and technology—aesthetic educators in the humanities and the arts are struggling to communicate to others outside our field, and to the public at large, our vital role.
[6] As demoralizing as the perceived irrelevance of arts and humanities education may be and as disappointing as our attempts to articulate our relevance have been, we may be able to begin to find hope and purpose in renewed debate around how we think about "progress" and, more precisely, the role of aesthetic education in "progress". The writings of Germaine de Staël are particularly illuminating because they situate aesthetic education squarely in the progress of the nation and have bearing on the dilemma facing the humanities and the arts today. Her prescient philosophy turns the definition of progress on its head and could give aesthetic educators a powerful tool to fight for the increased relevance and vitality of the humanities and the arts in the broader notion of progress.
[7] Germaine de Staël ’s notion of progress—namely, the alignment of the perfectibility of the human mind (accretion of knowledge) with the perfectibility of the human species (interplay between individual morality and public morality) —has direct bearing on the difficulties that we as aesthetic educators are having today in articulating our essential role in national progress. Obviously, both types of progress (perfectibility of the human mind and perfectibility of the human species) are essential to the progress of the nation, but Germaine de Staël argues convincingly that they must align. Aesthetic educators might thus remind the public that business and the STEM disciplines neither have as their mandate the watchful alignment of individual and public morality (the vector that guarantees freedom and the continual perfecting
of the nation) nor do they have as their directive resistance against dogma. Furthermore, investment in STEM at the expense of the arts and the humanities parallels the Enlightenment’s obsession with progress as defined as the conservation and accretion of empirical knowledge and material gain. This obsession, at least in Germaine de Staël ’s view, contributed to the neglect of the interior moral life of the individual. It, furthermore, diminished emphasis on moral responsibility and independence of judgment, which consequently led to increased partisanship, culminating in the fanaticism of the Reign of Terror. While it is hard to imagine the advent of a Reign of Terror in the United States, it can be argued that obsession with unbridled advancement in science and business at the expense of aesthetic education could lead to the weakening of individual morality—defined by Staël as the devotion to freedom, human rights, and the possibility of collective happiness for all.
[8] If Germaine de Staël were alive today, she might argue that the solution to our current humanities and arts crisis is a relatively simple one. First, argue for national progress to be understood as the alignment of the perfectibility of the human mind with the perfectibility of the human species. Scientific advancement at the expense of the watchful alignment of individual and public morality poses a threat to the stability of our nation. Consequently, any call for national progress must include sufficient support of and funding for precisely the disciplines (the humanities and the arts) that have this alignment as their mandate. Secondly, encourage educational models that allow for the combination of a "useful" subject that contributes to a knowledge-based economy and a subject in which they will receive an aesthetic education.
注：根据大赛所设项目，本汉语原文可被译为英语、法语、俄语、西班牙语、
阿拉伯语，参赛者可任选一项或多项。
春节，让世界感知中华文化
在澳大利亚，当地知名巧克力制造商为庆祝中国农历新年，特地推出了小猪造型的巧克力；在阿根廷，"欢乐春节"庙会已经成为当地的"新节日"；在芬兰，人们观看舞龙舞狮表演，与中国同步庆贺新年„„刚刚过去的春节假期，不仅中国涌动着浓浓的年味，全球也都遍布着中国元素，洋溢着中国年的气息。
春节文化在世界竞相绽放，为外国人带去不一样的生活烟火与文化意趣。喝一碗腊八粥，体验"过了腊八就是年"；穿一身红衣，讨个红红火火的好彩头； 逛一场庙会，感受中国春节热闹的氛围。不断"走出去"的春节文化，为世界节日文化带去独特的风景；在"身临其境"中领略中国文化，也为各国人民观察和感知中国打开了一扇窗口。世界对中国充满兴趣、对中华文化更加认同，这其中既有文明交往的需求，可能也不乏经济的联系、市场的驱动，但从根本上说，还是因为中国综合国力的不断增强、中华文化影响力的不断提升。
文化不只是生活方式，更是一种精神理念。如今，越来越多外国人被中国的传统习俗所吸引，也为中华文化传递出来的价值理念和精神追求所触动。春联、窗花、爆竹，年夜饭、守岁酒、拜年送福，这些带着强烈仪式感的习俗，寄寓着中国人对美好生活的希冀、对家庭价值的坚守、对团圆共享的追求。而无论身在哪里、说着何种语言，这些朴素的情感，都是人们内心共同的祈愿。所以，第一次写春联的英国小伙，会对着手机里保存的汉字一笔一画地写下"幸福"和
"爱"；对中国书法充满新奇的摩洛哥姑娘，也坚持要为家里每个人都求个毛笔字。春节文化能够跨越山海，正在于它串起了人们心中共同的情愫。
英国哲学家罗素说过，"中国至高无上的伦理品质中的一些东西，现代世界极为需要"。中华优秀传统文化所蕴含的思想观念、人文精神、道德规范，不仅涵养了中国人的精神生活、架构起中华民族的心灵空间，也对解决人类共同面临的问题具有重要价值。从"道法自然""天人合一"的发展理念，到"协和万
邦""讲信修睦"的世界想象，再到"同舟共济""休戚与共"的命运共同体意 识，这些由中华优秀传统文化不断滋养润泽的伦理品质，在世界各地激发更多共鸣，为解决人类共同面临的问题提供了"新的可能"。这正是春节文化在世界各地广受欢迎的深层次原因。
当然，今天中国文化"走出去"，不只要宣介优秀传统文化，还要传播优秀 当代文化，展示当代中国的发展进步、当代中国人的精彩生活。今年春节期间， 不少展现新形象、新风采的活动走出国门，让国外民众眼前一亮。比如，"欢乐中国年·魅力京津冀"活动亮相美国洛杉矶，让当地人近距离了解到京津冀协同 发展的成果；点亮 2022 冬奥主题文化活动走进瑞士，与雪国人民一起见证中国的"冰雪奇缘"与"3 亿人上冰雪"的憧憬与努力。而中国图书"越洋"、影视节目"出海"以及各种海外公益与志愿服务，也与春节文化相得益彰，让"走出 去"的中国故事、中国文化更加鲜活生动，为国外民众呈现一个更加立体、更加全面、更加丰富的中国。
"共欢新故岁，迎送一宵中"。中华文化积淀着中华民族最深沉的精神追求， 是中华民族生生不息、发展壮大的丰厚滋养。以春节文化"走出去"为契机，把 更多优秀中华文化推向世界，让其"活起来""热起来"，我们就能不断增强中华文化的世界感召力，为解决人类问题贡献更多中国智慧。
英译汉参考译文
审美教育与国家进步
人文艺术渐受冷落，而商科和理工学科（STEM，指科学、技术、工程、数学等）却愈发受到重视，形成了一种将审美教育排除在外的国家进步观。本文认为审美教育者应当对国家进步的这一习惯性理解提出挑战。（在人文领域，审美
教育者通常指英文、外国语言文学、哲学、艺术史和影视研究等学科工作者。）
为此，本文呼吁关注法国哲学家斯达尔夫人（1766—1817）的著作，因为借鉴她的进步观或许可以找到人文艺术学科未来的希望。
在当今美国社会，国家进步通常等同于创造就业机会，而创造就业机会又与商科、理工学科的发展联系在一起。例如，2012 年全国大选后，奥巴马总统在
胜选演说中呼吁美国继续保持在科学技术领域的领先地位。他大声疾呼："国民们，我坚信我们可以在已有进步的基础上，继续为中产阶级争取新的工作、新的机遇和新的安全保障。"
人们口头上强调公民责任及其在国家进步中的重要性，但联邦政府、州政府以及高等教育机构却在大幅削减人文艺术方面的预算，甚至砍掉整个专业。审美教育者知道，长此以往，这些削减会给公民社会带来灾难性后果，因为传递文化资本的恰恰是人文艺术学科。更准确地说，人文艺术培养学生的批判思维与独立思考能力，使其能够在公民社会角色方面做出明智决定。然而，诸多指标显示， 公众和相关机构对人文艺术学科的支持力度减退，审美教育者很容易心灰意冷， 感到倍受冷落，甚至认为自己于国家进步的作用微乎其微，或者说毫无用处。
相关指标显示，人文学科正在日益边缘化：2014 财年，国家人文基金会（NEH）和国家艺术基金会（NEA）得到的拨款比 2010 年峰值时少了 13%，而国家科学基金会（NSF）得到的拨款却比 2010 年增加了近 4%。国家人文基金会和国家艺术基金会的拨款仅占国家科学基金会拨款额的 2%，要不是因为这一点，也许 13%
的削减尚不至于如此令人震惊。联想到 1979 年，国家人文基金会和国家艺术基
金会获得的资金分别占到国家科学基金会总额的 16%，这粒苦药就更难下咽了。
人文艺术学科受重视程度减弱的第二个衡量指标是高等教育机构的薪酬。 "俄克拉荷马大学(学科)教职人员调查"涵盖了 114 所"研究型大学/顶级研究机构"的教授薪酬，列出了各个学科各级终身教职人员的平均薪资。2013-2014 年
的研究表明，艺术学科教员的平均年薪是 71,463 美元；英文类，76,627 美元； 哲学、宗教研究类，81,971 美元；物理科学类，102,636 美元；工程学类，114,827 美元；商业管理类，139,093 美元。与 2011—2012 年度相比，2013—2014 年度，物理科学类、工程学类和商业管理类的薪酬同比有所增长，而艺术、英文和
哲学等学科则有所下降。如果说薪酬受市场驱动，那么人文艺术的市场需求显然
不高。佛罗里达州长里克·斯科特提出佛州州立高校不提高"战略领域"专业学生学费标准，这使人文艺术缺乏市场的问题进一步凸显。《纽约时报》记者莉泽特·阿尔瓦雷斯对此评论说："这条来自佛州首府塔拉哈西的信息再直白不过了：给我们培养工程师、科学家、医护人才和技术专家，不用操心历史学家、哲学家、人类学家和英文专业人才。"这样，无论是专业建设、教师薪酬还是学生学费， 从多个视角都可以看到明显地向理工科倾斜和对人文艺术教育的漠视。审美教育工作者与今天所谓的"国家进步"（即商业、科学与技术的进步）毫不相干。面对这种近乎一边倒的认知，人文艺术工作者正在竭力向其他学科和公众阐明自己在国家进步中的关键作用。
人文艺术教育被视为与"国家进步"毫不相干,尽管这令人沮丧，我们试图阐明其相关性的努力也不尽如人意，但我们或许还可以就如何理解"进步"展开新一轮辩论，从中寻找希望和目标。更确切地说，我们要就如何理解审美教育在"进
步"中的作用展开辩论。斯达尔夫人的著述摆正了美育在国家进步中的位置，直
指当今人文艺术领域面临的困境，因而尤具启发意义。她的哲学思想颇有远见， 颠覆了"进步"的定义，可以为审美教育者提供有力武器，拓展"进步"的概念内涵，提升人文艺术的重要性和生命力。
在斯达尔夫人看来，进步就是个体心智的可完善性（知识积累）与人类物种
的可完善性（即个体道德与公共道德相互作用）相互统一，这对于解决审美教育者阐明我们在国家进步中的关键作用时面临的困难有着直接的指导意义。显然， 个体心智的可完善性与人类物种的可完善性这两种"进步"类型对国家进步都至 关重要。斯达尔夫人认为二者必须统一，其观点令人信服。因此，审美教育者可以提醒公众，商科和理工学科既不训练学生保持警醒，追求个体与公共道德的统一（这是确保自由与国家日臻完善的矢量），也不教导他们抵制教条。此外，以人文艺术为代价，增加对理工学科的投入，这种做法和启蒙运动时期对"进步" 的执念并无二致，当时的"进步"是指保护和积累经验知识与物质财富。至少在 斯达尔夫人看来，这种偏执忽视了个体内在的道德生活，进而降低了对道德责任感和独立判断能力的重视程度，使党派偏见与日俱增，最终酿成法国大革命恐怖统治时期的狂热局面。尽管很难想象美国会发生"恐怖统治"，但是我们可以说， 以牺牲审美教育为代价，毫无节制地追求科学和商业的进步，终将削弱个体道德
—斯达尔夫人将其定义为献身自由、人权和造福全民的可能性。
如果斯达尔夫人今天依然健在，她或许会说，解决目前人文艺术学科的危机并非难事。首先，要将国家进步理解为个体心智的可完善性和人类物种的可完善性的统一。科学进步若以牺牲具有警醒作用的个体与公共道德的统一为代价，则会对国家稳定造成威胁。因此，呼吁国家进步就必须对追求这种完美统一的学科
—人文艺术学科—提供足够的支持和充足的经费。其次，要鼓励致力于知识经济的"有用"学科与获得审美教育的学科相结合的教育模式。
汉译英参考译文
Spring Festival: Chinese Cultural Experience for the World
In Australia, a famous chocolate manufacturer launched a special line of piglet-shaped chocolate to usher in the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Pig. In Argentina, a temple fair themed "Feliz Año Nuevo Chino " has become localized as a new jamboree. In Finland, people rejoiced over dragon and lion dances to celebrate the Lunar New Year in sync with people in China.... In the last Spring Festival Holiday, not only did China brim over with a strong festive flavor, but the rest of the world also glowed with radiant Chinese cultural elements and exuded the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year.
The Spring Festival culture is flourishing all over the world, bringing foreigners exotic way of life and cultural fun. Having a bowl of Laba porridge on the eighth day of the last or the twelfth Chinese lunar month, they have come to understand a saying from a ballad: "The Spring Festival is around the corner soon after Laba." Wearing red outfits, they bestow auspicious blessings to others in return for good luck. Pottering around a temple fair, they enjoy a jolly air of festivity. The going-global Spring Festival culture has given a unique splash of color to the world. Engaging foreigners in this celebration, it has also opened a window for them to observe and feel China. The worldwide interest in and growing recognition of Chinese culture are attributable not only to the need for communication between civilizations but also probably to their economic ties and market stimuli. However, this rests fundamentally on China’s enhanced comprehensive national strength and cultural influence.
Culture is not only a way of life but also a spiritual belief. An increasing number of foreigners nowadays are fascinated by traditional Chinese customs and touched by the values and spiritual pursuits effusing from Chinese culture. Many rituals and ceremonial customs — such as pasting spring couplets onto door frames and paper-cuts for window decoration, setting off firecrackers, enjoying reunion dinners,
staying up to drink alcohol, visiting kith and kin and presenting them with an artistically written Chinese character " 福 " (fú, fortune) — embody the Chinese
people’s desire for a good life, adherence to family values, and pursuit of shared reunion. Wherever they are and whatever language they speak, all these simple emotions are common wishes in the innermost recesses of their hearts. For example, a British young man, when writing a spring couplet for the first time, copied stroke by
stroke the Chinese characters "幸福" (xìngfú , happiness) and "爱" (ài , love) saved in
his cellphone. A Moroccan girl curious about Chinese calligraphy insisted on acquiring a piece of calligraphic work for each of her family members. It is the provocation of resonance among people around the world that enables China’s Spring Festival to travel beyond mountains and oceans.
British philosopher Bertrand Russell once applauded, "… something of the ethical qualities in which China is supreme, and which the modern world most desperately needs." The ideas, humanism, and moral norms embedded in quintessential traditional Chinese culture have not only nourished the spiritual life of the Chinese people and propped up the spiritual world of the whole nation but also have had a significant value in addressing the common problems confronting humanity. Elemental Chinese culture has constantly nurtured many ethical qualities. From the development concepts of "Tao following the law of nature" and "heaven and man being united as one," to the global ideals of "all nations coexisting in harmony" and "seeking mutual trust and amity with all nations," and finally to the awareness that a community with a shared future should "pull together in times of trouble" and "share weal and woe," these ideas and values have resonated with people around the world. In doing so, they are providing new possibilities for solving the problems facing all mankind. These are the underlying reasons for the growing popularity of the Spring Festival culture around the planet.
Of course, for Chinese culture to go global, it is necessary to disseminate both its refined traditions and contemporary values, as well as to showcase the progress of China and the colorful lives of the Chinese people today. During the most recent Spring Festival, many events displaying new images of China were staged abroad, leaving foreigners with deep impressions. For example, in Los Angeles, a gala entitled "Happy Chinese New Year, Charming Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei" gave many locals a close look at the coordinated development of the three places. In Switzerland, a Winter Olympics-themed cultural exhibition called "Light-on 2022" acquainted many people
of this snow-capped wonderland with China’s great passion for ice-snow games and its commitment to "involving 300 million people in winter sports". The exports of Chinese books, movies, TV programs, as well as various public welfare and voluntary services, are all cultural complements to China’s Spring Festival. All these efforts have made Chinese stories and culture more vivid, unfolding to the world a more prismatic China with different dimensions.
"On New Year’s Eve, we bid a fond farewell to the Old and give a warm welcome to the New." Chinese culture, the accumulation of the most profound spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation, serves as rich nutrition for the nation to survive and thrive. Riding on the momentum of exhibiting its Spring Festival globally to enliven more merits of Chinese culture around the world, we can continue to enhance its appeal and thus contribute more Chinese wisdom to solving the problems facing us as a human society.
