英語美文口袋書：生活篇

看了下富蘭克林那篇《蜉蝣》，有刪減。似乎把富蘭克林讚美他要追求的法國女士的話都刪了，彷彿教科書生怕學生早戀一樣。

2023年8月28日 星期一 祝福早安 天氣多雲 氣溫18℃ 《英語美文:生活篇》 爲什麼要每天都跑步？ 爲什麼每天都會寫點東西？ 爲什麼睡前都要看書？ 因爲大多數人都沒有每天能堅持的東西， 所以任何一種堅持都能區分別人和自己。 ——劉同 This single stick,which you now behold ingloriously lying in that neglected corner,I once knew in aflourishing state in aforest.It was full of sap,full of leaves,and full of boughs,but now in vain does the busy art of man pretend to vie with nature by tying that withered bundle of twigs to its sapless trunk.It is now at best but the reverse of what it was:a tree turned upside down,the branches on the earth,and the root in the air.It is now handled by every dirty wench,condemned to do her drudgery,and by acapricious kind of fate destined to make other things clean and be nasty itself.At length,worn to the stumps in the service of the maids,it is either thrown out of doors or condemned to its last use of kindling afire. When Ibeheld this,I sighed and said within myself,surely mortal man is abroomstick:nature sent him into the world strong and lusty,in athriving condition,wearing his own hair on his head,the proper branches of this reasoning vegetable,until the axe of intemperance has lopped off his green boughs and left him awithered trunk;he then flies to art,and puts on aperiwig,valuing himself upon an unnatural bundle of hairs,all covered with powder,that never grew on his head.But now should this our broomstick pretend to enter the scene,proud of those birchen spoils it never bore,and all covered with dust,though the sweepings of the finest lady’s chamber,we should be apt to ridicule and despise its vanity,partial judges that we are of our own excellencies and other men’s defaults. But abroomstick,perhaps,you will say,is an emblem of atree standing on its head.And pray,what is man,but atopsy-turvy creature,his animal faculties perpetually mounted on his rational,his head where his heels should be,groveling on the earth?And yet with all his faults,he sets up to be auniversal reformer and corrector of abuses,a remover of grievances;rakes into every slut’s corner of nature,bringing hidden corruption to the light;and raises amighty dust where there was none before,sharing deeply all the while in the very same pollutions he pretends to sweep away.His last days are spent in slavery to women,and generally the least deserving,till,worn out to the stumps,like his brother besom,he is either kicked out of doors,or made use of to kindle flames for others to warm themselves by. 中文譯文 關於一把掃帚的沉思 喬納森·斯威夫特 你眼前這根灰頭土臉歪在壁角里的掃帚，我知道它往昔在森林裏是何等之繁茂。那時，它汁多葉茂，旁枝叢生。而現在，生性多事的人類，拿一把枯枝綁在它那赤條條的軀幹之上，妄想以人工與造化相頡頏，而又終歸徒然；它現在的模樣恰好跟過去翻了一個個兒；枝條委之於地，根梢朝向天空，成爲一株上下顛倒的樹，掌握在某個做苦工的女僕手裏，受着命運任意撥弄，註定了要把別的東西清掃乾淨，而自己只落得一身腌臢晦氣；而在爲女僕效勞、磨損得四肢不全之後，到頭來或被隨手拋出門外，或則最後被作引火之物一燒了之。 有鑑於此，我喟然自嘆：人不過一根掃帚柄而已！造化將人送到世上來的時候，他身強力壯，精神奮發，頭上毛髮蓬鬆，恰似一棵有理性的樹木枝葉扶疏一般；不料，貪慾失度猶如巨斧，將其青枝綠葉戕伐殆盡，空留光禿枯乾一條；此時，他只好乞靈於人工，戴上頭套，藉助於雖則撒滿香粉，卻非自己頭皮長出的一副假髮來撐一撐門面。然而，我們眼前這把掃帚也如此粉墨登場，仗恃這些並非自身所生的樺樹枝條而洋洋自得，其實它們全部沾滿灰塵，即便是勳貴佳麗的閨房中裏的灰塵，我們也會嘲笑和鄙夷！然則，我們是有失公允的法官，只看到自己的優點，專挑別人的缺點。 閣下也許會說：掃帚不過是區區一棵頭朝下的樹木而已。但請問：如果一個人的動物本能總是凌駕在他的理性本能之上，如果他總是摧眉折腰，把腦袋放在腳後跟才該放的地方，那麼，他不正是一種上下顛倒的動物嗎？然而，儘管他自身毛病百出，他還要做出改革社會、匡正時弊、消除不平的樣子，世間一切腌臢角落都要去親自探查一番，把隱藏着的敗德穢行掃到光天化日之下，結果本來纖塵不染的地方也被攪得塵土飛揚，雖然他自以爲是在澄清乾坤，其實自己早已深染塵垢。到了晚年，他又爲那些往往不值一提的婦人做牛做馬，以此卒歲，直到只剩一根殘幹，然後就像他的掃帚兄弟一樣，不是被一腳踢出門外，就是被用來點火，供他人取暖。 詞彙速記 sap　n.　樹液 vie　v.　競爭 drudgery　n.　苦差事 capricious　adj.　善變的 stump　n.　樹樁 intemperance　n.　不節制；酗酒 periwig　n.　假髮 topsy-turvy　adj.　顛倒的；亂七八糟的 grovel　v.　卑躬屈膝 besom　n.　長笤帚 Unmistakable noises are coming through my bedroom wall.Now ascuffling,now abumping,a long,drawn-out scraping.“John,are you moving furniture in there?Again?”I call.The wall muffles his“yes”but does not filter out of his voice the tinge of excitement. I am not upset by these impulsive rearrangements,just amused at their frequency.I remember my own feelings when Iwas13as he is—the startling,rapid evolution of body and mind and emotions,the need to invent and reinvent yourself through clothes,hairstyles and the arrangement and decor of your room. Amid the smothered thuds Iremember how much John longed for the privacy of his own domain,how he took me aside two years ago when he was sharing aroom with his younger brother,Robert.“Mom,”he said,“can Iplease have aroom of my own?I could use Jeff’s.He won’t mind.” It was true that Jeff had graduated from college that past June and had flown from the nest.But would he mind if the place where he had spent countless hours growing up was yanked out from under him?Would he feel ousted from the family,barred from ever coming home again? But beyond his feelings,would Imind?That room was so much apart of our lives over the many years that Jeff had been our only child.In it Itaught him to read;we constructed architectural wonders out of blocks and set up elaborate desks.It was where Jeff perfected his artwork and struggled with college applications.It was the place where Itold him athousand stories and where we had athousand talks. As close as we were,though,the time came when Jeff needed adoor between us,a space of his own to grow in.The door to that bedroom would be shut most of the evening,behind it the muffled sound of aradio or the clack of his secondhand manual typewriter as he banged out one of his marathon letters. I knew those letters to friends must have been filled with thoughts and opinions Jeff did not share with me.His life was spreading into areas that had nothing to do with home and family.I no longer could—or should—know everything about him. As conscientious parents,we strive to foster independence.But when it happens,when you pause outside that door and look at the blank panels it is always alittle unsettling. But we accept—at least we say we do.All of parenting is aseries of letting go by degrees.The child walks and runs and rides abike;he is stricken with the pangs of first love that we are powerless to kiss away.Then he is driving acar,and we are falling asleep before he gets home,alert,even in our dreams,to the sound of his motor gearing down. In my heart Ilet it go.To hold on would be selfish.Now it was time for John,shouldering through the door with an armload of his things,his eyes bright with the promise of independence,to disappear behind the door.It was time for the letting go to begin again. 中文譯文 自己的小天地 瑪麗·波特 透過我臥室的牆壁清清楚楚地傳來嘈雜聲。一會兒是拖來拖去的聲音，一會兒是咯噔咯噔的撞擊聲，一會兒是咚咚咚的重擊聲，一會兒是拉得長長的尖利的刮擦聲。“約翰，你又在倒騰傢俱啦？”我喊道。隔着牆壁，傳來他悶聲悶氣的回答“對！”但牆壁並沒有過濾掉他話音裏的激動。 對他的這些心血來潮的重新佈置我並不感到煩亂，只是對他如此頻繁地倒騰感到好笑。我還記得我13歲時，和他現在一樣大的時候，自己的那些感覺——身體上、心理上和情感上的驚人的、迅速的變化，想通過衣着、髮式以及房間的佈置和裝飾來塑造和重新塑造自我的那種需求。 就在這些悶聲悶氣的撞擊聲中，我記起了約翰是多麼嚮往着擁有一個自己的小天地。兩年前，當時他跟弟弟羅伯特同住一間屋子。他把我拉到一邊對我說：“媽媽，求求你，我一個人住間屋子好嗎？我可以用傑夫的房間，他不會在意的。” 的確，傑夫在那一年的六月份就已大學畢業，飛離了這個鳥窩。但是，如果猛地一下抽掉他曾經在其中成長和度過許多時光的棲息之處，他會不在意嗎？他會不會覺得家裏人不要他了，並不許他再踏進家門了呢？ 還有，除了他的感情以外，我就不會在意嗎？在我們只有傑夫這一個孩子的許多年裏，那間屋子在我們一家人的生活中佔據了多麼重要的地位啊！在這間屋子裏，我教他認字讀書，我們用積木堆出建築上的奇蹟，安放很精巧的書桌。就在這裏，傑夫修改過他的一幅幅美術作品，爲申請上大學煞費苦心；就在這裏，我給他講過上千個故事；就在這裏，我們交談過上千次。 儘管我們親密無間，這樣一個時刻終於還是來到了：傑夫需要在我們之間隔一扇門，需要一個他自己的成長空間。晚飯後，那間臥室的門多數時候都是關着的。這扇關閉的門後面總是悶聲悶氣地傳來收音機的聲音，或是他在他那臺舊打字機上敲出馬拉松式的長信時咯嗒咯嗒的響聲。 我明白，傑夫從沒給我講過的各種各樣的念頭和看法都在這些給朋友的信裏頭。他的生活正在朝着與他的家和家人毫不相干的領域擴展。對他的事，我再也不能——或者說再也不應該——什麼都知道了。 作爲責任心很強的父母，我們努力培養孩子們的獨立性。可是一旦他們有了獨立性，當你站在關上的門外邊看着光禿禿的門板時，心裏總是有那麼一點兒不安。 但是我們還是接受了這個事實——至少可以說我們這麼做了。養育兒女實際上就是一個逐步撒手、放手的過程。小的時候，他先會走，後會跑，再會騎自行車；接着他爲初戀而痛苦，這種痛苦是我們無法吻去的；然後他就會開車了，我們都睡着了他纔回家，即使在夢中我們都留意聽着他的馬達換低速擋的聲音。 在我的心底裏我已鬆開了手。抓住不放是自私的。現在，該輪到約翰了，他兩眼閃着獨立自主的希望之光，抱着自己的東西，用肩膀頂開門，然後消失在門背後。又到了開始撒手、放手的時候了。 （孫建中 譯） 詞彙速記 scuffling　n.　拖著腳步行走發出的腳步聲 muffle　v.　發出低沉的聲音 tinge　n.　些許味道 impulsive　adj.　衝動的；受感情驅使的 reinvent　v.　重新使用；徹底改造 yank　v.　猛地一拉 But,as has been true in many other cases,when they were at last married,the most ideal of situations was found to have been changed to the most practical.Instead of having shared their original duties,and as school-boys would say,going halves,they discovered that the cares of life had been doubled. This led to some distressing moments for both our friends;they understood suddenly that instead of dwelling in heaven they were still upon earth,and had made themselves slaves to new laws and limitations.Instead of being fleer and happier than ever before,they had assumed new responsibilities;they had established anew household,and must fulfill in some way or another the obligations of it. They looked back with affection to their engagement;they had been longing to have each other to themselves,apart from the world,but it seemed they never felt so keenly that they were still units in modern society. 中文譯文 新生活 莎拉·朱厄特 但是正如其他許多已經發生過的事情一樣，當他們最終結婚後，發現最憧憬的生活變得再實際不過了。他們非但沒有分擔原有的責任，用學生的語言說叫“對半分”，相反卻發現生活的負擔加重了。 這使得我們那兩個結婚的朋友時常覺得沮喪；他們突然發現自己沒過上天堂的生活，反而仍是實實在在地活在塵世，且成了新規則和新約束的奴隸。生活並沒有比以前更自由、更幸福，因爲他們要去承擔新的責任。既然成立了一個新的家庭，那就無論如何也要盡一點家庭的義務。 他們深情地回想起訂婚的那段時光，曾經如此地渴望擁有彼此而忘掉這個世界，然而現在最深切的感受卻是自己仍是這個世界的一分子。 詞彙速記 dwell　v.　居住；存在於 affection　n.　喜愛 engagement　n.　婚約

I learn much from this book.And I feel very good.